The New York herald., 1921-07-24
Miss Gertrude Bell Called Blessed by the Natives and All Wise by
Downing Gives Invaluable Aid in Problems Arising From
Mandate Ironmastes Daughter, Famed for Expora-
and First Line Service War Carries White
Mans Burden Without Loss of Feminine Charms

ner At the head OF her caravan is, natur-
ally. the recognized paragon of all caravan
commanders in the East. Gertrude found
him. an Armenian, driving cab at some un-
recorded port. There was light of intelli-
gence In the mans eyes and an assurance
in his manner that made Gertrude mark him
for her own. Now she has but to raise her
little finger, flourish a bank draft. and the
Armenian replies with a caravan ready for
anything and everything.
She has never been in serious trouble in
the desert. Once twice in all her years
amidst all the constant wars of these hetero-
geneous peoples, her caravan has been
raided But it was on each occasion raid
of but the briefest duration, and mistake
AS soon as the attackers found whose cara
van it was they withdrew with resttutions
and apologies.
Guide, Philosopher and Friend
Of Every Wandering Arab
And this is the woman Great Britain
found ready fashioned to the imperial hand
when that hand was taxed with one Of the
toughest jobs in it's long history of bearing
the white mans burden. To-day she is Of
ficially Oriental Secretary on the staff of Sir
Percy Cox, British Commissioner in Bagdad.
Fortunately Sir Percy is only less skilled in
Arab lore than she and only little less
known among the Arabs. "Coch-s," as the
Arabs render his name, is also household
word in those lands. And now the Arabs
are beginning to allude to ''El Sitt," "The
Woman" as "Coch-sa," which is merely the
feminine form of the same word and fine tes-
timony to the with which the High
Commissioner and his Oriental Secretary
work together.
He is the great official father Of the
strange cross-bred regime which that great
mother of cross-breeds, the Treaty of ver-
sailles. has imposed under the dread word.
mandate" But she is the guide, philoso-
pher and friend of every puzzled Arab who
wanders into old Bagdad wondering what in
thunder it all means. Sir Percy Cox has a
very clear idea of what it all means. He has
some very definite plans for letting tho
Arabs run the show themselves with the
lightest of guiding reins. The mandate is
not yet in force and, as one expert on the
Near East saids to-day, it is never likely to
be legally in forcce 1t cannot go into effect
until Turkey signs the Treaty of Sevres,
which is the daughter of the Treaty of Ver-
sailles. only more so. And the Turks hav-
ing a very fair idea that they won the war,
have not the slightest intention of signing
and are daring the world to come and make
them sign. And the world being excessively
weary with going and making people sign
in places much more convenient and cheaper
to reach than Anatolia, shows little inclina-
ton to accept the bellicose bid.
Hence, in the long meanwhile, England
finds herself sadded with potentially rich
and inexperienced orphan over whom her
authority is doubtful, her responsibility great
and her tactical position anything but COM
Portable. Her problem resolves itself into
inducing that orphan, who is many thou
sands of able bodied men for whom fraternal
war has been the greatest of all outdoor
sports for generations, to build a sort of
stable central government of their own, be-
lieve outside and quite unfamiliar advice
from England, and walt for a final settlement
without listening to specious promises from
the Turks the Bolsheviki or internal dis
senters with their own fold.
The person who is doing this more than
all others is Gertrude. Sir Percy Cox knows
all about high policy and the Arab char
acter and country In general. Gertrude
knows Mesopotamia as AL Smith knows the
Second Assembly district
That is literally true. And when the