The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-06-09
A Report On Africa
[. D. WHITAkEE
By w. r. MATHEWS

By w. r. MATHEWS
Editors Note: William R.
Mathews is editor of The Arizona
Daily Star, one of the leading
newspapers in the West. Mr..
Mathews recently returned from
a trip to Africa
THESE ARE my conclusions
drawn from a 30-day trip by air
to II countries in Africa, south
of the Sahara Desert.
They were Nigeria, Dahomey,
Cameroun, Chad, Central African
Republic. Republic of the Congo
tFrench>, Congo Republic BEL
gian), Gabon. Rhodesia, Union of
South Africa and Kenya.
If one is to give a short, simple
answer as to what is happening
in Africa, it would be: the pot
has just begun to boil; during the
next few years it is going to boil
over probably repeatedly Par
ticularly is this true, if the seri-
ously mistaken American policy
continues.
WAS completely surprised by
seeing on the spot the tremen-
dously big job that the British,
French. Belgians and Dutch have
done in bringing civilization to
this vast area within a compare
lively short period of time, the
skill with which the British and
French are changing their former
colonies into self-governing indie
pendent nations.
have seen how a tiny minority
Of white men have won the conf
dence and respect of the black
people they have ruled.
The Dutch in Transvaal have
transformed what was once a
completely uninhabited land into
a treasure house. The Portuguese
in their two colonies have set a
standard in racial Indignation
that should command our respect
rather than our harassment.
IF WE ARE to understand
what has been done, and what
the problems of the future are,
we should realize that the whole
area south of the Sahara and Su-
dan has existed since the begin
ming of time.
Yet, in all of it. there is not to
be found the slightest evidence of
any previous civilization.
The black inhabitants, until the
colonizing efforts of the white
man began, produced nothing.
Nowhere is to be found any
thing that compares with what
the Aztecs did in Mexico, what
the Incas did in Peru, or what
the Egyptians did in Egypt.
EVERYTHING that today sym
bolizes Western civilization, like
great cities and beautiful towns,
the public utilities. railroads, air
lines, paved highways, schools,
hospitals, sanitation, churches,
mines, industries and the con-
quest Of tropical disease, has
come as the result of 100 years
of daring and difficult work by
the white man.
LEOPOLDVILLE is one of the
most beautiful cities in the world
The Belgians made it possible,
but IS per cent Of its inhabitants
were black before the presen.
trouble. Brazzaville, across the
Congo River to the north. is a
gem Of a modern city, which the
French have made possible. It is
70 per cent black.
have not seen so many beauti-
full cities anywhere as l saw in
South Africa. CapetoWn is Brit
ish. with Dutch mixture; Jo-
hannesburg is thriving dynamic
booming Dutch city on the plains
of Transvaal, with 400. 900 whites
and 100000 blacks.
Salisbury, in Rhodesia. is a
thoroughly modern, well-planned
city; and so is Nairobi in Kenya.
Lagos in Nigeria has grown so
rapidly that it is somewhat like
boy who has outgrown his
clothes. Nairobi. capital of Ken
va, is lovely. clean city.
The hotels are remarkably
good. Within the past few years
the French have built we'll
planned. unconditional hotels in
the principal cities of what used
to be French Equatorial Africa.
It is now possible to fly over the
lungles and drop down to airports
Of the principal cities Of the jun
giles. The French have taught the
Africans how to cook. The cuisine
was excellent at hotels.
HAVE COME BACK with a
profound respect for what coloni-
alism has done, how it has trans
formed what was a great. sparse