The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-12-30
Palestine the Key To
 the Possession of Europe
Famous Authority the Holy Land Tells Why It Must Never Be Given Back to the Turks and Advocates Autonom Palestine Under British Protection With Careful
 Guarantees of Religious and Economic Freedom.
By BASIL MATTHEWS

of Esdraelon, where, curiously enough, Napoleon fought his decisive battle, the battle of Tabor. To cut the rail- way there cuts the supply to the coast and also all the line southward.
 Tt is amazing" he went on, "how Esdraelon or Megiddo, which has been red with the blood of battles all through history, may again be tho scene of the decisive stroke for Pales- tine"
 And then.'' I sald, "surely the way
 opens to that tremendous wady up
 which we went by rail on the way to Damascus?
 Yes he answered, "the Jordan valley
 north and south would then be open.
 And if. up that wady we could secure
 the junction at Derah, where you come
 out on the plateau, not only Palestine
 but the whole supply of the Hodjas (Ara-
 bia east of the Red sea down to Mecca)
 would be controlled. I would like" he
 said enthusiastically, ito bomb that junc-
 ton by aeroplane every day.
 You regard this definitely as war of Hberation?'
 T do,'' replied Dr. Masterman emphat-
 ically People sometimes say, Why
 take this country from the Turks? You
 are not acting up to the allied principle
 of respect for other nationalities. But tle COuAtIy IS IIOI diQ never ndS UcSli Turkish. The inhabitants are Syrians and Jews and Arabs G. e. Bedouin) The right policy Is to settle those peoples In the country, in an autonomous state, where all races and religions would have a fair share, worked under just and liberal protectorate government. That the Turkish government never has been.' Have you evidence of the massacre of Jews and Syrians by the Turks dur ing the warp
 Not much downright massacre, but what comes to the same thing-starva- ] tion,'' he replied. 'The people in Syria and Palestine undoubtedly died of star vation in large numbers. This is espe- cially marked near Beirut at lunch near which over 5000 deaths by starvation have taken place recently. The deaths from starvation alone in Lebanon l have been enormous. The fact is that the Turkish officials at the beginning of the war went into all the homes and seized all the food that was stored there olives, corn and so on, stores meant to support the families for many months; and, as no more food is to be got, the people die.
 50 I feel that this is not only war of liberation in Palestine, but war of just retribution. This starvation policy and the terrible Armenian massacres de- mand a great punishment" '"The settlement will raise number of difficult inter-racial and religious problems" I suggested.
 "Yes,' he replied, many false hopes
 may be raised by exaggerated accounts of the fertility and resources of Pales- tine. There are no metals and few indus tries. The soil is all. And the condition of dependent city-living Jews in Pales- tine is deplorable. Professor Gottheil of Columbia university, great leader of the Zionists in America, who was head of the American Archaeological school at
 Jerusalem for year, said to me: T have
 never shed so many tears in my life as I have since I saw the state of the Jews
 in Palestine. I shall do all I can to dis
 courage Jews coming to the cities of Palestine. Those who come must come
 to work on the land
 T believe" he continued. 'fn a grad