UNITED NATIONS: Glass Houses

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Above Lake Tanganyika's blue waters the Bahutu or Wahutu (singular Muhutu) were minding their own business 300 years ago when the Batutsi or Watusi (singular: Mututsi) wandered in, probably from Abyssinia. The Batutsi announced that hereafter they would run the twin kingdoms of Ruanda-Urundi, and look after the Bahutu. Because the Batutsi brought with them wondrous long-horned cattle and because they were seven feet tall, the Bahutu did not argue the point.

About 50 years ago the Germans came to Ruanda-Urundi to supervise the way in which the Batutsi ran the Bahutu. After World War I the Belgians proved to everyone's satisfaction that the Germans had done a very poor job of supervising. The Belgians took over.

Last May the Belgian government submitted an account of its stewardship of Ruanda-Urundi to the U.N. Trusteeship Council. The council last week issued its "report on the report," finding much amiss about the way the Belgians directed the Batutsi 5% of the population to rule the Bahutu 94%.* The Russians, who check up on everybody, refused to sign the report. The Russians thought the council was not sufficiently critical of the Belgians.

Private Lives. In fact, the Belgians have done a lot for Ruanda-Urundi. They built roads, fostered trade, fought disease and, having the natives' welfare at heart, discouraged them from excessive drinking of a beer they made out of bananas.

The Belgians have also called attention to the fact that the Batutsi are probably the world's greatest high jumpers, regularly clearing 8 ft. 5 in. from a takeoff mound a foot high, making a net jump of 7 ft. 5 in. (this year's Olympic winner jumped 6 ft. 6 in.—see SPORT).

The Belgians select the most promising young men (not necessarily the best high jumpers) and give them a nine-year course of training in the .Groupe Scolaire at Astrida in Ruanda. The Catholic priests who run the Groupe call the first four years of the course "the rolling mill." During this period the aristocratic young giants are subjected to constant surveillance and iron discipline, including very hard beds. "The rolling mill" squeezes out two-thirds of the students and the priests do not want the two-thirds who fail to go back to their villages demanding soft beds. The successful third go on to five years of technical training with an honor system and soft beds. If they pass they become medical, veterinary and agricultural assistants or tribal chiefs, and are deemed eligible to look after the Bahutu, the Batwas and the long-horned cattle. The Trusteeship Council, however, thought that more natives should be sent to European universities and the people given a vote. The Belgian report to the U.N. got rather personal at one point in its 382-page, statistics-laden report. It said: "The private life of the Mwami [King] of Urundi left something to be desired when he paid visits to Usumbura [the capital]. Fortunately, his visits are no longer as frequent ... He has been advised to be more careful; time will tell whether he has heeded this advice."