GOOD INTENTIONS S CEPTICISM, though not cynicism, is the proper attitude
towards Mr. Harold Stassen's appointment as Minister for Disarmament, and Sir Winston Churchill has been emphati- cally right to refuse to follow the American example. The ob- stacles to nuclear disarmament, as has been repeatedly pointed out in these columns, are now scientific no less than political, and as such cannot be overcome by a Cabinet appointment. Only if the experts saw some hope, however remote, of devis- ing a means for the effective international control of the pro- duction of these weapons would any advantage be gained by entrusting a Minister with the task of mobilising their energies and trying to get their recommendations accepted by other countries. Mr. Stassen's appointment can therefore only be an earnest of good intentions, and any merit it may have in this respect is offset by the harm it will do in deceiving public opinion about the realities of the case and distracting attention From the only fruitful approach to disarmament, removal by diplomacy of the causes of the armaments race.
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