SEP 4 1959

Dear Dr. Rotblat

Thank you for the material on the Pugwash conference which | hope to
read carefully with interest.

} have read the summary statement and conclustons. | could not disagree
with them as far as they go, but they seem to mé So futile that | would
not care to join publicly with them.

In view of the present poverty of mutual trust and god@ faith among the
great powers, the agreements you recommend would be untrustworthy and un-
enforceable. If the Powers could come to gome agreement on nuclear controls
| might have more hopes. Even here we have to lean over backwards to glean
any hope of a liberal attitude on the part of the USSR-- and this in an area
where automatic controls have some hope of usefulness. | do not see how

an agreement to relax security restrictions on sctentific work couldm pos-
sibly be enforced, much as we might all wish this eventuality.

| have some concern that futile proposals may do worse harm than waste
your time. Western science Is already so much more openly accessible--
you will have no trouble finding lists of papers published from Fort
Detrick and from Porton-- that we can hardly conceal that work is going

on in Fiologleal warfare laboratories; with the pervasive secrecy In every
aspect of Russian activity, a futiie recommendation to abolish such labo-
ratories can only be one more source of propaganda harsasment/ that will
operate mainly in one direction.
Blological warfare certalnly gives us just one more motive to Guses the
insenity of contemporary world politics. if 1 can make any contribution
to quieting the sources of mutual suspicton | will do my best. | do not
think that gilding the lily of nuclear annihilation fs such a contribution.

Of course | deeply appreciate the humanitarian concern that must have moti-

vated you and your colleagues in organizing this conference. | also recog-
nize that the views | have just expressed are debatable.

Yeurs sincerely,

a VIL ON