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Laurel Heights Sanatarium Shelton, Conn May 13, 1947 $2.00 Cash

Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists 90 Nassau Street Princeton, N. J.

Dear Sir: Thank you for your letter explaining your plan to raise a million dollars to educate regarding atomic energy.

I regret that my long confinement in the Sanatarium has cut off my earning power. For this reason, my contribution is not as large as it should be, as it needs to be under the circumstances we have in the world today.

Almost daily we get a lively discussion [illegible] [illegible] / concerning some phase of the international situation. Frequently [illegible] to data which I have received from your committee. This morning we discussed [illegible] [illegible] article in the last bulletin proposing a $20,000,000,000 budget for international activities. It seemed to us that such a move is essential if the United States is to convince the world we want peace.

I should like to go on record at the following point. Your letter expresses confidence that a [illegible] informed concerning atomic energy and its implications "will act for life and not for death." I do not believe you are giving proper attention to the fact that we shall act according to our various concepts of how we may gain life and not death. These concepts may not always be valid, and possibly are not even in the majority of cases. On other occasions, they may offset one another with a net result of zero for great energy expended. Some of us support certain measures in the naive belief they will accomplish the opposite of what they will in fact accomplish.

With best wishes for great accomplishment in what you are doing, [illegible], Sincerely Lewis Baldwin