USE OF ATOMIC BOMBS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27988, 7 June 1956, Page 18

USE OF ATOMIC BOMBS

Sir, —I am a visitor tp your city and am very surprised at three letters I read this morning in “The Press.” Did not the Prince of Peace say to Peter: “He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” This same Prince of Peace left the Kingdom in our hands till He returns in saying: “Occupy till I come.” How can we be true to the Prince of Peace if we let any aggressor push us out? Therefore, as I see it, it is our duty to take the defensive against any. aggressor and drop the largest possible atom or hydrogen bomb on that. aggressor.— Yours,, etc., GORDON P. S. SMITH. New Plymouth, June 5, 1956.

Sir.—The letters of Paul Maling. Melville B. Mitchell, and “J.J.” on Field-Marshal Montgomery’s . philosophy on dropping an atom bomb upon the aggressor make exceedingly poor reading. Presumably he (Montgomery) should be courteous enough to wait until the aggressor first drops an atomic bomb. Such persons, and many more who make use of “The Press,” have not the mental honesty to concede that he has played no small part in allowing them freedom of expression—a freedom often abused by the small unthankfully criticising the great. Never has Montgomery advocated war. He believes himself to be a servant of his country and gives his services when requested.—Yours, etc., T M.J.S. June 6, 1956.

Sir,—The amazing thing about Lord Montgomery’s latest dictum is not that he does not care whether one or 10,000,000 people, friend and foe, full of hope and promise, shall perish, but that these same people provide the men and means to carry out his, and ether warlords’ “philosophy” of bombing. For thousands of years the greatest .minds of the pre-Christian and Christian era have endeavoured to conquer the atavistic urge of killing. Today the emotional defect and mental aberration of the disease" of war is more nursed and enforced than ever before and exploited to material and emotional advantage. Yet the atomic bomb means the end of the scourge of militarism, and Montgomerian outbursts are its last flickerings. World without war is a matter of urgency.— Yours, etc., NO MORE WAR PREPARATIONS. June 5, 1956.