Civil Defense: The Right Thing to Do

Less than two years ago, New York's Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller submitted a bill that would compel homeowners to build their own fallout shelters; he got bluntly turned down by his G.O.P.-dominated legislature. But times change —and last week, less than six hours after convening for a special, two-day session, the state legislature overwhelmingly approved a program that will help provide shelters for the 4,100,000 persons connected with New York's schools, colleges and institutions. New York thereby took on the largest civil defense effort of any state in the nation.

Under Rockefeller's program—which he signed into law at week's end—New York...