Evening star., 1952-06-15
The Nautilus and Tomorrow

Apart from his politicking passages making
Senators Mcmahon and Benton seem almost as
marvellous as nuclear energy, President Truman
has delivered an encouraging but at the same
time SOLDERING speech at Groton, Connecticut, to
mark the keel-laying of the USS Nautilus
the worlds first atomic-powered submarine.
There can be no doubt as he has said, that
the development of this ship constitutes one of
the great events of history In herself, when
she becomes an operating reality two years or
so from now, the Nautilus will be altogether
wondrouS. She will be equipped, in the Presi-
dents words, to move submerged "at speed Of
more than 20 knots A few pounds of uranium
will give her ample fuel to travel thousands of
miles at top speed. She will be able to stay
underwater indefinitely. Her atomic engine will
permit her to be completely free of the earth's
atmosphere. She will not even require breath
ing tube to the surface"
The military significance of such a vessel
is obviously tremendous Mr.. Truman has not
exaggerated on that score. For the engine of
this new submarine certainly twill have as
revolutionary an effect on the navies of the
world as did the first ocean steamship 100 years
ago. And at least equally important-if not
more So--its advent will be followed by the same
sort of development in the sky. Indeed, work
has already begun, and is steadily progressing
on an atomic powered bomber for our Air Force
craft that would be theoretically capable of
flying nonstop for virtually unlimited distances
at speeds of thousands of miles an hour
But the significance of the Nautilus is not
merely military. On the contrary, as the Pres,
ident has emphasized, its benefcent peacetime
implications are even more breath h-taking-
BREATH taking in terms of tomorrow that Is
likely to see not only atomic-powered merchant
and mobile nuclear-energy plants producing
electricity for factories farms and homes
throughout the world. To quote Mr. Truman
again, we are thus on the threshold of new
age in which it will be possible to achieve prog
ress that could "revolutionaize the chronological
basis of our civilization. 1t could mean
industrial development for areas now held back
because they have no supply of coal, or oil, or
waterpower. 1t could set man free from servitude
to geography and climate. :. Nobody knows
what marvelS lie ahead of u.s."
All this bright promise, however, is ominously
darkened by the fact that the men of the
Kremlin have persistently refused to cooperate
in bringing it to fruition. Instead, sowing hate
spewing forth poisonous lies and adhering to a
policy of subversion and outright aggression,
they have blocked every effort to establish inter-
national atomic control and made clear that
LIley are engaged III al dll-OUL dICeIIlpI W VIII
the nuclear armaments race-a race that now
involves the indescribably destructive hydrogen
bomb. So there is no peace. The Soviet rulers
have declined to let the world have it, They
have just stood snarling at the threshold of
the new age and kept mankind from crossing
it to achieve unprecedented human betterment
of kind that would cost, as Mr. Truman has
observed, "only fraction of the money now
going into military strength"
In such circumstances, the United States
and the rest of the free world must concentrate
primarily on the task of trying to prevent war
by building up great armed power If aggres-
sion can be deferred in that way, then in due
course the Kremlin may find it prudent to start
cooperating for a decent peace Meanwhile,
despite the paradoxical fact that weapons like
the Nautilus are full of potential blessings for
the future, the atoms significance must remain
ci1iefy-and grimly-military.