The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1923. ABYSSINIA.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15356, 3 October 1923, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1923. ABYSSINIA.

The Assembly ot the League of Nations has, according to a cable message this week, voted unanimously for admission of Abyssinia to the League. In applying for the admission of his country Ras' Tafari, the Regent of Ethiopia, or Abyssinia as it is called by Western peoples, did a very bold thing, and the step taken by him confirmed the impression that had been growing among those who have taken an interest in his career, that lie has' a broad and statesmanlike view of the future of the secluded and singular territory over which he rules. For most people Abyssinia is a land of legend, with vague suggestions of some mythical Prester John, who maintained the Christian religion in an East become infidel, and with more deflnlto memories of Magdala, Addowa, and Mcnclck. Of late the namo of Abyssinia has come once more into prominence by reason of reports of survivals of the slave trade in that region. In these recent discussions perhaps full justice has not been done to the 'difficult position of the present Regent, Ras Tafari, who, since the deposition in 1916 of the unfortunate youth Lij Yassu, the successor of Menelek, has been Heir Apparent and has exercised power on behalf of Menelek’s daughter, the Empress Waizeru Zauditu. He has had the task of determining the position of Ethiopia in a new and hardly intelligible world. Within his own country he has been called on to assert the authority of his Government over a motley population, ruled locally by rases, or feudal chieftains, who within the area of their authority insist on almost despotic power. He has had to take account, too, of the contact of his country with Europe, and of the rivalries, actual or potential, of several European Powers, some of whom exercise rule just beyond his own frontiers, while others assert a traditional interest. His own country, with its many tribes and many languages of different stocks, still lives under the spell of a mixed Eastern tradition. The ruling race has memories of Yemen and the Sabaeans, who possessed a- mercantile civilisation of their own in the dim days when a young world was learning tho art of writing. The Emperors of Abyssinia, Kings of Kings, proudly claim descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and the seal wtih which Ras Tafari confirmed his application to the League of Nations bears the stamp of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. There is an ancient Abyssinian Church, founded by some strange chance when Egypt was a powerful Christian centre and more strangely still, this church survived through the centuries, withstood the surge of Islam," kept Ethiopia distinct from Asia, maintained a Christian literary tradition, and somehow held its ground against the dark pull of Africa. The present task of the Regent of Ethiopia is to determine the relations between his- own stilt medieval country and the confusion of modern Europe. AU sorLs of active nations are knocking at his door, asserting new ideas and ideals, and demanding the right to exploit the undeveloped resources of the land. By ■ a bold and wise instinct he decided

to ask for admission to the League that appears to contain them all and to represent the principles upon which they are all agreed. In the background there sire tho Middle Ages, both supine and Intriguing, the heavy weight of an Immemorial conservative tradition, the recklessness and caprice of insubordinate and barely accessible chieftains, in the foreground is the need for unity, the possibility of establishing it by modern means, rival offers of assistance in ing modern methods, and behind all this the vague but inspiring conception of the League of Nations. It argues considerable statesmanship on the part of Ras Tafari that, having tried by slow improvisation to -establish order in Ethiopia, by no means without success, he made an attempt to solve his‘ diffloult problem by applying for membership in the League. Here at least is an authority that will not infringe his independence and is prepared to help in the difficult' task of making Abyssinia modern. Here, too, is a possible solution for that unpleasant question of the slave trade, in the suppression of which the Regent on his own initiative has made some headway. Congratulations are due to Ras Tafari on the step he has taken, and also to ‘the League which by every accession to its ranjts becomes less and less a merely colourless abstraction.