HIROSHIMA SIR, —One question seems to have been overlooked in all
the discussions on the use of the atomic bomb, namely, what kind of city precisely was Hiroshima? At the time of the bombing the statement was made that Hiroshima was an important military centre. This, of course,- is true, but only partially so. For Hiroshima was also one of the largest educational centres in Japan. The military and university sections of the city were quite distinct and .t least a mile apart, and so the former lent itself all the more to precision bombing. By the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima there is no doubt a large population, which in no way could be called military, perished.
The situation would have been different had the bomb been dropped on Kura, sixteen miles away, a city and a naval arsenal wholly given to the production of war potentia'. A parallel over here would be the cities of Oxford, with its hug motor-car works as well as its university, and Portsmouth, with its dockyard.—Yours faithfully,
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