England Cannot Disregard Alarm Created Among World Jewry over Cancelled Immigration Certificates, Sa

The British government cannot disregard the excitement and alarm caused among the Jews of the world by the recent cancellation of 3,300 immigration certificates for the widespread fear that Palestine would be practically closed for Jewish immigrants might have a disagreeable political result and financial consequences that might be even more unpleasant, says the “London Times” in an editorial commenting on the recent White Paper of the British government on the Palestine situation.

Once the Jewish purse strings are closed Palestine will almost certainly revert to its natural condition, the “Times” points out, “being one of the poorest regions in all the Near East. The British taxpayer would have to bear a part of the burden of providing the country with a decent administration. Even the anti-Zionist Arab leaders might tardily and regretfully remember the moral of the ancient and popular fable when confronted by the inevitable depreciation in the value of their estates.”

PAPER NO STATEMENT OF POLICY

Discussing the White Paper itself, the “Times” says that to describe it as a statement with regard to British policy is “something of a misnomer for one paragraph after another of the document contains the admission that the government is still unable to issue a clear statement of its policy regarding major problems which the Shaw Commission urgently recommended.

“It confesses that the dilemma arising from the apparent antimonies of the Mandate still confronts it and it is not yet in a position to formulate precise and concrete proposals with regard to all the points the Commission raised. No fairminded reader of the White Paper will criticize its desire to study the major problem with the help of fuller data, but he may feel that its public insistence on these difficulties of the dilemma are being overemphasized and the more extreme elements among the Zionists and Arabs may be tempted to create fresh difficulties for the Mandatory in order to delay or prevent a solution which will satisfy neither.

COMMISSION IGNORED MAIN FACTOR

“He also doubts whether the apparent intention of the government to prepare a statement of policy solely on the basis of the recommendations of the Shaw Commission and upon the report which Sir John Simpson will present is altogether wise. Sir Walter Shaw and his colleagues in their otherwise comprehensive report omitted to mention the principle factor, the very moderate prosperity that Palestine enjoys at present.

“The nature of Sir John Simpson’s mission makes it improbable that he will deal with it, except incidentally. This factor of the interest of the Jews all over the world in the Zionist experiment finds expression in the very large expenditure for educational, agricultural and industrial undertakings, experiments on the land, reclamation, buildings and salaries.

“To these revenues must be added the contributions to Jewish charities which flowed to Palestine in steadily increasing volume since the War. No estimate has yet been published of the amount of Jewish money expended annually in Palestine but it is believed by good judges to have exceeded ten million dollars on several occasions since 1920.”