El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-11-27

. TO m asull ELlus
detectives in Arab regions. as ven as
upon the "a points
French Oppose Solution.
Not unnaturally. the British sym
pathized with their Arab allies. while
I American sympathy was ln a. measure
enlisted as q consequences Of the opin-
! ions Of American educators and mis-
sionaries in syria. notably those from
the American college at Beirut But
10 was manifest from the state that.
whatever the British motives the
French were bound 10 oppose any So
luton which excluded them from
syria and, in fact. transformed the
whole arab world into a British pro-
tectorate.
French interests in Beirut and in
the syrian hinterlaud we're very con
siderable France. from the days Of
the crusades had remained the
power exercising protectors rights
over the Syrian Christians. notably in
I Lebanon. and there was a strong
Francophile party in certain districts
OF syria France, having borne the
burden OF the battle in Europe. nat
urally objected 90 seeing the British
. carry Off the great colonial gains.
the fruits cf British battles. 10 be
sure. but Of battles fought by British
7 troops who could not have been
spared from the western front had not
France supplied the main bulk Of
. troops in Europe.
Ii would be inaccurate TO say that
the quurrels which euEued in
Paris and supplied one Of the most
dangerous elements In the whole
situation Ercw out OF Intentional
had faith on the British partf
rather, they are the natural cut
come OF the situation which had
developed.
But ft was not less clear that 70 the
Arabians, who had British sympathy
able 20 enlist not a little American
sympathy, were able 20 realize their
aspirations. France would suffer and
Britain would gain immeasureably-
Tn reality France would be crowded
out OF Syria By the British as she had
been crowded out Of Egypt a genera
ton before. and all Arabia. new and
old, became I'm fact. q British sphere
win Hold Beirut.
In the end, a sort OF modus vivandi
was agreed upon and at the pres mt
moment Gen. Gouraud. the victor n
the battle OF Champagne in July. 1919.
and until recently commanding the
troops i'm Alsace-Lorraiue, has just
en- bartzed 90 take over the command
Of French troops who VIII hold Beirut
and the seac0ast 70 AleLaudretta, in
n
treaty. but viii not attempt to occupy
the inland cities OF Aleppo and
Damascus until the Arab question has
been cleared up, by direct negotiation
with the Arabs. As for the British,
they remain in occupation Of Jerusa-
lem, Bagdad and the regions south OF
Syria, taken during the war.
But IL must be clear that this tenn
porary arrangement cannot last.
Either the British and the French
viii have 70 agree TO an absolute par
titiOn Of the Arab lands, with an in
evitable conflict with the Arabs them
selves, or they win have TO consent I
70 an evacuation Of all but the sea- I
coast towns, Of Beirut for the French /
and Basra for the British, and the
joint recognition Of a great, indie /
pendent Arab state extending from ]
the Armenian highlands to the In /
dian ocean and from the Mediterra- I
mean to Persia. Even this latter So /
luton would hardly last, for the Brit .
ish would be menaced in Egypt by F.
the rise Of any real Arab state
So much for the Arab problem But /
the French sphere OF influence not I
merely includes Arab territory. but /
extends northward from the Gulf Of !
AleZandretta and the Clliclan plain, /.
claimed by the Armeuians as essential /
to the new Armenia but also between /.
Slvas and Diabekr, affects regions
which have hitherto been regarded (.
as belonging to any Armenian state 4
which might be created
Involves More Difficulties
Thus, IL the United states under .
took an Armenian mandate, It would b
find itself at once called upon 10 in Il
sist upon French evacuation or Ar I
meuian lands and, II Do accepted Ar 7
meuian claims 20 Adaua and the Ci- .
lician area, 20 a stiu further consid- I
cradle curtailment OF French claims. /.
Nor is this all, for eastward, In ter 4
ritories once Russian, dwell the main I
mass OF surviving Armenians, and an 4
American protectOrate there would .
clash with Russia, should Russia ever +.
regain unity. and with the Georgians .
and other native races, who also lay .
claim to the old British lands which /
contain the great oil districts about I
alum. one Of the prizes Of the eco .
nomlc world
But the Syrian. or more exactly, the I
Arab. and Armenian phases only are /
two Of the complications. Even more F.
sharply than the British and French 4
have FLASHED between the Mediterra-
mean and the Euphrates, the Italians
and the Creeks have quarreled along 7
the Aegean coast italy has landed I
troops at Adalia and occupied the sea-
coast She claims also the right % /
seize Smyrna. the great port Of Asia
Minor. but the Greeks, backtd by the {