ABYSSINIA TO-DAY

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 23 August 1935, Page 9

ABYSSINIA TO-DAY

PREPAREDNESS FOR WAR quality of her soldiers AUCKLANDER’S EXPERIENCES A survey of conditions in Abyssinia in the light of present events was given by Mr C. H. Barton, a member of the Sudan Interior Mission, with experience of more than five yetirs’ residence in Abyssinia, in an address at a luncheon of the Auckland Creditmen’s Club.

Mr Barton referred to conflicting statements about the preparedness of Abyssinia for war and said that the dispute with Italy was no new thing to the Abyssinians. They had been .preparing themselves, as well as they could, for the past two years. While he had both seen and handled the obsolete muskets and swords which Abyssinia was said to be preparing for a possible fray, it was a fact that within the past IS months or two years the standing army had been equipped with brand new rifles made in Europe. The true Ethiopian was a magnificent type of man, said Mr Barton, and should not be thought of as a negro, although in the southern part of the country there was a negroid type. In view of this it would be interesting to see how the Abyssinians reacted to the offer of assistance made by American negroes.

SUSPICIOUS OF WHITE MEN The chief interests of the people were in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and they exported coffee and hides. As far as he knew, there were not a dozen British traders in the whole country', the majority being from various other European countries. Contact with some of these traders had not been for Abyssinia’s good. Although they did not object to the missionary, the Abyssinians were naturally suspicious of the -white man. They disliked and distrusted him, but admired his skill in industry. Their army had been trained by Swedish and Belgian officers, and the task had been! well done. The soldiers were not only well drilled, but were as well dressed as the British soldier. There was only onq thing missing. From preference, they' did not wear boots.

There Avere a few aeroplanes in Abyssinia, and these the Emperor had often used to help European residents, at such times as when they were ill and needed quick transport. Being a very generous man, he had always insisted on rendering these services voluntarily. The Emperor spoke French fluently', and had a knowledge of English, and had endeavoured to understand the white man’s mind. He was intellectual and progressive, and had gathered a group of intellectuals around him. He had given money and land for mission work and had asked leading men to do the same.

EMPEROR’S DIFFICUTIES j In spite of his own enlightened outlook, the Emperor had been compelled to introduce his reforms very slowly, as there were a number of tribal rulers of the old school in Abyssinia who wished to keep to the old ways. MiBarton said he thought .it would be very helpful if the Emperor were left on his throne and Abyssinia left to work out its own destiny'.

The population numbered from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 people, and disease was rife among them. A good many had a profession of Christianity, but the life of the majority was saturated with heathen darkness. In contrast with this was the enlightenment in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Abyssinia was three and one-third times the size of New Zealand, and French was the official foreign language.

Referring to Italian aspirations, Mr Barton said he laid no claim to expert military knowledge, but it seemed to him that it must be extremely expensive to keep - even a garrison of a few men in a territory like Eritrea. Unless they were encamped by one of the few oases, all tlieir water would have to be carried to them. It might be possible for them to make a great advance before the rivers of the rainy season dried up. Most would dry up within a mouth, and all of them within two months. If the Italians could advance for, say, 200 miles, they would not find themselves where they wanted to be, and even then all their water would probably have to be transported to them.

BOMBS FROM AEROPLANES The country was very difficult to cross, being broken in places by ravines 2000 ft. deep. In the path of the Italian troops would be one ravine which a white man on a mule would take a whole day to traverse. It would be very difficult to get a modfern army across a place like this, yet the Abyssinians were experts in moving about in this class of country, being more sure-footed than - goats.

If bombs were dropped on them tho Abyssinians would scatter into the mountain passes, where they were experts at warfare. There was only one town worthy of note, Addis Ababa-, which had a number of 'concrete shojjs and other structures, 90 per cent, of the buildings being owned by Europeans. The Abyssinians would not mind if these were blown up by bombs'. The natives themselves lived in round mud huts with thatched roofs. It would be expensive to bomb those, and the natives would not object to living out in the open, which they often did.

Mr Barton said he would not care to suggest that Italy could not win a

war against Abyssinia, but in liis opinion the features of the country gave the Abyssinians a 30 per cent, advantage to start with. He had seen many thousands of soldiers with belts full of cartridges, and lie thought they had plenty of ammunition. He would not say they could stand up to a modern army of good morale, but the Abyssinian was cunning in the chase and was no coward.