Evening star., 1953-08-16
Answer to the Lock
OF Civil Defense Is
Almost No One Cores
By Richord FykIund


plete warning system that would
let all the people know when raid
was coming.
Russia has atomic bombs and can
deliver them, President Eisenhower
has fatty said. And whether or
not Russia has the hydrogen bomb
today, it is reasonable to assume
that she has the capacity and know
how to make it and deliver 1t to-
morrow.
If those bombs are sent to this
country, the military will not pro-
tect us. The Civil Defense Admini-
stration, basing its assumptions on
information from the armed forces,
is now planning for raids of atom
bombs 21a times the size Of the one
that hit Hiroshima, dropped by an
initial raid of 400 planes, at least
$50 of which will hit their targets,
striking at 81 metropolitan areas
with from zero to IS minutes. warn
ing time and killing about $1,000
persons per bomb and injuring
another SIS, 900 casualties would be
about 175,000 without civil defense) J..
The Reel Reason
Why is Washington, like every
other city in the United States, pitt
fully unprepared for an air raid?
Stated simply the answer is this:
Almost no one cares.
The paid civil defense workers
cannot do it alone. They don't have
the money and they don't have the
necessary volunteer help and public
cooperation. Congress could pro-
vide the money. but nowhere have
the voters told their Congressman
to put up the money or risk defeat
next election day. It all goes back
to public apathy.
Why don't the people care? Civil
defense officials and a tiny minority
of worried Congressman have sought
the answer to those questions, and,
with the help Of psychologists, have
found several answers.
Basically. there are two attitudes
which make for inaction: There
Is no real danger" and, There Is a
terrible danger, but -"
Some Reasons
Persons who see no danger from
Russian A and/or H bombs give
several reasons:
. The military will protect us. The
armed forces have kept war away
from this country in the past and
will do so in the future.
. The Russians do not have the
atom bomb. Some persons believe
the Soviet Union does not have the
technical skill to, turn out an A.
bomb. Others. older people in par
ticular, do not want to face up to
the atom bomb problem, so they
convince themselves subconsciously
1t does not exist.
. The Russians could not deliver
the bomb. Red bombers could not
make a round-trip to American tar
gets, and the Communists could
not flnd volunteers for the one-way
trip.
Yes, but
There are several "yes, but" atti-
tudes:
Q The problem is too big to be
solved. The thought of coping with
hundreds of thousands of dead and
injured and whole cities destroyed
is just too staggering to contemplate.
. Every one will die anyhow, so
what's the use?
. Maybe the other people will be
killed or injured, but I'll make out
ali right.
. There is plenty Of time in the
future to think about civil defense
These reasons go q long way to
explain the apathy, but why doesn't
Congress or the President jolt the
public out Of It's do-nothing atti-
tude?
Apparently congressman - with
some exceptions-share the apathy,
but for somewhat different reasons.
CongresSmen are under no political
pressure from the voters or the
White House to do much for civil
defense. Economy Is politically de-
sirable, cuts in civil defense bring
no political repriSaIs. Civil defense
funds were cut from $125 million to
$46.5 million this year.
And many congressman, including
key members of the House Appropria-
tions Committee, apparently are
numbered among the persons who
refuse to believe in the atom bomb.
Lock Of Vieor
The President did not fight for his
civil defense funds with a fraction
Of the vigor with which he put
through his excesS-profits tax bill
despite the fact he called civil de-
fense "a sheer necessity" and told
Congress, This work must 60 for
ward without lag" His decision to
go along with a cut in civil defense
spending apparently Is part Of his
decision not to buy a better and
more expensive air defense system
discussed in an accompanying ar
ticle by William HineS).
The public, kept largely ignorant
of the danger Of attack and the pos
sibility of a better civil defense cou-
pied with q stronger air defense,
cannot, in turn, bulge either the
President or Congress.
The job of civil defense even in
the face Of that destruction is not a
staggering one. Actually, for each
individual participating, 1t is o
fairly simple thing.
Roles in FomiIy
Each family would provide its
own basic civil defense. It would
have q small first aid kit, an mex
pensive shelter and canned food and
water; and it would know how to
handle home fires.
The more technical jobs. city fire.
fighting, evacuation Of the wounded,
sky watching, communications, etc.
would be handled hy trained v0lun-