New Blueprint

After five days of earnest discussion, filled with friendly give & take, the President of the United States and the Prime Ministers of Britain and Canada came forward last week with a firm proposal on the future of The Bomb. What they said was this:

They did not feel that the immediate divulging of the know-how of the atom bomb's manufacture would contribute anything to keeping the peace. In fact, they thought it might have precisely the opposite effect. So no secrets would be given out--yet.

But the three heads of state felt it absolutely necessary that The Bomb and all other weapons of mass destruction be internationalized as soon as "effective, reciprocal and enforceable safeguards acceptable to all nations" could be set up.

Their specific suggestion was the establishment of a special commission under the United Nations Organization which would tackle the problem methodically. And they laid out the steps for the commission to follow. It would first arrange for the free exchange of basic scientific information among all countries. Then it would establish controls to see that atomic energy is used only for peaceful purposes the world over.

As a third step it would draw up a convention for the elimination of atomic and all other mass-destruction weapons (e.g., gas, bacteriological warfare) from the arsenals of all nations. Finally, it would set up the safeguards--perhaps through international inspection--to see that the convention was continually adhered to.

Next Move. That was the plan. The Messrs. Truman, Attlee and King realistically acknowledged that no perfect safeguards could ever be devised. But they believed that what they had proposed could be made to work, through the United Nations Organization, providing that all nations believed in UNO and made it strong enough to put it beyond the successful challenge of any single nation.

As such, the plan put the next move squarely up to Russia. Before the communique was issued there was some speculation that it would contain demands on Russia for a full statement of its political and economic aims. But Truman, Attlee and King asked for a different--and better --quid pro quo. In effect, they demanded that in exchange for atomic information

Russia give a full guarantee that it would work with and put its trust in the United Nations Organization.

In its final form, the plan was largely of U.S. origin. Prime Minister Attlee's great contribution was his insistent urging that some agreement be put forward now.

Sixty Days. Immediate reaction in the U.S. and Britain was approval. The plan contained no statement or policy which could not have been uttered two months ago. But its virtue was the obvious virtue that, after months of hysteria and confusion, a statement had been made; at last there was an Anglo-American agreement for the rest of the world to accept or reject.

In a speech at Charleston, S.C., Secretary of State Byrnes hopefully stated that the period during which the U.S., Britain and Canada would still hold the secret need not be long--perhaps no longer than 60 days. Within that time, he hoped, the commission could be at work. To cries from the U.S. left-wing press that the U.S. and Britain were using The Bomb to extract political concessions from Russia, Jimmy Byrnes replied: "Not only untrue in fact, but a wholly unwarranted reflection upon the American government and people."

But he, too, made it unmistakably clear that the next step in atomic bomb control must come from Russia. Said he: "The creation and development of safeguards to protect us all from unspeakable destruction is not the exclusive responsibility of the United States or Great Britain or Canada. It is the responsibility of all governments."

* T. L. Rowan, Attlee's secretary; Dr. Vannevar Bush, head of the OSRD; Major General E. I. C. Jacob, British atom bomb expert; Republican Charles A. Eaton of New Jersey; Senator Brien McMahon of Connecticut; Canadian Ambassador Lester B. ("Mike") Pearson; Secretary of State Byrnes; Democrat Sol Bloom of New York; Admiral William D. Leahy.

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