Romantic Air Solidifies Smith Regime and Encourages Single-Minded Position - White Rhodesians like to evoke a romantic air these days, linking themselves to heroic times of the past. "This is our Dunkirk," they will say, or "our 1776," or even "our Battle of Thermopylae." War is their favorite image. A prim, dour financier tells you proudly: "There's been no bloodshed but this is war." His tone brings back the days when men associated war with valor and glory, not slaughter and terror. This air of romance works to solidify the white government of Prime Minister Ian Smith in its defiance of Britain and the United Nations. The atmosphere encourages extreme positions and single-mindedness. People who believe they are fighting for a heroic cause are determined to have their way - and their way now is independence under white control, no matter what the cost, no matter how much sanctions may hurt some day. Rhodesians seem to relish their extreme positions...

New Draft Constitution by Smith Regime Expected to Perpetuate White Domination. The rebellion of 250,000 white Rhodesians against Britain is so dramatic it is easy to forget that 4 million Africans also live in Rhodesia. It is especially easy to forget in Salisbury, a modern city of 315,000 that looks like a city in the western United States, with new office buildings, crowded shops and wide streets. The Africans, who make up more than half the city's population, work at little-noticed jobs during the day and disappear into their townships on the rim of the city at night. The Negro presence in Salisbury is never obtrusive. Yet Rhodesia and Salisbury are part of Africa - a fact that may be decisive as far as Rhodesia's future is concerned...

But Sanctions, Inflationary Threat Not Enough to Topple Smith Regime at Present - Sanctions are beginning to depress the economy of Rhodesia but not enough to bring the government down or change its policies in the foreseeable future. Now, two months after the United Nations joined Britain in imposing sanctions on Rhodesian exports, the strains on the economy still cause no real hardship to the average white Rhodesian. Some businessmen and financiers are uneasy about the future - they see the potential of runaway inflation - but only when they look several years ahead. This means that, for some time to come, the government of Prime Minister Ian D. Smith can continue to defy Britain and the United Nations with almost the solid backing of white Rhodesians. Beyond that, nothing is clear...