Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-09-22

S55fRSEEs

The Recent Uprising In Arabla-At.
taeks on the Mecca Railway IndI.
cate New unrest-Fresh Hostility
to Christians.
On Mt. Nebo, Land Of Moab.-Try.
ing to get to the i~nwardness Of nation.
al currents, which may be seen only
specifically in the cities. l have been
over in Arabia. Here, on the spot
where Moses was given his glimpse of
the Land Of Promise, I encamped with
a company Of Bedouins, beneath whose
black tents l expected to find the ira
ditional Arabian hospitality, n re-
ceived at all. Instead, I have met with
scant courtesy, and that this has not
been open hospility 10 due to the un-
settled state Of mind which does not
know quite how to take the new siren
uosities Of the Young Turk govern
ment.
did not know, at the moment, the
risk l ran, for the ferment which l
found was but the beginning of open,
armed antagonism to the government
on the part Of Of the Arabs, who at
tackled the Hejaz railway, despoiled a
station and a train, robbing the pas
sengers, killing some Of the crew, cut
ting the telegraph wires, and general
ly bidding defiance to the authorities.
A party Of Americans numbering nine,
going over the same route az myself,
and only two days later, were de-
spoiled Of all their money and posses
sions, and saved their lives almost by
q miracle.
The Arabs are out in strength, and
this seems to be ore than a raid, in
dications pointing to a concerted
movement among the tribes, against
whom the government has since sent
out an expedition Of large proportions.
The Arabs are still out" and Con-
stantinople seems to be afraid of a
general rising Of all the Bedouins in
Arabia.
Anti-ChristIan, An%ti-Progress.
A key to the situation was given me
on Mt. Nebo, when a handsome, black
bearded sheikh asked, naively, yet in
no pleasant spirit, why don't all
these Christians go to America, or
somewhere else? We don't want them
here" The man had not the remotest
idea that the Christians held this re-
gion before Mohammed was born; he
spoke out of the common Moslem ig-
norance and bigotry. The immediate
u Of his remarks was the Fact that
Christians are now being enlisted in
the Turkish army, which used to be
entirely lslamic. He was also dis.
turbed by the fact that the government
Is gathering conscripts from the Arabs,
a hitherto unknown procedure.
With more reason than they them
selves discern, the conservative ele-
ments in Turkeys population are Ay-
ing the responsibility for all this re-
cent awakening and progress upon the
Christians. They think that somehow
the infidel dogs are back of this dis
turbance Of the good old days Of in
action.
For constitutionally, or rather, theo-
logically, the Moslem is a foe of prog
ress. He Is under the sway Of a fatal
ism which says, "The old ways are
best" Yet under his rule the civiliza-
ton of this land has not only stood
still. but 1t has decidedly refrigerated.
There is a deep element of truth in the
charge Of the faithful, that the pro-
gressive Young Turks are not good
Moslems.
Changes for the changeIess Desert.
The Arab has never been able to
reason In the abstract or in the large;
he thinks only in terms Of the indi-
Udual; therefore he has never created
q civilization, although he has lived
longer, as q distinct people, than any
other on earth. So he feels only vague
ly the economic and social changes
that are touching his land, along with
the rest Of the old world. He knows
that he has had to discard, Of late, his
traditional spear, and even his flint
lock musket, with the long barrel, IL
not equal to his present needs. so that
he must buy an expensive rife, which
can be had only with difficulty, and for
which 1t is not easy to secure cart
ridges. Likewise his tent must now
be lighted with kerosene, rather than
with a tallow dip, and his wife Is sug-
costing other radical household i'm
provements. all Of which threaten the
old order.
The noble Bedouin cannot grasp the
larger meaning Of the railway that
runs down through the desert from
Damascus to Medina, with Mecca for
Its ultimate goal; but he can see that
1t has deprived him of the profitable
employment OF transporting and prey
Ing upon the pilgrim caravans. The
lack Of a sale for camels, for instance,
touches him. l met q string Of more
than one hundred and thirty camels,
going south, unladen. The answer I
got when I inquired the reason was,
"The railroad has taken our business.
Now, for most Of the year, the ami
mails eat out Of our pockets, so we are
taking them down to Egypt to sell
them"
The Mecca Railways Meaning.
Everybody has heard Of the Mecca