USUN Files
Memorandum Transmitted by Mr. Leon Pignon, Representative of the French Delegation to the Trusteeship Council, to the United States Representative to the Trusteeship Council (Sayre)
Subject: Ewe Problem
As it has already informed the United States delegation, the French delegation is convinced that the Ewe question presents itself in 1951 in a completely different light from that in which it was usually considered in the past. Not only have the difficulties, which the inhabitants [Page 595] of the French territory may have suffered as a result of the war and the fact that the frontier was closed been completely eliminated today, but in addition the annexationist tendencies of the Gold Coast do not permit of giving any further thought to the constitution of a truly autonomous Ewe territory.
On the first point there is little to add. It is obvious that the liberal and democratic policy pursued by France in the territory placed under her trusteeship and the common desire of the United Kingdom and France to eliminate all exchange difficulties between the two territories have likewise borne fruit. The advocates in French territory of unification can no longer invoke any reason for popular discontent; they must fall back on arguments of principle, which have infinitely less effect on the masses and are being questioned by the leaders themselves. As shown by the last election (June 17).
As to the annexationist tendencies of the Gold Coast, that is the very factor which makes many hesitate who heretofore took an active part in the unification movement. It seems to them, rightly, that the autonomous Eweland of which they had dreamed would come up against the new political tendencies of the Gold Coast; the system established in the country appears, in fact, to be incompatible with the setting up on the frontier of a rival government which would be based on a tribal principle and would by that very fact threaten the integrity of the Gold Coast. Prestige, power and the science of organization give to leaders at Accra a considerable advantage over the all-Ewe Conference and the Committee on Togo Unity, at least over those of their members who were sincerely advocating the formation of an autonomous Eweland; there is therefore reason to think that the unification movement would in reality work only to the advantage of the Gold Coast, which for this purpose has the mass of Ewelanders in Keta. The United States delegation is aware of the situation; acts and talk leave no doubt as to intentions and methods of the leaders in Accra.
That is why, without even mentioning the other inhabitants of French Togo, who have clearly and resolutely opposed all unification, one has every reason to think that, at least in French territory, the Ewelanders themselves are beginning to ask themselves more or less confusedly what would happen to their originality and their influence if the progress of events reduced them to only one district of some province of the Gold Coast.
My Government deems it just to give them time for reflection, since the circumstances, that is, the present calm prevailing in Togo, permit it. In order to prepare them for a perfectly clear choice, it has decided to develop considerably the local political institutions in the trust territory. Suffrage will be considerably extended; the territorial Assembly’s administrative power and power of decision will at the [Page 596] same time be greatly increased; and executive positions in which the Togolanders will share in the responsibilities of government are in the process of being set up. Thus the territory will take a long step in the direction of self-government, while by this means the inhabitants, particularly the Ewelanders, will be able, within a reasonable period of time, to decide their own fate with full knowledge of the facts.
To act differently, to hold, for example, a consultation on the real scope of which the people would not be informed, would be a sort of deceit. It would also be an error of policy with respect to West Africa in general.
The French government has followed with great interest the political evolution of the Gold Coast as well as that of Nigeria, and considers that the progress made in these two territories, although obtained in different ways, is no less worthy of interest than that from which the French territories of Black Africa have themselves benefited. But it is needless to point out to the United States delegation the political, strategic, and economic drawbacks of a West Africa in which the interior frontiers would become infinitely less fluid than they were during the colonial period.
Now if Gold Coast trends may, a priori, appear to be tending toward the formation of a large African combination, the actual situation would be of a different nature. The exclusive hegemony of Accra on the contrary, is in danger of ending in a partitioning that will render more difficult the establishment of harmonious relations among the various regions of the continent. The government of the Gold Coast is now giving evidence it has of a leaning in that direction; in seeking to annex British Togo and all or part of French Togo, it is manifesting the desire to enlarge its own domain without consideration for the sentiment of the neighboring countries or for a higher regional interest. Nothing can be more contrary to an organized or even merely harmonious concept of West Africa than this closed imperialism of classic form.
The French delegation takes the liberty of calling special attention to this aspect of the problem. In its opinion, any action that succeeded, by surprise, in encouraging Gold Coast expansionism at the expense of French Togo, would, besides being a strange infraction of the rules of the trusteeship system, constitute a precedent the results of which might be extremely serious both for the African peoples in general as well as for the position of the Atlantic powers in Africa.
I shall mention, in order to make my thought more clear, that my government will endeavor to seek the conclusion with the British territories of all possible economic agreements, local or regional, on transportation, roads, agriculture, stockraising, electric power, etc. This policy of agreements, according to the observations which the E.C.A. representatives were led to make in Black Africa, will have as [Page 597] its purpose not only to ensure the better employment of capital but also to prevent the frontiers from being closed and to create lasting bonds between the various countries of West Africa. Thus, in the absence of unity proper, it will be possible for solidarity and consequently harmony to prevail in this part of the continent despite the variety of political systems.
Those are positive measures that will help to spare West Africa a political and economic partitioning that would obstruct the progress of the people and the legitimate concern of the Atlantic powers for security. Quite to the contrary, the tendencies concealed in the self-styled Ewe propaganda of today would only lead to rash acts if they were satisfied.