Evening star., 1934-05-21

American comment on the warliRe
activities of 1bn Saud, Arab chieftain,
give force to the belief that England,
France and Italy fear he will develop
a spirit of extreme nationalism in the
Near East. He is likened to the early
chiefs of his people. who provided
fighting leadership for the Moham-
medan world. Conquests recorded to
date are held to show that he must
be reckoned with in the region that
the allies broke up into separate prin-
cipalities after the World War.
"The story of Ibn Saud's adven-
turous and romantic career" says the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. reads
like a chapter of the early annals of
Islam Like the early Calphs, he has
the emotions and zeal of fervent
religious feeling for his purposes
of conquest and aggrandizement. To-
day the most powerful of MoSlem
sovereignS, he was in boyhood an exile
from his native realm in the Nejd,
the great interior plateau of Arabia
A rival princely house, aided by the
Turks, had in 1891 expelled his family
from the dominions they had held for
centuries" Describing his progress in
recent years, and the ebb and flow of
his power, the Bulletin concludes that
he may control all Arabia except the
little British territory of Aden."
1t is believed by the Schenectady
Gazette that the scattered tribes of
the Asiatic peninsula are nearing the
climax OF the 33-year-old movement
for great Arab kingdom" and that
Britain, France and Italy are con-
siderably agitated." The Danville
Ul) Commercial News rates him as
next to Mustapha Kemal, the strong
est figure in Islam today" and the
Helena (Mont) Independent declares
that ''if this victorious Sultan can
show Great Britain and other powers
that he has the ability to restore
peace, it is probable they will allow
him to do So" The Owensboro (Ky)
Messenger describes him as "the des-
ert's man of destiny" and feels that
bit by bit he builds the great Arabian
kingdom" Added worries for the
western nations of Europe" are seen
by the Indianapolis Star.
The Buffalo Evening News says:
"Ibn Saud himself might be con-
tent to rest on his laurels after hav-
ing made himself master of q large
part Of Arabia and the entire Red
Sea coast from Transjordania to
Alden. But his success has begun to
inf1ame Arabs throughout the penin-
sula. Emerging from the desert a
generation ago, Ibn Saud made him
self master of the mountain kingdom
Of the Nejd, in Sentral Arabia. In
1925 he ousted King Hussein from
Hejaz, the former sheriff of Mecca
and aspirant to the caliphate proving
himself. despite British support. ut
terly incapable of resisting the on
ward sweep of the Wahabis. With
Ibn Saud's rise the dream of a united
Arab nation, a dream diSsipated by
the peace treaties which parceled out
Arab lands to France and Great Brit
ain, again fills the minds of the
people; and If they move to give
reality to it the powers may find the
situation awkward"
Observing the attempts made with
out success to establish Intervention
by Europe, the New York Sun con-
cludes that Ibn Saud has won a point |
In his strife for a United Arabia, free
from outside interference. The Lowell
Courier Citizen minimizes the situa-
tion with the statement: There Is
haf-ly look-in for such an idea as