St. Paul recorder., 1963-02-21

CHAIRMAN, according 10 Ine ad, is
DR.. Max Yergan, who along with
George Schuyler, an editor of the
Pittsburgh Courier, also a men,
Der of the committee, has been
associated with efforts to uphold
the policies of Portugal in Africa,
particularly Angola and Mozambi-
que.
The 81 signatories to the state
ment which charges 'barbarous
aggression" by United Nations
mercenaries" includes some of the
nations leading reactonaries and
racists.
One, Sen. James o. Eastland
Of Mississippi, is one Of the ma
tons leading proponents Of rae
ial segregation who has applaud
ed his states defiance Of fed
eral authority In the famous
James Meredith case.
Another, Sen, Barry Goldwater,
has unconcealed presidential as
pirations and Is leader Of the con-
servative wing of his political
party, the Republicans. He has
endorsed his party's strategy to
WOO southern support by offering
candidates who are known segre-
gationists.
But the most surprising name on
the list is not that Of an American
at all, but a self-eMled German,
DR.. Albert Schweitzer, who has
spent a number of years in Africa
as a medical missionary.
Schweitzer is quoted in the ad-
vertisement as follows:
THE policy of the UN in the
former Belgian Congo causes me
great anxiety because it proceeds
from a total ignorance of the
country's problems. 1t is a grave
error to try and unite by force
people so profoundly divided
among themselves. If Katanga is
unwilling to be reunited with the
Congo, the UN should respect its
wishes and not try to impose its
own will at any cost :"
DR.. Schweitzer is a rusting
fragment of colonialism and as
outdated as a pith helmet. He is
as ridiculous in modern Africa as
an clubhouse for the United Ma
tions building in New York City,
In comparison with some Of Afri-
cas- new modern hospitals, his pro-
ject in Gabon is a medical out
house. Many medical missionaries
have come to Africa since he ar
rived and have achieved more with
less support and fanfare and in a
shorter time.
He has benefited by adulatory
written by persons who have view
ed his work through glasses heaW'
ly tinted with sentimentaHty thai
has tended to filter out the fault.
and everyday the scattered virtue:
Of Schweitzer.
- v,nau ,y,R,n hoe knfHINy
expressed nothing but contempt
for Africans, SchweltZer's con-
Germ for the people of Katanga
seems suspect.
Black men whom he has saiC
are incapable Of performing the
simplest tasks and whose mental
ity is taxed by the simple chores
of a hospital orderly like empty
ing slopjars are certainly not tc
be trusted with the responsibilities
Of citizenship which he pleads
should be given the Katangans.
Can you imagine the arrogant
Schweitzer and the willy Noise
Tshombe weeping on each others
shoulders in fraternal mourning
over the rape Of Katanga by 'UN
mercenaries"?
It's an incredible a picture as
Roy WelensISy prOstrated I'm
grief at the bier Of Banda, Kaun-
da or NlxOmo, or VerwOerd in
consOIabIe over the death Of
Chief LIthuli.
It is hard to believe that a mar
with the reputed genius Of Schweit'
zer would have isolated himself
with a people whom he feels have
no potential for learning, for do
ing, for appreciating, for under
standing for even gratitude unless
something were awry in his own
makeup.
We are convinced that a misan-
thrope who has presided majestic
ally over the gradual deterioration
Of his crude ego-satisfying medical
project must have succumbed to
inevitable senility to lend his
name with its doubtful prestige to
a desperate, last minute effort to
preserve the security Of an ambiti-
GUS little tyrant with a pocket full
Of copper gold.
For a Schweitzer who was not
vocal over the mysterious murder
of Patrice Lumumba, and who
somehow tolerated in silence the
atrocities the Belgians committed
on the Africans in the Congo, the
compulsion must have been great
to stir him from his isolated jungle
retreat where the world and pro-