The Pittsburgh Press (November 21, 1946)
From A-bombs to small arms…
World disarmament except for U.N. police urged by Patterson
War secretary’s proposal most drastic yet offered to guarantee peace
By Peter Edson, NEA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON – Complete world disarmament beyond requirements of the United Nations police force was recommended today by U.S. Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson in an exclusive interview.
Even small arms – shoulder weapons and machine guns which have been excluded from disarmament plans in the past – would be subject to limitation under Secretary Patterson’s proposal.
This is the most drastic scheme for eventual world disarmament yet put forward by any responsible official of any government.
Mr. Patterson endorsed the original disarmament proposals made by Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov and the U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, Sen. Warren R. Austin. Then Mr. Patterson went them all one better: “If we disarm to cut our atomic bombs and heavy bombers, we must also cut out all other weapons.”
Hitler methods cited
Asserting that most of the disarmament ideas advanced so far have sought to end mass destruction and the wanton killing of civilian populations by bombing, Mr. Patterson pointed out that Hitler did most of his mass destruction of civilians without the use of these heavy weapons.
To gain his world reputation as the greatest killer of all times, Hitler used machine guns and small arms and gas chambers to wipe out whole populations. And in his concentration camps he used no weapons at all – just simple starvation.
‘All across the board’
“What Hitler proved,” said the secretary of war, “was that huge armies can do as much killing as bombers. Prohibiting the use of the atomic bomb is only one phase of disarmament. There must be disarmament all across the board.”
In this connection, the secretary asserted, it is useless to work on the formula that a battleship shall be considered the equivalent of a land army or that so many foot soldiers shall be considered the equal of one bomber.
In the Washington Arms Conference of the 1920s, an effort was made to distinguish between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons. Only the so-called offensive weapons were to be banned. Secretary Patterson decried this distinction.
While the United States has many heavy weapons today, it is really only a second-rate power. Other nations have much larger armed forces. Putting a ban on heavy weapons only would therefore mean that other armies could get their guns on their shoulders and march into action much faster than the United States could get back into production of offensive heavy weapons.
Mr. Patterson thinks the world can readily reduce its armaments and armies to the ceilings set to maintain the United Nations security forces.
Suggests two theories
There are two theories as to how this United Nations force shall be organized:
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That every nation’s entire armed force shall be committed to the United Nations.
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That only specified forces shall be assigned to U.N., the unassigned forces being retained by each country as a defensive reserve.
However they are made up, to preserve the peace and security of the world, Mr. Patterson advocates assigning to the U.N. forces the right to maintain heavy weapons of offensive warfare.
Three principles
Until the United Nations can perfect its plans for a world police force, no proposal for disarmament can be considered, Mr. Patterson stated. When that first step is taken, he said, then real disarmament can be achieved on the basis of three principles:
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There must be universal and not unilateral (one-sided) disarmament. The United States tried to lead the way by unilateral disarmament after the last war and suffered for it.
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There must be a worldwide system of inspection of armed forces, since no nation trusts any other.
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Disarmament must apply to all categories of armed force – army, navy and air – above the limits of the United Nations contingent.
Secretary Patterson was frank to say that complete disarmament such as he envisaged may be a long time off. Until United Nations forces can be created to take over the zones of occupation, or until all Allied armies of occupation can be withdrawn and the ex-Axis countries admitted to full membership in the United Nations, there can be no sweeping disarmament, he said.