Evening star., 1954-05-31
Voice of a Prophet


here the other day before a joint session of
the Congress, Emperor Halle Selassie-now on
an extended tour of the United States-spoke
with the voice and authority Of vindicated
prophet. And he spoke not merely to our own
country but to the entire free world, his simple
but profoundly pertinent message being es-
sentially the same as the unforgettable warning
he issued in person to the League of Nations
on June 80, 1886.
On that day, 18 years ago, the leader of
ancient Ethiopia ran into trouble as he reached
the rostrum to address the League at Geneva
His country victim Of brutal war of aggres-
sion, had just been annexed by Mussolinis
Italy, and the appearance of the ascetc-looking
Emperor was greeted with a jeering tumult
from Fascist demonstrators in the galleries.
But finally order was restored, and then this
man-with words that will be honored as long
as free men write history-called upon the
assembled nations to act collectively, with
economic sanctions and other measures, against
the monstrous crime that had been committed
against his unoffending land.
In the course Of this historic appeal Halle
SelaSSie, with q superb mixture of eloquence
. and prescience, cast somber glance at all
the delegates before him and predicted that
their own countries would live to regret it if
they failed to heed his counsel. AS he expressed
it, "It is my duty to inform the governments
of the deadly peril which threatens them.
It is question of trust in international treaties
and of the value of promises to small states
that their integrity shall be respected. In
word, it is international morality that is at
stake. Apart from the Kingdom of God,
there is not on this earth any nation that
is higher than any other. God and history
will remember your judgment"
The past has way of haunting the present,
and God and history must surely remember
that the League of NationS-now dead-turned
deaf ear to the Emperor'S plea and followed
a policy of appeaSement instead Had this
not happened, had Britain, France and the
other key powers involved acted together at
that time to punish and halt aggression, the
Second World War and all its evil aftermath
might well have been averted. OF course, these
terrible mistakes Of yesterday cannot be un-
done, and it is futile merely to brood over them.
Even so, they have certain virtue today. For
they at least serve as an object lesson from
which free men everywhere should be able
to derive some profit-a lesson that should
drive home the fact that Halle Selassies warn
ing of 1886 is as much to the point now as ever.
That is why the Emperor of Ethiopia
whose dedication to the principle of collective
security has been unwavering through the
years and whose troops fought in support
of that principle against Red aggression in
Korea-has once again appealed to the free
nations to stand together on a one-for-all-
and-all- -for-one basis. AS he has told our
Congress, this unity Of purpose and action is
indispensable to the peace and liberty of the
world and it must be applied universally for
the mutual safety of large states and small
applied with firm determination whatever
be the cost more resolutely than ever, and
with courageous acceptance of its burdens"
and sacrifices.
No man is better entitled than Halle
Selassie to give such counsel. If his exhorta-
tions of 1896 had been acted upon, the years
that have since passed might have been much
less unhappy and tormented. True enough,
the Fascist menace he onced warned against
has been removed, but what he warns against
now-the menace Of Kremlin-led Red totali-
tarianism-is far more deadly, In Southeast
Asia and everywhere else. Certainly, if the
free nations fail to cope with it collectively
on time, bravely, without wearying-they will
be inviting their own destruction, one by one.