Selassie

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WESTERN JAMAICA today
welcomed Ethiopian Emper-
or Haile Selassie to this bus-
tling resort town .of 42,000 and pledged
that the bond of friendship which has
existed will be cemented here and now
between the peoples of both countries.
Thousands from all parts of the island
packed Charles Square to give mean-
ing to the words taken from the address
of welcome read and presented to His
Imperial Majesty at the 30-minute Civic
Reception.
The Governor-General, Sir Clifford
Campbell, had many agreeing sponta-
neously when he said: “From before
Your Imperial Majesty set foot on
Jamaican soil hundreds of thousands
of people were throbbing with delight
to welcome you. And the welcome
you have witnessed is unrivalled in the
history of Jamaica. Although the Police
and Military with fixed bayonets stood
two deep keeping the …. Thousands
of Jamaicans in place at the reception,
nothing, it seemed, could dampen the
enthusiasm of the crowd. When it was
all over, motorists found themselves
trapped in a one-hour traffic jam.
The display of delight started
Friday night, when Rastafarians took
up positions in Charles Square, many
commanding the attention of audi-
ences with tales of the Emperor. This
morning hundreds from parishes near
and far poured into Montego Bay in
trucks, buses, cars and on foot. Some,
most of them Rastafarians, “captured”
seats reserved for invited guests, but
were removed by police strengthened-
by detachments drawn here for special
duty. All but one vantage roof around
Charles Square was occupied. Ras-
tafarians mostly in white robes and
others in multi-coloured garb stood
amongst rows of chairs reserved for
them chanting hymns.
They beat drums, blew horns and
carried welcome banners. A lone teen-
ager lay on the roof of the Town Hall,
breaking the silhouette as he cling to
the hoisted, fluttering Ethiopian flag.
He seemed relaxed gazing down on the
teeming, shuffling hundreds beneath
who paid him little attention. One ban-
ner read “Rosanna, All hail the Lion
of Judah, the King of Kings, the al-
mighty one. Ye shall break every chain
again and again. For over 200 yards
of St. James Street north and south
of Charles Square hundreds standing
about nine deep remained behind metal
barriers and although they pressed
against them police and military kept
them in place.
Near 4p.m. the scheduled start of
the reception - the red coated band of
the Jamaica Regiment under Capt. E.
H. Wade swung into “Colonel Bogey
on Parade,” but was drowned out by
the beating drums and singing of the
Rastafarians. At 4.15p.m. – 15 minutes
past schedule –the Emperor’s car came
into view at the head of the motorcade
with the Governor-General beside him,
the Emperor rode into cheers which
accompanied him from the railway
station and which had now risen to a
crescendo.
The cultists and others tried to break
the barriers but drew back in face of
the bayonets. There was deafening
drum beating, singing and applause.
Amid the chaos the Emperor alighted
and had presented to him Mayor A. B.
Smith and his wife. The Mayor escort-
ed His Imperial Majesty to the plat-
form and presented the M.P.’s for the
parish — Health Minister Dr. Herbert
Eldemire and Mr. R. C McFarlane and
Senator Cooke. On the platform too
where a red carpet covered the floor of
the stage specially constructed for the
visit, dignitaries filed past and were in-
troduced to the Emperor by the Mayor.
welcome to the Negus
Crowd at Haile Selassie’s 1966 visit to Jamaica.