Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-11


American Newspaper Alliance.
JEHuf SALEM January l0.--Palcs-
tine. | believe. is the most remarkable
example Of colonial administrative ct
. lIciency that has ever existed IN the
world.
Taking into account the lamentable
condition of its nciShbors, as well as
the state of things here when the
British took control Il few short years
ago. Palestine under the British man
date stands Il haven of peace and
prosperity in 4 region of tumult and
disorder.
Palestine is bounded on the north
10y Syria, torn by war and disSenSion.
on the west is the Arabian desert,
with only a handful OF ~ British Of
ficers commanding 972 natives. u
dozen airplanes, four ;IrmOred cars.
and an uncertain and unstable pro
British Emir to ward off the attacks
of the funatical Saud, who now con
trolls nearly the whole of Arabia. To
the South there is Egypt, riddled with
corruption and inetiCienCN.
British Are Efficient
ANY one must face tho charge of
writing british propaganda who tries
t. tell the truth about Palestine. /
can only say that have written many
dispatches in the past about British
affairs that have not pleased White
hall. and shall no doubt write
hers in the future. | came here
having heard many stories of feudS
between Jews and Arabs and threat
cncd rising and revolutions II the re-
volt in Syria gained ground. fly
ing visit Of few days covering 500
miles does not civ" an outsider SUI
ticient data to form opinions on these
questions.
But this can he said. that if there
Is any trouble brewing in Palestine
the British measures to deal with 1t
are remarkable for their absence.
few hard facts that are not matters
Of opinion will make clear. ! think.
tliat there is no danger to internal
peace here foreseen by the authori-
ties. and that any visitor. whatever
his views Of how the British ran
things in Ireland or how they run
them in India. must take off his hat
to them in Jerusalem.
There are 80 British gendarmeS in
the whole of this country. which has
On area Of 10000 square miles and
contains about SOP 900 people, includ-
ing els 900 Arabs who are said tin
Cairo. but not herel to mediate cut
ting the Threats of the 1914 900 Jews.
Troops Black and Tans.
1t is a highly ironiCal and astoniSh-
ing fact that most o these 350 Eng
liSh soldiers are eX-BlaCk and Tans.
who were recruited in 1922 III Ireland
when the Free state treaty made their
activities there no longer necessary.
The whole world knows what was
said about the Block and TanS in Ire
land. and said with some truth. There
has always been "A curse on British at
temptS to deal with the Irish by force
or otherwise. l hold no brief for
what these Black and Tans did in Ire
land. but in Palestine. since they
came out here there has not been one
native shot, nor one house burned.
nor, so | am assured. one shot fired
by any of them excepting on the
frontier.
That force of 800 men represents
the British infantry of the army of
occupation. There is also one regi-
ment of cavalry. which spends good
deal of its time In Egypt. Whenever
the pot SINNERS in Cairo it moves
there. and comes back here when
things are quiet on the Nile. In add
ton, there are half dozen airplanes.
The rest of the one airplane squadron
of the Palestine establishment re-
country from Arab raids from the in
terror. and the one squadron of ar
mored cars is also quartered perma-
nently outside the Palestine frontiers.
That is all the armed force that
exists, excepting some 500 native gen
darmes with British officers, who are
now guarding the Syrian frontier
against incursions from rebel Druses,
who are fighting the French. Consid-
ering that the DruSes hold three-quar-
tiers of this frontier. this is itself no
small task, and could not be success
full but for the excellent working rela-
tons that the British maintain with
the Druses as with all other races out
here. despite the Arab talk about the
wick ednesS of the British in imposing
the Jews upon them.
Surrounded by Trouble.
SO much for the armed forces that
grind under their heel the native
p0pula ton, as the Arab Nationalist
committees in Cairo put it. Now for
the British administrative forces,
which run the country. The total
number of British officials of all