New-York tribune., 1918-11-17
Holy Land Too Precious to
Revert to Single Nation
or Creed, He Thinks
Praises British Rule
''s d.
Red Gross Mission Head Says
Conquerors Respect All :
Traditions 'cf Country

Palestine is too precious conquest
to revert to an: single nation or creed
and ought to be preserved by interna-
tional agreement as monument to
Occidental civilization, in the opinion
of DR.. John f. Finlov, State Commits
sioner Of Education, who recently re-
turned from Palestine. where he spent
last summer as head of the American
Red Cross Mission to that country.
"Palestine," said DR.. Finley yester-
day, is unique amonc. all countries
We all have an interest in it. Neither
Jew nor Gentle nor STEM has any
exclusive title to it. Rather it be-.
longs to all the nations. of the WESTERN
world, and it is my hope that it will
loom on the horizon of all Americans
IS it does on mine. All Christendom'
must take an interest in it. ..
a. Redeemed by gallant British arms,
it ought to be held in trust for all
civilization rather than intrusted to
any single nation, race or creed. 1t
should Be home for the Jews if they
wish to go. there as we'll as for all
others, Christians and Moslems alike.
Favors Trusteeship
81 believe it should be held in trus-
teeship when conditions there become
normal. I believe the people living in
the country should decide the form
their government is to take.
Gas. for the Zionists, am heartily
in sympathy with their desires as out
lined to me by DR.. Weizmann, leader
of the Zionist movement, with whom
the Zionists favored self dete rmination
of the form of the government by the
people who live there"
There is no hurry to make final set
tlement of the Palestine question, ac-
cording to DR.. Finley, who said that
Jew, Gentle and Moslem ought to be
thankful that the British occupy the
country.
"Tn my opinion it is advisable to
leave the administration of the country
to the British until preliminary recon
struction work IS thoroughly under
way" he said. THE population of
Palestine is approximately 500 600.
About 100000 Of the inhabitants are
Jews. With the introduction of mod
ern methods of agriculture and indus
try the land could support from three
to five million people.
Praises British Officials
Il cannot pay too high tribute to
the remarkable group CT Rritons who
are now administering affairs in the
Holy Land Every act of these men
bore the mark of fine understanding
and respect for the native population
and their traditions. y.
"They do not refer officially or un-
officially to Palestine as conquered
territory. Officially it is known as
occupied enemy territory The Brit
,t-b ~ l,,,k
flag dfHes not Aoat over Palestine, ror
docs any other. hen we Americans
celebrated cur Fourth of July we were
told courteously thai we could not run
up the Stars and Stripes on any Of our
buildings. We did have the flag, Of
course, indoors. At no time have the
Britons made any display of their
colors. All through they have
shown fine respect for the traditions
of the Holy Land.
"The Germans were maintaining two
or three LARGE churches an orphan
asylum and a ~hospjce which was the
centre for wealthy pilgrims when the
British took the city.
"Our Red Cross unit numbered, about
seventy persons. We gave medical aid
To an average of about ten thousand a
month and there also were about tour
Or five thousand refugees to be looked
after. General Allenhy has requested
hat about 200 additional American Red
Cross workers be sent there and the
War Council has his request under CON
sideration."
Among Dr. Finley's associates on the
mission were Solomon Lowenstein, su-
oerintendent of the Jewish Orphan
Asylum here; Colonel Z. St. John Ward
md Theodore Waters, OF The Christian
Herald"