Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-27
|RbQ FIGHTS UPHILL
3PROGRESS BATTLE
Age Customs and Politics
Bar Modernizati0n in
TigriS Valley.

transform itself into a modern state
1t has had constructive plans for phySi
cal development; but politics, religion,
and the age-old social custom of some
OF its people have interpoSed stubborn
obstacles in the paths of the contem-
plated progress.
The Iraquis have sought a status
comparable to Turkey Persia. and the
Hejaz. all important and independent
Mohammedan states, rather than that
OF inundated area. on somewhat the
same footing as smaller and less popu-
lous Syria and Palestine Trans Jordan.
Treaty Repeatedly LiberaIized.
''Ever since the treaty of Versailles,
placing the country under mandate to
Great Britain, became operative in 1920,
1raq had obtained greater and greater
degree of independence" says a bulletin
from the National Geographic Society.
1t Is the only one of the IL man
dated territories which has a King,
Parliament, and responsible govern
ment. AS a result OF Iraq insiStence.
the relations between mandatory and
inundated territory were defined in 1922
in a treaty between the governments
Of Iraq and Great Britain which look
ed to the termination of the mandate
when Iraq could enter the League of
Nations. This treaty has since been
revised twice, with Great Britain under
taking more specifically to use her in
fiuence to obtain membership for Iraq
IN the League if Iraq continues to make
progress. Within the last few months
Great Britain has agreed to drop this
provlSo and to seek League member
ship for Iraq Internationally in 1882.
Great Britain now has both a civil
and a military place in Iraquan affairs.
A British high commissioner resides in
Bagdad and advises the King on in
ternat1onal and financial matters. A
British air force Is maintained in the
country under the command of an air
vice marshal. British military officers
are training the Iraq army, and a num-
Der OF British governmental experts
are employed in the various civil Offices
of the Iraq government
Mostly Farm Country.
Embracing the potentially fertile
valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates and
large stretches of Semi-arid and desert
lands. Iraq has always been primarily
an agricultural and pastoral country.
In Babylonian and Grecian days the
valleys were herringboned with irriga-
ton canals and these were kept I'D by
the Arabs In the days of the caliphate.
The lands of Iraq were exceedingly
productive and its people were highly
prosperous until 1858 AID. when the
Mongol invasion destroyed the irriea-
ton entertainments and headworks. Aft
erWard, under Turkish rule Irau be-
came less and less prosperous. much of
Its once fertile valleys turned into
wilderness and Misunderstanding swampS
The aim Of the most thoughtful
Leaders In 1raq is to restore the irriga-
ton works which the valleys possessed
during their golden age. This, however,
would be tremendous task requiring
vast amounts of capital, which irau is
at present unable to command. The
government has organized a department
OF irrigation and under its supervision is
slowly lettering existing irrigation
works and undertaking new ones
One Of the most important steps has
been the construction of a permanent
weir in the bed Of the River Dijala to
replace earthen dams which were con-
Structed annually, only to be washed
away each flood season. Several river
regulators and escapes were constructed
In 1928. and canals were extended to re-
VlVe areas that were passing out of Gull
ovation and to bring tens of thousands
OF acres of new land under irrigation.
Seek Artesian Wells.
1.-TWO phases Of irrigation unknown in
1raQ in past centuries are being devel-
oped by exploration Of possible artesian
water supplies from wells and by the in
Stalation OF power pumps to lift water
from streams to land too high to be
reached by present canals. The latter
development has been encouraged by the
government by the admission of gas
engines duty free and by arrange
mentS with oil-producing companies as
suring cheap fuel
In transportation agencies. other
than railways. Iraq has made a marked
advance in recent years. The natural
H0 1VNNfV Se 49, i
along its rivers to the Persian Gulf.
But its customers and clients are chiefly
to the northwestward and the north
eastward across extensive deserts and
mountain ranges. These barriers have
not yet been bridged by steel rails.
Gaps still exist in the famous pro-
posed archaeological railway, SO
that 1t Is not even possible to move
1raqan products as far as the eastern
Mediterranean ports by rail. There are
close to a thousand miles of railway
track In 1raq, but it is entirely an in
ternal system. At no point does a rail-
way cross the Iraq border. The rail
system, however, does perform two i'm
portant functions in international trade
1t carries exports and imports to and
from the port OF BaSra. head of naVi-
cation in the Shatt-al-Arab for ocean
going ships, and 1t connects at Kha-
naqin, near the Persian border, with a
motor road, over which is carried on
1raq'S stable transit trade with Persia
Move Freight BY Water.
I'm the absence of railways to the
north and west, all of the heavy freight
leaving and entering Iraq must move by
water through the Persian Gulf. But
within the last few years an efficient
and rapid system has been set up for
the transfer Of passengers, mail and
light express overland between Bagdad
and BaSra on the southeast and Da-
mascus. Beirut, Jerusalem and Cairo on
the northwest
Good, hard-surfaced highways have
been constructed through long sections
Of the river valleys. Across the deserts
that separate IraQ and Syria the ways
are merely natural earth roads, but they
are in fair condition. and over them
powerful American-built busses carrying
passengers, mail and express cover 600
miles in "a hours.
The quickest mails however, travel by
the weekly airplane service which ex-
tends from Basra to Cairo. AirplaneS
ny approximately over the highway
route for considerable part Of the way
between Bagdad and the west. At the
halfway point, Rutbah Wells, the Iraq
government has established a station
which is used for refueling and re-
watering by both planes and automo-
biles, and there a desert police force of
considerable strength is maintained At
this station a restaurant is conducted.
and overnight accommodations are pro-
vided for travellers.
Use Only One River.
'Of the two great rivers of Iraq, only
the Tigris can be used by boats. An
important freight service, moving hun
dreds Of thousands Of tons in large river