NO RATES OR TAXES

Evening Star, Issue 22988, 20 June 1938, Page 11

NO RATES OR TAXES

FORTUNATE MALTA PEOPLE A SEPARATE RACE To-day in Malta, where 10,000 descendants of the ancient Phoenicians are busily working in one of the most important dockyards of the British Navy* they are preparing to welcome the British Minister of War, Mr Hore-Belisha, due to arrive on his flight from England (wrote Paul Bewster, in the ‘ Daily Mail,’ recently). This yellow island, drowsing in the sapphire seas of the Mediterranean, is among the most remarkable of the British possessions. Although only twothirds the size of the Isle of Wight, iff is peopled by the tiniest separate race in Europe. • _ Alone of all British territory its Government owns an opera house and maintains an annual opera season, runs a lottery with weekly drawings as a Government department, and operates the pawnbroking establishments. No rates or taxes are paid by tho fortunate inhabitants. The cost of living is very low. A furnished house or flat costs only about £35 a year. Small wonder is it that this island, already so well known to thousands of cruise holiday-makers, is rapidly becoming popular as a tourist and residential resort for English,people.;. ~ Mr Hore-Belisha will -see the island when it is at its loveliest. In these golden days of early spring the gardens are on© mass 'of flowers. Roses grow, in such profusion that they are giveni away. A DREAM CITY. Lovers of Malta will regret that Mr Hore-Belisha is arriving from the air and is missing the .unforgettable thrill which I know so well of entering the harbour from the sea. Slowlv the iinera glide into a blue bay beside which riseai a dream city composed of terrace upon terrace of biscuit-yellow buildings. Drenched in blazing sunshine, this hill of walls and houses and towers seems to sleep between the blue of sea and sky. No sign of life shows itself. The city, seems empty and enchanted. But) tumbling down from those turrets comes a tumult of bells, clanging and tolling and chiming. A cascade of bells from an enchanted city—that is the impression of Malta which I'shall never forget. . ... Inhabiting this picturesque city, as steeped in history as it is in sunshine, is a race of men and women who have preserved their characteristics and individuality for centuries* despite successive invasions by Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, and French, Malta was ceded to Britain by France in 1814. The Maltese, who are descendants of the Phoenician traders of. the Eastern Mediterranean, are a proud European race. Their complexion is for the most part less dark than that of the Southern Italians. Many .are fair, with blii® eyes, perhaps bemg remote descendants of the day when the island was governed by the Knights of Malta, members of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, among whom were some ofi the highest families of Western Europe* A GROWING PEOPLE.

While the majority of Maltese ara of middle height and stocky, powerful build, some are quite tall. For instance, Lieutenant-colonel A. V. Agius,. the genial Trade Commissioner fop Malta in London, is over 6ft in height.. To-day, on Malta itself, and on its two smaller sister islands, there ara about 260,000 inhabitants. The population is steadily growing, for. the Maltese are believers in large families* They speak a language, known as Phoenician Maltese, which is completely individual, but bears some slight resemblance to Arabic.

British and Maltese are mixing; socially now more and more, British naval officers often marry Maltese girls, and Maltese are admitted to tha British Club and British "to the Maltese) Club.' -

Sicily is only a quarter of' an hour away by fast aeroplane—a mere SQf miles. To-day the only regular air sow vice to the island is an Italian one; which makes Malta-a stopping place on the Rome-Naples-Syracuse-Tripoli route. Aerodrome facilities on the island are, however, being rapidly developed by the British authorities, while tin dockyard is unusually busy. ", Normally there are about 6,000 men employed thn-p. Now the number is about 10,000; All save a few technicians are. Maltese*

More than ever the .world-is thinking of Malta as an island fortress, but essentially it remains a slumbrous haven of peace dreaming of the past in its eternal and ageless sunshine.