The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-02-14
T H ESE D AY S
GEORGE E. SOKOLSKY
 THE HELL-BOMB

A sense of proportion is rare when involved in something never seen, never hear, never experienc- ed. It is like child walking past a cemetery at dusk on a lonely country road, whistling for com fort.
 Actually, we were much better off when the A-bomb came upon us We only knew about it after it had been exploded The hellbomb has not yet been made It is some thing unknown, out of the scien- lists laboratory For the rest of us, it is almost beyond belief. Can you imagine New York destroyed in the twinkling of an eye?
 Yet, I saw something not unlike that once. It was on September 1, 1923, when the great earthquake took place in Japan. My wife and I were about to entrain for Yoko- hama from Tokyo but we had changed our schedule. Every per- son who travelled on that train l was killed.
 Whenever one talks about the hellbomb I think of my walk through the streets of Tokyo on the second day after the earth quake. About l50,0OO corpses are never forgettable
 Yet, it strikes me that the group of scientists who met in New York to resolve that the United States would never use the bomb first were rather silly There may never be a chance to use it second.
 That is the trouble with knock out warfare: It is designed to re- duce enemy to impotence. It is war without chivalry; it is kill rather than a war. The victor in such a war would have nothing left but poisoned earth and poisoned atmosphere after he had won his victory.
 The scientists speak about the morals of the use of their weapons There is no morality in any wea- pons nor in any war. Murder is murder, even if committed by act of Congress or by the dictates of the Kremlin. If the scientists are embarrassed by the brutal results of their trade, they can do little about it now. Anybody can read their books and make their instru- ments. Perhaps it is important to know how the sun uses hydrogen; personally, I think it is more vital to know how to live with ones neighbor.
 Senator Brien McMahon's solu- ton is unbelievably unrealistic Does he actually believe that he can bribe the Russians with S50,- OO0,000000 distributed to their sat- isfaction? Why should they bother with such a bribe, when thus far they have been able to take what they choose with the aid of the State Department?
 | On balance, how does this pro- posed $50,O0O, 100000 bribe stack UT against the total conquest of China with its huge population accustom- ed to work and fight under prim- Iitive conditions? Which is wortt more, French Indo-China, Malay and Burma, or share in $50,. 000,000,O00 bribe?
 Besides, the Kremlin knows tha it can maneuver. anything out O. the State Department. What ha! been refused Russia since 1943 tha really matters to Russia?
 As for A-bombs and hydrogen bombs-all Stalin needs to do is tt send spies here and they can tak' what they want. And when tn FBI tries to arrest a spy, like Ar thur Adams, the State Depart ment permits him to leave tn country with samples in his brie case. Or, such scientist as Dr Fuchs is not even screened be cause our government has a con tract against it with the British
 Or when Alger Hiss is convicted by a jury, after two open and fai trials, our learned Secretary O. State delivers himself of a sermon on eternal friendship and quot eth Matthew to prove a point. Congressional investigation into the Alger Hiss defense fund might startle this country into a better understanding as to why Senator McMahon'S well-intentioned boml must have been the Kremlin's laugh of the year.
 No. Senator, you can't bribe peo.