18 SEPTEMBER 1964, Page 9

Operation Face-Saving

From LEO S. BARON

BULAWAYO

T does not require any close reading of the Ijoint communiqué issued by the British and Southern Rhodesian Prime Ministers to observe that Britain has stood quite firm. Indeed, her position has been stated more clearly than before, and emphasis has been laid on the.prin- ciple of general consent and on the necessity for acceptable evidence of any alleged consent.

There has been widespread surprise that Mr. Smith should have conceded so much—that he should have gone so far as to acknowledge that independence must be based on the will of the majority. This, one would have thought, is a truism; it is an interesting reflection on the image of Mr. Smith that the acknowledgement of so basic and simple a precept should be received with such surprise. And even more surprise— and dismay—met Mr. Smith's acceptance of the impossible task of demonstrating African sup- port for his request for independence.

Sir Roy Welensky has shown himself still quick enough to exploit a situation by accusing Mr. Smith of substituting the opinion of the voteless for that of the voters; to squeeze oneself in on the right of Mr. Smith is no mean feat. In truth, Mr. Smith climbed down; he had little choice. To save face he has undertaken to demonstrate majority support. The absurdity of his claim is matched only by the illogicality of his statements. He says that 80 per cent of the people support him; how does he know, when in the next breath he says that a referendum among the African people would be of little value since most of them wouldn't know what they were voting for?

So now Mr. Smith is committed to a campaign designed to prove that black is white. There is no dramatic change in African thinking; there is only an ever-increasing determination in the face of ever-increasing stringencies. There is also widespread fear, not confined to Africans, of speaking in opposition to or criticising the Government. Britain will not be so naïve as to accept the views of chiefs and native commis- sioners as the wishes of the African people. She is only too familiar with the age-old argument, shown time and again to be false, that the true leaders of the African people are the traditional chiefs; in Southern Rhodesia they, like the native commissioners, are government servants. Britain knows also how false is another standard plaint: that the majority of the people are not interested in politics and that all the agitation is engineered by a handful of self-seekers. We need go no farther than Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland for illustrations. When massive extensions of the franchise were introduced and free elections took place, there were incredibly high percentage polls, which is hardly consistent with apathy.

The danger lies in Britain waiting until after the event to reject some unacceptable 'proof.' Mr. Smith will then be able to complain that Britain has, in effect, passed judgment on an internal matter, and the threat of a unilateral declaration will once again be real. Britain can meet this situation quite simply by stipulating before the

event, the prerequisites of an acceptable poll. The ideal is obviously adult suffrage, to which a people in danger of being condemned to a South African-type government is surely entitled. A possible alternative, albeit a poor one, is the qualification for a racial referendum under the constitution—primary education. But whatever the qualifications, certain conditions as to the conduct of the campaign and the poll are fundamental.

Britain has said that she will take note of views freely expressed by the population; it would surely not be out of place to stress that 'freely' did not creep into the communique by accident. There are at present about 1,000 political leaders and organisers in restriction or detention without trial (the 'thugs and hooligans'), and many more are banned from entering the reserves. It can be assumed that Mr. Smith's 'all-party' campaign does not envisage the African politicians being permitted to take part. Britain must insist that they do—that all persons other than those con- victed in court be restored to full liberty and be granted full freedom of movement, assembly, and expression. Britain must insist that there be a referendum, that the ballot be truly secret, and that the campaign and the poll be conducted under the supervision of the British Government.

There is no chance, of course, that Mr. Smith will accept these conditions. But failure by Britain to say clearly that she will accept nothing less will do untold harm. Tensions were eased for a day or so following the communique, but already the fear is widespread that Britain is planning to grant independence without hearing the true voice of the African people. It is essen- tial for peace in Southern Rhodesia that this fear be allayed. Britain, and only she, can allay it.