ZIONISM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 492, 23 October 1928, Page 1

ZIONISM

Home of Movement ROCKY, UNFERTILE COUNTRY “There are now a large number of Jews in Palestine, but I do not think that the oountry will ever carry a big population. It .is very poor, with rocky and barren hills. The good land is found only in strips.” The Rev. X). C. Herron, minister of St. David’s Presbyterian Church. Auckland, made this assertion when interviewed after his arrival last evening. Mr. Herron, who wj on the Niagara, has be New Zealand since Feb

,s a passenger 3n absent from ruary, when he took his first long furlough in a period of nine years. He visited Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France and Great Britain. He also attended the internati o n a 1 m i s s i onary conference at Jerusalem. The effect of the British administration in Palestine was to be seen already, he said, xnd the roads had been greatly improved. The main roads were now as good as those of New Zealand. The police force was an admirable body, manned by Palestinians, who were equipped with magnificent Arab horses. “Certainly the Zionist movement has made a tremendous difference,” declared Mr. Herron. “They have planted hundreds of thousands of trees —many of them fruit trees —and are cultivating the worth-while land, but they are up against the fact that so much of the country is hopelessly barren. “Some people in Palestine are inclined to think that the prominence given to the Balfour Declaz*ation was a great mistake, as it had accentuated the feeling between the Jews and the Moslems. This feeling is very real and one can notice a tension all the time.” He added that, in the last year, the population of the new Jewish city of Tel Aviv had dropped from 45,000 to 40,000. The international meeting of missionaries had caused a good deal of apprehension among the Moslems, and there was a certain amount of mild rioting. Referring to the conference gathering, Mr. Herron said that there were present 251 people, representing 51 different nations. Among the delegates was the Rev. D. Calder, of Wellington. Meetings wore held in a German hostel built by the ex-Kaiser.