bi

Britain’s prof. P. M. S. Blackett does
not minimize horrors of atomic war

ONE of the few scientists on
Hitler's list for immediate

mrest had the Nazis invaded

Bee Was Professor P. M. S.

tkett, the physicist.

Fane new president of the

bite Association of Scien-

War Workers has, since the

trib; amply justified this Nazi
lute. Some of his main

achj

renevements have been in

Ri years and he is well
Wn for his outspoken

\ *

Teings about ‘the conse-
Rees of atomic war.

that ai! dark-haired, and with

detache Pmined but, modestly

Reon manner which often

Pre Pamies real distinction,

ai Blackett does not look

59 years.
ae Quiet, clear voice can
aUthonit Suddenly sharp and
tarefy eo? but he will give
teply : Y weighed and patient
isha the questioning lay-
€ IS a scientist who
idly his responsibility
Ommunity at large.

His
his ae onors are many, but
Snnin fer had an unusual be-

: the ‘a Spent the whole.

a

at Tah Cadet and saw action

Wange sttles of the Falkland
8 and Jutland,

» HE pag:
ih 191g ened from the navy

Ses viy
to the ¢

t World War at sea

vhtidge and went to Cam-

long p vhere he worked under
of netherford, In the course
the 5, eter work he obtained

transmutation of an atom.

In 1933 he was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
and became _ professor. of
physics at Birkbeck College.
In 1937 he moved to Manches-
ter University, where he cre-
ated a large and important
school of cosmic-ray research.

For most of the Second
World War he was director
of Naval Operational Research
at. the Admiralty, where his
work was a major factor in
the success of the anti-
submarine campaign.

From 1945 until its abolition
in 1948 he was a member of
the British government’s Ad-
visory Committee on Atomic
Energy, but was in disagree-
ment with the opinions of
most of its members.

In 1948 he was awarded the
Nobel Prize for Physics for
his improvement of the Wilson
cloud-chamber and for the
resulting discoveries in the
field of nuclear physics and
cosmic rays. With this instru-
ment he had obtained photo-
graphs of nuclear processes.

He became a pro-vice-chan-
cellor of Manchester Univer-
sity in 1950, and in 1953 was
appointed to the chair of
physics at the Imperial Col-
lege of Science.

Author of numerous scien-
tific papers, he is best known
to the general public for his
book on Military and Political

*

j

is is a view of the first atomic pile to go into operation at Britain’s new nuclear power

station at Calder Hall which will formally be opened next month.

Consequences of Atomic

Energy, published in 1948.

In this he argued that the
military value of atomic
weapons in a world war had
been greatly exaggerated in
an attempt to frighten the
Soviet Union into agreeing to
U.S. control plans.

Any war in which the USSR
and the U:S. were chief con-
testants would not be decided
by atomic bombings alone, but
would mean a long struggle
involving vast armies, he said.

Western propaganda had
also played down the indus-
trial value of atomic power
and the fact that mankind
could now bring up the living
standards of countries like
India and China to the level of
that in the U.S,

But though he attacked mis-
conceptions about atomic war,
he did not minimise its horrors.

In 1950, in a foreward to a
pamphlet published by the

Association of Scientific
Workers, he warned that ade-
quate defense of Britain
against atomic attack launched
from nearby bases on the
continent was “quite impract-
icable”’ because of Britain’s
geographical position and con-
gestion of population.

Britain should therefore
refrain from a military policy
which would lead to atom
bombs being dispatched from
British bases, he added.

In March ‘this year, in a
lecture at Trinity College,
Cambridge, Prof. Blackett gave
his view that all-out total war
had now been made unlikely
by the great superiority on
both sides of atomic offensive
power over defensive possibil-
lities.

“T think the major immedi-
ate problems are those relating
to. limited wars,” he said, and
added that the great powers
must aim at preventing them.

Proposals like that of “grad-
uated deterrence” were use-
ful but-might be impracticable.
The alternative was not mas-
sive atomic retaliation against
cities, “except in a situation
where a nation is prepared
to commit suicide,” but to use
no atom bombs at all —*not
even on the battlefield.

Since Prof. Blackett is pri-
marily a servant of Britain
and the West, his views are of
tremendous significance. “He
puts them forward in the name
of reason and sanity.

He has declared that when
he delivers his presidential
address to the British Associ-
ation meeting in Dublin next
year, he hopes to take some
such subject as “Science and
the world today.”

Whatever subject he may
choose, it is certain that his
address will be a thought-pro-
voking challenge, not only to
scientists but to us all.

ssf Photograph of the

By GEORGE LOHR

TH BRNO, Czechoslovakia
. Man riding with me
eae train compartment
the olg typical left-over of
His ..02ech middle, class.
Te face was spongy
his gir ve good living,
& his h as fat and slobby
Sive brain and the mas-
SPreag Sold watch chain
his ostentatiously across
taste St in the same’ bad
8S his dirty jokes.
ti told him my destina-
Said’ wi Small city and he
Place * disgust: “Aw, that
Yoornaiy how dead as a
Seen ; You should’ have
Of Right the old days, lots
i t clubs, and what a
the pent district — one of
Now : st.” His eyes were
Ory, “M4ling in lewd mem-
He
Nostaipe 800d. cause to be
e hight because most of
Seg, sp lbs and all the
Vey ae Prostitution, all
Nore mn 20Slovakia, are no

. is BO mo? this mean there
i re prostitution, and

how about the other evils
that go with such hot spots,
like veneral disease and al-

coholism?

My search for the answer
was confined to Brno, pop-
ulation of 300,000, but it’s
a typical Czechoslovak city.

It’s a textile centre with
many women workers and
during capitalist. days un-
employment and low wages
gave rise to, quite a bit of
prostitution. Today there
are jobs for all and there-
fore full-time prostitution
is down to a small fraction
of former days. The hand-
ful of dyed-in-the-wool pro-
fessionals that remain, most-
ly close to middle age, are
known to the police, but
the attitude is more or less
to let age drive these in-
corrigibles out of business.

Then there are also some
semi-pros, girls who hold
down regular jobs and make
some extra money on the
side. Every job, even the

lowest, now pays enough to
live on, but it’s true that
on some wages you have to
budget tightly to squeeze
out nylons and the like.
Instead of studying to qual-
ify for better jobs, a- few
of the girls, especially from
rural areas, take the easy
short cut to extra income
and good times.

When the police get on to
such a girl, the city social
service department as well
as the trade union and
youth organization in her
place of employment are
informed.

These groups see to it that
she gets vocational training,
try to involve her in activi-
ty and generally help to
get her straightened out.
For girls who’ve gotten In-
to a serious mess and have
no parental supervision,
there are special boarding
schools where they spend
their evenings and nights
after their regular work in
office or factory.

Ow Czechoslovakia treats prostitutes,

How about alcoholism?
That’s still quite a problem,
some say a little less than
formerly and others claim
it’s about the same.

From my own observation,
there is less drunkeness
them back home, and one
thing is sure — the alco-
holic here is a medical case,
not just a bum to. be tossed
into the drunk tank-at the
station house.

Here the drunks have
their own exclusive “hotel,”
attached to a mental .hos-
pital. The patrolman calls
an ambulance, the patient
is examined for bruises or
alcoholic poisoning upon
arrival and the orderlies
put him to bed to sleep it
off.

Upon awakening, he gets
a lecture and a bill — the
tariff is high — for the
ambulance and bed. He
also gets an invitation to
four Sunday lectures on the
evil of drink. Most show
voluntarily. If he does not,
the police come to his resi-

alcoholics

dence and escort him to the
meeting. But the general
emphasis is on discretion.

Three-time repeaters at
the station go to a special
institution, attached to a
factory where they work,
with group psychotherapy
being part of the treatment.

A socialist economy can
eradicate prostitution and
a good socialist medical ser-
vice can knock out V.D. But
to lower. the boom on al-
coholism and other such old
habits that have their cause
in complex human emotions
takes a lot of education or
ideological work, if you
will.

Communists here are
learning, perhaps still too
slowly, that you can’t bridge
the gap from the border-
line into the new life with
phrases or slogans. It takes
much persuasive — intelli-
gence, even more pains-
taking effort and, above
all, a vast amount of human

warmth.

SEPTEMBER 21, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE Il