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THE CHINA MAIL, JULY 21, 1937.
LORD PEEL DEFENDS SCHEME FOR PALESTINE PARTITION Opinion Reluctantly Reached After Close Study
SEES NO PROSPECT OF ARAB-JEW AMITY
London, To-day.
Lord Snell, initiating the discussion on the Palestine Report in the House of Lords yesterday, said that the members of the Commission seemed to have arrived at the conclusion that Palestine would never be united till it was divided.
In his judgment the better and surest way lay in understanding and co-operation between the two
races.
He complained that the Government had en- dorsed the Report before Parliament had the op- portunity to pronounce on it, and on behalf of the Labour Party he condemned partition as inequit- able and hazardous.
MAJOR ISSUES
Lord Peel, Chairman of the Palestine Commission, who re-
Lord Dufferin and Ava, Under- ceived loud cheers when he rose to speak, believed that the deep-Secretary for the Colonies, drew rooted facts of the situation attention to the fact that the Re- were that it would not be pos- port was unanimous on the four sible to carry on Government major issues of investigation, and under the Mandate without the had dispelled the belief that the greatest and most searching al-existing Mandate could be made to terations in the Mandate itself. work.
The Government's view, he said, was that the Commission's scheme appeared equitable and well con- Inevitably the Arab believed ceived in the main outline, and was that either himself or his descen- both just and practicable. dants would go down before The Government believed its in- forces with which the Arabs were herent difficulties would be
The race introduced into Pales- tine were determined not to remain a minority.
unable to cope.
come.
GOVERNMENT FIRM
CUTS IN FRENCH BUDGET
M.
an-
Paris, To-day. The Finance Minister, Georges Bonnet, yesterday nounced that extraordinary Bud- get expenditure for the remain- der of 1937 would-be reduced by 6,000,000,000 francs, and the 1938 Budget by 25,000,000,000 francs. Reuter.
air forces, use of ports, roads and
railways, security of oil pipelines
LORD SAMUEL'S CRITICISM
London, To-day.”
French Air Expansion For Defence
Paris, To-day.
"Last year we increased the mo- dern aeroplanes in the French air force by 80 per cent." declared the Air Minister, M. Pierre Cot, in a speech at a gathering near Nantes yesterday. -
This meant, he added, that
French bombing-arm had increased
to
and other matters affecting the de-in effectiveness by 500 per cent. fence and security of Palestine as Aircraft output had been doubled a whole-Reûter.
within a year and in 1937 France would be producing 60 per cent. more military planes than în 1936, although in the latter year output. had been exceptionally high.
With the aid of State-controlled industry it would be possible Among those who criticised the carry out a plan of building 1,500 Palestine Report in the House of aeroplanes. Trans-Ocean Lords debate was Lord Samuel, former High Commissioner for Pa-Ava said it was not weakness but lestine.
strength to end a situation which Lord Samuel declared that the had become intolerable for the mandatory authorities had made mandatory Power. one blunder after another, andl the partition plan, he contended, was unsuitable.
NO INFLAMMATION Having decided to accept the Lord Dufferin and Ava, replying Report the Government would for the Government, denied the ac-lerate no action from either side în cusations of weakness shown by the Palestine which would inflame once Cabinet.
again the fires of controversy. It was not a sign of weakness,
The Government were not pre but of strength, when an end was pared, as at present advised, to en- put to a state of affairs that Bri-tertain any large tain could put up with no longer, variation in the
or substantial scheme of parti- over-seeing that it constituted a danger tion, unless the Jews and Arabs, in for the two races Britain was en- joint agreement, put forward alter- deavouring to assist.
native proposals which commended themselves to the Government. By bringing the matter before the Employment of armed forces League's Permanent Mandates Com- would fail to bring any definite so- mission this month, the govern- lution. If the whole story of the ment hoped to obviate a delay in the ernment were not disposed to en-thing, then it was that the senti-
unrest in Palestine had proved any-subsequent steps to be taken
Speaking of the proposed inde- tertain very substantial variations.
ments of the Arabs were not only pendent Arab and Jewish States, Lord Dufferin added that A
genuine but had penetrated all sec-Lord Dufferin said the Government military convention would be at-
tions of the Arabian populace.
would undertake to support any re- tached to the treaties entered
Partition, he said, did not mean quest they might make for admis- into with the Jewish and Arab that Britain would withdraw from sion into the League of nations.-
Palestine.
British Wireless,
Representations as
• DEEP DISCREPANCY
The least that might be
said proposed boundary regards the receive about the Palestine Government every consideration, and, while was that it might govern
much various modifications in detail better, but how could government might be found necessary, the Gov- flourish with deep Jewish and Arab discrepancy?
"It was not until after the most} thorough and tremendous sifting and questioning,” he said, "that we moyed slowly and reluctantly to the assumption that no mere change in the Mandate was en- ough."
SOLE
IMPORTERS
OPTORG
COMPANY
States.
The convention would deal with maintenance of military, naval and
COM
NOT
A LIQUEUR
To JUGGLE With
But DESERVING of
Your WORTHIER EFFORTS in
buc
the little
matter of mixing
mixing a
COCKTAIL.
COINTREAU
ARAB SENTIMENT
In the Jaffa-Jerusalem corridor to be placed under British mandate, would be located important railway junctions and the headquarters of the Royal Air Force.-Trans-Ocean.
COMMONS DEBATE. TO-DAY
An important Commons debate will start to-day on the Govern- ment's adoption of the recommen- dations of Royal Commission on |Palestine.
Lord Peel observed that the mem- bers of the Commission had áll started on their task opposed to the idea of partition and had come reluctantly to adopt it. He thought it had been a great achievement of the Palestine Government to have legislated and administrated for. two peoples so utterly different and he contended that if the experiment had failed they might fairly con- clude that the failure lay not in the efforts of the mandatory, but in the intractable character and material with which it had to deal.
"The Marquess of Dufferin and
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