ATOMIC ENERGY AS A HUMAN ASSET—COMPTON 167 
If the nations follow such a procedure with courage and determina- 
tion it would seem possible to insure the banishment of international 
wars. It will then be possible to develop with assurance the peaceful 
fruits of atomic energy. 
Two alternatives have been suggested to this idea of preserving our 
safety through an armed international Commission. One is atomic 
disarmament. The other is maintaining our own strength on a con- 
clusively higher level than can be attained by any combination of 
other nations. es 
I am convinced that atomic disarmament would be a fatal mistake. 
The proposal we have been discussing calls for the resignation by 
every individual nation of the right to make and possess atomic wea- 
pons; but it makes this outlawing effective by placing atomic weapons 
at the disposal of the United Nations Security Council. An agreement 
to stop producing atomic bombs would only make it possible for some 
ambitious nation to develop them with the hope of gaining the mastery 
of the world, and our destruction would be the result. 
For a number of years I believe we could as a nation maintain mili- 
tary strength greater than any group that might oppose us. Such a 
policy would however tend to unite the world against us, which would 
in the long run be disastrous. It is, furthermore, doubtful whether 
over some peaceful decades our nation would continue support of our 
armed forces adequate to maintain a high level of superiority. We 
should then become vulnerable to the nation with the long-harbored 
grudge or the newly developed commercial rivalry. 
The answer is rather to outlaw war itself. And this can be done 
by a strong world “police” which has at its disposal more powerful 
weapons than any recalcitrant nation can hope to acquire. 
It is clear, however, that while working for such an agreement for 
a united international armed force we, as well as other nations, cannot 
avoid the policy of maintaining our own armed might at a level that 
will make attack by a potential enemy unprofitable. When our efforts 
for agreement are successful, our weapons and an appropriate share 
of our Army will be turned over to the Commission. For the time 
being, only we are able to produce such weapons, and it is our task 
to see that they are made available for this world “police.” Thus the 
Commission will start with the strength necessary to fulfill its re- 
sponsibilities. If by some mischance the attempts at an agreement 
should fail, our strength will be doubly needed to discourage attack 
from any potential enemy. 
There is thus real hope that another atomic bomb may never be used 
in war, and, thanks in part to atomic weapons, that international war 
itself may already be obsolete. 
