pL A SCIENTISTS DETAIL PEACEFUL USES ° There's more to atomic energy than prospect of sudden death HERE is moré to atomic energy than the prospect of cheap power or sudden, horrible death. We have all heard of radium treatment for cancer. That is an example of the use of atomic energy to benefit man. But the - products ®f modern research have “given us far better agents. Can you picture a radiation treatment that will search out in- side your body the growth it is By WILLIAM KASHTAN going to attack? In some cases this can be done with the new materials available. For certain types of cancer of the thyroid, the surgeon can simply give a patient tasteless drinks of radio-iodine. This be- haves, almost the same as ordin- ary iodine except that it gives off rays. . It then seeks out, and concen- trates in, the cancerous tissue Big business’ wage freeze can be broken hee railway negotiating commit- ~ tee acted wisely in rejecting the conciliation board report. It offered them practically nothing even though they had concentrat- ed on fringe demands this year rather than on a justifiable wage increase. The workers in ‘the Toronto John Inglis plant, faced with a similar board recommenda- tion, likewise voted it down. It should be noted that the unions’ representatives on both boards were generally in agree- ment with the arguments put for- ward by the companies. One would have expected these gentle- men to put up a strong case on behalf of ‘the demands of the , workers. Instead they echoed the attitude displayed by the com- panies. : In the case of the Inglis negoti- ations, John Lenglet, research director for the Packinghouse workers, even supported the no- _ wage - increase recommendation. Had a railway or’steel worker rep- “resented their respective unions, there would doubtless have been strong minority reports at least. In any case, both board rulings show how faithfully these govern- ment agencies reflect the opin-— ions of the employers. x Big business undoubtedly banks on the hope that 1954 will be the year of wage freezes and, where possible, of wage cuts. Certainly it is working in-that direction as the negotiations in Ford Motors as well as in textile and some other industries show. | In all these cases the employees are pursuing a calculated policy “aimed at making the workers pay for the developing economic crisis. “Their theme song is that “We all: have to sacrifice in face of hard times.” But when the “we” is boiled down it turns out that the workers have to sacrifice | while employer profits remain at an all-time high. Maximum pro- fits are inviolate but wages aren’t. Were the workers to accept this kind of wage policy and: agree to a wage freeze this year there is no doubt that next year they would be called upon to accept wage cuts in the name of “hard times.” bo3 es 503 The bitter experiences of the Hungry Thirties should prove conclusively that neither wage freezes nor wage cuts. are the way to fight a threatening eco-. nomic crisis. The key to com- batting the crisis lies in the direc- tion of drastically raising purchas- ing power, not undermining it. - The wage policies of monopoly directed to maintaining profits at the expense of purchasing power must therefore be vigorously op- posed by a wage policy directed towards raising purchasing power at the expense of profits. The workers are in a position to make gains this year. They : can defeat the wage-freezes and wage-cutters. But to do so they will have to bring their just case to the public and gain their sup- port. Without such a public cam- paign they will be gravely handi- capped in whatever struggle they undertake to gain their legitimate demands.: Moreover, what is sorely need- ed is maximum unity and coop- eration on the part of the trade union movement generally. In . face of a growing united front of big business it is simply common sense for the workers to build their unity in the fight to raise their purchasing power. Big business is working for a pattern of wage freezes and wage cuts this year. It can ‘be stopped by united action. which it attacks. With a half-life .of only eight days, it can be left to “decay” harmlessly in the body —unlike dangerous, radium. POS ateg 8 ae So far the use of these radio- isotopes--as they are called—is still in its infancy. There is noth- ing which equals the wide “daily application of penicillin. But they . form the basis of valuable new tools for research and treatment in many sciences. ; Plastics manufacture, for ex- ample, may well be revolution- ised by the use of radiation and _ it.is surprising that a new book on atomic energy — Atomic Energy: A Survey, compiled by the British Atomic Scientists’ As- sociation — scarcely mentions this fact. : Output of Polythene, famed for its use in radar, can be doubled by shining this kind of beam on it. Other plastics can be made clearer or cloudier, stronger or weaker by skilled manipulation of the powerful rays while the plastics are being made. : There are other surprising uses. Driving belts in factories may build up charges of electricity as in the old silk handkerchief and ebonite experiments of our school- days. The spark of the discharge might be dangerous when inflam- mables are about. But call in the genie of these rays and the electricity can leak harmlessly away into the air with- out the incendiary threat of a flash. 3 % xt tt : Edited by Professor J: Rotblat, executive vice-president of the British Atomic Scientists’ Associa- long-lived | This photo of the Windscale plutonium producting plant is one of the first to be released of Britain’s new atom plants. The Windscale plant employs 5,000 men, including 300 engiheers and architects. Filters at the top of the chimneys prevent the escape of any remain: ing traces of radioactive matter. ‘tion, Atomic Energy: A Survey, is the nearest approach to an up- to-date story of major and- minor uses of atomic energy. It is a use- ful source of information about ‘the work at Harwell, the British atomic research centre, the hazards and some of.the uses of atomic energy. But on the main, grim choice before mankind it is a poor guide. JAPAN OR U.S.—MENZIES HAS SELLOUT RECORD ° the notorious Petrov case, en- gineered by the Menzies goy- ernment last month to provide a setting for the forthcoming fed- eral election, and particularly in the kidnapping of Mrs. Evokiya Petrov from the plane carrying her back to the Soviet Union, Australian security -police made use of so-called “New Austral- ians.” '