INTERVIEW WITH EDITOR “VOICE OF ETHIOPIA”
Question:
Perceiving
the great benefit the Ethiopian people have been able to derive from the
Constitution which Your Majesty has been pleased to grant to them 27 years ago,
and observing the great change and improvement in the way of life of the people
since then, Your Majesty bas been once again pleased to grant the new Revised
Constitution on the Twenty-fifth Coronation Anniversary to suit the politically
and intellectually advanced state of the present generation.
This
Revised Constitution bas enabled the entire Ethiopian people to have the right
to elect and be elected to Parliament. Consequently, we find today the
representatives of the people performing their duties in Parliament after being
elected by secret ballot in the spirit of the Constitution. Would it please
Your Majesty to make known your views on the significant changes that have come
about in the country within these 27 years?
Answer:
Deeply
conscious of the great responsibility conferred on Us by God in guiding the
destiny of Our people, and realizing that in order to build their future
well-being on more solid ground and to give a new facade to their way of life
no better alternative could be found than to allow them to participate in the
various activities of the State, We have been pleased to proclaim a
Constitution 27 years ago. It is well-known that that Constitution had opened a
new chapter in the long history of the Ethiopian people and acted as a bridge over
which they passed into an era of prosperity and better living standards.
Even though what we planned for Our people
in this new chapter of their history had been interrupted by a cruel invasion
and war, Our strong determination has enabled Us to get over the obstacles
presented by the war and to patiently lead Our people to the comparatively high
level in which they find themselves today.
On the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Our
coronation We promulgated the new Revised Constitution which guarantees to Our
people the right to elect and be elected to Parliament, thereby allowing them
to increasingly share with Us the difficult task of government. We felt this
necessary in view of the spread of education and the satisfactory progress made
by our people during the last 27 years which was largely the result of Our personal
efforts in Our capacity as Minister of Education. Our future expectation,
therefore, is for Our people to be wise enough to make full and judicious use
of the rights We have granted them and to give Us unstinted support and
assistance in everything We do to make Ethiopia great.
Question:
Economists of various countries have of late been expressing the view
that Ethiopia has the potential capacity of providing food grains to a 100
million people of the Middle East, thus predicting that Ethiopia would one day
become the virtual granary of this region. Would it please Your Majesty to
express your opinion on this matter?
Answer:
Undoubtely Ethiopia is a large country
whose future potentialities are satisfactory in every way. Her richness in
resources is a fact well-known to us leaving aside the opinion of experts on
the matter. It is in order to exploit this great wealth to the full that we
have introduced modern agricultural techniques into Ethiopia hoping thereby to
make Our country capable of providing food grains not only for her own
increasing population but also for the outside world. The various agricultural
schools and colleges found in the provinces have been established with the
object of giving useful training to Our people in modern methods of farming.
When the high expectation We have of those institutions comes to be realized,
therefore, We have not the slightest doubt that Ethiopia will be able to
produce sufficient enough to provide many countries with food grains. This has
been our strong belief all along.
Question:
The future of the Somali peoples living in
the territories bordering on Ethiopia under the rule of the three powers has
been the object of speculation in some foreign newspapers lately.
While some appear to have grasped the
problems that have to be dealt with in the future, they often make it appear as
if the only solution lies in the permanent division of these territories which
is undoubtedly detrimental to all concerned in this region. What is the view of
Your Majesty in this a1l-important matter?
Alien Self- Interest
Answer:
In the years following the Second World War several attempts have been
made by politically interested parties to create situations that would arouse
our anxieties concerning the Somalis living in the territories bordering on
Ethiopia. What we see from time to time appearing in some foreign newspapers is
motivated by the same policy of preserving self-interest by creating dissention
and disharmony in this area which cannot be said to be in the interest of the
peoples of the region.
Our attitude to the Somalis who belong to the same race as the Ethiopian
people and share with them a common history, has always been crystal clear,
namely, that of supporting everything conducive to their well-being and
progress. It was in keeping with this policy that we recently invited the
leaders of United Nations Trust Somalia and had talks with them here. Our
strong appeal to our Somali brothers is to be aware of those who, in the
furtherance of their self-interest, seek to plunge this area into chaos,
thereby disturbing the peace that has reigned in this part of the world for a
long time. Much harm can be avoided by understanding in time the real
intentions of these self-seekers.
Question:
Even though some nations in Africa have recently acquired their
independence there are yet many who have not had that fortune. Would Your
Majesty be kind enough to explain if there is anything that Ethiopia is doing
as an African country to improve the lot of these unfortunate African people?
Strong Supporter
Answer:
Realizing that the bitter struggle which these African countries are
carrying on for their freedom and independence is right and just. We have
always been their strong supporters at all international conferences.
It is our firm determination to
consistently follow this policy under all circumstances.
Ethiopia's decision to take part in the
deliberations of the conference of independent African states to be held at
Accra this month springs from her desire to exchange views with the other
sister African states and formulate ways and means of cooperating with each
other on matters vitally affecting our continent. We strongly believe that each
nation has an inherent right to shape its own destiny and to seek its own way
to the high state of advancement which the free nations of the world have
attained.
Question:
During the Middle Ages the world had
witnessed bitter wars arising among peoples on account of religious
differences. The bloodshed and many other evils created by those wars could
only be stopped after men came to the realization that peace and harmony could
be found only through tolerance and a spirit of accommodation.
There are many circles who advocate
similar solutions to our present day world problems. Does Your Majesty believe
that the spirit of co-existence or accommodation, without one country trying to
impose its system and way of life on the other, would be an ideal solution to
our present-day problems and to ensure peace?
Co-Existence Possible
Answer:
Nations differing in ideologies could live
side by side in peace unless they clash on matters involving self -interest.
We
live in an age of ideologies and world peace is too precious a thing to be
disturbed merely because of the clash of these ideologies. It is an entirely
different matter though, when one country attempts to interfere in the internal
affairs of another. We believe that if all nations make the Charter of the
United Nations the basis of their international relationships, all can live in peace
and harmony in spite of their differences in ideologies.
Question:
Many people have voiced the view that to
carry on a peaceful construction and at the same time keep on building up
military preparations is something that entails a great burden on the national
economy. In fact it is the earnest desire of all nations to keep their military
expenditures to the minimum while alloting most of their national budgets to
peace pursuits. But in order to realize this desire it is necessary to devise a
machinery that will gurantee their security and safety while pursuing their
peaceful vocations. There are some quarters who hold that the United Nations is
capable of providing the necessary safeguards against aggression. Does Your
Majesty believe this organization, as at present constituted, to be strong
enough to perform the great task of guaranteeing the safety and security of
peaceful states?
Responsibility Needs Power
Answer:
For the United Nations Organization to guarantee peace and security in
the world it must first of all enjoy an authority proportionate to its
world-wide responsibility. As we have repeatedly emphasized on several
occasions in the past, the United Nations Organization must be provided with a
strong force of its own so as to enable it to enforce its own decisions and
thereby become an effective safeguard against aggression.
Even though it is admittedly a great
burden on the national economy of nations to keep up both military and peaceful
developments side by side, no nation can afford to neglect its basic defence
requirements in order to guarantee its own security.
On the other hand, the armaments race,
apart from depriving nations of the wealth that could have been used for
peaceful purposes, has created great fear and anxiety among the peoples of the
world. It would indeed be in the interest of world peace if the nations of the
world reach an agreement to stop the arms race. When a general agreement is
finally reached on the question of disarmament all preparations of a military
nature will gradually assume less significance than they do at present.
Question:
There are people everywhere who hold that
civilization has done more harm than good to humanity. These people argue that
even though the so-called modern progress has brought some physical comfort, it
has done incalculable harm to and greatly weakened the spiritual values
regarded so highly in former times. What they call spiritual values are those
things which are usually associated with religion. In other words the great progress
made in the field of science has contributed to the weakening of the influence
of religion and has deprived man of that inner calm that he so much needs for
his spiritual well-being. What is Your Majesty's opinion on this matter?
Progress Must Be Moral
Answer:
One
cannot deny that in former times man’s life had been one of toil and hardship.
It is correct to say, therefore, that modern civilization and the progress of
science have greatly improved man's life and have brought comfort and ease in
their trail.
But civilization can serve man both for
good as well as for evil purposes. Experience shows that it has invariably
brought great dividends to those who use it for good purposes while it has
always brought incalculable harm and damnation to those who use it for evil
purposes.
To make our wills obedient to good
influences and to avoid evil, therefore, is to show the greatest wisdom. In
order to follow this aim one must be guided by religion. Progress without
religion is just like a life surrounded by unknown perils and can be compared
to a body without a soul.
All human inventions, from the most
primitive tool to the modem atom, can help man greatly in his peaceful
endeavours. But if they are put to evil purposes they have the capacity to wipe
out the human race from the surface of the earth.
It is only when the human mind is guided
by religion and morality that man can acquire the necessary vision to put all
his ingenuous inventions and contrivances to really useful and beneficial
purposes. The progress of science can be said to be harmful to religion only in
so far as it is used for evil aims and not because it claims a priority over
religion in its revelation to man.
It is important that spiritual advancement
must keep pace with material advancement. When this comes to be realized man's
journey toward higher and more lasting values will show more marked progress
while the evil in him recedes into the background.
Knowing that material and spiritual progress are essential to man, we
must ceaselessly work for the equal attainment of both. Only then shall we be
able to acquire that absolute inner calm so necessary to our well-being.
It is only when a people strike an even
balance between scientific progress and spiritual and moral advancement that it
can be said to possess a wholly perfect and complete personality and not a
lopsided one. The type of progress we have chalked out for Ethiopia is based on
these fundamental principles.
Apr.
5, 1948
Selected
Speeches of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie – page 656 –
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