Sohn, Edsall Call Soviets Sincere In Recent Disarmament Proposals

"Whatever type of disarmament we get, if we continue to wait, will be worse than that which we could get today." Louis B. Sohn, John Harvey Gregory Lecturer on World Organization, said yesterday. Sohn is one of four Harvard professors among the 25 Americans who attended the sixth International Pugwash Conference in Moscow, Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.

"The Russians are extremely serious about disarmament; they are frightened of the dangers of an accidental war and apprehensive of the day when small nations and even wealthy individuals will have possession of nuclear weapons," Sohn explained.

Edsall Confident of Sincerity

John T. Edsall, professor of Biological Chemistry, another of the Harvard professors to attend the conference, also expressed confidence in the Russians' sincerity. However, Edsall explained that the Russians had not thoroughly examined the problems of working out an effective inspection and control system.

The conference was attended by 75 scientists from 15 nations. Of the countries represented the United States was the best prepared, according to Sohn. More than half of the Americans had participated in an arms control study last summer.

Sohn was, however, impressed by the calibre of the Russian representatives. "The Russians sent their best people," he continued, "which perhaps indicates that the Russians are more serious about disarmament than the Americans." The Soviet group included Nobel Prize winners, while the American group did not have any.

Many of the scientists presented proposals to the conference. Sohn, one of two lawyers present, presented four suggestions.

Sohn Suggests Disarming Regions

One of Sohn's proposals was that each side equally divide its armaments into several sharply defined geographical regions. Then about every six months each nation would demand that one of the other nation's regions be disarmed with inspection.

Under Sohn's proposal there would be no danger of either nation cheating, he explained, since the other might select one of the too-well-stocked regions for disarmament. There would be provisions to insure that arms could not be shifted from one region to another after the initial divisions had been made.