Palestine High Commissioner Pledges to Maintain Order While Britain Stays

As long as the British remain in control of any ##ea in Palestine, they will keep law and order and will not permit the Arabs to attack the Jews or vice versa, High Commissioner Sir Alan G. Cunningham today told group of some 20 Arab leaders in Beersheba.

Later, at the unveiling of a monument in that city to Lord Allenby, head of ##e British forces which freed Palestine from the Turks during the first World War, ## reiterated that he was probably the last British High Commissioner in the country.

The Palestine press reports that the government is preparing to transfer re##onsibility for local problems to the various municipalities, concentrating its efforts on running national services such as the post office, telegraph and rail faci##ties until the very last moment before evacuation. All government funds and ##curities will be concentrated in one single, central bank. Vital statistics re##rds will also be handed over the municipalities.Chief Secretary Sir Henry L.Guerney yesterday advised all government departments and district commissioners to burn all records which “are or will be of no ##se to the present or future government.” However, special care will be taken of and records and a great quantity of microfilm has been ordered to photograph approximately 2,000,000 documents pertaining to land ownership, which will be handed over to the new governmental authority.

Civilian employees at army camps in the Nathanya and Tel Aviv areas have received dismissal notices, effective Jan, 1, 1948.

The Chief Rabbinate issued an appeal to the Jews to go to the Wailing Wall to ##ray for a two-thirds majority vote for partition at the United Nations.

Two Jewish youths, Yerucham Krubelnik and Mordechai Soffer, who were convicted last week of having blown up a Cairo-Haifa train, have been sentenced to life impri##onment. Both are under 18 years of age.