LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Communicated to C .357.M.182.1935.VII the Council and Members of the Geneva, September 14th,1935 League.

DISPUTE BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ITALY.

REQUEST OF THE ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT.

Note by the Secretary-General,

The Secretary-General has the honour to r'-rsmsjiit to the Members of the Council the following communication which he has received from the Ethiopian Government,

Geneva, September 4th, 1935

To the Secretary-General.

On several occasions the Italian Government has referred in its Memorandum against Ethiopia to the scientific authority of M. Marcel GRIAULE. The Ethiopian Government has already signified its determination to co-operate loyally with the League in the impartial enquiry for which it has asked. It has therefore requested M. Marcel GRIAULE to make an independent and scientifcally impartial survey of the accusations contained in the Italian Memorandum,

The Ethiopian delegation sends M. Marcel GRIAULE*s scientific report to your Excellency for communication to the Members of the Council,

In a few hours’ time the Ethiopian delegation will hand to you its own reply to the Italian Memorandum.

I have the honour, etc.

(signed) P, TECLE-HAWARIATE

Ethiopian Minister.

The map annexed to this Memorandum will be issued as soon as possible. - 2 -

COMMENTS 3Y M. MARCEL GRIAULE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS DEALT WITH IN "THE ITALIAN GO VERNIRENT S MEMORANDUM ON THE SITUATION IN ETHIOPIA.

No te. - These comments relate to the second part of Volume I, "Report", They do not form an exhaustive criticism of the Memorandum. (map annexed.)

I.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

(1) The value of the Italian Memorandum as a col­ lection of documents would have been enhanced had the chapters on ethnography, sociology and legislation been amplified by experts on these subjects s Italy has an Oriental Institute at Naples with trains each year a large number of Distinguished students interested in Ethiopian affairs„ Their assistance would undoubtedly have given a scientific character to a work of this importance- and would have made it clearer end more convincing. They would have given considerable space to writers whose studies are authoritative in the matter, They would have quoted from other scholars as well as from Conti Rossini, .Montendon and Marcel Griaule; they would have devoted at least as much space to the first of these writers as bo the two others; they would have quoted from the scientific section of Marcel Giaule’s work, compared with which the literary section would seem to be of minor importance.

Lastly, Orientalists of all schools of thought will be surprised that the name of Enrico Cerulli, the best known linguist end philologist who has specialised in Ethiopian studies> is omitted from this document.

The excuse that in order to preserve an appearance of impartiality the Memorandum could not contain too much Italian evidence, cannot be accepted. It deprives the reader of very valuable assistance of scholars whose reputation rightly stands high.

(2) The documents contained in the Report have been collected and used without due consideration. For instance, on page 59 the name of the distinguished Orientalist, Conti Rossini, and the name of a fantastic witness will be found side by side. Quotations from writers would have been more valuable had they been used carefully and correctly.

(5) The evidence has not been adequately correlated; the most important evidence has not been correlated at all. Thus it is thought sufficient to mention hypothetical figures given by Lady Simon with regard to the number of slaves in the whole of Abyssinia (2 million) and to state that there were 900 slaves out of 5,000 inhabitants in Gondar in 1932, no description whatever being given as to how these figures wore arrived at.

(4) Most of the witnesses mentioned were not con­ sulted. Some of them would have given valuable information. Others might have been eliminated, thus relieving the Mémorandum of matter that is not only useless but prejudicial to the arguments in support of the Italian case -, (5.)- To carry conviction, a memorandum of that kind ought to have contained - from a sense of justice - a few less sombre pages describing the good features of the extra­ ordinarily well developed social organisation of a people that has subsisted for twenty-five centuries, and the maintenance of whose independence,-down to the present date, cannot be ascribed solely tc cannibalism, emasculation, xenophobia and slavery.

(6) Finally, the memorandum should have avoided certain obvious mistakes, which may justify doubt as to the entire argument adduced. For instance, the map appended to the memorandum seems to show that the Province of Shoa was largely conquered by. the Abyssinians between 1887 and 1893. That assertion should, we think, suffice to clcs e the dis­ cussion an:1, to discourage any attempt to enter upon the consideration of the Italian paper. It is, we consider, hardly possible that the editor could have omitted, tt$ough inadvertence a mistake of mar e than a millenium. The occupation of Shoa by the Dynasty of Solomon dates back tc about 937 (nine hundred and thirty-seven).*

II* DISORGANISATION OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN ETHIOPIA (P.69).

Even if the view sot forth on p'. 71 of the memo­ randum is accepted, viz., that Ethiopia forms a nucleus of conquerors living in the midst cf conquered tribes, who have been, to put it shortly, "colonised” by them, the inter­ national obligations concerning the exercise of effective authority over the border districts must surely be viewed with the same tolerance as is extended to European Powers in the discharge -of the same duty on the borders of their un­ pacified or semi'-pacified colonies.

In any case, there is no ground for charging the central Government with incapacity because of frontier incidents, for which the neighbouring Power might equally well be held responsible, Again, even if such incapacity were proved, it should be attributed to reasons quite other than those given by Lord N )el Buxton and Lord Polwarth. These writers report (pp.69-70) that it is impossible to say how far the laws are known, and to what extent they are in practice carried cut, that the machinery for the prevention of crime is absent except at Add is Ababa, and that in one place there is no police agent whatever to take, action when murder is commi tted.

This statement is ",ue, first of all, to a miscon- cepti:n ,because crime in Ethiopia is a private, and not a public matter, and it is for the family to institute proceed­ ings in the courts. T 4-. demonstrate that this system is a barbarous one, it would be necessary .to shew that there was a higher percentage of crime in Abyssinia than in a country possessing a judicial organisati :n "-n Eur opean lines.

* About this time an insurrection by the Agaos and Fallashas, led by a queen named Judith or Esther, f reed the Dynasty of Solomon to take refuge in Shoa. Cf. Sapeto, Viaggio e missione cattolica fra i Mens a, i B-'g.s e gli Habab, con un cenno ge^grafico e storico dell* Abissinia: Basset, Etudes sur l’histoire dTEthiopie, p.227; Morie, Les civilisations africaines, Histoire de l ’Ethiopie (Nubie et nbyssinie) depuis les temps les plus recules ,iusqu~ra n s .jours, Vol.II, pp. 181- 183. For Ethiopian history in general, consult the works cf Conti Rossini, Budge and Coulbeaux. - 4 -

As to knowledge of the laws in general, that is one of the curses of this country, where any Ethiopian or for­ eigner may be chosen as judge by the parties, and where any individual may, from natural inclination, be drawn into a new lawsuit almost every week. (e.g., the writer of the present commentary rendered in one year more than one hundred judgments concerning cases affecting his staff).

The same English writers make a somewhat uncharitable allusion to the headmen, whose pay consists of the exaction of labour and such dues as they can collect. To give a complete picture, it would be necessary to deal at least summarily with the system of land tenure, the favours granted by the sovereign to third parties and the conception of authority in Ethiopia. In the absence of such a commentary, any portrayal of one feature or another of the system is necessarily one-sided. In any case, it would have been desirable, in order to enlighten the reader, to lay before him certain documents which are perfectly easy to trace be­ cause they may be found in the very works of which such large use is made elsewhere.

Here, for instance, from "Les Flambeurs d fHommee”* (p.109) is the literal translation of a statement made by a soldier of low rank in the army of Has Hailu, with reference to taxation;

"The rule is the rule, and taxes are the king's affair. It is said that the Prince enriches himself by grinding down the people, and this is proved by the number of his granaries. In very truth, there is no instance in the chronicles of a Prince who has grown thin through a lack of grinding stonesÎ But there is this that I would cast upon thy mind : in hard times the people make a hollow of the palms of their hands and stretch out their arms towards the granaries of the Princet for the king is the people’s steward11.

It is a disturbing fact that the question of the disorganisation of the public authorities In Ethiopia should be taken up by the very people who have been attempting to undermine them for close on half a century by fomenting rebellion in numerous districts.

For example, as long ago as 1853 and again in 1888, Count Antonelli concluded two treaties, of which the second was kept secret, with Sultan Mahommed-Anfari of the Aussi, who was a tributary of Menelik II.** In 1894, the same Sultan had at his court an Italian agent, named Abd-el-Rahman*** to supervise the diversions which he was to make against Menelik's armies in the clash which later broke out between the Italians and the Abyssiniens.****

In the last months of the same year, Captain Persico was sent to the Sultan by General Baratieri to "organise the defence" with local elements. He was also to foment a Moslem agitation against Menelik among the GalIn and the Danakil.5)

* English title "Abyssinian Journey" (pub. by John Miles). ** Green Book XV., pp.127-128, 375-377. ***Green Book XV., pp.74-87. ****Baratieri, Reminiscences of Africa, p.95. 5) Baratieri, Mémoires d'Afrique, p.95-96. In 1865 this Captain supplied arms to Mohammed Anfari.l)

In 1895' also, Baratieri was in intelligence with Dedjatch Gwangul Zegedye, on whom he relied to "interfere with the advance of the Shoans".2)

He did the same with Takla Haymanot, King of Gojjam; he had built great hopes on the treason of this sovereign, but the latter thought it tetter to wait until the battle of Adowa was over before deciding what attitude to adopt.3)

It would be a very long process to rehearse the negotiations between the Italians and Ras Mangwasha of Tigre, that province that has always been in a state of anarchy and has been described as "Ireland on the banks of the Nile".4) Mangwasha was undoubtedly a constitutional turncoat, who betrayed everybody as best suited his interests. In January 1896 he even appealed to the Queen of England for help, not only against Menelik, but against the very people who wished to help him to depose his master„5) For several years before that the Italians had had.a political resident, Lieutenant Mulazzani, at his court

Even the death of Ras Mangwasha in 1907^^did not end the insurrections in his province, which felt that it was supported by its European neighbours. Until the last few years it continued to be a source of anxiety to Menelik and his successors, if not an obstacle to the complete unity of the Empire.8)

From this by no means complete enumeration we may conclude that the Italian Government is scarcely in a position to raise the question of the disorganisation of government in Ethiopia*

III.

ABYSSINIA AND HER COLONIES.

It is difficult to determine the extent of the territories conquered by Menelik I, son'.of the Q,ueen of Sheba. Legend tells us that he established his capital in Shoa. He

1) Green Book XXIII bis^ p ,81 2) Green Book XXIII quater p.16. 3) Baratieri, Mémoires dTAfrique, p.192. 4) Le jean, Théodore II, p.44. 5)Green Book XXIII bis, p.227; Berkeley, The Campaign of Adowa and the Rise of Menelik, p.235. 6) Baratieri, Mémoires d}Afrique, p.III. 7) Rosa, L ’inpero del Leone di Giuda, p.96. 8) Vigneras, Une mission française en Abyssinie, p.188-189. - 6 -

may really have made incursions into that province, but it seems certain that his permanent territory was the region of the high plateaus to the north of the Takkasye - Tigre and Eritrea.1)

As for Shoa, we have already pointed out that it was not occupied by the dynasty of Solomon until about 937. That date, however, is, we think, sufficiently remote to cause the map attached to the Memorandum, which gives only the dates 1887 and 1893, to be rejected as a work of sheer imagination.

The invasion of Shoa by the Gal’la, that is to say, its loss by the dynasty of Solomon, occurred about 1312.2) So far as that region is concerned., the Abyssinian case that many of the "colonies™ were retaken from invaders is absolutely indisputable.

The Abyssiniens deny that the occupation of the so- called "colonial" countries is to be regarded as recent. They claim that they possessed those regions centuries ago, and were driven out of them; and they base this claim on remains of churches and other monuments erected by them in remote ages, Such a question is; of course, one for a learned enquiry, outside the sphere of diplomacy; but it can be maintained without further investigation that the Ethiopian case is proved in regard to other regions as well as Shoa.

It is certain also that Kafa, in the centre of the south-western "colonial" ares, was Christian at a very early date.3) According to the map attached to the Memorandum, it was conquered in 1897» As a matter of fact, Menelik II, with the consent of the Sraperor Yohannes, seems to have taken the title of King of Shoa, Kafa, and all the G-alla countries.4) In any case, he gave himself that title in a letter to the King of Italy dated April 10th. 10?5,5)

1) Consult on this question: Littmann, Deutsche Aksum-E.xpedition. Conti-Rossini, La Langue des Keinant en ^byssinie pp.1-4. Be Castro, Ne 11 a Terra dei Negus, "Vol..I. ; pp,94-99, Kammerer, Essai sur l';Hi~stolre Antique d'Abyssinie, passim.

2) Guidi, Leggehde storiche di Abissinia, p.23.

3) Bieber, Die geistige Kultur des Kaffitsche, pp.24 to 26. On the coronation of""Ras .«.dal in 1881 as King of Goj jam, the Galla, and perhaps Kafa, see Rohlfs, Meine Mission nach Abessinien auf Befehl seiner Majestat des deutschen Kaisers ira Winter 1880-1881 unte'rnommcn, p .85. Biarichi,' Alla Terra dei Galli, p.528; Cecchi, Da Zella alle frontiere del Caffa. Vol=II„p.584.

4) Soleillet, Voyages , » p ,33.

5) Green Book XV, p.. 194. The list of the various emirates, kingdoms, and sultanates conquered by the Abyssinians includes a particularly benevo­ lent reference to the Sultane te of Jimma, which is stated to Have been annexed in 1955 on the death of its chief Abba Jiffar. Actually, Jimma became tributary to Menelik II, pro­ bably in 1881.^'The error in the map is thus only one of 54 ye^.rs,

The great economic prosperity of that region is attributed by the Memorandum to the fact that it was the only State that remained independent of Abyssinia. Actually, in the first place, Jimma, like all the countries which hod a sufficiently centralised government prior to the Ethiopian conquest, re­ tained its local chief on the condition that he paid an annual tribute in token of' vassalage. This system of indirect ad­ ministration is familiar in many European colonies. Secondly, the sole source of this economic prosperity was the trade in negro slaves from Limmu, Kambatta, Wollamo, Guma, and else­ where, which flourished until the issue of certain edicts by Menelik II.

The Emirate of Harar also comes in for honourable mention (pages 78 - 73); its standard of civilisation is said to have been higher than that of Ethiopia. It used to be the cul­ tural and religious centre of Isl-'m in South-East Africa. In suppoirt of this assertion the Italian Memorandum chooses as argument that in the whole of present-day Ethiopia Harar is the only town built of masonry and not composed of huts or hovels (’’tukuls”) made of branches. Assuming that this is to be taken as the sole criterion of civilisation, it must be ad­ mitted that in the Abyssinian provinces of Gojjam, Bagucmder, Dembea, and Chelga there are numerous towns- which, although built according to a different technique from Harar, and with­ out being a superior manifestation of African art, are never­ theless composed neither of huts nor of ”tukuls”. It should also be remembered that the Harari district was the base for the expeditions of Gragne, who, despairing of ever converting the Ethiopians to Islam, undertook to extirpate the whole race by practising th« emasculation both of children and adults on a large scale. ïïhile it is possible th=t the Galles wore partly responsible for this practice,^' Grangne was probably its chief protagonist.(3)

It is quite true that Ethiopia consists of varied elements over which the Central Government exercises an authority that may be described either as administration or oppression accord­ ing to whether that country’s right of colonisation is admitted or not. But it must bo recognised that.this colonisation is carried on within a human group whose elements are much more akin than those of the European colonial empires„

In the same way'as in Black Africa, Mohammedanism is more successful than Christianity because it is better suited to the needs of the natives, Abyssinian civilisation will succeed

(1) Soleillet, Voyages ... p.115, 180.

(2) Plowden: ’’Travels in Abyssinia and the Gal la country” Hotten: "Abyssinia and its People”. Plowden rcgerds this as a survival of the wars of Israel against the idolaters (I Samuel viii.27.)

(3) Arnaud d’Abbadie: "Douze Ans de Séjour dans la Haute Ethiopie” , pr,ge 224. Paulitschke: "Ethnographie, Nord-Qst Afrika” , Vol.I. prge 176. - 8 - better than any other among peoples like those of Southern Ethiopia. This does not mean that the application of Abys­ sinian methods is not sometines accompanied by abuses like those of any other system. But it is impossible to separate this question from that of colonisation in general.

Lastly I would like to give an idea of the oldest colonis­ ing enterprise in the world and to relate the curious,scene which I witnessed at a banquet at the court of Gojjam' '• Two men, one of whom belonged to the country which was to he civilised and the other to an Abyssinian expeditionary force, were abusing one another before Ras' Haylu.(^) The second man asserted that the expeditionary force had brought sufficient progress to the country and that it was high time tc return to the provincial capital. The first man replies, calling the Ras to witness

’’You have not civilised us enough. You still have churches to build and ploughshares to put into the poor houses2 Is it not shameful for my opponent to proclaim that you must go ?r'

"It is quite true,” replied the other, ”His Pre-eminence the Ras has brought you to see the light. Your barbarity made you incapable of seeking your food. His Pre-eminence the Ras has opened your hands and has placed therein plough­ shares and roof-builder’s ropes."(3) ■

Having lived for several months with that Prince’s expe­ ditionary force, I witnessed a veritable t r p n e f e r ma t i o n cf the district. Land was cleared, barns and churches were built, irrigation canals were repaired, all work which to the chief"s mind constituted not only an increase of the district’s wealth but was a manifestation of Abyssinian civilisation or, as Ras Haylu put it, "progress towards the light.”(4)

IV.

ABYSSINIAN UNITY (page 73)

Religion. While Ethiopia embraces Monophysite Christians, Moslems, pagans and Jews, all these different religions ob­ serve the same form of worship, the Zar, which is practised over a very wide area and not in Abyssinia only, Occurring under the same name, the Zar, in the adjacent European colonies (French Somali Coast, Eritrea, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan) and in Egypt and Arabia, it is also found under different names and in different forms at various points in North Africa and in the Niger Basin.

(1) ’’Les Flambeurs d ’Hommes”, page 84.

(2) For details regarding this prince, see Duchesne-Fournet: "Mission en Ethiopie” , Vol. I, page 166 ; Annar Jtone: "In Abyssinia7’, page 180. Many pages are devoted to this prince, in "Les Flambeurs d’Hommes”. •

(3) The French text is a literal translation of the Amharic words.

(4) Marcel Gri°ule "Labour in Abyssinia” , International Labour Review, Vol. XXIII. Fob.1931, p.5, Note 2. The Italian Government cannot say that it is unaware of the importance of this form of rorship, since tne official French Dakar-Jibuti mission under the direction of the present writer studied it during the six months that it v;as the guest of the Italian Consulate at Gondar.11

Langua es. Amharic, the official language, is not spoken only in the so-called classical region of the high plateaux but hast been spread by the Abyssinian administrative posts to the farthest borders of the Empire. Prominent natives in the "colonies” and traders speak it fluently.

For example, the chief Gumz All commanding the small villages situated opposite Gallabat ( A.nglo-Egyptian Sudan) corresponded in Amharic with the chief of the Dakar-Jicuti L'issicn.

The floating population of Addis A-'-rba which is com­ posed of the most varied elements speaks Amharinga as their ordinary language.

Any assertion that Amharinga (modern Ethiopian) and Geze (ancient Ethiopian) are not civilised languages is con­ tradicted by the facts.

The Abyssinians are descended from the ^ssyro-Eooylonians. They have worked out their special destiny in one of the most isolated regions of the world, the inaccessible mountains of East Africa, where no echo from the civilisations developing in the plains could reach them.

What strikes the scholar poring over the intellectual treasures of this people most forcibly is the complete inde­ pendence of a magnificent literature from mechanical progress.

In the first centuries of our era, the Ethiopians were seized by an urge to translate. They devoured everything that came into their hands, and first of all Greek texts which they received from Byzantium and Syria. These they translated into a rich language, Geze, which is still used in the lithurgy. Of all the Semitic languages, Geze has made use of the largest number of accadian words, and is worthy of respect on this account.

From the seventh to the twelfth century, all these provinces were in a literary coma; when they awoke, trans­ lations were only made from Arabic, which itself reproduced Christian Copt literature that had flourished in the meantime. This flood of translations makes it possible to find in humble Abyssinian churches literary treasures the traces of which in their original language have been lost. From a lithurgical standpoint, scholars can find a fantastic wealth of relics which nako this country an inexhaustible source of discovery.

V.

POLITICAL i,I-?D SOCIAL STRUCTURE. R^CLS.

If the Italian argument regarding the Abyssinian "home country and colonies" is accepted, the spirit in which these two paragraphs of the Memorandum are written is unjustified. i) Cf. Marcel Griaule: "Rapport General de la Mission Dakar- 13 .jibouti" (Law of March 31st 1931) in the "Revue des Africa­ nistes" 1933. Michel Leiris "Le Culte des 2ars à Gondar", Aethiopica, July 1934,p.96, and the article by the same author in "Le Minotaure" No.2 (special number on the Dakar-Jibouti wli s s'ion. ?).In this connection I refer to the undisputed authorities on Tnis subject,Count Rossini,Marcel Cohen,Mgr.Sylvain Grebaut. - 10 -

It is impossible to base any argument agc.inst the unity of a colonial country on differences of race and on the political and social organisation of the groups of which it consists. The opinions of anthropologists con­ cerning the origin of the Ethiopian rr.oe vary widely.1) They should incline experts to great caution in their dis­ cussions of this question, end the adoption of any parti­ cular conclusion by other scientists appears to be premature. In any case, and confining ourselves to the works of V. G-iuffrida-Ruggeri, it may be said that the Ethiopian type occupies an area stretching from the Equator to the 25th de­ gree of latitude North, bounded on the East by the Red Sea end the Indian Ocean end on the West by a line passing ap­ proximately through Lake Rudolp, L:*ke Tana, Kossnla, ivleroe and Assuan. This area may be roughly estimated at £,300,000 square kilometres ; it is bordered on the south-west by an rrec. of about 500,000 square kilometres occupied by a type which is still Ethiopian but contains a large proportion of black blood. (See the map on the opposite p--ge) .

Moreover, the view that race constitutes a? "phenomenon connoting an end and not a beginning{Should also be borne well in mind. ' This theory, if it is accepted, would render all discussion vain.

VI.

ETHIOPIA iil'D AI TIC IE 23 OF THE COVENANT (p. 78)

Article 23 provides that the Members of the League will endeavour to secure and maintain fair and humane con­ ditions of labour for men, women and children. On the basis of this text, it is stated in the Memorandum that Ethiopia has shown no active signs of endeavouring to secure these conditions.

The reply to this charge is, I think-, to be found in the following extract from an article published in the Inter­ national Labour Review: 2)

1) See ph.D. P? ulitsohke, Beitffage zur Ethnographie und Anthropologie der Somal, Galla ûhd Harrar; G. Sergi, Africa antropologia della :stirpe camitica ; ditto, Grania habessinica, :ccntr i b u t o a IT» Antropologia dell ’Africa 0 ne ntale. V. Gi uffr i d~Rugger i,~D i s tribuz ion e e origine dei grujyn humani dell’^frica nord-orientale,in Arch.per 1Tantrop, e T ? eTn'oT T:'”~xTJlX~I^T5~pTr36; p. Lester Contribution a ~ 1 * ant hr opclogie des Som.alls ; ditto , Etude ant h r o p o 1 o g i q u e des populations de l?Ethiopie, I, les Galles, in l'^nthropo- TcgTë“XXXVIII pp. 61 and” 289 ; see also the works of Cn-ntre Seligmann, Moohi, Poliera, de Castro Verneau, Montandon, SanteHi, Livi, Keller, H-my, Johns ton, Merker, Fuccioni, Quatrefages, Ecker, Reinecke.

2) Marcel Griaule: L-~"our in ^bvssinia (Vol.XXIII, Mo.2, February 1931).

Lengthy quotations from this article are to be found in an English pamphlet which is a reflection' of the Italian Memorandum: . "The Last .Stronghold of Sla/ery." - 11 -

"The confusion between religious and political authority, together with the religiosity of the people, gives the force of lav; to rules decreed or approved by the Church. Thus it comes about that the normal year contains no less than 220 holidays ; for instance, in a month's employment of the time of an agricultural labourer in the central provinces (taking the period from 9 March to 7 April 1929) there are 21 days’ rest for compulsory religious or domestic festivals, one day of corvee (or compulsory labour) and only 8 days of normal labour. .above all in the country districts, for any breach of the weekly rest penalties are incurred, of fine or imprisonment, even in a case of work which might be considered indispen­ sable. ii case in point is that the women must lay in a large quantity of water ( called "the Friday watei") on Friday, since they are forbidden to go to the springs on Saturday or Sunday.

The civil authority inflicts fines and may put the offender in chains. If the delinquent was only acting under his master's orders, the master is responsible."

VII.

SILVERY (pp.79-91)

As the author of the present comments narrowly escaped being made a sieve, (p. 102 of the Italian Memorandum), he will doubtless be recognised to be specially qualified to speak about this institution in Ethiopia.

It would be unfair to the Abyssinians not to recognise the enormous difficulties they have to face in reforming this institution. They are still at the stage of reforming and adapting - and not of abolishing - it. The term "abolition" is only used by simple-minded people.

Slavery is an institution ?/hich, for a pure-bred Abyssinian imbued with Hebraic principles, finds its natural explanation in Leviticus.1) When Ethiopia was first con­ quered, the people were in close contact with the descendants of Cham, one of whose sons was condemned b; Noah to be a slave of the sons of Sem. The Moslems to be found on all sides of the Christian Empire naturally encouraged them in this idea as they practised slavery on a large scale themselves.

This institution was regulated in the thirteenth century by Fatha Naguast; his system was a combination of Mosaic principles, Moslem customs and Roman law.

One might be tempted to suppose that the life of an Ethiopian slave is one of suffering and that his sole idea is to escape. In most cases this is not the case, and it is only fair to say that the de facto situation does not corres­ pond with the de jure situation.

1)XXV, 44.

2 ) Article in the Internat ion : 1 Labour Review quoted above. See also Salt Vol.II, p.147; Gob^t Journal, p. 28; Ruppel, Reise in abyssinien, Vol.II, p.29; Harris, The Highlands of j^ethiopia, Vol. Ill, p. 309. - 12 -

The slave is received into the family and ends by being considered as a real relation. He may be released after a few years' work if his master wishes to perform a pious act. More often he has to wait for his release until his owner dies, when the latter has been careful to mention the matter in his will (nearly always by word of mouth be­ fore a priest and reliable witnesses).

Sometimes, after a life of faithful service, he may even be appointed legatee of his master's property.

In spite of all appearances to the contrary the Ethiopian authorities give.the distinct impression that they made considerable progress in their campaign against slavery between 1928 and 1932 (the period during which the writer of these comments visited Ethiopia).

In 1928 regrettable incidents still occurred at Go j j am, for instance, where children wore kidnapped and afterwards used in payment of taxes. In 1932 the above-mentioned Dakar-Jibuti Mission found when passing through districts between Lake Tsana and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, which were suspected of engaging in these practices, that the Ethiopian authorities were refusing to accept anything but food products or domestic animals in payment of taxes. This local circum­ stance is not unique ; moreover, verbal information to the same effect has been received elsewhere, As I am anxious only to advance facts that have been checked, however, in this serious matter, I shall mention no others.

Even towards the middle of the 19th century King Theodoros tried to combat this institution by repurchasing and freeing slaves. I1/

His successor, Johannes, made a special but unsuccessful attempt to stop the slave trade.(2) On June 3rd, 1884, he signed a treaty with England undertaking,£o do his utmost to prevent the import and export of slaves. I*5'

Menelik II, before he became King of Kings, promulgated an edict suppressing slavery in 1375.^4) jn 1889 he he de­ creed that it should be abolished except for prisoners of war who were to be released after seven years. (^;

( For the abolition of the trade see Dufton, Narrative of a Journey through Abyssinia, p.l<12. With regard to the freeing of slaves by King Theodore, see Plowden in Hotten, Abyssinia, p.235. (2) Rohlfs, Melne Mission nach ^bessinien, p.267. See also Livre Vert XV, p. 147. ( 3 ) Treaty signed at Adowa by Admiral Hewett; the text will be found in Wylde '83 to '87 in the Sudan, Vol.II. pp. 307-309, and Modern Abyssinia, pp. 474-475.

^^ Lande, Un voyageur français dans l'Ethiopie méridionale p .888.

^ Ilg, Ueber das.Gerichtswesen in Ethiopien, p. 26. - 13 -

The complete tale of these attempts, down to the edicts of tiiB present) .n/mper or, would be a Ions one. The campaign, ho7vT— ever difficult it may be, is nevertheless assisted"by "a’ liberal tradition that uninformed observers would regard as incompatible with a social structure which, for want of a better word, is described as feudal.

It is worth pointing out thit a slave can obtain free­ dom after faithful service, a successful military career, «ntry into a religious order. Any Ethiopian, whether free or not, can rise to the highest honours in.the Empire. The jxzzaj Waldo Taddik, Governor of ^oikobsr ' 'was formerly a slave. The present Dedfiaz Baltcha is not only a slave" but also a war eunuch.'2) This Ethiopian general is a striking figure, distinguished and full of fierce energy. He has a body-guard_ consisting entirely of free eunuchs' who have the finest military reputation in Ethiopia.

But the best example of what a slave can becom3 is given by Fitaurari Hebta Giorgis, whose conduct at Adowa was most brilliant. Warrior and politician, Minister of War, freed slave, when he died in 1926 he had been the foremost figure in the country, next to the heir to the throne, since the beginning of the twentieth century.

No doubt, in spite of the efforts of the rulers, deter­ mined individu.Is c m always carry out raids, especially in the border districts of southern Ethiopia; but it is very difficult for them to take convoys through the central pro­ vinces. There is no doubt, however, that slaves from the south-west of Ethiopia are.embarked on the coast of the Red Sea to bu sold in jr.bia, ^ ' Moreover, it also happens that slaves from other African countries are transported to Asia through the agency of non-Ethiopian traders.

_As this latter aspect of the slave trade does not fall within the limits of the Italian memorandum, there is no need to go further into the matter here. Lot us merely point out that when, with the fleets in their possession, the European nations have serious difficulty in supervising the dhows, the largest of which is net above thirty tons, it is only fitting to form a just appreciation of the action of a sovereign who definitely appears to have done everything in his power to put down an institution which is several thousands of years old and which a large part of his subjects still con­ sider to be legally justified. Besides, Ethiopia is net the only African country in this condition.

Ethiopia's geographical situation which has kept her aloof from the main trend of western civilization, her economic structure which has remained at the family stage, her social organisation which continues to be bound up with ancient tra­ ditional and religious ideas, represent so many factors which explain the survival in the sphere of labour of systems which ere to-day repudiated by western peoples and which give rise to the fear that their abolition may not be carried out as speedily as could be desired.

(1) Cecchi, Da Zeila a lie frontiere del Caffa, Vol. I, p.165 ■ Massaia, Memoires, Vol. p. 192. (2 ) , Borelli, Ethiopie méridionale, p.104. Vanderheym, Une expedition avec le Negus Menelik, p.112. ^ Montandon, Au pays Ghimirra, pp. 52-53 and 367. Merab, Impressions d’Ethiopie, p. 79-80.

(4) Article quoted above from the International Labour Review. - 14 -

We can, however, count on the personal action of the King of Kings, Heile Selassie, to hasten this change and on the increased contact with western civilisations which has been encouraged and developed by Abyssinia * s admission to the League.

The Christian Empire of Ethiopia, relying on the ancient liberalism which is the basis of its people's character, has moreover realised the necessity for accelerating this evolution. That evolution will proceed in the best possible conditions if the Ethiopian Empire remains mistress of its own destiny.

VIII.

TRAFFIC IN ARMS AND AMMUNITION (page 96)

It would not be appropriate for me to discuss here the Ethiopian Empire's international obligations with regard to the traffic in arms and ammunition.

From the domestic point of view and if regard is hr-d to the social structure and military conceptions of Ethiopia, it is essential for her to have not only organised troops under arms, but also a ''ban'' and an "arrière-ban" possessing a suffi­ cient number of warlike arms.

As to the prohibition upon the possession of arms by foreigners in Abyssinia (page 98), it is a fact that in the interior provinces Europeans can carry arms personally and surround themselves with escorts whose rifles belong to them, without any special authorisation and without ever being molested.

IX.

BARBARISM IN ETHIOPIA (page 99)

The examples of mutilation, cannibalism, xenophobia and torture given in this chapter of the Italian memorandum are of special interest to an ethnographer « If they were all proved true, they would.tend to show that a people with primitive traditions, whose strength has enabled it to pur­ sue its destiny over a pc riod for whi ch no parallel can be found except in Egyptian history, cannot become a modern nation in a single generation, still less in the short period of time that has elapsed since its entry into the League.

Mutilation w°s of course a cruel and deplorable lr-bit, but there seems to be no doubt that in Ethiopia, with her manifest desire to change her ways, this custom may be said to be tending to disappear as it has done elsewhere.

The case of human sacrifice, mentioned on page 99, can­ not be discussed as the report contains no particulars of place or persons.

Xenophobia, if we bear in mind the majority of the European elements settled in or passing through Abyssinia, may be regarded as a sign of an elementary instinct of self- preservation .

The torture mentioned on page 101, which a description - 15 - was given in "Les Flambeurs d’Ho rame s, " (1) and which from the Ethiopian point of view was not perhaps altogether legally correct, can only be appreciated in all its horror by unpre­ judiced eyes. It must, however, be pointed out that with but little difference in intention or in the method of execu­ tion, all human societies have often been constrained to make use and still make use of equally ghastly methods to defend themselves at certain critical times against the disintegra­ tion of the collective feeling.

This feeling exists in Ethiopia, in spite of the apparent diversity of the elements of which it is made up, and the often rigorous firmness shown by its leaders. It exists in the hearts of the most simple as in those of the great and to put the matter quite impartially, it would appear difficult to explain simply by the preservation of certain so-called barbarous customs, the endurance of a people one of whose mas­ ters was able to say during a simple conversation :

"Know that at the bottom of my heart there is this great certainty. The power of my reign lies not only in my arms, in my finest machine-gun ; it lies in the plough that I drive on the first day when the ground is broken, when I give my people the signal for work in the fields, and when by driving a furrow, I designate the prince’s paramount right of owner­ ship over all land and domains. My royal crown is but the lash of l°bour around my brow." v2)

X.

CONCLUSION

It cannot of course be expected that the Italian memoran­ dum should be accurate on all points. The most eloquent and unbiased indictments normally contain some mistakes. It would have been hun°n for the Italian memorandum to contain, in view of its character as an indictment, a measure of inaccura­ cies that would not have detracted in any way from the value of the argument set forth.

But in face of the number and gravity of the errors it contains ; of the employment of certain witnesses who s e honesty is not challenged but whose competence as observers of complicated facts is not proved;

In face also of the absence of numerous witnesses of worldwide reputation who have taken up a contrary position ;

In view of the unduly large proportion of miscellaneous particulars which cannot be checked, and which, even if they were all proved, would not allow of any general conclusion ;

In view of the absence of any critical spirit, to which attention has been constantly drawn above,

I declare that it would not be just to take the It-lion memorandum as a basis of discussion on the situation in

(1) English title, "Abyssinian Journey."

(S) Literal translation of a statement made to the author by Has Hailu, Governor of Gojjam. Cf. "Les Flambeurs d ’Hommes" page 78. ("Abyssinian Journey.") - 16 -

Ethiopia, and that it would be unwise to draw from it any inference as to the need for foreign interferences in the internal affairs of the country.

However that may be, the only objective method of deal­ ing with the problems that have been raised would be to hold an impartial and protracted enquiry in the country, conducted by a group of experts from which certain universally recog­ nised Italian authorities could not be excluded, ^n enquiry of that sort might perhaps make it possible to deduce certain conclusions that would bo helpful to the Abyssinian authori­ ties. It would undoubtedly make it possible to place the discussion on its true ground.

(signed) MARCEL ŒRIAULE