Tananarive

"Citizens!" a loudspeaker admonishes bathers on a Soviet beach, "if you are drowning, try to remain on the surface." "Gentlemen," Joseph Kasavubu must have told the conference of Congolese at Tananarive yesterday, "the most we can accomplish is to stay on the surface."

That was all the delegates to the conference wanted, and although their final plan for a loose Congolese federation hardly merits Kasavubu's label of "resounding success," it does at least recognize on paper some trying realities.

Once, perhaps, the Congo might have gained what it should have had: a strong and efficient central government. But Moise Tshombe demurred, Patrice Lumumba was killed, and Leopoldville found itself without a leader strong enough to overcome this vicious history through central control.

Tshombe was adamant: Katanga shall have its autonomy. Even Antoine Gizenga, who refused to attend the Tananarive conference, may realize that he too can find a place in the new confederation. The Kasavubu-Tshombe solution will assure no political perfection, but at least provides a framework in which future peaceful compromises can be made.