New-York tribune., 1920-04-18
By Eugene S. Bagger


There are sigs pointing il
that direction. After living fol
centuries under the Turkish yoke to
day the Arabs Of Arabia proper have
achieved, with the aid Of Britain, in.
dependent statehood in the Kingdom
Of tho Hedjaz, which comprises the
two principal holy cities of Islam
Mecca and Medina.
And with independent Hedjaz as
. strategic base the Arab masses
Of all Western Asia are forging
ahead on the road of national, or
rather nationalistic, regeneration.
An all-important landmark was
reached the other day when the in
dependent Kingdom of Syria was
proclaimed at Damascus and Beirut,
with the Emir Feisal, son of Hus-
sein, King Of the Hedjaz, as ruler.
Moreover, this Syrian upheaval
seems to spread toward the East
to Mesopotamia, where popular
sentiment is said to exist for uniting
with the two already independent
Arab kingdoms and thus restoring
the old Arab Empire Of Western
Asia under the dynasty of Hedjaz,
whose king head, King Hussein, is
the Grand Shereef Of Mecca and a
direct descendant Of the Prophet
Mahomet.
Lacks Nationalistic Ideal
Yet there is a possibility Of ex-
aggerating the strength and depth
Of this Arab nationalism, of taking
it's manifestations at their face
value. After all, the Arabs have
lived too long in utter isolation from
European life and streams of
thought. Their external and mental
habits, their mode of life, the
economics sunderstructure of their ex-
istence, are altogether different from
those Of Europe. Is it likely that
they should now at stroke assimi-
late . political philosophy-that of
natienalism-which in Europe was
the outcome Of centuries of develop
ment and the corollary of nineteenth
century industrialism? According
to the Latin adage, there is no jump
In nature-a piece Of wisdom that
anticipated Darwin by two thousand
years. Is there such a thing as a
jump in history?
One Of the best American au-
thorities on the Near and Middle
East, Philip Marshall Brown, pro-
fessor of international law in
Princeton University, voices this at
titude of skepticism. Professor
Brown has spent nearly seven years
in the Near East; at one time he
was charge d'affaires with the
United States Embassy at Constan-
tinople, and during the war, from
March, 1913, on, he spent six
months with the army of General
now Field Marshal--Lord Allenby
in Palestine. He believes that
measured by what in Europe is un-
derstood by the term, Arab nation.
aiism 10 an artificial growth fos-
tered by the exigencies of the war
However, he qualities this by sug-
gesting that this Arab nationalism
which was originally one Of the
weapons employed by the British to
crush the Turk, may now, that it ha,
served its purpose, get beyond the
control Of its originators. In othe,
words. the British may find them.
selves in the position of the magi.
clans apprentice who could not
stop the spirits he had let loose.
There are five aspects from which
the establishment Of the new Syrian
stste can be considered. They are
those Of % Arab nationalism; (2y
franco-British relations; (3) Syrian
aspirations; (4) the American in.
tsrest, and (5) the antagonism be.
tween Arabs and Zionists.
Hates the Turk
AS regards the first Of these
aspects, Professor Brown maintains
that Arab nationalism is mainly q
nn~o<svA ;I>s - &.