-99that the consent of the American people could never have been obtained for such a scheme; but that would seem to pin on the American people all the blame for defeating what might be the panacea for the ils of the atomic age. For this reas- on it is worthwhile, as in the case of the humanitarian crusade which we discussed earlier, to show that the idea happier days of the preekatomic age. is not merely utopian but unsuited to the The "know-how" and therefore the potential existence of atomic weapons is here to stay, By ridding itself of ali atomic power the United States would expose itself to the danger that the Soviet Union or some other country might violate its commitments and emerge as the sole possessor of the bomb. At the same time this chance of attaining a monopoly might make the temptation to violate international agreements almost irresistible. As a matter of fact, it is wilikely that our disarmament would induce the Soviet Union to abstain from those activities which would give her the "know~how! and experience. Another objection to this scheme is worth mentioning. Efforts would no doubt be made to preserve the production of atomic power for peacetime: uses; but it might prove technically impossible to do so while destroying the means of producing atomic weapons, There is another way by which, in rcturn for commitments and guarantees, we couid offcr to end our monopoly, although this one can safely be passed over with few comments, We might offer to distribute our stockpiles of atom bombs among the United Nations and specifically help the Russians and others to erect plants for the production of bombs. Yet nothing would be achieved by such procedure other than to hasten the advent of a situation which the Russians and possibly other nations expect to bring about at an carly date anyway. Since the Sovict Union has little to fear from our monopoly while it lasts, we could not hope to obtain from her long-term commitments which she would not be equally ready to make after gotting into atomic production without our help. By putting this