Evening star., 1955-10-09
BY CROSBY 5. MOVES

PARlS.-Sharply as they cnal
lenge the right Of the Unitel
Nations to debate the question
of Algeria In the General As
sembly, the French are by nj
means hesitant to debate tn
problem among themselves. Il
fact, Of all the dilemmas tina
loom on the French horizon. thl
question Of Algeria remains per
haps the most controversial.
A family matter. Of course. Il
claiming Algeria as an interna
problem, the French are on per
fectly solid ground. Algeria be
longs to France by right of con
quest. The conquest was not owe
the Algerians themselves. VIII
had never existed as q sovereign
people. but over the Turks. II
1880, the French took over th'
capital city of Algiers and thre'
separate Turkish protectorates
The local population consisted O
q number Of tribes Of differen
racial backgrounds. often VIC
lently hostile to each other.
Since that time. Algeria ha,
been considered an integral par
Of French territory. And tn,
French. with a good deal Of rea'
son, can claim to have createt
q unified Algeria.
This indisputable legal right
however, is the heart and sou
Of the Algerian problem. Be.
cause. despite the progress which
has been' made over more thar
q century to make Algeria really
an extension of France, the joE
has not been accomplished.
Persuasive Fiction
Today it remains largely .
legal fiction. more persuasive te
the French than to the Arat
population.
It is one thing to claim that
all Algerian Moslems are French
men. The fact remains that In
Algeria ] million European r
Frenchmen live among 10 million
compatriots whose attachment tc
Islamic traditions and social
customs remain stronger than
legalistic ties to the French
"motherland."
The fiction itself creates quite
as many problems as it solves.
In the French protectorates Of
Morocco and Tunisia. things are
q good deal simpler. There. Arab
nationalism is common and In
most cases a perfectly respectable
political viewpoint. II 1t creates
problems for the local admini-
strators it is at least a problem
that can be coped with and per-
haps ultimately solved.
In Algeria, no such flexibility
Is possible. Because. offcially,
Algeria itself doesn't exist there
is no such thing as an Algerian.
Certainly. there can be no such
thing as an Algerian nationalist.
Matter Of Sedition
An Algerian Frenchman who
advocates q s independence from
French rule Is preaching sedi-
tion. II he does more than
preach. he is guilty Of treason
against his country. II there Is
war 1t is a civil war. Because
Algeria and France are one, the
possibility of discussion. compro-
mise and reconciliation simply
does not exist.
The problem, furthermore. Is
not theoretical. This summer q
decade of peace and apparent
Algerian contentment was rudely
broken. A series Of isolated ter
rorist raids along the eastern
Tunisian frontier was climaxed
on August 20 by q sudden con-
certed move Of terrorists. evil
IDENTIFY helped by the local popu-
lation, more than 100 miles to
the west in an attempt to set
up In the Aures mountains a
permanent armed opposition to
French rule.
simultaneously other pockets
Of rebellion developed. At the
end of a dramatic week, four
well-def1ned areas Of violence
had been set up. in which an
estimated 10000 to $4,000 AL
gerlan "Maquis' offered an ac-
tive challenge to the authority
Of the French state.
The week marked the death
Of 1913 people ION the side OF
order"-that is. on the side OF
the French. They included 81
Moslems. Another 223 were
wounded. On the other side
the rebels-were 1878 known
dead, 1924 prisoners and an
unknown number Of wounded
On both sides, the casualty lists
have increased since then.
Serious Consideration
From a military standpoint
q resistance force Of $4,000 may
not amount to a serious threat
But for their part, the French
are inclined to take 1t very seri-
ously indeed. Today. out OF
800. 1000 French troops in all Of
North Africa, some 200, 900 are in
action in Algeria. The total is
not greatly less than the total
number Of troops fighting in
Indo- China at the height Of the
recent war there. The cost to
the French government of mill
tary action in North Africa is re-
ported to total some $50 million
q month, of which Algeria Is
responsible for the lions share,
The rebellion, moreover. has
not been crushed. 1t is desper-
ately difficult---as the British
learned in Kenya--to put down
guerilla forces which stage raids
of Is to 20 men at a time. 1t is
hard to stiffen local resistanu,
to the point where 1t can meet
threats Of reprisal from the reb-
els once the major armed forces
have turned their backs. This,
however, is the effort of the
French government in meeting