| Abstract: | Colonel Ponsonby devoted the first half of his lecture to acomparison between East Africa and Central Asia, which he visitedlast winter. Concentrating mainly on Uzbekistan, he paid detailedtribute to the transformation of the last 21 years, and thenasked the question, could we have been more progressive, havingregard to the nature and state of civilisation of the people?He thought not. There is a difference between the 3000 yearsof history of the national entities round Samarkand or Bokharaand the tribes of E. Africa; there is a difference between existingAfrican conditions, and the Soviet doctrine of work, as laiddown in Article 12 of the Constitution: "He who does not workneither shall he eat." It is really only on the highest levelthat there is any similarity between the two areas, one of whichlooks to Moscow, the other to London, for methods of government,technical advice, and finance for schemes of development. |
