Interview with Ho Chi Minh

‘We long for peace

... fight to victory’.

By VOITSEK
ZHUKROVSKY

] RECOGNISED him in the dis-
_ tance. With a light step he
Came down the path to meet us.

He has a high forehead, a nar-
Tow, energetic face, a thin grey-
Ing beard and a pleasant smile.

He had a check searf around
his thin neck: He wore a brown
tunic, trousers almost threadbare,
and on his feet sandals made from
Pieces of automobile tires, like a
Soldier’s.

Ho Chi Minh, president of the
Democratic Republic of Viet Nam,
Started the conversation at once.

“Here you are, my presidential
Palace,” he joked good-humored-
ly. “You won’t see another one
like it in your life. No other pre-
Sident in the world can boast of
such apartments.”

The president’s quarters were
Constructed of. four pillars of
thick bamboo, to which was fast-
fned a platform reached by a
ladder. The roof was of branches.

_We went into the room where
Ho Chi Minh worked.

Here there were two tables. On
che were laid letters, radio sum-
Maries, dispatches, reports, docu-
Ments dealing with issues which
had to be resolved. At the second
the president worked. On it stood
@n old typewriter.

“You have to keep the stove
burning all the time, so that it
doesn’t get rusty from the damp,”
explained our host. “However, it
does creaté a certain illusion of
domestic comfort. .. .”

Instructed in Viet Nam cus-
toms by our ‘interpreter Van Tan,
We removed our sandals and
Mounted the stairs to the “first
floor,” . ‘

I was amazed by its bareness.
In one corner hung a mosquito
het and under it a folded blanket;
Mm another, an old suitcase. That
Was all.

The president spoke irreproach-
able French. His eyes seemed
young; they shone with natural
Wit and humor. He clearly en-
Joyed our surprise at the spartan
Simplicity of his way of life.
<< £m not lonely here,” he said.

People often pay me visits. For
Six years we have lived in such
Conditions. . . . My health still

asn’t left me. I can easily cover
25 miles if necessary. This spot
has enthralled me; here it’s so
beautiful and pleasant.”

At the time, when grass. and
trees, sprinkled with bright drops,
Shone in the clear sunlight and
the tops of the palms swayed in

he warm blue of the skies, I
Was ready to appreciate the presl-
dent’s admiring exclamation.

But during the rainy period,

uring uninterrupted downpours,

this house clearly was a poor
defense against the unkind ele-
ments fei

“I am certainly no exception,”
Said Ho Chi Minh, as if with a
Wave of the hand turning away

Our surprise. “With us thousands”

live thus. In fact, it is even easier
tor me—I have neither wife nor
children.”

He fell silent, glanced at the
Soldiers deployed on the hill

Slopes and gazed into the valley

Where through the trees the rice
elds shone like emirrors. With

Sincerity and simplicity, he said:
“T consider all our people as

, big family. To this day I
nave aa them and to the end
of my life I wish to serve only
them.” a

These words were spoken with-
out pathos, as if it were a matter
of something impoftant but com-
pletely obvious and ordinary.

Ho Chi Minh was silent for an
pistant, then he continued calm-
ly and with firmness:

“Tt js very difficult for. us to
reconcile ourselves to the thought
of a long war. How very much
we want te give our young peo-
ple books instead of rifles and
grenades; to send people into the
lecture halls, the factories and
the mills, to put them in good,
real houses of brick instead of
bamboo.” rue:

He stopped and again gazed
into the distant valley. We re-
minded him of the recent vic-
tories of the People’s Army. —

“yes that is true. We are In-
flicting certain. defeats on the
enemy, but I would not fix any
firm date for our victory. We
cannot say to ourselves ‘Now, an-
other year, another two.’

“Here the question 1s no longer
one of the French colonial rulers
alone. See here in front of me
lies a list of the new consign-
ments of arms from the United
eeeeiately we are interested in
them, the more so since sooner or
Jater they will fall into our hands.
Ticwever, that isn’t the main
point; the U.S. actions are pro-
longing the war, increasing the
suffering of our Super eg abso-

‘ely innocent population.
wae there been no U.S. inter-
vention, we should long ago have
reached an agreement with
France. Do not forget that the
people of France are-our real al-

ey
see president began to tell us,

“Already' in 1952 the central
committee of our party put the
land question as one demanding

PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH

an immediate answer. The Na-
tional Front laid down the fun-
damental principles and entrusted

‘us with the drafting of the direc-

tives. ;

“About 200 members of the Na-
tional Front, having taken part in
this conference, went out into the
villages. They started to prepare
for the carrying through of the
reform. :

“This period lasted three
months. Then we discussed the
mistakes and summed up the suc-
cesses. We still consider the new
instruction on land reform as
temporay and only the beginning.
Practice, life, will teach us.

“Phanks to experience, we are
avoiding serious mistakes; we are
carrying on the job without being
doctrinaire, so that we shan’t
have to turn aside or stop the
work later.

“We only confiscate the land of
those. owners who are clearly
traitors or’whose hands are stain-
ed with peasant blood.

“From the remaining landown-
ers, large and average, the state
purchases the land and immedi-
ately distributes it to the peas-
ants.

“tt js a sort of loan. We pay
for the land with bonds, which

will be redeemed after ten years .

by the National Bank.

“Soon we shall pay 1% per-
cent of the, sum at which the leas-
ed land was valued. Clearly this
law was very necessary, but the
decisions had long ago matured.

“J must remind you that in our
parliament sit not only workers
and peasants, but also merchants,
factory owners. and landowners.
The voting on this law was a real
test of their good will and loyal-

ty.”

The president moved his chair
back and went up the stairs into
the loft. A moment later he re-
turned with a roll of maps, spread
one out on the earthen floor and
we sat around it.

“Here are marked the villages
in which the mobilisation of pea-
sant forces is in full swing”’—he
pointed to the red dots. “The
peasantry must be convinced that
it constitutes a power that can
compel the exploiter to fulfil our
laws and instructions.

“Meanwhile, certainly, the
question is merely one of lower
rents. The landlords very often
concealed this deeree of ours
from the peasant or, taking ad-
vantage of the dependence of the
landless poor peasant, forced him
to pay the former excessive rent
by means of every kind of threat.

“Publicly, they agreed to carry
out the law, but whispered in the
ear of the peasant, ‘The decree
says nothing about to whom pre-
cisely I must rent the land. If you
don’t pay that which is due from
you then I shan’t renew! the
agreement with you.’

“And the poor peasant would
at night, keeping it a secret from
his fellow-villagers, bring extra
baskets of rice to the exploiter.”

“But who carries out the pre-
liminary explanations among th
peasants?” I asked. ;

‘Tt was party and non-party
people who carried out the pre-
paratory instruction. We called
them cadres. In order genuinely
to help the peasant, we must
know. very well the conditions of
his life. ;

“You must go into all the sec-
ret arrangements existing in the
village, ravel out just who digs
into whose pockets. There are
very complicated family ties; they
often conceal slavery — this is
done by adoption of the children
of the poor by the rich.

“Therefore each of our land
reform workers must spend not
less than a month in a particular
village and go deeply into the
inner life of each man.

“JT would put it as follows:
Live not less than a month with
the poorest peasants of that vil-
lage; eat with them and in re-
turn work for it personally and in
full; working in common with
them strengthen their awareness,
explain, agitate.’

D al:

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This map of Indochina shows
the areas‘ (in black) under con-
trol of the Democratic Republic
of Viet Nam. ;

“The results so far are, in gen-
eral, good. The peasant is at last
reaping the fruits of his struggle.
He is ridding himself of onerous
rent payments. He is getting
more land to till and, therefore,
he harvests more rice.

“He can feed the buffaloes he
needs for ploughing.

“The understanding of the
peasant is growing quickly also.
We want very much that you
should trace all these stages in
different settlements — then you
will finally understand what the
agrarian revolution means for

us.”
*

The president got up and said:
“And now let us have dinner.
You must surely be hungry.”

We helped the . president to
move the typewriter and collect
the papers and maps. The table
was soon laid.

We were given two bowls in
which to wash. The cuff of my
companion’s shirt sleeve was
bloodstained.

The president took him to the
hearth and sprinkled the wound
with hot bamboo ash. “Does it
sting ? Just be patient a while.
This is first aid, partisan style . . .
Now, a piece of bandage.”

We sat down at the table. The
president resumed our interrup-
ted conversation.

“In one large village where
there was a Catholic church, the
villagers at first adopted a dis-

_trustful attitude toward our man,

then gradually they started to
listen to his talk. He worked
with the peasants in the fields
and won their respect.

“When one of the Catholic
feast days arrived they even plac
ed a chair for him near the altar.
The priest was indignant at the
way the peasants had taken the
law into their own hands.

“But they” roundly told him
‘You are the father of our souls,
but he’s the father of our stom-
achs. If the stomach is empty,
well, the soul weakens. Isn’t that
clear? So come on, begin the
Mass and pray that God be with
us. 23

The president joined
laughter.

“What does the growth of the
peasants’ understanding mean for
the front?” I asked. “Surely, the
attention of the peasant must be
concentrated on the land?”

“With us people join the army
voluntarily,” answered Ho Chi
Minh. “From a village where
previously ten had come to join
the partisans, there now come a
hundred. We cannot accept them
all, train them and arm them.”

“How do your political oppon-
ents react to the land reform?”
I asked.

“Recently a delegation from
Paris came to Hanoi. It wanted
to find out just why their war in
cur land. was going so badly.

“Having studied the situation,
the delegates declared: ‘The land
reform in the hands of the Com-
munists, (that’s what they call us)
is a weapon more dangerous than
the atom bomb.’

“J can assure you that they are
not mistaken,” the president vig-
orously commented. “Clearly the
landowners try to hinder and
harm us. But it avails them
little.

“We know of hundreds of cases
of Bao Dai soldiers coming over
from the enemy and bringing
their weapons with them. Yes,
the reform is indeed a powerful
weapon in our hands.”

The president bade farewell to
us. He stood on the little ver-
anda and, leaning against the pil-
lar, waved after us for a long
time.

We went swiftly down the path,
running down to the vallev. Turn-
ing once again, I saw in the light
of the setting sun his silver-grey
head. He was already seated at
the typewriter.
© Voitsek Zhukrovsky, noted

Polish author, recently made

an 1800-mile tour of the ter-

ritories controlled by the De-
mocratic Republic of Viet Nam.

in our

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 11, 1954 — PAGE 9