The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1917. THE NEW CRUSADE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 46, 17 November 1917, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1917. THE NEW CRUSADE

In-the most limited outlook the events in''Palestine reported to-day ■are of a nature-to command attention. A powerful Turkish'army is. reeling . back in defeat, and tho' British invasion of the Holy Land has been so far advanced that tho occupation of Jerusalem may be announced at any moment. It is now perfectly clear that* if Germany contemplates an effort to cope with the British;invading armies .in Palestine and Mesopotamia ■ she will tako no light task in hand. ■ If she abstains from such an effort it will be for 'no other reason than that she is'unable to 1 muster'the necessary force, for the 'issue's 'at stake in 'the Turkish campaigns are supremely important in their bearing, not only upon the fato of tho war, but upon tho conditions to he .established when the war has come to an end. These issues arc not_ in any sense obscure. The Turkish %k piro is a blot on the face of tho earth, and this not merely on account of colossal crimes like the Armenian massacres and similar butcheries in Syria. Under the Turkish sway riolllc races havo been degraded and debased, wide areas of once fertile territory have reverted to desert and swamp, great cities have fallen.into ruin and-decay. In what"-we may now hopß, is-its last and dying phasei,- the corrupt Otto-

iiiiin" tyranny has become tho instru- < ment of Germany's unscrupulous ■ambitions. Lacking any other.' title to tho favourable verdict of history, the Allies would still be justified as the liberators of the races which have- suffered misery and degradation through centuries of Turkish misrule. Liberating those races, the Allies will give them an opportunity of recovering their former stand-1 ing, and at the same time will shatter Germany's dreams of Asiatic conquest and domination. Such, at least, "arc the motives and objects of the modern crusade which is already far advanced in Mesopotamia and Armenia, and is at the prcscrTt hour developing with splendid promise in the Holy Land. : The breadth and justice of the Entente aims in this crusade arp strikingly attested in the fact that the-nations fighting against Germany and Turkey have an ally in the now Arab State of Hcjaz. The expulsion of the Turks fronj Mecca and the other holy places of tho Moslem religion was in itself a disastrous blow to the Ottoman power. It was upon the possession of these holy - places that the Sultan.of Turkey based his claim, to he.regarded as the Caliph of all Moslems, and tho destruction of this claim -is telling, and will tell, heavily, not only iu Arabia and other territories peopled by tho Arabs, but in the whole Moslem world.

In the great task of restoration which awaits them in what is now the Ottoman.Empire.when they have attained their ends in war, the Allies-will'have many complex problems to solve, but their general aims have been. clearly laid down. .When Sir Stanley Maude entered Bagdad ho addressed a proclamation to tho people of tho villayet, in which he stated that the British armies did not come into their cities aud lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators, and foreshadowed . a .protectorate -which would givo the Arabs free scope for prosperous development, and would involve no introduction of alien institutions, while at the same time it would effectually end tho conditions' under which Germany and Turkey for tw'onty years made Bagdad <i' centre of power from which to assail tho power of the British and the Allies of the British in Persia and Arabia. "It is tho hopo and desiro of the British people, a)nd tho nations in alliance with them," the proclamation declares, "that the Ar.ab raco. may rise once more 'to', greatness and renown among the peoples of the earth, and that it Bhall bind itself- together to this', orld- in -unity 'and' concord.", Britain and the Allies will undoubtedly! be governed by the 6ame genoral ideals in dealing with Palesbut it'is possible that tho coniplexitv of races and interests in the Holyland may demand rather tho creation of an international protectorate than tho grant, of racial .autonomy! It is- suggested in one message' to-day that Palestine will be .created an autonomous Jewish State, but the problem .is complicated by_ the presence of numerous communities of Greok Catholics in the -Holy Places of Jerusalom and Palestine and other communities which centre on French and American missions. There is also a considerable Moslem population to bo .considered,. No doubt a solution will be-found f.or-all the problems thus raised when- tho Allied crusade is carried to its appointed end. It is already evident that the. Allies in their war on Turkey arc engaged on a noblo work of liberation, and tha,t in cleaning out a_ foul nest of .despotism and;..oppression they will atj-ho same time do much to ensure the future security and peace of the world as well as the/ happiness and prosperity • of > the liberated races.