of rain has visited desolation on the shepherds, who have sought in vain for pasture land. Farmers, who once depended on the credit of small merchants to keep them supplied with necessities have no harvests to look forward to, or else, because of the precarious and uncertain state of agriculture, must face exorbitant prices for goods bought on credit, and greatly reduced credit periods. It is related, for instance, that a rottel of coffee, un-ground, which sells for twenty piastres in cash, is priced at eighty piastres when bought on a short term credit arrangement.
A few days ago, a Bedouin was brought to trial for stealing. When he was arraigned before the judge, he offered as his defence the story that he was hungry, that he stole only because he was hungry, and that he felt that a government whose coffers were overflowing with gold had no right to condemn him for stealing when he could turn in no other direction for sustenance. The “Islamia,” which reports this incident, carries a long editorial denouncing the Transjordan Government for its cruel indifference to the cry of a starving people.
Meraat esh Sherk reports from Amman that five members of the Legislative Council have resigned before the convening of the Council, as a protest against the sale of the Emir’s lands. The Amman correspondent states that none of these five possess any lands, whereas the other members have land for sale or lease.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
