U.S. MAY COMPROMISE ON BOMB BAN

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29165, 28 March 1960, Page 13

U.S. MAY COMPROMISE ON BOMB BAN

Macmillan Says Decision May Affect Man’s Future

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) WASHINGTON, March 27. The British Prime Minister, Mr Macmillan, would find in his talks here a readiness on the part of the United States Government to compromise on the Soviet nuclear test ban offer, diplomatic observers said. He will not have to persuade the Administration to make a positive response. All the indications are that the battle within the Administration over acceptance or rejection has already been concluded. The forces in the Government led by the Secretary of State, Mr Christian Herter, who favoured exploring the Soviet proposal further, appear to have triumphed over those who were ultra-suspicious and counselled rejection.

Mr Macmillan said when he arrived by air in Washington late yesterday that a joint decision was needed before the Western countries took their next step at the Geneva discussions. “It therefore seems a good idea to take it jointly,” he said. “What happens in these negotiations may affect—indeed must affect—the whole future of mankind on earth.” Mr Macmillan and Mr Eisenhower will begin two or three days of talks at Camp David, Maryland, tomorrow afternoon. The Soviet proposal accepts the idea put forward last February by the Americans that nuclear tests capable of being detected by existing instruments should

be banned straight away. But the Soviet also suggests that there should be a voluntary suspension of undetectable small underground tests while scientists experiment to find new ways of recording them. American military and atomic chiefs are reported to be reluctant to give up these underground tests on the ground that they are vital to their experiments. Britain has little sympathy with this outlook and it is believed Mr Macmillan's trip is to make the British attitude clear. The prospects of President Eisenhower and Mr Macmillan agreeing on their policy towards the Soviet offer in their talks were regarded by diplomats as good. There was no sign of the air of crisis which some observers professed to see when Mr Macmillan’s sudden decision to come to Washington was announced on Thursday. The essence of the United States compromise which will be discussed with Mr Macmillan is believed to be that the United States Government will go along with a short-term moratorium on underground testing while joint research is conducted with the Soviet Union to see whether present detection methods can be improved. The chairman of the Congressional Atomic Energy Committee suggested yesterday that the United States accept a moratorium on underground tests of small nuclear weapons for no

more than a year or until a new United States President is inaugurated next January. Senator Clinton Anderson (Democrat, New Mexico), head of the House-Senate group, thus put his support behind the Administration’s reported plans for a compromise counter-proposal to the Soviet Union in the nuclear test ban negotiations at Geneva, United Press International said. But the Senator’s statement was coupled with new criticism of the latest Soviet proposal and new complaints that the Eisenhower Administration had failed to give Congress enough data. Senator Anderson told United Press International he was willing to take a chance on a one-year moratorium on small underground tests to get a treaty for a permanent ban on other nuclear tests with a workable inspection system. This was the general line of a compromise at which Mr Herter hinted in a press conference on Friday. Russia had proposed an indefinite ban, without inspection, on the small, hard-to-detect underground blasts which the West exempted from its treaty proposal. Soviet officials suggested a four or five-year moratorium outside the treaty on these small tests while scientists tried to develop ways of detecting them

Senator Anderson insisted upon rejection of any long-term cessation based on unpoliced Soviet promises.