Evening star., 1949-10-14
frightened Safeguards
For Atom Asked or wi
Despite LiIienthaI | a
~ the Assoeiotsd Press

David E. Lilienthals assertion
that this country ought to stop
"choking" itself with atomic
secrecy brought calls on Capitol
Hill today for even tighter safe
guards around the A-bomb.
Mr.. Lilienthal. who heads the
Atomic Energy Commission, spoke
in New York last night. He said
the United States should lose no
time In broadening cooperation
with the British and Canadians
90 that brain power and materials
OF the three can be thrown be-
hind the atomic developments.
I'VE should stop this sense
less business Of choking ourselves
by some of the extremes Of secrecy
to which we have been driven" !"
he declared. Such secrecy, he
added. impedes 'our technical
progress and our own defense"
But Senator johnson, Demo-
crat Of Colorado, told reporters he
thinks there has been too little,
instead of too much, secrecy sur
rounding A-bomb making.
II regret that Mr.. Lilienthal has
such a passion for disclosing our
atomic energy formulas and Sc
crets." he said.
Hickenlooper Asks Real Security
Similarly, Senator Hickenlooper.
Republican of Iowa, said he be-
lieves it is more important than
ever, since the Russian atomic
explosion, that we have, not
foolish security, but real security
to protect not only what we have
bat future Developments
Senator Hickenlooper is pre-
pairing a report dissenting with
the Senate House Atomic Com
mittee's finding that an investi-
CATION into his charges of in
credible mismanagement" against
Mr.. Lilienthal and the Atomic
Commission had proved fruit
less"
In his minority statement, Sen
ator Hickenlooper is expected to
dwell at length on his contention
that the commission has been
lax in keeping A-bomb secrets.
The majority report. approved
by 10 Democratic members of the
committee and opposed by six
Republicans. was made public yes
terday in just about the form
indicated earlier by Senator Nc
Mahon, Democrat of Connecticut,
the chairman.
1t said the committees investi-
cations showed no evidence which
indicated that Russia got any
help in producing the bomb from
any security leaks permitted by
the commission.
Stockpile Called Deterrent.
"1f any security leaks appreci-
ably assisted the Soviet. and prob
ably they did not, the record
implies that all occurred before
the commission assumed response
bility," it said.
The Army engineers controlled
the A-bomb project during the
war, before the commission took
over In 1947. @
On the matter of security, the
report added:
mo mobilization of guards,
vaults and fences could ever pro-
tect us so well-before or after
the Soviet bomb test-as the
powerfully deterring American
stockpile which the commission
has striven to accumulate"
Mr.. Lilenthal spoke at the
eighth anniversary dinner Free
dom House. He and Gen. Lucius
D. Clay, former American mill
tary governor of Germany, re-
ceived the organizations 1949
freedom awards.
Mr.. Lilenthal proposed a
broader area of cooperation" in
atomic "Brainpower and material"
with Great Britain and Canada.
Says People Must Have Facts
To work out a sound atomic
policy, Mr.. Lienthal said, Ameri-
cans must have the essential
facts, right from the shoulder, and
without any papa knows best
nonsense :"