Their Decision-Making Process Bothers Some of the British

R & D contracts have been awarded in the ABM program since it began 10 years ago, fewer than a dozen localities have felt a major impact. Some 15,000 persons are now participating in the R & D effort. Of course, once a decision to deploy Nike X was made, political pressures arising from the program's economic impact would increase. According to qualified Army sources, spending for production and deployment probably would reach a peak of about $1 or $2 billion a year, depending on the nature of the deployment. Roughly estimated, the peak manpower requirement for achieving a "thin" deployment might be about 80,000 persons, 20 percent of them scientists and engineers. A deployment providing some point defense for 25 cities might require 160,000 people. Manpower for producing and deploying a system providing comparatively intensive defenses for 50 cities-the largest program the Army now contemplates-would require still more personnel, but the outer limit would be about 200,000, or half the civil servants that were working for NASA at the peak of the Apollo program. Douglas Aircraft and the Martin Company would do the missile airframe work, but work on the radar and other electronics equipment would be widely dispersed through invitation of competitive bids and proposals. Without a doubt, the economic impact of the Nike X program would be significant for a sizable number of firms and localities. Nevertheless, suggestions that the ABM program can be put over on the strength of its economic appeal stand up poorly. Among the 14 senators who voted against the appropriation of $168 million in unrequested ABM "pre-production" funds last year were four from states where major Nike X work is in progress-Joseph Clark of Pennsylvania, Harrison Williams of New Jersey, Robert F. Kennedy of New York, and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The majority supporting the extra apropriation probably was deceptively large, for voting on defense spending bills has tended to become pro forma, with most members of Congress accepting what the Armed Services and the appropriations committees recommend. Congressman Alphonzo Bell, a Republican moderate who represents the Santa Monica area, recently polled his constituents on the ABM question and found that, of the more than 10,000 respondents, a majority opposed deployment. Though Bell's district embraces the Douglas facilities where the air frame for an ABM interceptor missile isbeing developed, it takes in much besides, including part of the U.C.L.A. campus. Statewide, the diversity of political influences at play is still greater. Kuchel of California was the first senator to publicly propose the negotiations with the Soviets. In short, the politics of a major industrial state such as California, with its welter of economic interests, educational institutions, and enormously varied groups championing everything from world peace to abolishment of the income tax, is too complex for any simplistic military-industrial-complex, or merchants-of-death, theory to hold true. The national constituency appears to be the one that really counts on the ABM issue, and it is to this constituency that President Johnson will have to look in the months ahead as the question comes to a point of decision. Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations with the Soviets, Johnson should be able to deal with the issue on its meTits, without being unduly bothered by political pressures. -LUTHER J. CARTER