WORK IN ETHIOPIA

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 23, 28 January 1938, Page 3

WORK IN ETHIOPIA

POSITION OF NATIVES

ON AN EQUAL FOOTING

By laws abolishing the feudal system and slavery, the subject races of Ethiopia, constituting two-thirds of the population, have been placed on an equal legal footing with the Amharas, their former oppressors, writes a special correspondent of the "Christian Science Monitor"," from Addis Ababa. The subject races in many instances retain their own chiefs, and preserve their old traditions and customs. Steps have been taken to persuade Amharas in non-Amharic areas to return to their districts of origin, and compensation is offered where financial loss is thereby incurred. While the system of criminal justice has been radically reformed, civil cases are first dealt with according to local traditional usage. It is only when settlement cannot be reached, or when a European is involved, tl|at the case has to be referred to an Italian tribunal. Also, the local headman has certain administrative' responsibility under the Italians. . . Beyond this, however, the natives do not participate in executive government, although there is native representation on one of the Viceroy's councils, and local chiefs are consulted by Italian officials on matters concerning their own districts. -' SCHOOLS APPEARING. Although there were previously one or two Government schools in- Ethiopia, education was. chiefly in the hands of foreign missionaries and was a negligible quantity. Now, elementary schools for boys and girls are beginning to appear. The teachers in some cases are priests or nuns but more often Britreans. The pupils are taught Italian as well as/: their own native languages.: Drill and physical training are carried out in all schools. Nothing in.the nature of higher education is contemplated at present,. but older boys are prepared. for clerical posts in the Government service and similar employment elsewhere. : The Eases and minor Amhara chiefs retain their titles and prestige, /but have lost all power in their own regions as' well as any influence they had in the Government of the country. Those who have submitted continue to hold their lands, and to derive income from their produce, but they no longer have any right to'tax the people. Ras Seyoum lives in a private house at Asmara; Ras Haile Selassie Gugsa is honorary commander of a native band in the Tigre; Ras Hailu has a similar . position '.in Addis Ababa. Small native cultivators not only retain their land, but are encouraged to extend their cultivation. They are given plants and seeds gratis, and are infornled by loud speakers in all the chief centres that there is money to be.made by bringing their produce to the markets. • ■ '. Native cultivators will also gain, agricultural experience from employment by Italian colonists, and by working for Italian companies cultivating staple products such as cotton, coffee, tobacco, and raising livestock. INDIVIDUAL EFFORT. But it is expected that in some cases the natives wilj prefer to cultivate individually under the supervision of the companies that buy their produce. In the towns natives. are employed as assistants in shops and general stores, as domestic servants, clerks, messengers, and in many kinds of work where unskilled labour is.needed. Native labour is paid at the rate of 10 to 15 lire a day, according to the conditions of work, which seems almost excessive to people never accustomed to regular pay at all. Naturally, there are restrictions on the activities of the native population, as in all colonies, but there are also restrictions on Europeans where the. natives are concerned. The two races are kept separate as far.as possible in the towns, and strict laws have been promulgated forbidding intermarriage. One of the most urgent needs of the Ethiopians has long been that of sanitary services. This the Italians' have already started to remedy, although the immense problem of reforming living conditions will take a long time to solve. In the native quarters of towns large, and small systematic activity of sanitary squads is seen and efforts are being made by local 'officials to teach cleanliness to the natives. At Makale the commissioner gave instructions for all native housewives to wash out their huts daily. At first the women were flabbergasted at the very thought, but this measure alone improved the health of the town, which is now one of the cleanest in northern Ethiopia. Steps have also been taken gradually to put dtwn the filthy straw huts, and to replace them by stone huts of similar design with' thatched roofs. This work has already begun in Addis Ababa. Furthermore, town-plan-ning schemes are designed to segregate and organise native quarters, so that cleanliness and sanitation can be administered.