Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-03-21
No Fertile Land
In Holy Land Says
U. S. Observer

Jerusalem. FEB. 2G-(By A. p, by
Mafl)-Addison E. Southland. Amer
lean Consul here has just completed
an exhaustive survey of the com.
merclai and agricultural resources of
Paiestine. He has also inyestigat ted
the subjects of port development.
hyaro-electrlc resources, irrigation
ana banking. In view Of the opti-
mystic reports issued by those seek
ing 70 make the Jewish National
home in Palestine success. it is in
terestlng to note that the American
consul entertains serious doubts re-
GO ing the agricultural and indus
trial resources Of the country.
! Approximately one-third OF the
area of Palestine proper" SAYS he.
or roundly 5000 square miles. is
barren land capable of little. if any,
agricultural development. Fully an
additional fifth of the total area. or
more than 100000 acres, has definite
agricultural possibilities; but irri-
CATION and othe" more or less expen-
SlVe requirements will considerably
prejudice the profits to be obtained
from farming. The country is
sparsely settled, and much of the land
has been left fallow for centuries.
AT the present time the estimated
area under cultivation in all Palestine
amounts to fewer than 100000
acres"
American business men who re-
Gently visited Palestine have found
confirmation 81 Mr.. Southar,'s OBJ
servations in the great stretches of
rocky and barren land. Only in the
broader valleys and plains is it at all
fertile. and the Arabs, who form IS
percent of the population, have a diff
cult time eking out an existence. 1t can
hardly be expected, therefore, these
American travellers. believe, that the
Jews of the world will he attracted to
the sO-called National Home" set up
in the Holy Land by Great Britain.
The number of Hebrews who have
come to settle here from the United
States and other countries is rela-
lively small. OF the 100000 popu-
lation of Palestine, only IL per cent. is
Jewish. Those particular callings
for which Hebrews throughout all
times have shown an especial pre-
Notwithstanding manufacture, mer-
chandising, banking and money
changing-are singularly lacking in
the Holy Land. Industrial activity
is almost negligible. Fruit-growing
an souvenir making are the princi-
pal pursuits.
Most of the Jews who have left
America for what they believed to be
1.-The Promised Land have found
life in Palestine difficult and sexpen-
sive. Many of them have engaged
in small farming and fruit culture.
Others have set up small retail stores
in Jaifa, Haifa and other large towns,
The main streets of Jerusalem and
Jaffa now resemble busy retail
centers in the East Side Of New
York. The Hebrew and English lam
guages vie with Arabic as the pre-
vailing tongues in the commercial
marts.
Palestine" says Consul Southland
in his report, lis a small country
without demonstrated natural re-
sources of any particular importance.
for some years possess any consider
able purchasing power. Within it's
own limits it will produce or con-
sumo little as compared with the av-
Nerage world political or commercial
unit.
The Consul's statement that the
local population neither produce nor
consume much explains why the
world Jew has such reluctance in
colonizing the Holy Land. The Arab
population is ,proverbially poor and
produces little beyond a few staples
of the farm and vineyafd. The Jew.
who is essentially merchant and
trader. finds 1t impossible to live off
the Arab and he finds it equally i'm
possible to exploit his own people.
American visitors usually leave
Palestine with the conviction that If
it were not for it's historical and
Biblical associations and traditions.
the Holy Lend would figure little in
the worl6iisAifa There Ia a firm be.