Evening star., 1946-06-23
Control of the Atom
And the Alternative

~sAsS W AstS SNASbb
And the Alternative
Effective World Authority Needed
to Prevent Deadly Arms Race
By William H. Harrison
Some Americans may gag at the
thought Of giving up the vast and costly
Manhattan Project to an international
authority.
There are Russians who probably can
not conceive of letting English, Amer
lean and other foreign officials come
into their land to take over any uranium
and thorium resources or adopt sim
liar measures shattering the ancient
concept Of national sovereignty.
Indeed, there must be any number
of any people who are taking q dim
view Of the revolutionary proposals now
being made to establish supranationsl
agency armed with unprecedented
power to control the development and
use of atomic energy throughout the
world. The idea is sharply at odds with
all the past patterns of international
thinking, and its implications are start
ling enough to chill many a pre-Hiro-
shina mind.
But what is the alternative? What II
the effort to create such an authority
fails completely? What If in the next
five years or so it becomes unmistak-
ably clear that there is no hope of set
ting up an effective international con-
troll system along the lines proposed
by the United States to the United
Nations Atomic Energy Commission?
The answer is fairly obvious: In that
case, the fear-obsessed world will engage
in by far the most dangerous arma-
ments race since the beginning of time,
with the day likely to come when one
or another of the feverishly competing
powers, in moment of panic or am
bilious madness, will let loose the first
atomic war-the first and the last,
war that could literally wipe out two
thirds or more of the human race.
AS far as the atom is concerned,
fantasy and reality have become so
| much a part Of each other that every
government and every people must now
think fantastically of the future If they
would prepare realistically for it. AS
Stunning the worst, assuming that by
the year 1852 or 1853 the nations have
shown themselves to be incapable of
| policing their pride, their passions and
| their atomic activities, what then will
| they have to do in an effort to protect
| themselves in the murderous and
| suicidal world?
In such circumstances, each country
perhaps grouping itself with other coun-
| tries of like mind-will doubtless try
to figure out its own means Of saliva.
ton, which at best will amount to
little more than collective world in
security. No measure, of course, will
| be enough to guarantee absolute safety.
but every power anxious to keep on
existing will place urgent emphasis on
preparedness. Looking at it from our
own American viewpoint, If interna.
tional control proves to be unattainable,
the United States will have to give.
priority attention to lurid matters like
the following:
First, national security will require
that no effort or expense be spared to
keep ahead of other powers in the de-
velopment of atomic and meteorological
weapons The best minds Of the coun-
try will have to be concentrated on per-
fecting A-bombs and perhaps equally
lethal radioactive poison gases and germ
sprays. Guided missiles, electronic de-
| vices of every sort, transoceanic rockets,
supersonic pilotless planes, space ships"
| atom-driven submarines-all things Of
| this kind. regardless Of the gigantic cost.
will call for the fullest possible develop
| ment.
Second, in view Of the fact that level
headed experts have warned that in an
| atomic war 40 American cities, together
| with 100000 or more of their in
habitants, could be destroyed overnight,
the most serious consideration will have
to be given to building our key industries
underground and dispensing our densely
populated and highly vulnerable urban
communities. Since recent Army re-
ports have suggested that the atomic
bomb could be used to crush solid rock
to depth of at least $50 feet, there is
some reason to doubt the feasibility Of
going underground, but the dispersal
proposal conceivably might be worth the
200 or 300 billion dollars the Nation
would have to spend to put it into effect.
Third, in keeping with the principle of
bill recently introduced in the House
by Representative Trimble of Arkansas.
we shall have to give serious Thought to
the idea of amending the Constitution
| to provide for succession government
and the choice of site for a new Ma
tional Capital in case this city should
be suddenly attacked by transoceanic
rockets and guided missiles loaded with
atomic explosives, radioactive gases and
decimating germs. Without such fore
sight, in a cut-throat age, the Nation
might wake up one day to find WASH
ington erased and virtually everybody
dead in 1t, from the President on down.
Finally since the best and practically
only defense against an atomic attack
must be to attack first, the people Of
the United States, assuming there Is no
hope of effective international control
or 10 years from now, will have to
weigh the wisdom of amending the
Constitution to empower the President
to strike swiftly and without warning
| without a congressional declaration Of