Evening star., 1949-07-24
Welfare
Must Be Considered
in Strategy Plan
By Ernie Hill


Cape Town there is an aWareness
that should current fears of
worldwide communism ever mott
vate a war against the Soviet Un-
ion, Africa would become a great
supply base for men and materials
AS Casablanca and North Africa
served a vital purpose in World
War II, so would all Africa in a
third world war.
To save their own skins and
their colonies and to stave off
communism, the European pow
ers are we'll started on a tremen-
dous program to lift Africa out
of darkness.
Europe can do more to help
Africa than Africa can<do to help
itself. The programs continuity
must remain unbroken. The Afri-
cans must be brought along much
more rapidly than they have SO
far. They must be given greater
share of responsibility and edu-
cation.
Should the Mediterranean be
closed, the. defense of the Suez
Canal and the Middle East oil
fields would be conducted from
Kenya and Tanganyika.
Source of Raw Materials
The west coast already is dotted
with modern airfields built by the
United States or with United
States aid during the last war.
They are kept in good repair for
almost immediate use, at Villa
Cisneros in Rio de Orc, Dakar III
French West Africa. Bathurst in
Gambia. Roberts Field in Liberia,
Takoradi and Accra on the Colo
Coast, Lagos in Nigeria. Leopold
vile in the Belgian Congo and on
down through the Union of South
Africa.
In johannesburg earlier this
year, Mai. Gen. Sir Francis de
Guingand. Field Marshal Mont
gomerys old chief of staff, said
that even the southern end Of the
continent would play a big part in
case of war.
The role I envisage," he said,
lis as a base for the defense of
the Unions actual strategic from
tier-the North African seaboard.
To this, in any war against Com
munist powers. must be added an
other vital factor-internal Sc
curitieS."
The war proved that Africa can
become a major producer of raw
materials-and incidentally a big
dollar Garner. United States i'm
ports from Africa increased from
$54, ,671 900 in 1888 to 1926, ,997 900
in 1947.lzs
The war also showed that Africa
Is militarily strategic to the un-
derside of Europe and the Middle
East. especially its oil fields.
Situation Ideal for Reds
After the war came the realiza-
ton that primitive Africa was slip
ping away from it's continental
overlords, as a burst of self-gov-
campaigns developed.
1t became obvious that unless
something positive and beneficial
were done that communism would
gobble up semi-literate Africans
like small fish. The situation was
and is ideal for communism.
Today Britain, France. Belgium,
Portugal and Spain are faced with
those realizations.
So the Europeans are now fe-
verishly trying to develop agricul-
tural and mineral production, to
strengthen key points for possible
military use. to uplift native pop
ulations with improved living
standards and to meet and stop
communism where it appears.
It's a race against time.
If these were years Of world
tranquility, we might say that it
would serve colonial Europe right
to lose Africa for the Super-race
tactics it has used for years. We
might say: Let the Gold Coast,
Senegal, the Belgian Congo. Mo-
zambique, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast,
Sierra Leone and the rest of them
declare their independence and
exploit as best they might their
own resources.
But, unfortunately, most if not
all of them would sink back into
the abysmal state of squalor and
disrepair. Unfortunately, little Lii
IBERIA, an independent republic for
102 years, is a cogent example. it
has less In the way of material
things than any piece of Africa I
saw.
Progresses
1.-THE things that haven't been
done in Liberia are an answer to
all of this self-government rot, !"
said an Englishman in Monrovia.
Sure" said an American-edu-
Gated Liberian Negro, land the
fact that there isn't one ballot
box or one free native newspaper
in the Belgian Congo is enough to
make my people glad they are
poor but free"
Africans, as much as we dis
like to believe it, are long way
from being able to build mines,
operate banks. establish and main
tain transportation, erect schools
and develop modern communi-
ties. It is questionable whether
a majority prefer independence
to these things today.
Only the first steps of giving
important responsibilities to Afri-
cans are seen in Nigeria where
thousands have returned from
American and British schools. ir
the Belgian Congo under strict
supervision and in certain French
territories where there have been
educational advantages.
Should the complex problems
OF running a modern society be