o
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or. A Sunday, March 13, 1960
odepeodenit African S
Planned During
j Year in Africa
(Editor's note: This is an-
other in th series of Great
i Decisions ... 1960 topics
which groups throughout
the country are considering
i.n the Foreign Policy asso
, ciation's annual opinion
poll. Today's subject is
1 "New Timetable for Inde-
pendent Africa." The For
eign Policy association,
Inc.. which furnished the
. material, is a non-partisan,
non-profit, non-governmen--
tal educational agency.)-
v The rush for independence
I in former African territories
; has upset some of the most
optimistic predictions, and
Z raises the question whether
U.S. policies toward free
Africa are adequate or up-to-
date. At least five new states
' are slated for full independ-.-
ence during the course of
; what Africans call "the magic
r. year of 1960."
The most unexpected de
velopment was Belgium's re-
cent decision to grant full in
v; dependence to the Congo by
the end of next June. Came
Croon became independent
Jan. 1. Togoland, a former
C French protectorate, now a
; UN Trust Territory, will gain
; independence April 27. On
'.- July 1 the east coast trust ter
ritory of Somalia will become
independent, and on Oct. 1
y Nigeria will win freedom.
Yet these five new nations
are a minimum score. In the
'' French Community, in partic
: ular, still other states may
' reject their present close ties
; to France in favor of either
full sovereignty outside the
Community or within an asso
j. ciation resembling, perhaps,
$he (British) Commonwealth
i, of Nations.
Complete Break
f One former French terri-
tory, Guinea, made a com-
plete break in September,
t 1958. Two states, Senegal and
. Soudan, originally chose mem
- bership in the French Com-
munity. Moves are now under
way, however, to merge these
two states into a fully inde-
v pendent Mali Federation.
Similarly, the island of Mala
1 j&che (formerly Madagascar),
off Africa's southeast coast,
is now negotiating with Paris
i for full independence.
T In. other parts of Africa,
notably Algeria and certain
I British East Airican territor-
ies, the timetable for inde-
pendence has not yet been
I set. Momentum, however, is
! clearly building up. A wholly
independent Africa is no long-
er a distant or uncertain
C prospect.
The issue today is not
whether independence will
come, but how independence
. will come about and what it
! will bring.
Negotiation or Violence?
In contrast with other
I great, historical independ
; ence movements, the recent
; march of nationalism in Afri-
ca has so far been relatively
r peaceful. There have been out-
breaks of terrorism against
- colonial rule, and reprisals
and repressions have taken
place against African terror-
ists and nationalists. With the
; single exception of Algeria,
however, there have been no
- sustained, full-scale national-
ist rebellions in postwar
. Africa.
? In West Africa, where few
white men have settled, Brit-
ish and French colonial au-
thorities have come to accept
the inevitability of independ-
ence, or at least self-govern-
ing status, for their territo-
ries.
! . Spain and Portugal, on the
I other hand (and, until recent
; ly, Belgium) continue to re-
sist nationalist ambitions. Po
r litical riots in the Belgian
I Congo last year led to inter-
-ention by the Belgian king
and a Belgian about-face on
the independence issue.
Many observers . predict
that Spain and Portugal may
J soon be brought to the same
state by violence or , the
threat of violence -as conti-t-
nent-wide nationalism gains
momentum.
Important Minorities - . -I
In East Africa, where white
1- settlers and Asian tradesmen
are important minorities, the
situation is more difficult and
perhaps more ominous. Afri-
can terrorism has been par
i ticularly violent in British
I territories, where non-African
1 minorities continue to resist
African demands for "one
man, one vote." In these
areas, too, observers predict,
; violence may be the only al
l tcrnative to early satisfaction
T of the political demands of
I the Africans. . . -..
African rebellion against
: colonial rule an non-African
" minorities is. however, only
part of the danger. Some of
the bloodiest incidents of re
cent years have been the re
sult of Africans battling Afri
cans -for political, economic
or simply tribal reasons.
These tribal conflicts cre
ate complications not only for
colonial authorities, but also
for the new and inexperi
enced African governments
that are emerging.
Artificial Borders
An important part of the
problem is, of course, the ar
tificiality of territorial bor
ders. Borders were drawn in
many cases, by colonial gov
ernments, without regard to
geography or ethnic or cul
tural lines. Some internation
al boundaries cut through an
cient tribal regions, parceling
land and peoples to two or
three different colonial ad
ministrations. Independence, in other
word is a step toward new
and difficult problems for
African leaders. Even if colo
nial governments retire grace
fully from Africa, the new
African governments face
grave problems in unifying
rival or hostile tribes, and
perhaps even in redrawing in
ternational boundaries along
more realistic lines. At that
stage in African history, con
f 1 i c t between independent
African governments will
loom as a danger.
U. S. AID PROGRAM FOR AFRICA
Nations and territories involved: Ethiopia. Federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia. Libya, Mo
rocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Tunisia, Uganda. (U.S. agricultural
surpluses were shipped to Guinea in 1959.)
military assistance
;XyXv3 technical cooperation 83
J special assistance
62
15
s JL
WW '
'
'j '
1958
..1
1959
Decisions Groups
Favor Promotion of
Economic Growth
The need for the United
States to promote rapid eco
nomic growth in underdevel
oped areas, and to foster dem
ocratic institutions through
out the free world, was af
firmed by 93 per cent of those
included in an informal sur
vey conducted as part of the
nationwide , world affairs
study program, "Great De
cisions. . . 1960," the Foreign
Policy association, national
sponsor of the program, has
announced. .
These were the nearly
unanimous views, expressed
by 5,600 "Great Decisions
group . members in 100 com'
munities in 23 states, which
were voluntarily reported to
the association. The commu
nities represent only a por
tion of the total communities
in all 50 states in which some
250,000 adults and students
are engaged in the current
program.
Opinion also ran heavily in
favor of two collateral points,
with 80 per cent of the same
5,600 participants favoring
greater Allied effort to aid
underdeveloped areas, and 70
per cent favoring reduction
of trade barriers between the
free world countries.
Now in its sixth consecu
tive year, "Great Decisions"
is an annual eight-week re
view, by citizens in their own
communities, of topical U.S.
foreign policy issues.
State, Local Level
Sponsored on the commu
nity level by state and local
organizations and education
al institutions, the program is
offered nationally by the non
partisan, nonprofit Foreign
Policy association as a means
of furthering public under
standing of and participation
COW IN SPACE RESEARCH
New York-fliPD-The cow is
helping scientists in their at
tempt to solve the menu prob
lems of future space voyagers.
Scientists at Republic Avia
tion Corporation report that
by simulating the unique di
gestive process of a cow, they
can test the practicality of
converting normally indigesti
ble food plant fibers into meat
substitutes and sugars.
Anchorage - This Alaska
city was built in 1914 as a
railway construction camp.
Finally, the race question
is in itself a potentially dan
gerous source of violence.
Repercussions in Africa
The Union of South Africa's
"apartheid" policy of "separ
ate development" for white
and nonwhite races has, deep
repercussions throughout Af
rica, and particularly in those
parts of East Africa where
government and trade are
dominated by Europeans and
Asians. African nationalists in
the Rhodesias, Tanganyika
and Kenya are hostile to any
law or policy which tends to
give non-Africans a privi
leged or protected place in
the society.
In view of these multiple
and complex problems, the
future of the African inde
pendence movement will ob
viously be hazardous, and
may yet become violent. If,
on the other hand, the transi
tion can be made at minimum
cost, what does the future
hold for free Africa? .
A peaceful transition from
colonial rule to independence
will still leave the new Afri
can governments with enor
mous problems, domestic and
regional.
Regionally, African states
will need to develop econom
ic and perhaps even political
patterns of cooperation that
($ millions)
81
21
1960 (proposed)
in the field of foreign policy.
Views summarized in this
report concern the first week's
study and discussion topic,
"Communist Timetable for
1960. . . What Odds?" and
were expressed by members
of 500 groups in all parts of
the country.
The Association estimates
that over 15,000 groups are
participating in this year s
program.
While sentiment backed in
creased cultural and scientific
excnanges ana continued ne
gotiation with communist
countries (76 per cent), few
favored relaxing trade restric
tions with Russia (21 per cent)
and still fewer (12 per cent)
were willing to accept com
munist control over areas now
under communist control.
Greater Expenditure
More than half (63 per cent)
thought greater expenditure
and effort to close the missile
gap was necessary, yet a rela
tive minority (28 per cent)
was in favor of building up
conventional military forces
capable of fighting small wars.
Few felt there should be
no change in current U.S.
military (3 per cent) or eco
nomic (4 per cent) policies. -Greater
use of all surpluses
for undernourished lands was
suggested by a Waterbury,
Conn., group member; from
Florida, Oregon, New Mex
ico and Vermont came de
mands for strengthening and
reaffirmation of our own dem
ocratic ideals; many comments
referred to a need for a more
integrated military policy
("less service rivalry"), and a
Macon, Ga., -participant re
marked on the necessity for
us to "get rid of social in
equalities at home."
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will allow the area to develop
peacefully, into stable socie
ties and progressive econo
mies. In West Africa in par
ticular discussions have long
been under way regarding eco
nomic and political coopera
tion, although rivalries among
African leaders have so far
hindered any extensive, for
mal arrangements.
Internal Problems
Internally, however, the
new African governments
face their most difficult prob
lems. The transition to stable self
government and modern na
tionhood depends, experts
agree, on many intangibles -such
as wise and patient lead
ership. Yet the fundamental
need is undoubtedly rapid and
successful economic development.
WE
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Unless there is a rapid rise
in productivity, it will be im
possible to raise health and
living standards, to satisfy ba
sic material needs of the pop
ulation, to provide education
and training, or to equip the
people with the understand
ing and skills necessary for
self-government.
It is in the area of African
economic development, many
authorities say, that the Unit
ed States can exert its most
constructive influence.
Foreign Investment
The principal sources of
foreign investment in African
economic growth are the Eu
ropean colonial powers, the
United States and the com
munist bloc. Total free world
aid to Africa in 1959, togeth
er with UN and other interna
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Tf? it
Great
tional agencies, was about
$900,000,000 in loans and
grants. About 20 per cent of
this aid came from the United
States.
France is the biggest free
world capital exporter to Ari
ca, accounting in 1959 for
about 60 per cent of all free
world aid to this continent.
In the same year Britain con
tribu ted'S80,000,000; Bel
gium, $40,000,000; Portugal,
810,000,000; and Italy and
Spain smaller amounts.
The Western European eco
nomic community has sched
uled joint development invest
ments of $581,000,000 for the
next five years.
U.S. Aid to Africa .
U.S. aid to Africa in 1959
included $11,000,000 in tech
nical assistance, over $100,
000,000 earmarked for Moroc
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Decisions
co, Libya, Tunisia and Sudan;
S29,000,000 from the Develop
ment Loan Fund, and Export
Import Bank loans of $12,
000,000 to help finance Afri
can trade.
In mid-February President
Eisenhower requested anoth
er $20,000,000 in technical
assistance for Africa.
Communist bloc trade-aid
deals with Africa have be
come significant only since
1956, and are still well below
the levels of free world aid.
Africa's trade with the com
munist bloc, however, has in
creased 50 per cent in the last
five years, with spectacular
increases for Egypt and Gui
nea. The Soviet Union has
also provided long-term, low
interest credits to Ethiopia,
and Czechoslovakia has nego
tiated credit, barter and mili
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This
tary aid deals with Guinea.
In short, Africa is import
ing capital from a number of
sources, in increasing am
ounts. The withdrawal of colo
nial rule has, generally, favor
ed this trend rather than hin
dered it. And the advent of
communist bloc aid has stim
ulated increased free world
aid.
Issue Is Cost
The. issue for the United
States-in the current foreign
aid debate-is wnether or not
the administration's policy of
stepped-up aid to Africa is
worth the cost. Some experts
feel that the emergence of a
politically stable and econom
ically viable free Africa is' a
vital U.S. stake, calling for
increased U.S. aid. A number
of authorities, in fact, believe
that the administration propo
for
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WAl
Weel
sal falls short of what this
country can or should con
tribute to African economic
development.
Some Congressional lea8rs
are calling for a wholly fre$h
approach to U.S. aid, involv
ing shifts in emphasis from
military to economic aid, clos
er coordination to aid Hath
U.S. allies, and other contro
versial or new proposals.
Political observers tend to
agree, however, that Congress
will decide the issue on othe
terms. Especially in an elec
tion year, they say, the pres
sures on Capitol Hill will be
to scale down the President's
total aid proposals, rather
than to meet or exceed ad
ministration requests. Only a
perceptible shift in public
opinion would counter this
trend.
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