Lady Jackson

When I went to meet Lady Jackson, I knew the following things about her: her professional name was Barbara Ward, she had written nine books on world affairs, including 1962's popular The Rich Nations and the Poor, she was famous for her articles in the London Economist. her interests were remarkably diverse. For years an expert on Indian economy (1961's Indian and the West), she is now actively engaged on a book dealing with African problems ("hopefully to be finished next year"). Southeast Asia holds particular interest since her husband is a consultant to the Mekong power project.

With this meager store of facts, I could only expect a stern intellectual, an the capital "L" implied that she might be an English dowager as well. Hardly had she opened the door of her Commander Hotel room when these illusions were swept aside.

Outwardly, there is little to distinguish Lady Jackson from any other chic Englishwoman with a disarming smile. She punctuates her conversation with "jolly," "bloody," and an ever-ready laugh, yet speaks in a torrent of determination when the subjects nearest to her are brought up.

Nearest of all s foreign aid and she still champions its cause with the same enthusiasm she has held for years. "There ought to be far more--no doubt about it at all," she said early. "The attitude toward foreign aid now is absolutely deplorable. People get a lobster glaze in their eyes when the subject is brought up."

Her convictions about foreign aid would seem to be those of a crusading idealist were it not for the English sensibility she injects in every thought. Although she has a firm grasp on economic realities, her feelings are largely visionary. "I mean," she said, "we give billions for a dubious defense and billions more for the moon but almost nothing for the world we have now, which is the only one we have, isn't' it? Of course a lot of disturbing things happen with foreign aid, but you don't scrap a whole program when one rocket blows up on the pad."

Clearly in her element, she looked slightly peeved when the telephone interrupted our conversation, for the visionary moment was lost as she plunged into rapid dialogue about an immediate problem. When she hung up the receiver, she took a sip of her scotch and soda, turned to me smiling, and said, "Now, where were we?" Then she plunged into a series of questions concerning the world situation:

* Rhodesia. "The sensible thing, of course, would be to send some people in there now. We sent them into Aden, why not Rhodesia? We should reoccupy the place and compel them to have a sensible African policy. This doesn't mean turning the country over to the Africans, but working with them over a period of time, which would also help erase some of the white settler attitudes Rhodesians have. I say we ought to be tough now to prevent a beastly dragging incident later." She then smiled and said she doubted whether many of her fellow Britons would go along with this sentiment.

* Vietnam. To Lady Jackson, the problem of Vietnam is inseparable from that of China. Her ideal would be to see the area made into a UN Trusteeship until the economy gets going. "It's terribly important that China should not enter the modern world with the old idea of spheres of influence. That doesn't go anymore. Chinese power through the centuries has gone through this alteration of drawing in and then aggressively moving out. This 'Mao dynasty' seems to be one of the aggressive ones -- I mean, why take self-determination from the poor Tibetians?...I understand that 60% of the Vietnamese land is still owned by the old landlords. Really! Land reform ought to be put through at once. We have to give the peasant a stake in his own country -- something to fight for...I think the Mekong power scheme is terribly exciting. It's one of the world's great power sources and the whole area could benefit from it. We should pop in a UN defense now to protect the scheme." As for American policy, she maintained that there's absolutely no cause for pulling out now.

* India-Pakistan. these two nations of the Asian subcontinent are "likely bets" for economic growth except "beastly old Kashmir keeps cropping up." Real progress could be made when that dispute is settled.

Did she feel American foreign policy since the war has been a series of blunders, a view shared by a number of her countrymen? "Oh, dear me, no," she replied, "I think you've done splendidly. Never has an elephant stepped into a bath with so many ducklings and come out so well. It's even more miraculous for such a highly conservative power in a highly revolutionary world. More strength to you, I say."

Whether she's helping with graduate seminars in Littaur Center, deep in a new book, or off to India, as she is this week, Lady Jackson never seems to lose her ability to think in panoramic terms about mankind. This is in part the reason she can become almost lived on the subject of nationalism. "It's the sickness of the world -- the madness of the ego, whether private or national. Once we've solved this, the rest falls into place. And nationalism is such a bore, isn't it? I tell you, when I hear young people talk about how foolish it is, I feel there's hope yet. After al, isn't mankind -- the world -- really more exciting? ... It's terribly exciting to have blacks and browns and yellows each with their own sound, yet somehow forming a marvelous orchestra."