The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-03-09

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~! Iz..y5NAIIONS
The Recent Uprising in Arabia-At-
tacks on the Mecca Railway Indi-
cate New Unrest-Fresh Hostility
to Christians.
On Mt. NebO, Land of MOab.-Try-
ing to get to the inwardness of nation
al currents, which may be seen only
superficially in the cities, have been
over in Arabia. Here, on the spot
where Moses was given his glimpse OF
the Land of Promise, | encamped with
a company of Bedouins, beneath whose
black tents | expected to find the ira
ditional Arabian hospitality, if re.
ceived at all. Instead, have met with
scant cou. osy, and that this has not
been open hospility is due to the un-
settled state of mind which does not
know quite how to take the new strer-
uosities of the Young Turk govern.
ment
l did not know, at the moment, the
risk | ran, for the ferment which
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
station and 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 as 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 more than a raid, In
dications pointing to 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-Christlan, AntI.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
cause 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
G hitherto unknown procedure.
With more reason than they them.
selves discern, the conservative ele.
ments in Turkeys population are lay.
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.
Fer c2HstitutiOnally, or rather, theo-
lc"i;a!'". the Moslem is a foe of prog
ress. He i under the sway of a fatal.
Ism wh!ch says, "The old ways are
best" Yet under his rule the civiliza-
tion of this land has not only stood
still, but it has decidedly retrograded.
There is 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.
vidual; therefore he has never created
civilization, although he has lived
longer, as 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, is
not equal to his present needs, so that
he must buy an expensive rifle, 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 tallow dip, and his wife is sug-
gesting 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 un0n tho lailsrris,a