Space Program May Replace War, Rochow Tells World Federalists

Exploration of outer space may enable man to make an "end run" around the obstacles to world peace by channeling aggression outward, Eugene R. Rochow, professor of Chemistry, told the Harvard-Radcliffe World Federalists last night.

Noting that public approval greets every new expenditure for the conquest of space, Rochow asked: "Aren't we actually witnessing a phenomenon which has interest, enthusiasm, which can absorb energies and masculine drive, and which could make the question of war passe and old hat?"

"You can't change the attitudes of this country unless you change its economic incentives," Rochow declared. Because of its costliness, space travel would allow our "war economy" to remain prosperous without manufacturing armaments, he contended.

He raised this hope after sketching a rather gloomy picture of prospects for ending the cold war by formal negotiations. "Disarmament by agreement is a contradiction in terms, unless the causes of the conflict are also resolved," he maintained. "Are you going to get people to agree not to disagree?" he asked, remarking that "disagreement caused the conflict in the first place."

Atomic Test Ban

Contrary to popular opinion, an agreement to ban atomic testing might not be a "first step towards disarmament," Rochow asserted. Scientists can determine what a weapon will do through "sub-critical experiments" which do not require detonation. Since these experiments use up less fissionable material, countries such as China, with little plutonium, benefit from "testing" in this way.

Another alternative -- regulated disarmament under a world government--provides a better hope, he said, but emphasis should be on relieving tensions instead of coercing nations. "We should rely on strengthening world law, and on obtaining peace through law rather than through force," he declared, noting that the United States has so far hindered world law by falling to repeal the Connally Amendment.

Discussing the U.N., Rochow said that it needs more attributes of a world government, such as the power to tax. "It should be strengthened to make it more than a debating society, although that is better than nothing at all."