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Show "ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS" Since Mussolini began the hostile invasion of Ethiopia, sending- machine gun battalions, armored tank brigades, bombing air fleets and hundreds of thousands of superbly equipped troops against the barefoot defenders of their homeland, excuses offered for this war of conquest or extermination exter-mination have been read and studied in all parts of the world. Denying designs of power to despoil weakness, the urge of greed for colonial territory or the prompting of Napoleonic Napoleo-nic ambitions, the Italian dictator intimates that he represents repre-sents the onward march of civilization and considers it a Christian duty to subdue barbarous unbelievers. Perusal of ancient history, however, leads to a conclusion conclu-sion that Ethiopians may be actual descendants of Bible characters, that they may have come down one line from the house of Iftivid, even as the mother of Jesus Christ came down the other; and history does show that the Ethiopians were professors of Christianity while yet the Romans were celebrating their holidays by watching followers of the Na-zarene Na-zarene torn by wild beasts or burned as torches to light up pagan festivities. Ethnologists assert that the Ethiopian language is the oldest existing tongue. It was spoken 5000 years before the beginning of the Christian era, and one of its dialgcts was spoken by Christ and His disciples when a Roman judge was asking "What is truth ?" To be sure there are several races represented in Ethiopia, just as there are in the many other countries. Among them are the Ilamities, the Doko foresters, forest-ers, the Nubian plainsmen, the Shangallas, the Falashas of Jewish descent and numerous Arabs, Persians and Greeks who have lived there for centuries. Educating these people to the ways of modern civilization civiliza-tion may be a Christian duty. They will have to be shod, which will make work for Italian cobblers. Then they may have to be taught subterfuge, which is the primitive version of diplomacy. They will need to study Mafia codes of revenge, re-venge, plan going into debt for pleasure vehicles and fine household furnishings, practice organizing strikes and perfecting per-fecting the science of sabotage, and. acquire the more refined arts of necking, joy riding, roadway racing, painting faces and fingernails, marathon dancing and racketeering. There are no toys in Ethiopia. Arrival of a child's scooter in Addas Ababa the other day was a signal to suspend sus-pend civil and military activities to see it perform. Even the emperor's children have no playthings. What an opportunity opportun-ity civilization will have to introduce toy pistols and flippers and firecrackers for kindergarten courses in developing big, bold brigands and numerical public enemies. Never was there a more inviting field in which to sow the seeds of envy and religious dissension nor a finer chance to introduce attendant at-tendant customs and practices of civilization. If the Ethiopians were not dense and stubborn they would welcome these opportunities to rise and shine; they would surely lay-down their arms and .adopt the ways of civinization. Since they, refuse to surrender, the command is repeated "Onward, Christian Soldiers." Salt Lake Tribune. Tri-bune. n |