How much must Civilisation depend on the man in tune with the masses?

THE ANTICS OF KROBO

From JOHN REDFERN

Aceri

HANA'S No. 2 man.

tences together in English. When he is osa:iled--his usual condition--Krobe's English is

Grobo Edusel, is begin condition Krobo's often ning to overshadow his chief, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah,

Since his appointment as Minister of the Interior, Krobo has never stopped throwing his weight about.

He stunts.. 11: rampages, makes blond-eliling speeches (some of whien he denies next morning), while Nkrumah bes with- comes more unct more drawn from the politient burly burty.

Krobo's

recent

anties

threatening a BRI to bon all regional, tribal, atyc religious purtles in Ghana, and bawling his intention to arrest members

he plays the comic.

Yet he has gifts as an orator. Whether using straight English, pidgin, or the Twi (pronounced chwee) Jangunge in which he often speaks he gets neross im-

mediately.

He loves to mix in a phrase or two of Western politicians' jargon. When he is in a tough maod hr gives the delighted audience the impression that the

flow and will soon

with the blood of Primo Minister Nkru- nah's enemies-but strictly In accordance with the principles: of the ballot box.

Reporter

One of Korbo's first jobu was of the Opposition-make some as a messenger on an Ashanti

newspaper. He rose

of the mor moderate Ministers wince.

But he renalas in-office, prop- ped by an indulgent Prime Miniater.

Krobo blure things out, even

to be n

lebt collector and then reporter. He was sacked repeatedly, but always got back.

His arst uct when invitert to

high polley decisions, because Minister of the Inferior was loves to give his opponents in telephone his old employer's Kooreflesh. Nkrumais has n doubts about his loyalty and Nkrumah has a lot of doubt about some of his colleagues,

Showboy

But Nkrumah must not giv Krobo too much latitude. Al ready the No. 2 man has inoved Into the position Nkrumah long enjoyed-the spelt-binding "showboy the mon who is always on the wavelengths of the African masses.

Krobo today a well-dressed dream of gloty come true. Born Ashanti 41 years ago in an village, of poor parents, he had Iktle education. When he first stood for Parliament in 2051 ha could hardly

wife, tell her the big news, and warz her that the Ashanti people must look out.

גווה

was sur-

When it was suggested later this wng rather irregular praeceding Kroba prised. But missus (meaning Mr Tibos, the employer's wife) is my mother and my father. For 11 years I work for her."

Since entering Parilament in 1951 Krohn had been clowning threatening, climbing.

He had to rest as Minis- terial Secretary fur Justice following disapproval in the re- port of an official inquiry into idlegations against various Ministers.

But he was quickly back as Minister withoul Portfolio and then us Minister of Communien- string two sen- tions-all £3,000-a-year jobs,

Happily complacent in peace; resolute and courageous in the storm,

A

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1957.

| WILL DESIREE WED

THE EX-KING?

Ex-KING SIMEON -RUMOURS BUZZ IN

STOCKHOLY

NOTHER remance rumour sweeps 1Swedish royal alrcles -already preoccupied with the love of Princess Margaretha and Robin Douglas-Home.

Ume This

the whispers concern Margaretha's sister, Princess Desiree. 19 jabone), and ex- King Slibeon of Bulgaria, 20, extled 11 years ago.

They were at school together and he is often her partner at Stockholm parties. Recently Simeon was a guest of the royal family for shooting holiday at thefr summer residance faland in the Baltic.

on

Are the English a

race of geniuses?

MERICANS Continually, in spite of other attractions

and almost against their will, turn their eyes back

to Europe. This is specially true about Britain. Or let us be frank and say England,

Virginian

BY WALTER ELLIOT, MP

The Irish, The Scol, the they a face of born Henluses, or Weish das not present the aume et lucky: Above all, are they point in the greatest and modern elgina. But the English are a perpetuut - problem, Are tal on ore they phoney"

thy

etuning or going"

There were no doubt ques- Are thes which the origina:

UP COUNTRY by THURLOW CRAIG

Two crows dive -to the rescue

HEARD A mewing cry, came out from our honeysuckle-covered veranda, and looked

I

up

the mountain. There on the tall larch at the top

of the orchard perched a great buzzard.

Then sounded the harsh caw

of two corrian crown from the oak tree in the valley below, and I would have reached for my gun had it not been for the strange, anxious ar ef these noxious fowthered fiends.

Carrion birds though crow'

on

and New England He thinks the aristocracy no settlers discussed entierrly with longer counts; though what he the Red indians. They have cells The Establishment (nothing hainted the minds of Americans to do with the Church) does, ever since, All this reached tremendously. Ascot, as far as Beltain is concerned, On most American of American nui- "doesn't matter a damn," lhora, Mark Twain. Fully, he the other hand, he thinks that re-wrote Malory through the the Crown is as important as eyes of Damon Runyon; his ever, and that, as the world elvalled combination of entire becomes more complex, the jud seivnecfiction A Yankee Al «ltraction of the single repre- The Court of King Arthur. sentative will steadily grow. He Now cones Drew Middleton'; la fascinated by Parlament, and not merely traveller but à by its accomplishment of what resident. He knows the Village he calls A Quiet Revolution by of London through and through. A Quiet People.

He has seen Britain both in war

ant in ponce, He has mixed

US and Us

with our factory-workers and

the

with our armies overseas. He Also, he thinks, that the can compare his long experience stupid people have often been of our country

"After with a sojourn right.

Second In Germany, also as a now's- World War had burst, IL paper correspondent from 1945 occurred to many....that the to 1933.

Blimps had known what they Herv

were tolidng about" (on opinion

is the vast American appetite for facts, Here is ineldentally shared by M. formation by The sackful on

Keynes). All this will be in- every dn of subject the tensely annoying to the Superior Persons and to the Angry But they are the

National Health Service, po Young Men.

nuba, Lord Salisbury,

Woolton, Lord Beaverbrook, views of a New Yorker from. June

the Daily Mirror,

Syracuse University; and he has Maudie Littlehampton of the thought about them for the last Daily Express, the wages ut 10 years. coalminers, and the fact that in Britain we read nearly double as many newspapers per hend y the people of the United

Also, there is the true corres

and buzzard be, the Intle is by altered their tactics, calling for far the Kobler, capable of descending

wn hep at the top of their harsh full-grown rabbit and bearing it away to had hysterics

voices. Once again the chickens his nest high up in the rocky

as they streaked for shelter. outcrops. But there's the rub,

battle flew the States. Bravely into nowadays no rubblis. So what should a poor buzzard do zave

crows but the buzzards repulsed what this one was ubout

them viciously with the weight

to

do

very much in their favour until pendent's power of spotlight

Drew Midleton's special con- tribution is his discernment of the advent, in our economic life. of a gigantle new class, a nový working class "self-satisfied with themselves and their lot; im- possible to rouse save by may

attempt, a raid on my netga- two more crows came up at fuiling an anecdote to illuminate a colley that appears to endanger.

bour's chicken run?

FAST, DEADLY Down silent, fast, and dicudly awooped the great bird of prey on wide-spread wings unti with raucous crie, and untidy

ery and hurled themselves into chapter, As witness: The froy:

and a

A tow black feathers brown one drifted lazily on the gentle, southerly breeze, but four crows had the measure of two buzzards and soon the buzzards feathers a-flap, the two crows folled and chickenless, to their flow like the wind, defeated, pet upon him. He side-olid, cyrie. he rolled, a peevish, mewin

wall escaped his terrible hook-

That night the owner trans-

ad benk and next moment he ferred his hens

their new position." This gives "After all,. Nye's his own him considerable unetsingas. worst enemy, someone unce 'But it is not, as Mr Middleton remarked to Ernie Bevin.

supposes, something appearing "Not while ain't, said Ernio."

I'm alive, c for the first time in history.

It is the reincarnation of very old and very stable phenomenon, that of men com- pletely identlied with their

Drew and You

Drew Middleton la continually

torn between the greatness to economie attachment, the Man has seen this people display, in its Job, the old peasantry and the trivialities, the coin upon the land; and the now

to deep litter, placenoles, the sloths, with rollers, dug in upon their

was away at full speed up the and on the following morning which they love to surroundi Industrial small-holdings, with mountainside with nothing

in two silent, eggless crows perch themselves, He comes down, the trade unions for their

ed hungry and forlorn

What in the decisively, on the side of their walch-towers.

their ook overlooking the

empty greatness.

Kindly, energelle, eventual outlook may be, what ambitious and too often happly their reactions, may well keep When later," four buzzards complacent in

most guessing. Ohee, they went peace; appeared flying hopefully down resolute, courageous and tough- on the Crusades.

his long-spurred talons,

the victors perched Patiently witil a stupid fowl atrutted tho hysterical forts with

chucks that an Hiccupping nounce the arrival of a new- laid egg.

shot Down then

run.

in fight and belligerent forma minded in the storms that have This is a book of clean, tion, ready to repel and scatter beatch about their islands since brilliantly selected, mest spin- almost any foc, the crows just the dawn of the Christian era? pathetically produced, that by the crowe sat there, punctuating

Bat the question has been put, the Yazione How two black arrows, shortly sterile sweep

on his Hayrlast so of their enemies The very emphasis of his reply the Court of King Arthur. to retum with one-stained bibs. with caws of puro derision.

is certally fascinatitig to us. It betraya atid Now, tigh

silent over

The longer I live the more I pui- Icom

will be Interesting to hear what the valley circled two

that the mentalities

·Meša, Lorite and lower

they bird; and, berist are not so very

the folks back hoo have to say aboutit. PAGES P Dew, but this time the crow far moved from our own.

==(London. Kapriai, Herwice),

a doubt,

*The Bride by Drew Middle Cons, Sacker and Warburg, 200,

THE

KING AND

"MORPHY-RICHARDS

BANGKOK.

THREE outstandingly gifted Oriental big business men have had a serious falling out here in Slam, And now the dust hus settled, we find one of them an old pro named Pibul Songgram-languishing in neighbourly Cambodia.

The second-his name is Sriyanond Phao (pronounced Pow) is even further away in Switzerland, while atting back in triumph to enjoy fatter and undisputed profits is number three, Sarit Phanarat.

new

But, not content with big ment of oplum on train. businesa, these three natute now! Pkad'a nien, rather than dexterous operations held extra surrender, sluffed it all into jobs on the side. For instance, the furnace of the locomotivë. Pibul Skongeram was until The train arewed in Bangkok Iccently, the Prime Minister with dense clouds of pungent of Siam.

ptum smoke pouring from its funnel,

In his spare time, Phao was also chiet of a 30,009-11- strong polico forey, complete with such novel poltre features as paratroops and tank units.

And sole survivor Sarit, B00 bors of all he marvays, wears the unfern of an army leki- marshal.

But don't let any of that fool you.

In

.

few two a

SfI0, Pibul really can't com-

plain. He hasi been round politically for a long time. #c Grst became Premier back in 1037 and except for a brief pause from 1014 to 1918 held the job since.

BAD

GUESS

do the Second World War he Until Sarit decided to musele calculated that Japan would

on the other

win and ludicrously declared weeks back, Phao owned war on

Britain unt America. abunk, a hotel, a string of That turned out to be poor private houses, orkl WON the judgment, but Pibul survived majority shareholder In mony it and of late years he has been

pro-American.

big Industrial concern. Ex-Premier Pibu has

not

perhaps done quite so well,

He has sided with the West

the

for

South-

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Ins Siam polities LE big politically and led Siam into veiness, thus it is costly. Large membership of amounts were always coming East Asia Treaty Organisation, In to Pibul's bank accounts the Naio counterpart but then a

was side of the world. Food dent was always going out again 100, what with buying largo chunks of votes and so forth,

Moreover all three men were energetic newspaper publishers.

THE PAPERS

merciai

Phaes

But what caused suddenly to decide to put his This is Hong Kong ness? commercial rivals out of busi-

PUBLICATIONS

$ 9.50

18.00

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Sarit

25.00

8.50

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Coronation Glory

35.00

7.50

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1.50

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For he has been fond of saying he was no politiclan. But he could not help taking note of Sarit's papers would show Phan's 50,000 policemen, which grave concern over the constant began to look out of proportion Phoo's to Sarit's own 80,000-man army, corruption scandals in

papery polled feree. revealed and deplored Field- Sarit might have been content Marshal Sarit's thriving com- just to get rid of Fhan and let

connection.

A Pibul stay on as Premier. And Premier Pibul's paper bully some of his own men decided clicked their tongues ever both that Pibul toTMmus!"go. Theo and Earl

Phao-who always buasted of Bangkokkers speak with his luck and who used to write) grudging admiration of the magazing articles as "Policeman) "oplum war" spiritedly fought No. 19"-realised that for him between the police and the the game was up. army. Lorries running con- traband oplum were regularly

hijacked by both sides.

So it's all Sarit's now, and hel

enn talk about "The King and

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