Evening star., 1911-08-20
THE FUTURE OF ABYSSINIA


Menelik at A d / s-A b q b a. the
Az: capital. but merely a
'c' speechless specter. a
phantom of the former king. \ re-
cent cable announced that Lidj Eyasu or
Yasu prince jesus had been invested
with the royal prerogatives. but the Ste
FAM agency at Addis-Ababa promptly de-
MED the reported proclamation. Prince
Yasu for a fact neither reigns nor gov
erns, yet he may do both IL at his major
ity (he is fifteen years old) Apte Gorguis.
the all-powerful minister Of war. shall
be living.
.Apte Gorguis is the actual power in
Abyssinia. Ras Tessama was regent. but
his authority was based upon that WELD
ed by Apte Gorguis. The latter Is SUI
perb figure. He is In the first place
good soldier. the first quality which com
mands the esteem and respect of the
Abyssinian. He is. besides. a grand type
of the warrior tall. square -shouldered
and of the unmixed Gala race--that Is. OF
the Semitic Arabian origin; his head and
face bespeak his descent; his actions ana
language are energetic and incisive.
Just here II should be said by way Q.
memorandum for the reader that the
population Of Abyssinia is very much
mixed. The Abyssinian is frequently
spoken Of as negro but he Is not negro
He is black or bronze. certainly. but
ethnically all black or bronze people are
not negroes and this Is illustrated IN
others besides the Ably: '.iian: In the
Bedouin, the Arabian, the Berberi and
the East Indian, for example. An Of
ficial document sums up the population
thus.
Semitic. Hamitic GaIlas and Somalis.
In the southwest negroes, Falachas Jews,
and in the cities and ports. Indians
Arabs. Armenians, Greeks and few Eu-
ropeans.'
The Abyssinian's greatest pride is to
ascribe his origin as from solomon and
the Queen of Sheba, or "Sheba- March as
known i'm Abyssinia He maintains that
on the visit of the famous Sabbean ~cauty
to King Solomon at Meroe on the Nile
there sprang the Abyssinian race.
The ''abuna," or head of the Coptic
church, it should be mentioned, is Copt
appointed and consecrated by the patriarch
Of Alexandria, Egypt. but whose influence
is subordinate to the native orders num-
bering 100000. The Falachas were convert
ed to Judaism at an early date by mis-
sionaries from Palestine after the fall of
Jerusalem.
To resume, the energetic figure of Apte
Gorguis looms up at this moment when
the fate Of Abyssinia
The Powers still lies in the bal
ance. A political
maneuVeIlne. peace is being enacted
at this moment by Germany. France
and England, having its apparent OBJ
jective at Agadir, in Morocco. but there
are diplomatic rumors that Germany
would be satisfied by certain concessions
in the Kongo and 1t is not impossible thai
she may yet dispute with both, England
and France the interests of each of these
powers in Abyssinia
The treaty of Uchali, May 2 1880. by
which Italy claimed a protectorate over
Abyssinia. was boldly denounced by king
Menelik in 1893, and the independence OF
the country was recognized by the con-
vention of Addis-Ababa October 26, 1895
BY an agreement signed December IL,
1906, Great Britain, France and Italy un-
dertook to guarantee the integrity of
Abyssinia.
1t was agreed among the contractors
that industrial concessions to one shoulo
not be injurious to the interests OF the
other; they would abstain from all inter
vention in Abyssinian internal anairs
agreements were made concerning rail-
ways, the prohibition or regulation OF thu
importation of arms and ammunition into
AbySSinia.
The commerce Of Abyssnia is seriously
restricted by the fact that the roads to
her natural outlets on the Red sea are
blocked by the Italian occupation or Mas
souah, the French occupation OF Djib0uti
and by the British occupation OF Zeiiah.
X
The Abyssinian province Of Harrar con-
istitutes. nevertheless. an important geo.
graphical situation and
Province of because of the facilities
afforded by the French
daIIaI. railways from Djibouti
the one important route for commercial
| -, ho int nf q
sinia.
Harrar. with its population OF 10000
chiefly Mussulman, is situated about 90
kilometers from Djibouti and fifty-six Kill
ometers from Dire-Daoua, the head OF the
railway which will be extended to Adds
Aba:ba, the capital.
The productions of Harrar-coffee
kat" and skins derived from cattle
raising-are considerable, and the exporta
ton in 1909 reached the sum or 12,5O0UO
francs, against S,JUO,Coo francs OIL tne
preceding year.
Since the aforementioned treaties were
enacted Menelik has been paralyzed many
times and his death so often reported
! that to announce him as still alive VIII
risk a challenge from the increoulous:
IT Is recalled here that the negus Men
elk was first paralyzed during his pill
grimage to Debra-Libanos in 1905. The
diplomacy of the powers assumed a med-
ical and pharmaceutic character, ana
English. French and German doctors
tried their art and medicine upon the un-
happy monarch. What might have been
the effect of their treatment no one may
know but yielding to the prayers OF the
empress and the Coptic priests Menelik
was plunged into the ice-cold baths
whose properties were esteemed miracu-
lo,,s. but which proved almost fatal to
the emperor.
Nevertheless, Menelik survived the he
roic treatment and returned to Adds
Ababa. where convinced that his malady
was incurable, he issued the following
proclamation:
philippians, sons of my country. my
children and my friends. let me dictate
the counsel with which
Menelik'S the great God inspires
me. You know that at
ComManu. the death OF King Theo-
doros the chiefs of the country fought
each other to determination; also at the
death of Att Johannes the same thing
happened.
IA truce. then. my children ana
friends. to these jealousies and immoder-
ate ambitions"
This was the language of a king. The
proclamation, however. was ambiguous.
It said my son. but the Prince Yasu
was the son Of Ras Michael and Meme
lik's daughter, Wazairo Choa Rogga.
Menelik had sons, but illegitimate ones.
The door was thus left wide open to the
There is profound hatred which divides
chi Irvrnn Mo rAnr