'Phobes and Thiles

On the banks of the Zambesi River in Central Africa. Britain is trying to build a strong new dominion, rich in metals and farmlands, and able to protect itself from the black nationalism of the Gold Coast and the white nationalism of South Africa. Last week, barely half a year since the House of Commons gave the ambitious project its blessing, the Central African Federation was jarred by racial unrest among black man, Boer and Briton. 69,000 Boers. Sir Godfrey Huggins, 70, the wiry little surgeon who first conceived the notion of lumping the Rhodesias and Nyasaland into one big Central Africa (TIME. Sept. 21), was beset on both sides by black and white extremes. In next month's general election, Huggins is virtually certain to be confirmed as the first Prime Minister, but his United Party, which is almost exclusively British, faces powerful opposition from 69,000 Boers, most of them followers of South Africa's Daniel Malan. The Boers, mostly farmer-immigrants and copper miners, joined with a group of British blimps to form the Confederate Party. They oppose Huggins' gradualist policy of black-white partnership with the drastic simplicity of apartheid (racial segregation).

On Huggins' opposite flank stand the bitter leaders of 6,500,000 Africans. They oppose the Federation because it i) removes the benevolent hand of the British Colonial .Office, and 2) transfers "native affairs" to a Central African Parliament dominated by local whites. Fewer than 500 Negroes are eligible to vote in next month's elections, but many more are threatening to make their protests felt through strikes in the copper belt and a campaign of passive resistance. The Negroes have the sympathy, if not the active support, of many British Laborites.

Eleven in One Bag. Huggins, a determined man, resists both Negrophobes and Negrophiles. He is hewing straight down the middle, sticking to the trusty evolutionary maxim of famed Empire Builder Cecil Rhodes: "Equal rights for every civilized man . . ." The undeveloped African, said Huggins last week, "is very inflammable material." He cited the activities of the Rev. Michael Scott, the Anglican divine who has become one of the black men's busiest spokesmen in Africa and before the U.N. "The Reverend Scott," said Huggins bitterly, "recently visited Nyasaland on a 'peaceful mission.' Disturbances among the Negroes followed, and Scott's bag as a result is eleven Negroes killed [in clashes with the police]. That is not bad for a peaceful missionary."

Huggins said he will enforce a "strong immigration policy" in Central Africa. "We cannot have the place full of agitators . . . There is no room for Communists." Then he turned to the Boers. "Some people will get a shock when they see whom we will regard as prohibited immigrants . . . There is no room for people who have their feet in two camps . . ."

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