RIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY PUBLISHED BY
THE A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L S O C I l T Y WAltER
J e
M U R P H Y , EDITOR
Support the McMahon Bill
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ENJAMIN FRANKLIN said that in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. We hasten to add that nothing is quite so uncertain as the “apparatus” aptly described as the Washington Merry-Go-Round. For several weeks the McMahon Bill, providing for civilian control of atomic energy developments a t the national level, appeared likely to be adopted by the Special Senate Committee on Atomic Energy with only a few minor and relatively unimportant modifications. This bill replaces the earlier and thoroughly discredited May-Johnson measure which was designed to give the militaerydictatorial power in the field of nuclear energy. The text of President Truman’s letter of February 2 to the Committee indicated clearly that the McMahon Bill in the main largely coincides with the President’s views on how research in and development of nuclear energy should be conducted in this country. The McMahon Bill with a few minor modifications has the enthusiastic endorsement and active support of the overwhelming majority of American scientists. It now appears that a spy scare, the details of which have been disclosed only in part, and the secret testimony of military officials, including Major General Leslie R. Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, have succeeded in weakening the chances of the McMahon Bill and have served to resurrect the May-Johnson measure. The situation is critical, and unless the citizens of this country are aroused immediately to the dangers inherent in the May-Johnson Bill, that measure, or one closely patterned after it, is likely to ride in on a tidal wave of senseless hysteria. If we resolve the problem confronting the McMahon Committee into its simpliest components, they can be stated as follows:
The Editors Of INDUSTRIAL ARiD ENGINEERING CHEMISTRYstated their position on the question of civilian versus military control of nuclear energy in the September, 1945, issue (page 795, column 1) in the following words : Direction and control of this program should rest with a body of highly qualified individuals, independent of Army domination and responsible to the people as a whole. Otherwise Army influence will inevitably throttle research, and release of research accomplishments of use to industry and mankind will be withheld or delayed on the plea of an Army officialdomwhich thinks largely, if not entirely, of research as a military weapon and therefore necessarily secret information.
We see no reason to change the viewpoint expressed editorially six months ago. Already we see definite signs that research is being throttled. Indeed, many of the leading scientists who were engaged in the work during the war period are deserting the field of nucleonics. Regretfully we note how many of these men have already turned to other research, and we are certain that others will do so in the immediate future. This trend will continue if the May-Johnson Bill or anything closely resembling its basic philosophy is substituted for the McMahon measure; and if it is allowed to continue, America is doomed to fall behind rapidly in the most important field of research of this or any other century, and the industrial and military future of America will be placed in jeopardy. The development of nuclear energy offers untold benefits to mankind and, possibly, the ultimate elimination of many diseases that take millions of deaths each year. Advancement in the medical sciences will be curtailed unnecessarily if we continue indefinitely to think of nuclear energy only as a military weapon. As matters stand we are committing ourselves rapidly to an armament race in which we will find ourselves at a distinct disadvantage within a few years-no one knows how many. The secret of the atomic bomb is What kind of a commission shall control atomic energy, . 1. a military matter, but to insist that research in the field research, and development; shall the top control be centered in the hands of a civilian commission, or shall it be of nuclear energy must be controlled indefinitely by an dominated or, even worse, be placed entirely in the hands of “atomic czar” is inviting disaster for ourselves and the a military czar? of the world. America has grown strong and rest 2. If the top authority is vested in civilians, how much authority shall be given to the military? powerful because the military has been subservient to civilian authority. That cornerstone of democracy 3. How much monopoly shall be granted the commission over fissionable material? must be preserved. We reiterate what we have said 4. To what extent is control necessary over patents in the again and again: “Effective liaison between the field of nucleonics? atomic energy commission and the military should be 5 . To what degree and extent is secrecy in research and proestablished and maintained, but policy should be duction techniques considered necessary to ensure national determined by civilians.” ‘ safety? 24 1
