More Life with UDI

 More Life with UDI
COMPLETING A YEAR OF CARTON 'HISTORY' OF RHODESIA'S INDEPENDENCE
BY
LOUIS BOLZE AND KLAUS BAVN

 SECOND SERIES

WE WHO FOLLOW

 Once a column came a-marching
 In the long, long, long ago,
 And they came to found a country
 That the world would come to know;
 It was built on toil and courage
 Out of what was wilderness:
 So they gave us this our country
 To preserve and ever bless.

 Once a column came a-marching
 In the long, long, long ago,
 And they came to found a country
 That the world would come to know;
 We who follow will remember
 That to them this land we owe—
 And to others who will follow
 When it's time for us to go.

 The early fathers of our land
 Have left their trust in us,
 On guard for all they won we stand
 As those who follow must:
 Rhodesia our homeland
 We stand on guard for thee,
 Rhodesia our homeland
 We'll ever cherish thee.

 Rhodesia, we'll ever cherish thee.

 Jack Watson

 Sheet music of this, the winning song in the National Song Contest, is obtainable from Heritage Music, P.O. Box 8354, Causeway, Salisbury.

 The early fathers of our land
 Have left their trust in us,
 On guard for all they won we stand
 As those who follow must:
 Rhodesia our, homeland
 We stand on guard for thee,
 Rhodesia our homeland
 We'll ever cherish thee.

 " ' Tis not in mortals to command success,
 But we'll do more, Sempronius,
 We'll deserve it."

 Cato, Act I, by Addison.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 The authors acknowledge with thanks the assistance given by the staffs of The Chronicle Library, the Bulawayo Public Library, and the Bulawayo office of the Ministry of Information in providing reference material; by Mrs. Enid Bolze in doing research and checking dates; and by Mr. John Howler who took the photograph on the facing page.

 Also acknowledged is the permission kindly given by Mr. Jack Watson, winner of the National Song Contest, to reproduce the words of We Who Follow, and by A. P. Watt & Son Ltd., London, to quote from the published works of Rudyard Kipling.

 By the same authors:
 Life With UDI

 THE AUTHORS

a href="http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z273/orafs/Rhodesian%20Heritage/More%20Life%20With%20UDI/?action=view&current=img257Authors.jpg" target="_blank">

 Louis Bolze
Louis Bolze is a third-generation South African who came to Rhodesia fourteen years ago. He was born in Queenstown in 1919, and was educated at Dale College, Kingwilliamstown.

 Before moving to Rhodesia, he held posts in the Chief Civil Engineer's Department, and later the Journalistic Section of the Publicity and Travel Department, South African Railways. His five years' war service took him to East Africa, the Middle East with the Eighth Army, and to Italy.

 On coming to Rhodesia he entered the hurly-burly of commercial life, spending ten years with a firm of leading publishers of trade journals. For the greater part of this time he was associate editor at the company's Bulawayo office.

 He had a close association with Rhodesia's industrial life which led him, four years ago, to establish the Rhodesian Products Bureau, the first permanent exhibition of Rhodesian-made goods.

 Since 1964 he has held an appointment as Public Relations Officer with a large organisation.

 Louis lives with his wife and two Rhodesian-born sons in the pretty precincts of Bulawayo's Hillside Dams. He is proud of the fact that his grandfather served Rhodesia in the Matabele Rebellion in 1896. He has implicit faith in the country's future greatness.

 The idea of producing a cartoon "history" of UDI was his, as are the layout, captions and presentation of the material. He is the originator of all, except four, of the cartoon ideas in More Life with UDI, these being illustrated by Klaus Ravn from descriptive notes.

 KLAUS RAVN
 Klaus Ravn is youthful, slightly built and of quiet, almost timid manner, but he has a bold talent, king-size wit and an even bigger future as a cartoonist.

 Born in Denmark 21 years ago, he came to Rhodesia with his farmer parents when he was eleven. He received his high-school education in Salisbury and Bulawayo, where he now lives, and in 1964 he dropped his C.I.S. studies to become a commercial artist. Except for normal high-school drawing instruction, his art is self- taught.

 The urge to cartoon first found somewhat frustrated expression, spare-time, via several sketch books. His early style was macabre, his characters the distorted, twisted people of the off-beat world.

 Ravn humour had one ghost saying to another: "I have a most frightful hangover; I was hanged yesterday." Ironically Klaus's first rejection slip was received from his home- town newspaper. The break-through came less than a year ago when the Sunday Mail, Salisbury, published one of his cartoons. Others have followed.

 His work in Life with UDI showed a mellow and endearing style his wit and keen sense of fun shining brightly through its pages In More Life with UDI his brush has produced a bolder line, adding pungency to the medium in which he works with such skill. From rejection slip to two ninety-cartoon volumes in a year is jetting places and should assure him the distinction of being acknowledged as Rhodesia's "Cartoonist Laureate".

 It is hoped that his talent, being used again in the service of Rhodesia, will bring as much pleasure as it did to the tens of thousands of readers of Life with UDI in many parts of the world.

 MORE LIFE WITH UDI
 
 AS Life With UDI went to press last May it was announced that British government officials would visit Rhodesia for talks. Since then talk, and more talk (162), has permeated the air in Salisbury, London (170), and New York, resounding with prognostications of immediate doom (144), threats of force, menaces of mandatory sanctions, and that fate-worse- than-death—UN intervention.

 As we go to press with the sequel, More Life With UDI, another British travelling salesman, Sir Morrice James, has arrived with yet one more ultimatum. That these British visitors should want to escape from the "sceptered isle" with its "freezes" and "squeezes" is understandable. That those who had never been to Africa before now have an inkling of what they are talking about is to be commended.

 The "talks about talks" started in June. Meantime Rhodesians having accustomed themselves to the minor irritations of petrol rationing (145), the shortage of chocolate, and the occasional break in supply of some household commodity (155), have enjoyed a normal life. Those whose livelihood was threatened by sanctions have long since settled into new, even more rewarding niches, Commerce has kept up its end despite difficulties (111), and local industry has been quick to seize new opportunities handed to it on a plate by Mr. Wilson (167). Farmers, including tobacco-growers (138), still produce their crops, the mines their minerals (176).

 The "talks" continued. In Britain Mr. Wilson struggled manfully to prop up his pound (186) and de-ice his economy (164 and 168), while Finance Minister Wrathall produced a business-as-usual budget (135) which surprised those who already had us laid out for burial (136 and 144). Strange goings-on at the University ended in deportations; and the judiciary declared the Rhodesian Government de facto, albeit illegal. There was a break in the "talks".

 With no blockade-breaking oil tankers to enliven the scene, and even the one-time homeless "sugar-ship" finding a buyer for its cargo, Rhodesians diverted their attention to such innocuous events as the antics of the Irish Fusiliers (153), the Durban July" (124), the opening of the Casino (127), the Tiger Fishing Tournament (180), and the municipal elections (146). The international newshounds virtually deserted us, those remaining (118 and 171) using Salisbury as a base from which to visit Africa's trouble spots and to do the social round of the numerous independence festivities.

 The "talks" were resumed. Elsewhere in Africa things were about normal—for Africa. There was a coup here and there (140), Zambia committed transport hara-kiri (137), some lively Somali border skirmishing produced its quota of casualties, summary "justice" was administered in the Congo (107), and about 1,000 Ugandans were bumped off by Premier Obote (119)—nothing really serious enough to warrant the attention of a UN preoccupied with Rhodesia's "explosive situation". These events, and others inspired by Zambia as spearhead of the OAU and collaborator in Britain's sanctions, have a place in this "history" since they obtrude directly, or indirectly, on the Rhodesian scene.

 More "talks". And so the year went by . . . "Weeks, rather than months" . . . "Crush Rhodesia by 15th December, 1965 —or else!" . . . "talk", "talk" (191).

 After a year of pressures, scorn, sanctions and diatribe, Rhodesia emerged more resolute in her will to survive, and with a more stable, stronger, and more dignified image (192) —an image gratuitously, though unintentionally, created for her by the failure of her would-be detractors. Mainspring of her stability lies in the deep reservoir of inter-racial goodwill.

 That Rhodesian Africans actually assist their "oppressors" in hunting down terrorist would-be "liberators" refutes the lie that this is a land of turmoil and strife. There has, in fact, been more racial disturbance and bloodshed in Chicago or Los Angeles in a week than in Rhodesia in a year.

 Rhodesia has a proud history of 70 years of peaceful progress and dynamic development. For more than 40 years she has governed herself. She has never been ruled by Britain and since she practises self-help is not a member of International Scroungers Unlimited. She asks only to be left in peace to develop her resources for all her peoples.

 This cartoon series completes Year One of Rhodesia's Independence. We thank the public for their enthusiastic support of Life With UDI and hope that they find this sequel as enjoyable. Explanatory notes have been included for readers not familiar with the background of the events cartooned.

 Bulawayo,
 15th October, 1966.
 L.W.B.

 

101 Rhodesians, eager to show the world that despite the tightening of Mr. Wilson's screws they were in sufficiently good heart to come up laughing, mailed copies of Life with UDI* to many parts of the world. Thousands went to Britain. Although "U"-DI was considered "non-U" in some quarters it would seem nevertheless that the book was surreptitiously enjoyed.

* Unilateral Declaration of Independence.


103 Until Zambia took on the role of British agent in applying sanctions against Rhodesia and reduced her Rhodesian trade, she had bought her clothing from Rhodesian and South African manufacturers. But before severing the link she laid in a stockpile which kept Rhodesian factories working at pressure for many months. Hoping to fill the gap, Britain sent out a British National Export Council sales mission and one can but speculate on what was offered as substitutes for the
ubiquitous khaki shorts and shirt.


104 Most of the supplies for the Zambian copper mines, including coal, explosives and machinery, come from South Africa and Rhodesia. Much of the specialised equipment has been developed and is made in Southern Africa. In cutting off her nose to enhance the British image, Zambia has unnecessarily jeopardised her mining industry. In trying to establish new sources of supply she has concluded some strange trade pacts.



105 Some seventy years ago, the railway from the Cape was built through Botswana (Bechuanaland) to Rhodesia and on to Zambia by Rhodes, who had a vision of a Cape-to-Cairo link. This system, Rhodesia Railways, was successively owned by private enterprise, the Rhodesia Government, the Federal Government and, since 1964, by the Governments of Rhodesia and Zambia equally and jointly. Zambia's economic lifeline, the railway is threatened by political pressures and its break-up at the Rhodesia-Zambia border now seems inevitable.



106 An orange shortage in Britain due to the shipping strike prompted the Rhodesian branch of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society to organise three "Oranges-for-Britain" airlifts to children's hospitals there. Naartjies were donated by the Officer Administering the Government, Mr. Clifford Dupont.
At the same time Zambia's President Kaunda was making searing attacks on Britain for her "evasive and shiftist" handling of the Rhodesian situation. A British newspaper, referring to President Kaunda's pleas for more millions of aid and his threat to quit the Commonwealth, likened him to "a debtor threatening to take his overdraft elsewhere".



107 Four former ministers accused of plotting against General Mobutu were hanged in Leopoldville's Grand Square before a Wembley-sized "gate" of 100,000 after being condemned at a 90-minute open-air "trial". No evidence was presented, no prosecution case made, there were no witnesses and the defendants had no counsel. There were also no protest marches in London, no sermon in St. Paul's, no letters to The Times, no deputations to UN.



108 With the space-size headache Mr. Wilson must have one can understand a desire "to get away from it all". America's Surveyor spacecraft touched down gently on the moon's surface and radioed back 144 sharply-defined pictures. Americans probably now know less about Rhodesia than they do about the moon, which does not deter them from trying to impose on us the "solution" and resulting chaos they helped to entrench in the strife-torn Congo.



109 Gifts from Friends of Rhodesia Associations arrive in Rhodesia in a continuous stream, among them 3,000 gallons of petrol presented by Mr. Eric Butler in the name of the people of Australia and New Zealand.



110    The Buy Home Products campaign with its slogan "Buy Home Products and Your Money Comes Back to You", was started several years ago under the joint sponsorship of Government and Commerce and Industry. It has received a substantial fillip under the spur of sanctions.



111 The distributive sector of the economy has been one of the hardest hit by sanctions, many commercial houses incurring heavy losses to keep staff, including Africans, in employment. Import quotas for Commerce, the introduction of the Pay-as-You-Earn taxation system, and the Government-sponsored savings campaign have syphoned ready cash away from the shops. The position eased when bigger quotas were granted and as more Rhodesian-made goods became available.



112 At 3.40 a.m. a B.S.A. Police Patrol Officer came across a two-and-a-half-ton bull hippo heading for Bulawayo's city centre. It had lumbered some twelve miles from its haunt at the Matopos Dam. Attempts to drive it out of town having failed, it was eventually despatched by a Game Warden and ended up in the cooking pots of a nearby African police camp.


113 On 20th September Mr. Smith told Parliament that the Rhodesian Government had no mandate to declare Rhodesia a republic and had no intention of doing so at this stage. But if Rhodesia was forced out of the Commonwealth, he said, the Government would have to think again. On 20th October he said that if Britain "threw in the sponge and went to the United Nations . . it would be tantamount to ejecting Rhodesia from the Commonwealth.

Text Reads:-
Bulawayo has an ambitious young man with a flying machine. The trouble Is, it doesn't fly. But Henry Marriott(18), a Railways fireman, is determined to accomplish what boffins since Leonardo da Vinci has attempted — take his frail gyro-copter into the blue skies without the aid of an engine.
''I guess there will be many setbacks before I get into the air, he said gloomily. "But
I'll get this thing off the ground eventually."



114 The best the British Army has ever been able to offer is a Field- Marshal's baton.



115 This is one form of attack against countries which depend upon imports for survival but Rhodesia produces a wide enough range of foodstuffs to feed herself and is self-sufficient in many manufactured products, including clothing. Meanwhile the enforcement of sanctions and maintenance of the Zambian economy has been estimated to be costing Britain about £100m. a year.


116 Much resented by many Rhodesians is the presence of the radio relay station erected by the British Government at Francistown in friendly Botswana (Bechuanaland), about 60 miles from the Rhodesian border, allegedly to beam BBC programmes/propaganda to this country. Effective jamming of the station takes place from Rhodesia. It is thought, however, that the station's true function is to eavesdrop on Rhodesia's communications system.



117 Tickey-snatching has put a two-way stretch on pre-UDI housekeeping allowances trying to cope with post UDI increases. On 10th May petrol went up by 1s. 3d. a gallon, on 24th June the Sales Tax was doubled to 8d. in the £, and on 29th June off-ration petrol became available at 8s. lOd. a gallon. In the main these have been accepted without demur as part of the price of preserving what is cherished above financial inconvenience.



118 In African countries north of Rhodesia most Europeans are and have been birds of passage on Government duty. But Rhodesia has a permanently settled white community responsible for its modern development. Broadly speaking, about one-third are immigrants, mainly from Britain; another third stems from neighbouring South Africa and, like the remaining third who were born in Rhodesia, know no home save Southern Africa. They are no more "white settlers" than are the Americans, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders in their countries. The principle is not altered by the time factor.



119 The African most lionised in London is the fire-eating nationalist, the racialist, arsonist, prison graduate and mass murderer, with the full five-star treatment reserved for the man who speaks in millions—of pounds aid! There is no place in the heart of this great city for the honest chief, the upright headman, the faithful servant of his people. Or where then the flying cassocks, the fiery beards, the crusading females, arrayed in defence of King Freddie, the massacred Nigerians, Somalis, Congolese . . . ?



120 Prime Minister Smith was invited to leave his imprint in a wet concrete map of Rhodesia and South Africa beside those of three Fouriesburg drivers of a lorry of gift petrol, and of an impression of the wheel of the lorry. The event took place at a Marandellas church fete. Not so popular at this time was the Minister of Commerce and Industry whose "war measures" and "crocodile tears" for the motor trade drew critical comment from Commerce.


121 Feature of London life is the professional protest-marcher who will carry the banner for anyone . . . well, almost anyone. However, there are no protests when African preys on African in the name of freedom. To many Rhodesians the UN appears now to be peopled by those of the same ilk.



122 This is not an unfavourable review of Brian Brooke's Bulawayo and Salisbury productions of The Killing of Sister George, but serves to illustrate how "trigger-happy" are some of those ready to shoot us down on almost any pretext.


123 Rhodesia Railways, which earlier forecast a break-even for the year, ended its financial year on 30th June, 1966, with a loss of about £100,000, having carried a record 15,000,000 tons of traffic and earned a record revenue of £39,000,000. Had it not been for the unusual conditions under which the system has had to operate recently it may have been able to better last year's surplus of £1,800,000.



124 Africans, like Lady Godiva who put all she had on one horse, are keen punters. A Bulawayo kitchen-hand who earns

End of Pg 356 (194)

£ 13. 8s. 4d. a month hit the jackpot when he won £2,800 for a £7
stake on the "Durban July", South Africa's premier racing
event. He correctly forecast the first, second and third horses.



125 The problems of "majority rule" did not, of course, arise in America way back in 1776 since these sturdy pioneers evolved their own expedient for dealing with such matters. However, Mr. Goldberg, chief U.S. delegate to the UN, seems at last to be concerned over "majority rule"—at UN itself, where small, insignificant states are usurping the peace-keeping authority of the great powers. On the UN's 21st birthday (24th October) he said: "It would not have been accepted in 1945 that the UN should include tiny states whose only justification for existence is that their territory is no longer wanted by the colonial governments that supported them for years." The light dawns!



126 When Zambia tried to go it alone transport-wise, in the belief that a boycott of her rail life-line through Rhodesia would cripple us, she sowed the seeds of her own economic downfall. Recently she mooted as many new copper routes as there are points to the compass. Some came to nothing and her main hopes are now pinned on the much-vaunted 1,200-mile Great North Road to Dar es Salaam in Chinese-Communist influenced Tanzania.



127 Rhodesia's £350,000 Victoria Falls Casino, opened on 7th July, brings to the untamed, majestic grandeur of the nearby Falls—the world's greatest—and to the adjoining renowned Wankie Game Park, an added attraction for the touring jet-set. There is no truth in the rumour that Mr. Wilson showed up on opening night for a round of Russian roulette.



128 The four-and-a-half-month national training period, introduced in 1955 for Rhodesian youths of military age, was superseded in July by a nine-months' scheme because of threats to our security. The Rhodesian Army is one of the few armed forces in Africa today not involved in politics.



129 Despite forecasts of disaster from overseas, the Government has shown complete confidence in Rhodesia's agricultural future by guaranteeing the tobacco crop for the coming season and injecting a £23-million boost into the economy. Minister of Agriculture, Mr. George Rudland, assured growers that if sanctions made a return to free auctions impracticable Government would guarantee a market for a target 200-million-lb. crop at grade prices averaging 28d. perlb. It will be noted that "007" is still on the job.



130 Although Zambia harbours terrorists who infiltrate across the Zambezi River to launch cowardly attacks on isolated Rhodesian farms and lonely motorists, and is the source of inflammatory broadcasts inciting Africans in Rhodesia to commit murder and arson against whites, Rhodesia has taken no retaliatory action against Zambia. Why then the protective barricade recently erected around the Zambian President's residence? What makes him feel so insecure in his own country? Fears of old tribal scores being settled perhaps, or concern over the possible outcome of his senior lieutenants' frequent visits to Communist China?



131 On 1st July the Safmarine cargo vessel, S./4. Seafarer, went a ground as she was about to enter Cape Town harbour on a voyage from the United Kingdom. Being one of the first vessels to make the run after Britain's seaman's strike, she was well laden with urgently-awaited goods for South Africa and Rhodesia.



132 Any resemblance between this couple and any persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Let us say that they are typical of many British victims of Mr. Wilson's desperate austerity measures to save sterling from devaluation—a position aggravated by the foolhardy and fruitless sanctions against Rhodesia. In June Mr. Bottomley, then Commonwealth Secretary, said he accepted that sanctions against Rhodesia had some damaging effect on British export trade. "But," he added, "the Government are convinced sanctions are the best way of bringing about the restoration of constitutional government in Rhodesia and a return to normal trading relations." Some people are easily convinced!



133 The fantastic development of the Rhodesian lowveld, where some 52,000 acres of sugar, 1,000 acres of citrus and nearly 5,000 acres of cotton, wheat and other crops are being grown under irrigation, is but the beginning of the giant £280 million Sabi-Limpopo Development Programme. Vying in scope with South Africa's fabulous Orange River Project, the Scheme aims to have 715,000 acres under irrigation over the next 25 years. The gross agricultural and industrial production of the completed project is expected to be of the order of £217 million a year.



134 The public was invited to judge the entries in a National Song Contest launched at the express wish of the Prime Minister, Mr. Ian Smith. Radio and TV brought the songs into every home. The winning song, We Who Follow, reproduced as a foreword to this book, was originally composed for a theatre show in 1963. The composer presented the £100 prize to charity.



135 Number 10 Downing Street's biggest embarrassment of the year.was probably Rhodesia's first post UDI budget—a record £99,000,000 "holding operation" with a relatively small deficit of£400,000. Taxpayers were let off lightly, Finance Minister, Mr. John Wrathall, proving to the world that after eight months of sanctions Rhodesia's economy and currency were as strong as ever. In the Budget Debate, Opposition Member, Dr. Ahrn Palley, described Mr. Wrathall's remarkable piece of accounting as "a wall-papering operation" to hide the cracks in the economy".



136 With the Budget discounting any wishful thinking that Rhodesia was on its last legs, one can safely assume that at least one Commonwealth Prime Minister must have reminded Mr. Wilson of his "weeks rather than months" promise given at their Lagos conference in January. In fact, for the first six months of 1966 Rhodesia's exports decreased by 17 per cent and imports by some £28 million, compared with the same period last year, giving a favourable balance of trade of £6.3 million for the half-year, compared with a deficit of £2.9 million in 1964.



137 Gilbert and Sullivan produced no more bizarre situation than Zambia's attempt to cripple Rhodesia by denying her valuable railway revenues. Advised by glamorous Mrs. Judith Hart, Minister of State for Commonwealth Relations, Zambia suspended copper railings over the traditional Rhodesia Railways routes to Mozambique, and substituted a series of alternative routes by rail, road, air and barge via the Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. On 24th June the Times of Zambia said: "Trying to follow the planning of Zambia's new trade routes .. . like doing a jig-saw puzzle in pitch darkness." Meanwhile a £30 million stockpile of copper at the mines bore testimony to this act of hara-kiri. Six weeks later, Rhodesia's railage payment requirements having been met, Zambia resumed copper railings through Rhodesia. Other impediments to smooth railway operations were later to result in an acute drop in exports of Rhodesian coal to Zambia and a 25 per cent cut-back in copper production.



138 The payments received by farmers for their tobacco and other crops were generally sufficient in the past season for them to continue operations this season. The Government set up a Committee to consider the provision of financial assistance to farmers of proven ability whose operations are jeopardised by financial hardships.



139 South African citizens ceased to be regarded as "aliens" with the passage of the Aliens Bill—a privilege considered appropriate in view of Rhodesia's close association with that country. Beitbridge, on the Limpopo River, is the main border post on the road linking South Africa and Rhodesia. Van der Merwe is a typical albeit fictitious South African character—the "rustic" turned "man-of-the-world", whose slips have launched a thousand laughs. He earns a place in this "history" for the sunshine he has brought into Year One of U.D.I.
The following is a typical v.d. Merwe story: Having recently returned from his first Continental holiday, Koos v. d. Merwe phoned his coal merchant to order some coal. "Send me ten bags s'il vous plait," said Koos.
"What do you mean 's'il vous plait!?' "asked the bemused merchant.
"Ag man," replied Koos, "it's cultured in France to say 's'il vous plait' when you get anything".
"Is that so," he said. "Well, shall I send it cul-de-sac or a la cart?"



140 Maj.-Gen. Ironsi, who emerged as Nigeria's Head of State after the bloody coup of January, was himself kidnapped and spirited away by Army mutineers led by 31-year-old Lt.-Col. Yakubu Gowon who then assumed leadership of the country. As in most parts of Africa, tribalism in Nigeria transcends nationalism and was the cause of further mass murder in October. A quarter of Africa's 36 independent African states is now under military control, and the soldiery wield a strong influence in another half dozen.



141 Pioneering the wild and inhospitable parts of Africa breeds a type of man who is unlikely to be impressed by talk of "unimpeded progress to majority rule". "Together we progress, to rule together, tomorrow", is his philosophy, for being a man of the soil he has adapted his way of life in accordance with nature's laws of growth.



142 This tribute to the moral and tangible support Rhodesia has received from her good neighbour, Mozambique, was prompted by a news report that Spain's most famous living ex-matador. Luis Miguel Dominguin (40) had arrived in Beira and intended to fight three wild buffalo.



143    A Salisbury man, Mr. Brendan Whitehead (20), broke the Rhodesian and South African free-fall sky-diving records and possibly the world record—when he did a 20,000 ft. drop into Lake Kariba. He had a free fall of 109.1 sec. before opening his parachute. According to the American magazine, Skydiver, the world record for a delayed drop into water is 100 sec.



144 Despite sanctions, by July there were signs of increased activity in commerce, industry and the property market, and little severe unemployment. The revival was attributed to South African support and the courage, adaptability and enterprise of Rhodesians themselves. The bulletin of the Credit Bureau said: "The art of living in Africa is the art of living hopefully with uncertainty. Rhodesians seem to have a talent for this. They have been doing it for three-quarters of a century."



145 Well, who hasn't got into the wrong queue at some time or another ?



146  Any suggestion that Rhodesians haven't minds of their own was dispelled by the electorate's rejection of the ruling Rhodesian Front's bid to control the traditionally independent municipal councils at the local government elections. This despite the fact that as leader of the Front Prime Minister Smith enjoys almost complete Rhodesian support at national level.



147 Africa these days is something like "Old MacDonald's Farm" —with here a coup, there a coup! Even the UN Secretary- General said that he could not conceal his distress at . . . "the sudden and violent political changes in newly independent states". We can't, however, vouch for the story of the African leader who allegedly went to the USA to get military aid "to beefup his armed forces". "My people are getting fed-up with democracy," he said. "We have a right to a military government like everybody else. If we don't get it we'll take the matter up with UN. We won't stand being discriminated against."



148 Perhaps we have drawn a long bow with this one—but who's to know what happens to these petrol coupons!



149 According to a report in the Times of Zambia, a Zambian M.P. told Parliament that spraying equipment should have been fitted to the RAF Javelin jet fighters stationed in that country so that they could have wiped out the tsetse fly. Invited to comment on the suggestion, an RAF officer said he could not—he was speechless. The squadron left shortly afterwards. (It was estimated that it cost Britain £1,000,000 a month to keep the squadron and the RAF Regiment operative
in Zambia. It was there for nine months.)



150 Under conditions of "economic warfare" such economies become necessary. We hope that the General Manager, Rhodesia Railways, Mr. Trevor Wright, will forgive us for stretching the point a little.

151 The Rhodesian Government aerial spraying unit was reported to have destroyed an estimated 21 million queleas, a tiny bird, in the lowveld over two months. A quelea eats its own weight every day, a colony of seven million getting through 110 tons of grain daily.



152 When Beatle John Lennon made his profane remark on the popularity of his rock 'n' roll group he started what the Press referred to as the "Holy War". It certainly filled more column inches than did the proceedings of the World Council of Churches which, at about the same time, resolved in Geneva: "to identify ourselves with the African nationals (sic) of Rhodesia in their quest for majority rule ... we recommend that the issue of Rhodesia be turned over to the UN." About two weeks earlier, Father A. R. Lewis, priest-in-charge of a Rhodesian mission, St. Peter's, who has spent 20 years among Africans, wrote in The Times. " ... I would hate to dogmatise about what Africans think. My own observation suggests a great variety of opinion among Rhodesian Africans and certainly nothing remotely like universal hostility to the Government. A large part of the African population lives in tribal conditions and they are quite unfamiliar with the machinery of Westminster democracy. And the fear of nationalist terrorism is still present."



153 The head-line-making activities of the Irish Fusiliers guarding the BBC "bush" radio station at Francistown reached a climax when one of their number knocked out the town's District Commissioner. Said one resident: "The Glosters were bad, the first Fusiliers were worse, but these are terrible."

154 Strike action by lecturers and disturbances at the University in Salisbury culminated in the deportation of nine lecturers. The Minister of Information, Mr. John Howman, said, among other things, that they had propagated subversion and had acted as couriers for terrorist organisations. Prime Minister, Mr. Ian Smith, said of their activities: "... the reports I have seen would make your hair curl, or if you have curly hair it would make it straight."



155 Of the shortages which have occurred from time to time one was mustard. But please 'Friends', we're O.K. for mustard now!



156 The gospel according to Nkrumah said "Seek ye first the political kingdom . " What he did not add was- "and the chaos will follow." How well "free-doom" is going down with the masses is indicated by a Press report of 2nd October which said that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was opening a new office in Addis Ababa to deal with the growing refugee problem in Africa. He is unlikely to find many Rhodesian Africans among his clientele.



157 Radio personality Leslie Sullivan who beams his bright and breezy RBC "wakey wakey" programme every morning, includes a feature welcoming New Rhodesians by name. Mr Duncan Watson and Mr. Oliver Wright are the British officials who took part in the "Talks about Talks" On returning to Rhodesia after a trip to Britain, Mr. Watson told reporters that they were "glad to be back". We believe he meant it!



158 By late August the American summer had spawned a dozen ugly race riots with several killed, many injured and extensive damage to property. The violence laid a trail from New York through Philadelphia, Chicago and Cleveland to San Francisco. American critics of Rhodesia would do well to see for themselves how harmoniously the races live here by comparison. Rhodesia has fewer policemen per head of population than Britain or America. Police in Rhodesia are not armed.



159 In an incredibly short time 2,500 acres of virgin land in the lowveld was cleared of bush and planted to wheat in a self- help project to conserve foreign currency. A number of city back-yard gardeners also took up the challenge.



160 In the Cape Town Gardens is a statue of Cecil Rhodes with outstretched arm pointing northwards. It bears the inscription "Yonder lies your hinterland." Best known of several other statues to him, most of which face north, is this one in Bulawayo. It was here, after peaceful parleying with the Matabele, that Rhodes with his dictum, "equal rights for every civilised man south of the Zambesi" created the progressive modern state of Rhodesia—self-governing since 1923, and never a possession of Britain although enjoying the status of fully fledged member of the British group of nations. White and black progressed through mutual respect and in the first sixty UNABLE TO READ TEXT maintenance of law and order That was until the period of terrorism visited on the African people by political thugs of their own race, backed by the OAU and well-meaning "do-gooders" overseas. With the "rustication" of the terror mongers peace returned. Since the advent of "freedom" in the northern countries of Africa Rhodesians have tended to turn south—to South Africa—for their economic future.



161 The visiting South African Boland rugby team beat a Rhodesian side in a Trophy game in Salisbury by 20 points to 3.

162 Most Rhodesians and their well-wishers have hoped sincerely that the second-league "Talks about Talks" (in which Sir Cornelius Greenfield represented Rhodesia) and the later big-league "Talkers" would produce an honourable settlement of the unfortunate rift between this country and the Government of Britain. As the year wore on and speculation on the outcome of the proceedings grew, the public, in the absence of truly informative statements, began to wonder what anyone could talk about for so long. It was suggested, although we are reluctant to believe it, that a primary purpose of the commuting between London and Salisbury was to keep Mr. Wilson personally supplied with Rhodesian tobacco.



163 Rhodesia's Top Dog, UDI, pronounced "Udee", was presented to the Prime Minister at the time of the declaration of independence. She has featured in the news on more than one occasion recently.



164 This prompts the comment whether a "Bob-a-Jobber" at the P.M.'s desk could possibly have got things into a worse mess.



165 Biltong (Afrikaans) is nourishing, sun-dried lean meat, game or beef, in great demand in South Africa and Rhodesia. Arriving on the eve of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, this gift was doubtless intended to give delegates something to get their teeth into.



166 After all, errors of protocol occur in the best of circles.



167 Mr. T C. Aram, President, Bulawayo Chamber of Industries, told the Executives Association that since last November at least 100 new manufacturing projects had been set up in Rhodesia. Industry in Bulawayo alone pays out £15,000,000 a year to some 35,000 employees, he said. In 1955 the average earning of an African in industry was £78 a year; by 1965 it was £208. Production is expected to reach a record high this year.

End of 360
Start 361Start 361 (199)



168 One of Britain's most vociferous attackers over Rhodesia has been Sir Albert Margai, Prime Minister of Sierra Leone. Offering troops to "crush the Smith regime", he said that it was "quite possible" that his country would quit the Common- wealth if more effective action were not taken. His country has had some £7.5 million from Britain in recent years. A commission of enquiry has found that about one quarter of the gross national product went into private pockets. Loans owing to Britain since 1961 have not yet been repaid.



169 The assassination of Dr. Verwoerd came as a great shock to Rhodesians who have admired tremendously the dignity with which the South African nation accepted the tragedy. This country owes a great deal to the late Premier for his steadfast refusal to be party to Mr. Wilson's sanctions. Among the mourners at the funeral were the Prime Minister, Mr. Ian Smith, and Peter Jones, the head boy of Milton High School, Bulawayo, at which Dr. Verwoerd won a Beit Scholarship in 1915. The Afrikaans quotation with this drawing is from South Africa's national anthem and may be translated:
"We will answer your (South Africa's) call,
We will give whatever you ask of us."



170 After nine days of bitter debate on Rhodesia by the 22-nation Commonwealth Conference, which split on racial lines, Britain called on Rhodesia to end its "rebellion" or face Commonwealth sponsorship of a Security Council resolution invoking mandatory sanctions. This one-time dignified and responsible body degenerated to the extent of evoking sharp criticism from several of the older members of the "club".



171 Prime Minister Smith announced that 11th November, anniversary of Rhodesia's assumption of independence, would be a public holiday on which Rhodesians should set aside time "to re-dedicate themselves to those Christian ideals which prompted the declaration . . . prayers of thanksgiving
and dedication should be followed by rejoicing and celebration."



172 There has been a very noticeable trend in Zambian Government statements to lay at Rhodesia's door all the ills that Zambia is heir to.



173 Commonwealth countries have launched a collective £21 million aid programme to help Zambia to face the consequences of her confrontation with Rhodesia. Included in this amount is Britain's original £14 million offer. Canada appears to be the only other contributor. By contrast, in the past year Rhodesia, despite all the impediments placed in her way, has raised £20 million in loan funds from her own resources.

174 A common plaint of overseas visitors to Rhodesia is of the totally misleading picture they are given of the country by their Press. Whilst one would hesitate to suggest that any news medium would stoop so low as to profane the sacredness of a fact, let us say that there is more to a truthful description of a shilling piece than a report that it has a milled edge and carries a date.



175 A number of Rhodesians took part in the Battle of Britain. A recent visitor from Dublin, Rev. Heavener, who travelled nearly 3,000 miles through Rhodesia, said that he had found no bitterness towards Britain, but a sense of perplexity at the measures taken against this country. This he found understandable as most men in their forties were ex-servicemen who had fought for Britain in her hour of need.



176 Whilst, in the absence of published statistics, we do not know where all our minerals go we read in a recent press report that Britain had rapped Washington over US imports of Rhodesian chrome. The USA, it would appear, is prepared to go along with British sanctions as long as it suits her. She is not alone in this attitude.



177 Recent events in African states which had been held up to Rhodesians as examples worthy of emulation, and the "ganging-up" at the Prime Ministers' Conference have, we believe, given Mr. Wilson his first uneasy feelings of disenchantment.



178 This issue of The Rhodesia Herald appeared with the greater part of its front page blank. The publishers alleged that portions of the reports covering the arrival in Salisbury of Mr. Bowden had been censored. In answer to a question in Parliament, the Minister of Information said that the material had been used by the Press deliberately and in the knowledge that it would be cut. Mr. v. d. Merwe on seeing the paper applauded the thoughtfulness of the Rhodesian editor in simultaneously catering for the country's literate and illiterate public.



179 The TV serial, "The Fugitive", features Richard Kimble's successful evasion of the police. Mr. v. d. Merwe is now in distinguished company since it is noted that a well known gentleman from Accra is also wanted by Interpol allegedly in connection with missing petty cash.

End of 361 (199)


180 Tiger-fishing is a popular Rhodesian sport and an annual tournament is held at Lake Kariba. Some 500 fishermen and their families from 54 clubs attended this year, including 18 teams from South Africa.



181 Britain's Commonwealth Secretary, Mr. Herbert Bowden, and Attorney-General, Sir Elwyn Jones, first British Ministers to visit Rhodesia since UDI, arrived in Salisbury with what were believed to be the terms of the communique issued at the end of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference. "... the last offer, positively the last offer,... going, going..."



182 The Wild Life Society of Rhodesia has launched a nation wide campaign to raise funds for the transport by road of 60 to 100 white rhinos from South Africa. They are a gift from the Natal Parks Game and Fish Preservation Board and will come from Zululand to re-stock Rhodesian game parks.



183 Botswana (Bechuanaland Protectorate), which was granted independence on 30th September, flanks the western border of Rhodesia. It has a population of just over 500,000 and a national budget of £5.1 million—smaller than that of the municipal budgets of Bulawayo or Salisbury. Independent
politically, it will be dependent economically primarily on Britain. In view of the UN's tremendous concern for the welfare of the African people, it is interesting to note that only £3,000 has been pledged by three countries out of the 117 UN member states who approved the creation of a fund to help the economic promotion of Botswana, Lesotho (also now independent) and Swaziland.

CHAFF WITH THE WINDS OF CHANGE



Mr. James H. Neal, who now lives in enforced retirement in Worthing, Sussex, walks with the aid of a ause of an "accident" that occurred in Accra in September, 1932.He says that he was standing high up in the corner of the new grandstand at Accra racecourse, watching race-fixing suspects being rounded up, when he was "pushed" violently from the rear.

" It was definitely ju-ju forces that caused my accident," says Mr. Neal. " I was given an amulet to protect me, but on the day in question I left it at home under my pillow. " In Africa there are more powerful forces than many people care to admit."
THE SUNDAY NEWS, MAY 29, 1966.

Salisbury, Wednesday. —
Rhodesian cats have only to suffer the vitamin pill shortage a few more weeks. A new, locally  produced yeast and calcium tablet for cats and dogs, similar to the ones previously imported, is to go on the market.
THE CHRONICLE JUNE 22 1966

Sir,—Why the need for a new  anthem? We have only to sing a verse of our original one, viz:
O Lord our God, arise
Scatter our enemies and make
them fall;
Confound their politics, frustrate their knavish tricks, 
On Thee our hope we fix; God save us all.
What more appropriate?
I. GRAY.
THE CHRONICLE. TUESDAY, JULY 5.

Lusaka, Wednesday. — Zambia, beset by supply problems since Rhodesia declared independence last year, now has another — white ants.

A consignment of 47 dresses from top British design houses flown out here arrived at the airport, but before they could be collected from the freight office white ants had eaten their way through the  boxes, the packing and the dresses.
THE CHRONICLE,. JULY 14, 1966

KADUNA (Northern Nigeria), Sunday. — A man in Katsina, 220 miles north of here, took a goat to court for allegedly eating a one pound note belonging to him. The goat's owner was  summoned later and ordered by an Alkali (native court judge) to refund the money with a warning to keep his animal indoors.
THE CHRONICLE MONDAY. JULY 18.

Only one worker was at RF headquarters yesterday because everybody else was out in the wards canvassing.
Today one of the "top bras." of the party will be on duty.
THE CHRONICLE, August 3. 1966

LUSAKA— The Zambian Minister of
Education is considering whether schoolgirls should be allowed to return to school after the  their babies have born

SALISBURY --Zambia is to have a system of star grading for its hotels and the Times of Zambia suggests these should range through "disgusting. less disgusting. dishonest, semi-dishonest and tolerable.
THE CHRONICLE, AUGUST 4, 1966

NKRUMAH's private zoo is being used as a living larder by soldiers after February's coup d'etat.

Set out on 10 acres in the spacious grounds of Flagstaff House, the  zoo was once Nkrumah's showpiece for visiting heads of state and an amusement for his Egyptian wife, Fathia, and their three young children.

I raised fimy eyebrows inquiringly at a slime filled pit.
A notice proclaimed  "Baby Hippopatamus."
"It was eaten."

And the giraffe. the lynx, the pigeons, the  tropical fish, the snakes and a host of rare animals from  all over the continent.

"All gone to make chop" he explained adding as he hurried me on. "But plenty more left - Cuban falcons, leopard hyena, jackal monkeys, a kangaroo.
THE CHRONICLE AUGUST 11, 1966

End of Page 346 (184)
Start 347 (185)



THE man who rings a bell or parks his bicycle too near a polling station on election day in Gambia is liable to find himself in prison for three months or having to pay a fine of up to £25, or both. Gambians do not use ballot papers to vote, but small glass marbles that ring bells when dropped into the polling; box.

The voter drops his marble into a pipe in the drum of his choice, it rolls down the pipe and hits a bicycle bell.

The bell ensures that he does not thrust a fistful of marbles into the pipe.

When this system was first used, work at some polling stations was disrupted by people vigorously ringing their bicycle bells outside and so hoping to upset voting in areas where their opponents were strong.
THE RHODESIA HERALD AUG 11

"Six months ago Mr. Wilson promised, in effect, to bring a certain country to its knees. I thought he meant Rhodesia, but now I know better. Obviously he meant Britain".
Letter in British newspaper.
THE SUNDAY MAIL, AUGUST 21,
A MALE shopper recently asked his butcher for 31b. of TV. Other shop customers looked perplexed, but the butcher didn't bat an eyelid. He cut off the requested order — 31b. of tripe.
THE CHRONICLE AUGUST 24, 1966

Accra, Friday. — Fifty-five jockeys have been banned and fined for refusing to ride at Accra races unless a cow was ritually slaughtered to "purify" an unlucky corner of the course.

Accra's Turf Club fined them £25 each and banned them for the rest of the Accra meeting which ends on September 3.
Iana-Reuter.

Lagos, Friday. — Midwives at the Kaduna general hospital were bewildered yesterday when an expectant woman, admitted for treatment, suddenly gave birth to an egg.

The egg, with a hard shell, was slightly larger than a hen's egg.
THE CHRONICLE, AUGUST 27

FREEDOM of the Press is allowed in the Congo but journalists have to conform to official Government releases and sources.—Lt.-CoJ,Shiga, Chief of Congo National Surete.
THE SUNDAY MAIL. AUGUST 28

There will be no August salary for the 12 tax collectors of Msangano, Southern Tanzania, because they failed to bring in enough money, it was reported in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
THE SUNDAY NEWS. SEPTEMBER. 11.

Blantyre, Monday. — A Malawi Youth League local leader has been jailed for 18 months with hard labour at Lilongwe for instructing members of the league to beat up women accused of being witches.
THE CHRONICLE, SEPTEMBER 13, 1966

LONDON, Saturday. — The walls of Mr. Ian Smith's "Jericho" in Rhodesia would not fall at the sound of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' tin trumpets, a "rebel" Labour MP, Mr. Desmond Donnellv. said TODAY.



186 It must have been gratifying to Prime Minister Smith to know that his expressions of confidence in a settlement of the "Rhodesian question" did so much for Mr. Wilson.



187 Miss P. Sears of Chelsea told the Labour Party conference that Rhodesian women played bridge all day. A prominent Rhodesian farmer's wife, commenting more in sorrow than in anger, said that the remark was a good illustration of the lack of knowledge among people who feel qualified to try to control our destinies, in spite of their ignorance. There are probably fewer European women in the whole of Rhodesia than in an average-sized English provincial town. Yet much of what the "welfare state" provides in Britain, in the welfare and charitable fields, is done by Rhodesian women on a do-it-yourself basis. They may be found working with their men folk on farms, mines, mission schools, and construction projects "in the bush"—in fact, wherever there is a job of development and pioneering to be done. After all, the remark- able development of Rhodesia in 70 years was neither the work of the fairies nor of the British Government!



188 The new-look Africa north of the Zambezi has resulted in new names for countries, and even for towns and streets—a trend which must be either a cartographer's joy or despair depending whether one is in the map-printing business or not.



189 The Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066) between Harold, King of England, and William, Duke of Normandy, in which Harold was defeated and killed by an arrow, was "one of those battles which at rare intervals have decided the fate of nations". —Sir F. M. Stenton in Anglo Saxon England.


190 Officially Rhodesia has been without oil for a whole year. In fact, life goes on smoothly, lubricated on friendship to which sanctions are no barrier.


191 For Rhodesia it has been a year of passing through the economic fire. What has emerged is a well-tempered, tougher and more resilient product, steeled to meet the new challenges of Year Two of Independence.



192 Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we'll do more, Sempronius,
We'll deserve it.

L.W.B.

Published by
LOUIS W. BOLZE,
P.O. Box 1994, Bulawayo, Rhodesia.
Made and printed in Rhodesia by
Mardon Printers (Pvt.) Ltd.,
P.O. Box 55, Salisbury.
Copyright © 1966, vested in the joint authorship:
Louis Bolze and Klaus Ravn.
End

Extracted and recompiled by Eddy Norris from material made available to ORAFs by Darryl Burlin.
Thanks Darryl.

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