By SAM RUSSELL

HE Abominable Snow-

man fact or fancy?
—this is a question which is
now intriguing a large sec-
tion of the Soviet public
who are passionately ar-
guing the pros and cons of
the Yeti.

The controversy has been
brewing for some time, ever
since Sir John Hunt, of the
Everest expedition, deliver-
ed a lecture:

Bear, langur monkey,
anthropoid ape or far-dis-
tant ancestor of modern
man — all these possibili-
ties -are being canvassed to
try to explain the mystery
of those footprints in the

The inhospitable terrain of the world’s

The Abominable §

snow high up in the Hima-

layas.
A number of leading So-
viet Academicians, moun-

tain climbers and scientists
who have joined the dis-
cussion, by a three-to-one
majority came to the con-
clusion that Eric Shipton
was right to reject the bear
theory and to stick to his
views that the footprints
were made by a man.

What sort of man? Pro-
fessor Obruchev, a noted
geologist says that the foot-
prints resemble those of the
Neanderthal man.

He considers as further
proof the scalp found by

the 1954 British expedition
in a Himalayan monastery.
Finally, there are the ac-
counts, highly feasible, ac-
cording to Professor Obru-
chev, of local inhabitants.

“The study of all these
data,” he’ said, “enables us
to conclude that m the high-
er Himalayas between the
forests and the regions of
eternal snow, highly organ-
ized anthropoids exist in
small numbers who, accord-
ing to their *development,
are on a higher level than
the anthropoid ape, but on
a considerably lower level
than the most _ primitive
people of the Stone Age.”

The missing link? Aca-
demician Alexandrov thinks

mightiest mountain range holds the secret of the Abominable Snowman.

nowman —is it fact or fancy?

so, quoting in support tne
Opinion of zoologist Profes-
sor Pavlosky.

Academician Sirotinin
goes even farther and, quot-
ing another zoologist, Pro-
fessor Shushkin, asserts that
humanity was born in the
Himalayas.

Academician Letavyei,
however, says existing data
are insufficient to prove the
existence of the Abomin-
able Snowman and _ that
conditions for life are so
unfavorable and food re-
sources so limited that they
practically exclude all pos-
sibility of human life.

Summing up the argu-
ment, one of the best known
alpinists, Evgeny Simonov,

considers that the observa-
tions of Sir John Hunt in
Kanchenjunga and of A. N.
Tombotsi in Sikkim have
effectively disposed of ‘ar-
guments that the footprints
were made by bears.

He quoted Tombotsi’s re-
port that he saw an object
at about 200 or 300 yards
making off in the direction
of the valley. The shape of
the object exactly resembl-
ed that of a human being.
It walked on two feet and
sometimes bent down to
pick up plants.

But no Soviet explorer
has yet been able to claim
that he has himself seen
a Yeti or even his abomin-
able footprints.

Changing -:
scene in
Kenya

By IDRIS. COX

THE NEW Kenya Legislative Council
with eight seats occupied for the first tim

elected African members.
There were already eight

nominated
channels and chosen by the
British governor.

Their cooperation with the
European settlers and British
colonial rule was strongly op-
posed by the Africans, and
in the elections six of them,
two of them former ministers
lost their seats.

But the elections produced
not only new members; they
gave expression to a new pol-
icy.

The elected African mem-
bers (both new and old) have
declared their opposition to
the “Lyttelton plan” and_out-
lined an alternative policy, the
essence of which is given in
one sentence: .

“We shall fight to build a
government and = society in

opeans
Moslem) and an ex-officio Ar-

ministers
among the nominated and of-
ficial members.

X28

met last week,
e by

What is the present set-up in
Kenya?

The Lytelton “multi-racial”
plan is based on a spurious
“equality.” Four elected Euro-
peans—four elected non-Eur-
(African, Hindu, and
ab member, given

are posts

as ministers.

But eight

are

more European
chosen from

The Europeans get 14 elect-

ed sets and the non-Europeans

15 among them, of which eight

% BSPATIAN
SUBSR

—%

SEER BASS Rha eas

oe
ETHIOPIA {

e

eS
Gags
oo

SERDATE MES
are African seats.

However, there are 24 Eur-
opean seats for nominated and
six for all the non-Europeans.

So that .Europeans occupy
38 seats out of a total of 59 in
the legislative assembly, and
have 12 ministers as @gainst
five for non-Kuropeans.

Contrast this with the rela-
tive’ population in Kenya — six
million Africans, roughly 125,-
090 Asians and Arabs, and only
30,000 Europeans, For every
European there 200 Afri-
cans,

No wonder the new African
members refuse to accept min-

v
are

isterial posts under this set-
up.
fven this is only half the

story. Until March this vear
not one African had the right
to vote. Last year the Coutts
Commission devised a fran-
chise scheme for a tiny minor-
ity of Africans.

The minimum condition for
all Africans over 21 years of
age was an annual income of
$335 or ownership of property
valued at $1,100 or more, _._

Nine out of ten Afticans in
Kenya are peasants, and the
annual cash value of their
products (after personal con-
sumption) is less than $80.
Even in industry the majority
of workers gxt less then $27
a year.

In addition, ali the Kikuyu
Meru and Embu_ oveoples in
Kenya (one-third the total Af-
rican population) had to un-
dergo a “loyalty test.” They
had to prove “active suppoit
to the crown during the em-
ergency” and the women “ex-
ceptional powers in active
fighting against Mau Mau.”

It’s not surorisiag that culy
126,508 Africans (roughly one
in 46 of the total popuiation)
were able to register as voters.

The fact that even this small
minority of better-off Afri-
cans swept out the cid cique
of nominated Africans is in
itself an expression of the
depth and scope of the grow-
ing African demand through-
out Kenya for liberation from
the domination of a European
minority.

What are the future pros-
pects in Kenya?

The two rival political
sroups in the European elec-

APRIL 5, 1957 —

tions last October (one sccur-
ing six and the other eight
seats) have sunk their differ-
ences and decided to work to-
gether in the legislative coun-
cil,

Their aim is to abolish ef-
ective control by the British
government (except when
they need British troops to
suppress the Africans), and
to give the European minority
complete domination.

This was clearly expressed
by one of the European lead-
ers, E. Blundell (himself a
settler) in these terms:

“The present experiment, if
successful, was the beginning
of the transfer of responsibil-
ity from the people of Britain
to the people of Kenya. Of
course, there must be a Euro-
pean majority and European
control.”

For Blundell and his friends
“the people of Britain” means
the British government and
“the people of Kenya” means
the Europeans in that coun-
try, not the six million Afri-
cans!

The Africans don't advocate
expulsion- of the Europeans.
They are content to demand
racial cooperation, but on
equal terms.

But as Tom Mboya, 28-year-
old general secretary of the
Kenya Federation of Labor,
explained in a recent pamph-
let:

“The Europeans will be fac-
ed with the choice: either he
agrees to be treated as an equal
with his African and Asian
neighbors, or there is no place
for him in Kenya.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 12