Evening star., 1948-08-02
Writer Finds Lebanon
Nearer 10 Democracy
Than Rest Of Mid-East
By Leigh White
Foreign Correspondent of The star and
the Chicooo Dolly News

Foreign Correspondenf OF Inc Sfof ana
ths Chieoso Dolly News
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 2.-The
little Lebanese Republic, with barely
a million inhabitants, comes closer
to being a democracy than any
other country in the Middle East.
It's various minorities-with the
exception of Communists and Zion
ists-enjoy reasonable freedom OF
speech, press and assembly.
The wartime censorship imposed
last May has been fairly and cap
ably administered. Legitimate crit
icism OF the government has not
been suppressed in the guise OF
curbing reasonable utterances and
enemy propaganda.
Newspapers here are badly edited,
badly written and highly unreliable,
but not through any fault OF the
present government.
The opposition press, to which
category most newspapers belong,
has yet to accuse the government OF
unfairly suppressing its views.
Arrests Remarkably Few.
Remarkably few persons have
been arrested for Subversive actlv-
tiles in connection with the war In
Palestine. The 300-odd Commu-
nists and Zionists now in jail are
persons accused Of overt acts OF
treason.
There seems to be no question but
that they will receive fair trials and
that all but the guilty ones will
eventually be released.
Two Communist newspapers, one
in Arabic and one in Armenian
both called The Voice Of the Peo-
ple"-have been banned for incit-
ing their readers to insurrection.
But there is no penalty for being a
Communist or attending Communist
meetings.
Beruit's numerous bookstores are
full of publications advocating every
conceivable point of view. Both
Communist and Zionist books and
magazines are still sold openly.
Elections Suspended.
The governments motives in sus-
pending elections for the duration OF
the war in Palestine were doubtless
far from pure. Yet even the oppo-
sition now admits that 1t would be
foolhardy to hold elections at a time
when most Of the army and police
are on the Palestinian border.
The government is corrupt, but
no more corrupt than many State
governments in the United States.
And, corrupt though 1T is. the gov
eminent is tolerant-to the point OF
being dangerously lax.
There are fewer police restric-
tions on foreigners here than In
any country I have visited outside
North America. Indeed, there are
fewer police restrictions on anyone
In Lebanon than in most countries
in the world today.
Half of Population Christian.
The secret of Lebanon's progress
toward democracy seems to lie IN
such considerations as the follow
ing:
The country's population is almost
equally divided between Christians
and Moslems, and both religions
in turn are divided into many sects.
Fearful of orthodoxy, each sect
finds it expedient to tolerate the
others in order to be tolerated it.
self.
The government is as heterodox
as its people. President Beshara
Ell Khoury is . Christian, while
Premier Riad Es Solh is a Moslem
Every major sect of both creeds Is
represented in the cabinet.
A long tradition of religious tol-
erance has made 1t possible for
French and American missionaries
to establish in Lebanon the best
educational system in the Middle
East.
Although there are no govern
ment- schools as yet, the
many christian missionary institu-
tions have reduced illiteracy In rural
areas to less than go per cent and
in Beirut to less than 20 per cent.
Largely = Nation of Traders.
Lebanon, though 1t still has q
long way to 60, is thus the most
literate OF the Middle Eastern
countries, with the exception OF
Jewish Palestine.
The Lebanese, a mixture OF Phoe-
nician. Greek, Arabic, Turkish and
Caucasian strains, are largely a
nation OF traders. Their CONNER
cial society has produced higher
living standards and q better dis
tribution Of wealth than any other
Middle Eastern country, again with
the exception Of Jewish Palestine.
But, whereas Jewish Palestine
depends on a worldwide propa-
ganda organization for its highly
subsidized existence, Lebanon is
largely self-supporting. Its future