12 FEBRUARY 1960, Page 17

is a pity that Mr. Hollis in his admirable article,

'Some Disarmament is Strength,' has to quote the nuclear scientist Dr. Lapp in support of one of his arguments. Unfortunately Dr. Lapp, by accepting at its face value an inaccurate translation of part of Mr. Khrushchev's speech to the Supreme Soviet on January 12, has been able to persuade a large number of People on both sides of the Atlantic that the Rus- sians have a new 'fantastic' weapon up their sleeves. Dr. Lapp really ought to have known better. In the sPeech in question Mr. Khrushchev did not in fact mention a particular rocket or nucleat weapon. On the contrary, he was speaking in very general terms indeed and clearly had no particular weapon in mind at the time. He said—and his actual words are worth qUOting—'The weapons, which are being designed and Which arc, as the phrase goes, in the portfolios of scientists and designers, are incredible weapons.' This iS a very different matter from what Dr. Lapp sup- Posed him to have said.—Yours faithfully.