-157truction of the American stockpile and of American installations for manufacturing
further bombs, or some equally radical American sacrifice, are in a position to
criticize the government of the United States for not at this time pressing for
The United Nations Atomic Energy Commission hignow
rs) nie
htop
>
“w
of HO uy és
2
an effective control system.
i
een created.
Whether
or not a bolder attack on the control problem would have been possible, it is
clear that in these first months no irreparable missteps were taken.
There may
have been an unjustified American delay in initiating negotiations, and the
Anglo-Canadian-American Potomac Conference may have given an appearance of anti-
Soviet exclusiveness; but Soviet collaboration in the first steps at least was
secured by the subsequent Moscow Conference.
With a special United Nations commission considering the problem, the
pressure for immediate action by American government officials may be relaxed for
a period of several months.
This interval of relaxation must not be wasted.
At
the end of the period, the United States must have canvassed thoroughly alternative control policies on the basis of a careful evaluation of American interests
and an accurate estimate of the position of other governments.
There is another way in which the respite won by the creation of the Atomic
Energy Commission can be and must be used.
lightened public opinion.
It must be used to create an en=
American officials must be protected against sniping
on the home front by those who believe or say they believe that their government
is giving away precious scientific secrets, knowledge of which may shortly be
turned against our own country.
The initial reaction of Senator Austin and
|
Senator Vandenberg to the publication of agreements reached at the Moscow Con-
ference of the three foreign ministers in December, 1945, shows that even the
modest step there taken toward international agreement regarding the bomb can be
challenged as foolhardy.
The records of Senators Austin and Vandenberg by no
means suggest that they are narrow nationalists.
When criticism comes from
responsible senators whose past record shows a willingness to support inter-