On Friday, September 18, 1959, His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie I delivered the
following
address to the Nation, over Radio Addis
Ababa:
"The development programme that We
have outlined
to you on Our return from Our recent
visit to
friendly countries, has invoked an
enthusiastic response
from you and We are happy to say that We
are satisfied
of the unflinching support you have
given to Our decisions
on this matter. As you are anxiously
awaiting to see the
implementation of these programmes
started, We would
like you to share with Us the high hope
that We have
for the achievement of Our objectives
relating to these
programmes.
We would like you to recognise that unity
is in
itself strength. Form cooperative
systems and work in
unity with your fellow-men for the
benefit of the common
good.
Your eagerness to see the programmes
implemented
has given Us great encouragement for
carrying out Our
development objectives successfully for
the benefit and
welfare of Our beloved people.
Therefore, out of the programmes that
have been
worked out to be executed during the
course of the year,
We have already selected those which
should be given
priority, and the necessary arrangements
have already
been completed for their realisation.
As we have already made it clear to you
in Our
previous statement, capital is an
essential prerequisite
for initiating all undertakings,
whatever their nature.
We have, therefore, made credit
available for
you which, when properly used, would
enable you to
achieve your development objectives in
the fields of
agriculture, forestry, stock breading,
health services,
and in the sphere of other development
programmes.
For those of you who possess the land
and labour
but lack capital, We have made credit
available at low
interest. For those of you who have' the
necessary
finance but do not possess land to work on, We have, in
accordance with Our Proclamation which
entitled every
Ethiopian to ownership of land,
established offices in
every province through which you may be
able to acquire
land. Those who have neither land nor money
will be
granted land and a financial loan at low
interest. For
those of you who posses land, who have
financial resources
and manpower We have made experts
available to
furnish you with the necessary guidance
and advice in
your various undertakings. With the knowledge that
unity and cooperationare in themselves
strength, take
advantage of the possibilities that We
have opened to you.
You have now to choose in your
respective provinces,
up to the end of Hidar, twelve people
who are known
for their integrity, loyalty and
responsibility, who will
be charged to give out the financial
loans and who will
collect them as they mature. The
procedure which
would be the basis for your selection of
these officers
shall be sent to you through the
Governors of your
respective provinces. We shall appoint
three persons
for each province to make preparation
for the selection
which you are going to make and to
supervise the execution
of this programme. The persons to be
chosen by
you will be provided with a Development Bank
regulation
which they would use as a guide in their
work. The
interest on your loan would be 2 1/2 % and the loan is
repayable in five years time.
Therefore, We exhort you to follow the
guidance of
your Creator; not to waver from the goal
which We have
designed for your progress and
well-being, and to labour
diligently for the early realisation of
that goal.
We want the year E.C. 1952 to be a year
in which
Our nation being aware of Our readiness
to promote its
progress and advancement, appreciates
the value of selfhelp
through co-operative labour.
The
abundant resources of Our country
- its
virgin land, its mighty rivers, its
minerals and its fertile
soil guarantee
our nation a better and more prosperous
life. These natural riches and the prospect of
exploiting
them should be the major driving forces
in your endeavours.
Aside from this national wealth, each of you is
endowed with human energy and
intelligence which you
should employ for the achievement of
these goals.
It is a natural obligation for mankind
to live by the
sweat of his brow. "He that laboureth
not, neither let
him eat". Labour and nourishment
are equally essential
for human well-being. Did not Our Lord
Jesus Christ
Himself give us the parables of the ten
virgins and of the
lazy man who burried his gold, just to teach us the fruits
of diligent labour? He called his
servants and entrusted
to them his property; to one he gave
five talents, to
another two, and to another one, to each
according to his
ability. He who had received five
talents went at once
and traded with them, and made the five
talents more.
So, too, he who had the two talents made
two talents
more. But he who had received the one
talent went and
dug in the ground and hid his master's
money".
So use this available capital in the
most profitable
manner. Study your project; discuss it
with specialists;
and have the perseverance to see it
accomplished. If,
on the other hand, the capital remains
unused; if laziness
and indifference is diverted to selfish
and personal gains;
do not forget that you will have
incurred upon yourself
and upon your country a debt of the
heaviest kind.
There is no rose without thorns; there
is no profit without
labour.
We have promised you specialists and
technicians to
assist you in carrying out your
projects. But the leadership
and initiative must always come from
you. Do
not expect them to do for you more than
you can do
for yourself.
Every labourer is a father - his labour
is his child.
Choose your project carefully, and
achieve it worthily,
so that neither yourself nor your
country may be ashamed
on your account. You, who have left your
home towns
and have fled to the cities in search of
work, now is the
time to go back for there is work
waiting for you. We
warn you in advance that those who are
physically able
shall not be allowed to loiter about the
cities.
Let us all follow the golden rule -
"do unto others
as you would have them do unto you". Let the officials
follow it closely; let them serve their
people and their
country with humility and diligence.
But diligence and humility and service
to one's
country are not the tasks of officials only - they are not
the tasks of anyone alone. The present
projects will
demand close contact and co-operation
between all of
us. Officials to whom We have entrusted
various degrees
of responsibility, guided by the example
of Jesus Christ
Who, having declared "I came to
serve you but not to be
served by you", brought Himself low
and washed the
feet of His disciples, must render
service to the people
without charge for these services. As We
have repeated
many times over in Our last
pronouncement, We would
like again to emphasise the value of
time and urge you to
dedicate yourselves to hard work - and
profitably
utilize
your time.
There is no energy in the world,
including that of
the atom that can not be controlled.
However, there is
no scientist on earth who could control,
even for a second
the flow of time. For this reason never
idle away your
time, however, briefly.
Is it not you, her children that are
referred to as
Ethiopia? Our lasting hope has ever
been, with the help
of the Almighty, to help promote the
interest and wellbeing
of Our people - not to get disillusioned
by remote
hopes and wishful thinking.
May the Almighty God help us in the
fulfillment of
all our undertakings."
Speeches delivered by His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie Ist Emperor of Ethiopia on various occasions - page 162 -
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