European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes James Reston february not Washington giving Reagan Good Marks Ronald Reagan is not proving to be the chairman of the Board after he is emerging As a teacher and reformer not so much As the governments chief executive but As its principal spokesman and master of he has been much More Active in his first Days in the White House than most observers unlike Jimmy he is concentrating on building alliances in the but also reaching beyond Capitol Hill in the belief that he will never get his economic plan voted into Law unless he persuades the american people to Reform their assumptions and this was what he was doing in his first televised speech to the it was an economics addressed in simple Lan not to the but to Ordinary people who dont know the difference be tween a Supply Sider and a unlike Franklin who thought we had nothing to fear but fear Reagan thinks were not scared we Are in the worst economic mess since the Cir eat he and arc facing a calamity unless we shape up and begin to live within our lie has spent very Little time since his inauguration on the remedies for this Analy it was decided before he arrived in Washington that tax cuts and budget cuts were the first order of his mind has been on persuading the country of the seriousness of the crisis so that the people and the Congress will accept the sacrifices he intends to request later in the so his tactics have been As a he has Many things going for he has not dispersed his but has concentrated on two things the menace of the Economy and the menace of the Sovi particularly the he can speak and he can Seldom have so Many solemn things been said by any recent president in so lighthearted a or such a dismal Prospect put be fore the people with such an outward show of optimism that it can be he even turned his birthday from a Politi Cal problem into a it he Only the 31st anniversary of his 39th lie is leaving the Battle to his he has had More than 40 congressmen in the White House in the last few Days to even with those who oppose that the country is in a Jam and its time to try something he is his supporters to lobby con Gress to pass his economic he has been rather successful at or at least action on some of his More dubious Campaign prom such As ending the soviet Grain Embar and when his Cabinet members seem to be differing with one another in Public about foreign Aid or deploying the Neutron he makes Light of the matter and says hell Settle All that later All of deals merely with the atmosphere of the gathering debates and not the but atmosphere is import despite the seriousness of the prob Here is very Little tension so far be tween the that will come later in what the Senate majority Howard Baker of promises will be one of the most heated legislative Battles of the As reagans opponents see the out lines of his economic he is asking the Rich and big business to sacrifice by accepting deregulation and a tax Cut and asking the who dont make enough to pay to face reductions in their social the president says the sacrifices will be across the but the poor complain that Hes taking away the Only Board they one of the interesting things about the the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this repress no those of authors and arc in no Way to a considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states budget talks so far is that reagans proposals for a substantial increase in the defense budget Are scarcely the con the press and Public opinion have apparently accepted the proposition that the nation is falling behind the soviet Union in the military arms and that the expansion of soviet Power is a present danger to the there is scarcely a member of Congress who is willing even to have a serious debate on the the president says he does not want to see Washington and Moscow revive the harsh rhetoric of the cold when he called the soviet leaders liars and who had no sense of morality and would do anything to promote world he explained that he didst intend to be he was merely asked a question about what he thought of them and said what he if he haunt been asked he said he  have said that his Way almost As if he were still talking As a Salesman for general but if his Loose Tongue or Lack of detailed knowledge gets him in Trou Hes Quick to for he didst do too Well in his first televised news so he decided to Cut them Down to about one a and hold private talks with four or five reporters every week or so in the Oval where he feels More he gets Good Marks around Washington for his new he has been Friendly and energetic and they like him in the where hell need All the allies he can Muster for the economic and foreign policy Battles that lie c new York times Anthony Lewis a realistic View of Namibia problems Cape South Africa if the United nations wants a settlement of the Long dispute Over Independence for Nami it should avoid bristling resolutions and threats of sanctions against South that is the advice of the South african foreign Soclof Pik in an interview the other Botha emphasized that the internal parties in Nami also called Southwest the huge territory that South Africa has administered for the last 60 were suspicious of the United South Africa Hopes that in any election looking to Independence those parties will out poll the Southwest Africa Peoples which has conducted a sporadic guerrilla War for events at the United nations could in fluence Pur attitude influence the inter Nal Botha explaining that denunciations would arouse if the continues to display Bias in favor of it will simply be More difficult to persuade the internal democratic parties to go along with a plan to be monitored by the what happened in Rhodesia Zimbabwe has increased the he the internal parties in Namibia inti mated to me that the Zimbabwe election was not so much a free Choice As a result of a fear of being in Zimbabwe Independence election last Robert Mugabe Anu of representing the forces that had done most of the fighting in the guerrilla won an overwhelming Botha was asked whether he agreed with the View that this result did not reflect genuine support for Mugabe and i have no evidence to contradict that he in 1978 South Africa accepted in Prin Ciple a Western plan for a ceasefire in Namibia and but differences developed Over proposals for monitoring the Swap guerrillas Dur ing a ceasefire and Over South african de mands that the internal parties have a for Mal part in the a conference in Geneva last month was intended to set a Date for implementation of the Western but South Africa refused to do saying among other things that the was biased because of general As Sembly resolutions in favor of Swap though Swap and the african front line states said they would agree to the repeal of those resolutions once the Western plan got under i thought the time had Botha for the the internal ones and to put the issues on the table and talk to each after All it is their coun try in not claiming Why should i be put in the position of always relaying Mes sages to them but at Swap remained the Opportunity was the Public impression of the Geneva con Ference is different Here from South Africa is seen As having won a Victory in refusing to go ahead without recognition of the internal real Swa to talks with them and some agreement on constitutional protections after ind Epen europeans and americans concerned with the namibian problem generally feel that South foreseeing a Likely Swa to Victory in found reasons to say no and killed the Best Chance Ever for Diplo Matic solution of a dispute that unsettles All of Southern South african politics now make any Early change in the stalemate under pressure from his has called an april election and will Campaign As the Man to resist what he Calls the total onslaught against South he will not want to do anything that could bring charges of having sold out to another Side of his Tough mind is in addition to regular forays into Angola across the namibian South african forces have conducted a raid into and the government has Hopes of Good relations with the Reagan but the foreign minister said a settlement in Namibia was still he saw it As coming from acceptance of a geopolitical reality South Africa importance to the whole i do not take such a morbid View of the future As some sources in the he an Opportunity lost is not lost for i think the geographic and economic imperatives of Southern Africa will play an important part in the Road ahead irrespective of present there is no Way you can get away from the fact that we Are part of the african and if the facts indicate that Africa is dying economic that the railways dont the the that net food exporters have become Africa Trade deficit this year is there Are 63 million africans unemployed 45 percent of the labor a French expert told me recently that he had Given up All Hope the combined re sources of the Europe and the soviet Union could not Stop the decline of but we Are sincerely ready to that is Why we Are for regional the idea that you can put chimneys in the Bush Doest politicians cant change the investors want clean Freedom of c new York times