HAILE SILASSIE STANDS ALONE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 230, 28 September 1935, Page 9 (Supplement)

HAILE SILASSIE STANDS ALONE.

Ethiopia s Emperor Faces the Storm.

ANCIENT NATION AGAINST MODERN WORLD

(By JOSEF ISRAELS.)

IN the sprawling, haphazardly built palace, or "Qebbi," at Addis Ababa lives the man who is to-day the storm centre of the Ethiopian crisis. He is medium sized, dark, with a black beard and the slight, sensitive features that characterise his proud Amharie race. The baptismal name lie bears as Emperor of Ethiopia is Haile Silassie, meaning, in the Gezc (classic) tongue, the rower of Trinity; his titles are more imposing, though scarcely more dignified, than the simple royal figure who bears them. Haile Silassie, born Tafari Makonnen, is Lord King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Elect of God, the Light of the World, Defender of the Faith. He stands alone, an almost prophetic figure, against an encroaching world, perhaps the last representative of the absolute monarchs. His country, the last free territory of Africa, is threatened with attack by.ltaly; his fate and the fate of liis people involve, perhaps, the peace of Europe. Haile Silassie's position has always been difficult. On t.ha one hand he has been faced with the necessity of maintaining his power ancl popularity at home in his semi-Oriental kingdom, and on the other of dealing in a modern manner with the Western world. He has never lost tcucli with the one or with the other. He has always remained free of conceit, or autocracy. He, of all people, realises best the dangers that Ethiopia faces, yet he has never lost heart, and remains to-day his country's only great bulwark against the Roman tide from the north, At home his political difficulties have arisen chiefly out of conflicts with the reactionary element which centred in his aunt, the 'late Empress. Almost every move he has made to introduce education, mechanical devices or other Western symbols of civilisation into his country has been opposed and hampered by members of her party. Th( ;y are still at his heels' to harass him m his preparations for the war that may come. He recognises that Ethiopia may be facing a struggle for her life, whereas these oldsters, knowing nothing of European fighting methods and made confident by the Ethiopian defeat of the Italians at Adowa in the last century, believe their primitive armies invincible.

The Emperor spends his mowwig receiving the messages of his Governors and chiefs, greeting callers from the legations and transacting business in connection with his large private holdjugs—mining and farming lands. He lunches usually in private with his wife, and takes the customary rest period during the heat of the day. In the afternoon he is available to outsiders, native or foreign, who have business to transact.

The Solomon and Sheba Legend. The proudest boast and tradition of the people of Ethiopia is that their kings are the descendants of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The legend, as authentic as any dating from Biblical times, runs that Makeda, black Queen of Ethiopia, journeyed with her Court to Jerusalem and there shared the couch of tho gorgeous Solomon. Hie s °n s ' ie bore and who returned to Ethiopia as Menelik, the first King of Kings and first ruler of a united Ethiopia, is supposed to have been the founder of the royal line which, continues to this day. Although the royal lino is far from direct in its course to Haile Silassie, the best historians and scientists will not deny the Semitism of the Amharie, the ruling Ethiopian race. Tho Emperor, who recently celebrated his forty-fourth birthday, is some sft Oin in height, with features rather strongly Semitic. His hands and feet are small and lightly boned, and his large eyes have that liquidity which is often deceptive to a European, who may mistake softness of eyes for weakness of mind. He is a keen statesman, a wellinformed man. His education was largely gained in a French mission school at Harrar, where he was born. Here he passed his youth, and the province he still considers his home. From tho missionaries, and later from foreign tutors, he learned to speak and write fluent French and to understand most conversations in English. In 1924, keenly conscious of the necessity for absorbing the culture of Europe, he went on a State visit to Italy, France, England and Switzerland, taking with him the principal chiefs of his provinces, who might have been expected to create trouble if left at homo to their own devices. He was received with great acclaim in the capitals of Europe. He brought back with him not only a new understanding of the ways of the Western world, but many human and mechanical aids' to the modernisation of his own country. , . •After that trip his way of living became almost entirely Western, and, though he retains his native dress, both in private and at the elaborate ceremonies which so frequently are held at Addis Ababa, the palace has been filled with European furniture and the Emperor's private meals are now served in the European manner. At State dinners to the diplomatic corps or distinguished visitors the service is from a set of ootid gold platters designed and cast in Sfew York from Abyssinian metal sent by the Emperor for the purpose. Haile Silassie is an indefatigable worker. He generally rises soon after daylight. His bedroom is rather stuffily furnished, crowded with plush and leather, and he makes his headquarters in a small and not impressively decorated study. Here the private work of the State is carried on. Unable to make use of many of the mechanical conveniences enjoyed by other rulers, he must depend-mainly upon swift-footed native carriers for communication with the outlying provinces. Even at the very best speed of the messengers it is sometimes two or three weeks, particularly in the rainy season, before word can be brought from one of the northern provinces to Addis Ababa. There is a telephone at his elbow, but it is connected with only the local exchange, and this ha£> few subscribers beyond"the post office, the other Government offices and the foreign legations. Yet the Emperor's soit and pleasant voice is often heard over the wire by the Ministers of the foreign countries, whom he frequently consults.

Twice a week the sovereign presides in person at a Supreme Court, to which the major civil and criminal litigation of the country comes for final adjudication. In tho evening he reads in his elaborate library, continually supplied, through the Abyssinian foreign representatives, with the newest books and periodicals of the world and occasionally entertains at a State or private dinner, after which tho diversion is usually motion pictures.

Ho has never had much leisure, and in these troubled days he finds himself scarcely a moment to spare to the family to whom he is devoted. This family consists of his wife, Waizeru Menin, the Empress; two daughters and three sons. One daughter is married to tho Ras Desta ID em 111, who visited Europe and the United States in 1934. The Crown Prince, Asfa Wassen, is busy being educated by American and European tutors.

Tho favourite child of the Emperor seems to be his second son, Makonnen, on whom he has conferred the title, new

Dispenses Law In Person. In his communications with the outer world he is also considerably hampered. The only reliable swift cable from Addis Ababa passes via Eritrea to Rome, and is obviously, of little use in the present situation. There is also tho antique and uncertain telegraph which follows the railroad down to Djibouti, where a French wireless station relays messages to Paris. Recently, under Italian auspices, the first of what was to be a series of short-wave radio stations was set up in Addis Ababa. Others were to be installed in the outlying provinces, but this work has, of course, been suspended.

to Ethiopia, of the Duke. of Harrar. This boy is a, great favourite and is rarely away from his father's side, hearint* with him all the affairs of state and learning the lessons that the Emperor later hopes will fit him to be an impoitant member of the ruling class, if not the Emperor. Under Ethiopian custom, the Crown Prince need not necessarily succeed to the throne. It is the Emperor's privilege to nominate another member of his family, if he so desires. Incidentally, Haile Silassie has been married twice. His first wife died childless. He is devoted to his second, and does not avail himself of the Ethiopian aristocrat's privilege of marrying or "protecting" additional wives or concubines. He is pious, but not fanatically 60. He attends the Coptic Church, but no more than convention requires.

Believes In Hastening Slowly. Foreign visitors are generally first received by the Emperor at a formal audience in a small throne room in the substantially built stone part of the rambling and rather unattractive palace. The Emperor asks polite questions and receives conventional answers and the audience is swiftly terminated. It was the writer's good fortune to be summoned to the palace 011 other occasions, generally for informal dinners at which the principal guests were members of legation staffs and some of the medical, educational, engineering and other foreign experts brought to the country by the Emperor's desire for Western counsel 011 modern developments.

youth of tlie country. At Government expense youths from the better families have travelled to Europe and America for training. An Outstanding Combination. The Emperor has created a printing house to publish Abyssinian literature, both in the Amliaric and_ Geze (relioious) languages. His printing house has succeeded in publishing and widely distributing through the nation stories about Ethiopia's modern life antl the country's history, as well as an informative geography of the world. He has also published, a newspaper called "Berlianana Salam" (Light and Peace), containing native poetry, news of Ethiopian events and articles on economics, jiolitics and other matters in which he believes the learned class of his country will be interested. Considering his difficult position, and the grave necessities he has always laboured under to conciliate not only the opposing factions among his own people, but the Western World, Haile Silassie remains outstanding as a combination of Emperor and diplomat, truly a protector of his own people.

At such gatherings the conversation flows steadily, the Emperor drawing information from his visitors and stating his desire to take the lessons of the rest of the world to heart. He believes, lie has said, in the slow development of Ethiopia; he knows that he must avoid shocking, with swift changes, a people whose manner of living is practically unchanged from that of their ancestors a thousand years ago. He believes in bringing the Ethiopian women out of their retirement and gradually projecting thein into the forefront of life and affairs, and towards this end he has at his own expense brought European and American teachers to Addis Ababa to conduct a girls' school, which supplements the educational facilities created for the male