Evening star., 1925-11-24

How often does history repeat itself!
The Pope once divided the Western
World between Spain ad Portugal
with a line of latitude. The holy al
lance divided the world. Great Brit
ain gained the right" to do as she
pleased in Egypt by granting the
right" to France to do likewise
in Morocco Today comes the news
that Great Britain and France have
again divided portion Of the world
the Near EaSt-whereby the British
are to have a free hand" in lraQ, in
consideration of giving France free
hand" in Syria and Morocco. Also
there transpires a joint policy of ad-
ministration Of Iraq, Syria. Palestine
and Transtordania. Consent or the
governed" Nonsense!
y n
The International Court of Justice.
instituted by the League of Nations,
delivered a decision last Saturday
against Turkey, confirming Great
Britain's League Of Nations mandate
over Iraq, which was part OF Meso-
potamia. and in which is located Mo
sui. The decision is that the boundary
thereof must be decided by the coun-
Gil of the league, by its unanimous
vote. barring contestants from that
unanimity. Great Britain connoehtly
expects confirmation of her hold on
Mosul, by the league council. giving
her tndisputable control OF the worlds
richest oil field, without a vote or the
inhabitants to indicate "Self-determl-
nation of the people.
y X y
The State Of Iraq owes its independ-
ence from Turkey TO pledge mace
by the British to it's Christian inhao-
itants that II they would cooperate
with the allies in the World War and
fight against Turkey they would not
be delivered back into Turkeys power
after the war.
Ry the treaty of Sevres all of Mosul
which was occupied by British forces
at the close of the war was included IN
the British mandate. The subsequent
treaty of Lausanne failed TO define the
boundaries of the mandated territory,
and when it became known that Mosul
contained rich deposits of oil, there
was a scramble of various oil interests
and of nations for claims of territory.
Finally the new Kingdom of lraq, with
Great Britain ignoring Turkey,
agreed to submit their joint Mosul
claims to the League of Nations. The
Court Of Justice has now confirmed
the authority of the leagues council
to take action.
Turkey persists in her claim TO
Mosul. following mainly the lines of
the Sevres treaty, except to divert its
boundary so as to include the lately
discovered oil fields. About $500
square miles are involved in the dis
pute.
More than territory, however, is at
stake in the principle of jurisdiction
based upon the league mandate, re-
gardless OF the peoples of the region.
IL l., ie. rIndarGfnn6
that Great Britain assures 1raq It's
support as a free and independent
kingdom.
AS the London Times remarks:
"Iraq formed a single unit, and the
country had been one for the last
seven years. Those people had all
been under one administration and
they had been we'll content with the
government under which they lived.
The richest province of the whole
country had recently been claimed by
Turkey The claim was not based on
nationality, or on the wishes of the
people. 1t certainly did not CORE
spond with the wishes of the $4,000
Christians who lived near the Turkish
frontier, TO the north of Mosul."
4 y J:
AS to France, both in Syria and in
Morocco, the situation becomes daily
more critical. The DruZe rebellion"
against the French mandate brought
a promise from the Painleve govern
ment that autonomy would follow
pacification. Peace appears in the very
uncertain future, now the Painleve
cabinet has fallen.
In comprehensive article by
Beckles Wilson. published in the last
issue of Contemporary Review of Lon
don, the writer, in commenting on
1.-THE Truth About Morocco" says:
France may succeed in averting
the present Riff peril. Aided by
Spain, she may even succeed in con-
quering the Riffs. But In spite of
all her labor and benevolent inten-
tions, she is dealing with difficult
people, intelligent and inveterately
recalcitrant. In the long run she
will only succeed as we succeeded
when we conquered Egypt, when we
spent British lives and treasure in
conquering Mesopotamia. For a
few brief years there may be peace,
but the lessons which France has
been teaching of equality and ma
tionalism coincide too closely with
the aspirations of Abd-el-Krim. :
While we (British) are every