Says Palestine Water Survey Would Add Arable Land, Make Room for More Jewish Settlers

The possibility of doubling the amount of arable land in Palestine and in this way making room for a great new Jewish settlement was brought forward today by Claude F. Strickland, British expert on rural economics, who has just completed a study of agricultural conditions in Palestine. Mr. Strickland thought that a hydrographic survey of the Beersheba district might discover water that, if brought up through artesian wells, would turn the entire Beersheba region, of some 10 million dunams of land into a rich cultivable district.

“I saw the beds of little trickly springs in many of the clefts in that desert area,” said Mr. Strickland. “It was a land formation that reminded me very much of certain districts in India, where we were faced with a similar problem, and where we found deep water.”

Mr. Strickland is in United States to lecture through the Foreign Policy Association on India, and will also lecture on Palestine.

Mr. Strickland, who spent twenty years in India as a rural expert for the British government, was sent to Palestine last summer to make an independent survey of rural conditions. “My survey was not a part of the Simpson report,” he stated. “I have just made my own little report.”

“I reached Palestine while Sir John Simpson was there, and spent some time with him. I continued my observations after he had completed his, and in London we compared notes.

JEWS MISUNDERSTAND WHITE PAPER

“I believe that the Jewish public has not yet understood the true nature of the Simpson report. The White Paper that has been issued to amplify the report is in many ways not clear about the actual recommendations made by Sir John. Sir John gives a very definite plan for the development of Palestine for the benefit of the Jews as well as of the Arabs. He plans, mind you, for the government to settle Jews on some of the Arab land.”

Mr. Strickland then explained the

practical features of the Simpson report. “First, it asks for a thorough hydrographic survey of the coastal plain, to determine just how much land may be used for the growing of fruit. In my talk with Sir John I suggested that the hydrographic survey should be extended to include all of Palestine, as I think it possible that a great deal of other land may be found useable through artesian wells.

“But let us stick to the Simpson plan. This coastal plain, that may be developed with rich fruit plantations, is to be taken over by the government, or to be developed under government compulsion.

“In my talk with Sir John, we discussed a possible board of three—one Briton, one Jew, and one Arab, to control the land development.

“About $50,000,000 would be needed for the development. This sum would be secured through a loan. A Palestine government loan is mentioned. I should think the task of the Jewish people would be to help the government raise that loan.”

Mr. Strickland pointed out that the Simpson report proposed that after this rich territory was developed, approximately one third of it would be given to the Jews for colonization and settlement.

“There you have the government taking land away from the Arabs and giving it to the Jews.

“If the situation continues as until now, with the Jews buying land and settling on it on their own account, the animosity of the Arabs will continue to grow. If however the distribution of land is a government affair, the Arabs can harbor no grudge against the Jews.”

COOPERATIVE MARKETING

Organization of cooperative marketing on a large scale in the orange industry was advocated by Mr. Strickland. “The Jews have begun. The government should help the Arabs organize cooperatives. There should be one big cooperative agency, combining both Arab and Jew cooperatives at the top.”

Mr. Strickland admitted that Jewish capital coming into Palestine had created new demands for labor, and that the Jews had a right to feel that they could choose Jewish laborers to work on their own land or in their own business. “Still no country should allow open immigration when there is extensive unemployment among any of its classes. The Simpson report recommends that immigration be closed not only to Jews but to all classes. It points out that Egyptians have been coming into Palestine, and recommends that they be stopped.”