MESOPOTAMIA CAMPAIGN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15131, 27 January 1917, Page 4

MESOPOTAMIA CAMPAIGN.

CONDWHWS in the sow sand The Bishop of Jerusalem, speak* ing a few days ago on conditions In Palestine, and that as far as he knew only three ladles belonging to different Christian missionary societies were now Working in Palestine. They Were giving, in a Turk* ish hospital at Nazareth, help which was of great value. One of the three, a member of a Scottish society, was appointed matron of the hospital, and had eight or nine German deaconnesses working peacably under her. They had been doing splbndid work, the influence of which might be expected to last in Palestine for many years. Apart from this, there was hot very much to encourage in the condition of the. land. It had been estimated that the number of deaths from starvation in Palestone already exceeded 60,000, and it Was anticipated that that number would be doubled within two or three months. ■ Calvary transformed, i A Russian, writing in the Sviat, describes how the native land Of the Prince of Peace has been turned into a scene of war and bloodshed. He writes I ,—Jerusalem is at present simply overrun by Turks and arrogant German officers. The marble and jade columns, and statuary, which have for centuries ornamented the place where our Saviour suffered, have been removed to give way to two Krupp cannons, which are being used for target practice,' the targets having-been mounted oh the slopes of Mount Olivet. The place where Christ taught His disciples the Lord's Prayer has been fenced in with a wattle and barbed wire fence. Mount Olivet, whence our Lord ascended, is the favourite centre of manoeuvres. Shodts, shots, bugle calls, abuse, hatred, and blood—that is the atmosphere now surrounding the locality which for two thousand years has been the greatest sanctuary of the world.” MESOPOTAMIA AND PALESTINE, The far-stretching region of Mesopotamia, if irrigated in accordance with the. scheme drawn up by Sir. William Willcocks, will yield six millions of acres of the most fertile land in the world. The Prussians had their eyes upon it when promoting the Bagdad railway. But it is the land whence Abraham came into the smaller territory of Canaan; and by many it is held to be included In the “Promised Land” of Israelitish prophecy and expectation. In a lecture before a Jewish Society Mr Herman Landau anticipated a post-bel-lum protectorate of the country by Great Britain. As a Crown Colony it would afford friendly asylum for the down-trodden Jews from Europe. Mr Landau did not conceive of an exclusively Jewish State, but rather of one in which the descendants of Abraha mwouid enjoy the fruits of their energies and be free to follow their religious desires. The scheme proposed would mean an outlay of about eighty million pounds sterling, but he bad no doubt such a ,Bpm could be raised by subscriptions spread over a term of years by the Jsws of the world.