Britain to Print Macmahon Letters As White Paper; Publication Asked by Arabs

The 1915 correspondence between Sir Henry MacMahon, war-time British High Commissioner for Egypt, and Sherif Hussein of Mecca, which forms the basis of Arab claims, will be published as soon as possible as an official white paper, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons today in reply to a question.

Publication of the correspondence was asked by Arab delegates to the current Palestine conferences, it was stated, and the Government thought it would be desirable that the letters be published in answer to their request. Pending publication, copies of the correspondence have been put at the disposal of the conference delegates.

The Arab view regarding the correspondence was given this morning in a lengthy statement by Prince Feisal of Saudi Arabia at the Anglo-Arab session, which had been opened with a brief statement by Foreign Undersecretary Richard A. Butler. Before the session, Mr. Chamberlain received, at Downing Street, Premier Nuri Pasha es-Said of Iraq, Prince Abdul Moneim and Ali Maher Pasha of Egypt and Fuad Bey Hamsa of Saudi Arabia.

BRITISH-JEWISH SESSION CONSIDERS PALESTINE ROLE IN WAR

Jewish leaders this afternoon met British officials in what was described as the most important Anglo-Jewish session thus far of the week-long Palestine conferences — to consider the role of the Holy Land in the event of war. In contrast with the large Jewish delegation which has attended previous meetings, a group of six Jewish leaders, headed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, went into closed conference with Foreign Undersecretary Richard A. Butler, Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald, Colonial Undersecretary Lord Dufferin and Ava, and Sir John Shuckburgh of the Colonial Office.

Informed circles said developments in the parallel Anglo-Jewish and Anglo-Arab discussions were moving rapidly and should reach the point on Wednesday where an intimation of the Government’s intentions could be expected. Belief was expressed in certain quarters that the Government intended to curtail sale of land to Jews in the Holy Land.

Dr. Stephen S. Wise, saying he spoke for millions of American Jews and non-Jewish sympathizers yesterday stressed the interest of the United States in Palestine, referring to the roles played in the Jewish homeland question during the World War by President Woodrow Wilson and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, then head of a Zionist commission.

Contradicting a statement by Mr. MacDonald that the authors of the Balfour Declaration were not aware of the existence in Palestine of a large Arab population of 600,000, Dr. Wise was said to have expressed the conviction that the Americans associated with the declaration knew this and that President Wilson certainly did. What President Wilson did not foresee, the American Zionist leader said, was that the Arab population would increase to a million and that Arab immigration would be encouraged.

Pointing out that America, relying on British guarantees, had invested heavily in Palestine, Dr. Wise described the consternation aroused in all walks of American life when it was reported recently that the British Government was planning to restrict Jewish rights in the Holy Land.

In describing prevailing conditions in Palestine, Dr. Wise was reported to have admonished Mr. MacDonald that suppression of violence was the first principle of Anglo-Saxon law and that the term “mandate” implied imposition of government. He was understood to have discussed in detail the wartime correspondence between Prof. Frankfurter and Emir Feisal, later king of Iraq, and was said to have presented the Colonial Secretary with copies of the letters.

Moshe Shertok, head of the Jewish Agency’s political department, speaking on behalf of Palestine Jewry, said that the increased capital brought into Palestine had resulted in an enlargement of the country’s capacity to receive new immigrants.