700.5611/5–2554
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant) to the Director of the Policy Planning Staff (Bowie)
During the course of a call by Sir Roger on the Secretary on another subject, the question of a possible moratorium on H-bomb experiments apparently came up. I came in at the tail end of the conversation and consequently do not know its entire purport. You may wish to ask the Secretary concerning its content. What I learned was that the Secretary was now dubious as to the wisdom of a moratorium on the grounds that it might handicap us in the missile field, that it might further impair the spirit of enterprise on the part of our scientists by placing artificial limits on their experimentation, and, in addition, might boomerang from a propaganda point of view. Sir Roger said that London was now aware of the possibility of a propaganda boomerang.