The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1922-09-21

/ TtpdTe ny Ine NaIlOpdl peOSTdAJllC
Society. Washington. D.. CO
Palestine, home of Christianity, the
British mandate for which has just
been formally approved by the council
of the League of Nations, has prob.
ably never been better described thar
by the late Viscount Bryce, former
British ambassador to the United
States. In a communication TO the
National Geographic society, he wrote
of the Holy Land as follows:
Palestine is a tiny little country
Though the travellers handbooks pre-
pare him to find 1t small, it surprises
him by being smaller than he expected.
Taking IL as the region between the
Mediterranean on the west and the
Jordan and Dead sea or the east, from
the spurs of Lebanon and Hermon on
the north to the desert at Beersheba
on the south, it is only 40 miles long
and from 80 to 60 broad-that is TO
say, it is smaller han New Jersey,
whose area is 1900 square miles.
OF this region large parts did not
really belong to ancient Israel. Their
hold on the southern and northern
districts Was but slight. while in the
southwest n wide. rich plain along the
Mediterranean was occupied by the
warlike Philistines, who were some
times more than a match for the he
brew armies. Israel had, in fact. little
more than the hill country. when lay
between the Jordan on the east and
the maritime plain on the west. King
David, in the days of his power. looked
down from the hil cities of Benjamin,
just north OF Jerusalem, upon Phil
istine enemies only % miles off. on the
one side, and looked across the Jordan
to Moabite enemies about as far off,
on the other.
Nearly all the events in the history
Of Israel that are recorded in the Old
Testament happened within a terri
tory no bigger than the state of Con-
necticut, whose area is 1880 square
miles and into hardly any other coun-
try has there been crowded from the
days of Abraham till our W so much
history-that is 10 say. so many events
that have been recorded and deserve
to be recorded in the annals of
kind.
Its SmaIIness Is Visible.
Nor Is 1t only that Palestine Is
really a small country. The traveller
constantly feels as he moves about
that II is a small country. From the
heights a few miles north of Jeru-
49,. - anNc lnal,fvvE nnrtbv,av d a
far-off summit carrying snow for eight
months In the year. II is Hermon,
nearly 10000 feet high - Hermon,
whose fountains feed the rivers Of
Damascus. But Hermon is outside the
territory Of Israel altogether. standing
in the land of the Syrians so. too,
II is of Lebanon. We are apt to think
Of that mountain mass as within the
country, because Is also Is frequently
mentioned in the Psalms and the
Prophets. but the two range of Leb-
anon also rise beyond the frontiers
of Israel, lying between the Syrians
Of Damascus and the Phoenicians Of
the West.
Palestine Is a country poor in any
natural resources. There are practical
" no minerals. no coal. no iron. no
copper. no silver. though, recently
some oil has been discovered in
the Jordan valley. Neither are
there any large forests, and though
the land may have been better wooded
in the days Of Joshua than 1t Is now.
there is little to think that
the woods were Of trees sufficiently
large 10 constitute a source of wealth.
A comparatively small area is ht for
fillage.
To an Arab tribe that had wandered
through a barren wilderness for 40
wenry years. Canaan may well have
seemed a delightful. possession but
many a county In Iowa, many a de-
partment In France could raise more
grain or wine than all the Hely Land.
There is one stretch of fertile. level
land 20 miles long rsd from = To 8
miles ~wide-the Plain of RESTRICTION.
But with this exception il Is only In
the hottoms and on the lower slnpes
Of few valleys chiefly in the terri
tory Of EphraIm from Bethel nor h.
ward and niong the shores OF tile Pay
of Acre. that one sees ~cornields and
olive yards and orchards. Little wine
Is now grown.
Such wealth rs the country has
consists In lis pastures and the ex
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