European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns Anthony Lewis serious obstacles facing s. Africa Anc talks a minority government that is in no danger of physical overthrow sits Down for talks with opponents who Challenge its legitimacy. Is there any Chance that they can negotiate a new political order for the state that question hangs Over the talks that began wednesday in Cape town Between the government of South Africa and the african National Congress. As tests of politics psychology and the limits of negotiation there has never been anything exactly like them. The South african government is not disintegrating like the undemocratic regimes of Eastern Europe. It has not been worn Down by War As the White minority was in Zimbabwe. It is not Beholden to any colonial Power. On the other hand the Anc is in a Strong position. After 40 years of being hunted and jailed As outlaws its leaders plainly speak for millions. It is gaining ground in the so called Black homelands. It is not the Only anti apartheid movement but without it there can be no political legitimacy. In sum As a South african politician put it to me last month a neither Side can impose its will on the other but each is Strong enough to frustrate the others in that tension lies the logic of talking a and the very real danger of failure. There Are serious obstacles to overcome before there can be formal negotiation on a new constitutional Structure. Those obstacles arc what the two delegations Are to address in three Days of scheduled meetings this week in the official residence of the state president . De Klerk. The government insists that the Anc give up the a armed it is largely rhetorical now with guerrilla bases pushed far off in Africa. But the government argues that the rhetoric contributes to the High level of violence in the society. The Anc for its part insists that the police Are responsible for much violence a As in the shootings at be Boking that led the Anc to postpone these first talks. It says that the government must Call off the emergency with its sweeping police Powers. Can those views be squared the minister for constitutional development Gerrit Viljoen said a from both sides the elimination of violence or restrictions on the political process Are accepted and insisted on. If both sides genuinely work for those goals a solution by w a of talks should be Able to be the obvious Trade off would be suspension of the armed struggle and withdrawal of the emergency. But there Are political difficulties in the Way of neat solutions. On. The government has to worry about the reality of right Wing White extremism some of it violent. Whites in the town of Welkom have set up vigilante patrols a menacing example. An afrikaner extremist group recently raided an air Force Arsenal and got away with guns and ammunition. Itself a matter in dispute. The Anc Calls for a constituent Assembly elected on a Universal franchise. The government says that would concede the result before the negotiations. As for the Anc Young men have lived a rough life for years in its guerrilla training Camps. Calling off the armed struggle that has been their Raison do etre would not be so easy. And there Are those in the Anc who believe turbulence must continue in the country because Only by making it ungovernable can the Whites be persuaded to give up Power. Each Side must gain something in the preliminary talks in order to Deal with its political problems. De Jerk must be Able to say that the armed struggle will Stop. Nelson Mandela must be Able to Tell Anc cadres that there is real Hope now of achieving a non racial South Africa at the negotiating table. The proper form for constitutional negotiation is the Anc wants a one person one vote system. De Jerk says that simple majorities can be oppressive the government is talking about constitutional devices to give the White minority a form of veto Power. Again those differences seem insuperable but compromises Are imaginable. There could be a transition Over years to majority Rule. A Bill of rights which both the government and the Anc have endorsed in principle could be a bulwark for minorities. The question is one of will. The parties have been locked in combat moral and physical for decades. Do they have the will now to find agreement the logic of a negotiated solution is compelling. Both sides need each other to Rule a free and prosperous South Africa. But politics is More than logic. New York time James Kilpatrick animal research necessary for common Good the moment my i u u r at the moment my 11-year-old companion is sound asleep on the Stone floor of this office. In a Little while when i quit for the Day we will walk together she and i Down to Battery Park. I will sit on a Bench and she will sniff the communicative grass. Still later one of the grandchildren taking her turn will have the privilege of feeding my companion. The name of this Small Shetland Collie is she is a member of the family. Does Happy have a rights a it is a worrisome question. Does a pig have rights a Dolphin a Condor a mouse More and More people Are worrying about animal rights. The new Republic Magazine grappled with the Issue in March. The National Law journal just carried a Long article on the subject. My mail overflows with material from animal rights activists. The problem not trouble Happy. She is snoozing the afternoon away. But it troubles me. The proper terminology for my somnolent Friend is a animal we no longer Are to speak of pets As pets. The old word smacks of condescension of an assumed superiority. A a a companion is a different order an order of Equality. One slides semantically into attributing human characteristics to furry friends. From human characteristics one slides to human rights. This is a Slippery slope. Patently As a matter of Law Happy has no Legal rights. At least she has no Legal rights As we generally think of Legal rights. She is not a citizen not an alien resident not a homeless child. They have Legal rights. As canine longevity is calculated the old girl is old enough to vote but she cannot vote. She pays no taxes. As a matter of fact i just paid a $5 tax on her. She is property. The recent census ignored Happy altogether. But if she has no Legal or constitutional rights does Happy have other rights does she have moral or ethical rights that do not yield to codification for example does she have a right to be treated humanely in a sense she does for state Laws and local ordinances universally define cruelty to animals As a crime. The reasoning is that animals Are capable of feeling pain and it is morally wrong needlessly to inflict pain upon a sentient being. Not everyone but almost everyone agrees to that proposition. Yet the proposition takes us in spirals of doubt and definition. We inflict pain upon a child who is vaccinated but the pain is Brief and this is not needless pain. It is necessary pain. A weeks ago Happy had her rabies shot. She winced gave me a dirty look and then subsided. But this was necessary pain inflicted for the Public Good. I believe in the use of animals in medical experiments. Even in the Best managed laboratories the animals know some degree of pain. This is unavoidable. Some animal experiments strike me As redundant some findings Are merely cumulative but Humankind would be much the poorer without the drugs and Antitoxin that have emerged from such research. Where do we draw lines i have a correspondent in Carmel Calif. Back in january she chastised me for a column i wrote in defense of Hunting. Killing a game animal struck her As morally wrong. I wrote Back asking Well How do you feel about killing lesser creatures she responded do mosquitoes and yellow jackets want to stay alive As much As i do you bet and around my Home they do just that. If a gnat Fly Bee or anything else comes inside a Glass is gently placed Over it cardboard under and released outdoors. There is no Flyswatter in my the Good lady a animal companion is a rat who lives under the stairs of her . She feeds the rat every night. A we this View of animal rights strikes me As loony but who is sane and who is Flaky the National Law journal reports that an animal rights bar is springing up. One Law firm in Washington d.c., has dedicated its practice entirely to animal Law since 1986. More than 300 lawyers devote at least part of their time to the animal Legal defense fund. A professor at Rutgers University Law school teaches a course in animal rights. The Field he says is a natural Extension of women a rights. Women once were property too. Quitting time. It is too much for me. In a minutes i will put Happy on her Leash. I will pick up the proper scooper and we will walk to the Park where the two youngest grandchildren will play tag around the Battery cannons. After a while i will go Home and have Chicken Cacciatore for dinner. And not feel a single Pang of guilt. C Universal press Syndicate
