World: Rhodesia: White and All Right

Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia’s all-white government, which rules a black majority, declared last week that his country was growing stronger despite the United Nations sanctions against it. Though U.N. member states are supposed to boycott Rhodesian exports, Smith claimed that many countries of the free world were quietly helping Rhodesia. On the fourth anniversary of the unilateral declaration of independence from Britain, Smith said that Rhodesia expects a 10% increase this year in its gross national product, “exceptional by any standard.” But British Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart recently told the House of Commons that Rhodesia’s export earnings had dropped by 40%. “Alone among all the countries of the world.” he said, “its total national product is less than it was four years ago.”