PALESTINE

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 76, 30 March 1926, Page 3

PALESTINE

THE WARD OF ENGLAND

CHANGES IN ADMINISTRATION

WHAT THE" WAR HAS DONE FOR AN, ANCIENT LAND.

The visit of Lord Allenby. carried the thoughts of many of us to the land he set free from Turkish rule. Although his duties of late confined him to Egypt, he will be remembered as the great soldier who, with a better success than ancient crusaders, invaded the Holy Land, captured Jerusalem, and entered it on foot, says the Melbourne "Age." At the conclusion of the Great War the mandate over Palestine ( was assigned to Great Britain to the great delight of the Jewish world. The report of the High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuels, on the administration of Palestine from 1920 to 1925 is brimful of interest, and will be a treasured document for all time. Palestine is a small country of about 9500 square miles, and its population is, roughly, 800,000 souls. Of these nearly 615,000 are Moslems, 104,000 Jews, and 75,000 Christians. At first the Govern-/ ment of these people cost Great Britain about £3,000,000 per annum, but last year this amount was reduced to £640.----000, which included the grant in aid for the British gendarmerie, the cost of a regiment of cavalry, a squadron.of aeroplanes, and a section of armoured cars. One-fourth of the imports into Palestine ' come from the Birtish Empire; that is, more than twice as much as from any other country except Syria; and nearly one-third of the exports-go to various parts of the Empire. At the present moment the Government consists of the High Commissioner, the Executive Council, and an appointed advisory council. The High Commissioner has practically arbitrary rights, and the Executive Council.discusses all ordinances before they come before the advisory council. The country is divided into three districts, and the three Governors, with their assistants, carry out instructions from headquarters, collect tithes and- other taxes, and generally act as connecting links between the people and the Government. In the police, and gendarmerie, only tho higher officers are British, and, all sections of , the native population are represented, and do their work well. There was a decided decrease in highway robbery last year. The Government is the modern good Samaritan on the Jericho road —so good and so'effective that the thieves have little chance of wounding and robbing. Local tribunal! are; in the hands of Palestinians but non-Palestinians have the right to trial by a British Judge or a British majority of Judges. The District Courts and the Court of Appeal are presided over by British Judges. The recognition of three official languages is the cause of much difficulty and delay. The old system of farmihg:"the taxes, arid particularly the tithe, has been abolished, and marvellous results have been attained in finance.

NEW SCHOOLS,

After the British occupation Turkish was replaced by Arabic iv the Government schools, and a large number of ; new schools have been built generally by local public subscriptions. These elementary schools are largely attended by Moslem/Arabs. Two teacher training colleges and eight secondary schools have been opened. In addition to these are many schools maintained by the various Christian and Jewish communities. In Jewish schools the language is Hebrew. Each of the 425 non-Gov-ernment schools, which have now an aggregate of 39,000 pupils, gets a small Government grant. There is an American University at Bcyrout, and a Hebrew University, which was opened byLord Balfour at Jerusalem in April last.

It will be readily understood that the Administration felt the need of-giv-ing special attention to public health. Prior to the war, tourists described "cool Siloam's shady rill" as an insanitary pool and malaria as rampant. The people had no idea of sanitation, and illness once contracted was allowed, to develop as it pleased, and disease spread luxuriantly. The first aim of the Government was to stamp out malaria by destroying the mosquito. Swamps have been drained, wells covered, .cisterns sealed up, and all breed-ing-places for mosquitoes are regularly oiled. The Rockefeller Foundation and the Rothschild organisation have given great assistance in this important work. The result is that the Anopheline mosquito has disappeared from the larger towns, except Haifa, that areas formerly very malarious are now healthy, and that almost the whole of the plain of Esdraelon has been cleared of fever. Not to be outdone by other countries, Palestine has now- its infant welfare centres and clinics.

The war brought new roads and railways and left them ready made for all who needed them. The trunk roads are good enough to let Bmall motor-cars keep at a speed of twenty to thirty miles an hour. Better than Victoria!

lAs to post, telegraph, and telephone services, the profound difficulty caused by a three-language country is being wonderfully overcome. In spite of an almost entire absence of street names and numbers there is a pretty good postal service, and the telephone is efficient and one of tho cheapest things in the country. Local postal orders and urgent trunk telephone service show how entirely modern Palestine has grown. Nearly two-thirds of the population are engaged in agriculture and kindred occupations. About 60 per cent, of the total area is cultivable, but only about 45 per cent, is at present under cultivation. Tho Jews are modernising their methods, but the Arabs follow the primitive system. Loans are made to cultivators, experts give instruction in the villages, and a beginning has been made in afforestation and the cultivation of tobacco. Measures are being taken to protect the waters in.the Sea of Gallilee and restore the productiveness described in Biblical history. The,industries connected with oil and soapi rely upon native olives and sesame seed, and a stone used in the. making of Portland cement is being worked in considerable quantity and manufactured locally into the marketable article. There is no practical limit to tho output of flour, for "the great mills of Palestine" as they are called are situated so as to handle both imported and home-grown grain. Electrical current and light are being supplied from Jaffa, _ul the Palestine Electric Corporation is to use the power provided by the Upper Jordan and one of its tributaries. POLITICAL SITUATION. As far as tho political situation is concerned, Mr. H. Charles Woods reports in the "Quarterly Review" that the country is faced by two problems— tho attitude of the Arabs and tho present and future positions of the Jews. Tho Arab population is ignorant and fairly contented, but th* politicians and land owners having been deprived of a great measure of their status by the appointment of efficient functionaries are disposed to make trouble. The bulk of tho Arabs have benefited enormously by the mandate, because military service and the alternative tax have been abolished. Turkish has given place to Arabic as an official language, and the Moslems benefit more than any other class by the new system of education. The humblest Arab can approach the Government through the.district authorities. Mr. Woods if of opinion that the

Arabs ; are quite - mistaken in; the fear that the country is being, or -will be, ruled by the Jews. The Government has approved of the formation of a Supreme Moslem Council to deal with matters pertaining to that religion. The Jewish agency was not even. consulted before the appointment of Lord Plainer as High Commissioner. The Arabs complain that they are being pushed out of .'the country, but how can this ,be when the Jews possess at most 9 per cent, of the land fit' for cultivation! The law requires that all sales of property must have the consent of the Government. The contention of the Arabs that they do not get their fair share of Government employment is answered by oflicial figures. The Jew» seem to be favoured, but as the Christians are for the most part Arabs the complaint appears to be based on religion. The facts are that the Jewe are abler Servants, and the Christian. are better educated than their Moslem co-nationals. ENTER THE JEWS. "Between the first of September, 1920, and the end of February, 1925, over 46,000 Jews entered or returned to the country, and since the occupation probably £6,000,000 of Jewish capital has been invested in Palestine. Somewhat over 100,000 acres of land, at ■ a cost of about £1,000,000, have beepurchased by the various organisations interested in that object; £1,000,000 has been spent on the establishment of industries; about £500,000 was devoted to the relief of orphans soon after the war. and perhaps £3,500,000 has been allocated to colonisation, education, and other purposes." Immigration is receiving careful attention, and much discussion takes place over the kind of colonists allowed to come, the arrangements to receive them, and their success after coming. The immigrants permitted include people in possession of £500, or of an assured income of £60 per annum, experts in various trades, and the ordinary class of immigrant. No limit is placed on the first three groups, and the Zionist organisation provides the defined number of immigrants. Onehalf of the present Jewish population has come from Eastern Europe, possess progressive political views, but are not Communists; one-fourth has settled on the land, the remaining three-fourths living in the larger towns, and finding employment as artisans, clerks, or merchants. The primary object of Zionism is to settle Jews on the land, and there are farmers, colonies, small holders colonies, and.co-operative colonies. The land is generally freehold. The small holders' colonies are the most successful. The establishment of a colonist and his family cost about £1000. The Arabs will probably continue to be discontended with the admission of the new Jewish population, but this is owing chiefly to the influence of the professional politicians. Zionist effort and Zionist money are doing much for Palestine. The danger is entirely dtie to extremist Arabs and extremist Zionists. The progress made under the British mandate has been undeniably great, and the future promises even greater things under a High Commissioner to whom Arabs can offer-no objection on the score of descent. Palestine is on the way to become a land flowing with milk and honey. -' \ -