Haifa, May 16.—Considering the number of tourists, both American and
English, who annually visit the Holy Land, I have been much struck with
the erroneous impression which still continues to prevail in regard to
its availability as a field of colonization, and as an opening for
foreign enterprise and capital.
For some time past a discussion has been taking place in the Jewish
papers on both sides of the Atlantic, in which the merits of Palestine
from this point of view have been canvassed, and I can only account for
the extraordinary inaccuracies which have characterized the arguments of
the disputants, by the supposition that they have derived their
information from sources which, owing to the changes which have taken
place in the country during the last few years, may now be considered
obsolete.
Readers will be surprised to learn that almost every acre of the plain
of Esdraelon is at this moment in the highest state of cultivation; that
it is perfectly safe to ride across it unarmed in any direction, as I
can testify; that, so far from plundering and despoiling villages, the
few Bedouins, whose “black tabernacles” are now confined to the southern
margin of the plain, have, in their turn, become the plundered and
despoiled, for they are all reduced to the position of being subject to
inexorable landlords, who charge them exorbitantly for the land which
they occupy, and for which they pay in hard cash, under penalty of
instant ejection, which is ruthlessly enforced, so that the inhabitants
of the villages, with which the plain is now dotted, live in perfect
security, though more than twenty years have elapsed since it was
predicted that “in ten years more there will not be an inhabited village
in Esdraelon.” It looks to-day like a huge green lake of waving wheat,
with its village-crowned mounds rising from it like islands; and it
presents one of the most striking pictures of luxuriant fertility which
it is possible to conceive.
When, therefore, I read the other day, as an argument why colonies
should not be established in this part of Galilee, a description of the
dangers which would attend any such experiment, I was amazed at the
temerity of the assertion. But as so much attention is just now devoted
to the consideration of the agricultural capabilities of Palestine, I
think it only right that the delusions which evidently continue to exist
on the subject should be dissipated with as little delay as possible.
The fact is, that nearly the whole plain of Esdraelon is divided between
two great proprietors, the Sultan himself, who has recently acquired a
great part of the eastern portion of it, and the Sursocks, the richest
bankers in Syria, who are resident in Beyrout, and who own nearly all
the villages extending from the foot of the Nazareth hills to the sea.
Some idea of the amount of the grain which is annually grown on their
portion of the plain of Esdraelon alone may be gathered from the fact
that Mr. Sursock himself told me a few weeks ago that the cost of
transporting his last year's crop to Haifa and Acre amounted to $50,000.
This was said as illustrating the necessity of a railway across the
plain, with a view of cheapening the cost of transport, as, owing to the
Sultan having property here, it has become desirable in his majesty's
interest. A concession has recently been granted to these Beyrout
capitalists for the purpose of constructing a line which shall connect
the Bay of Acre and the two ports upon it with the great grain-growing
province to the east of the Jordan, called the Hauran, from which region
thousands of camels loaded with cereals come annually to Acre and Haifa.
As I write the engineers are starting to commence the surveys of this
line, which will run right through to the centre of the plain of
Esdraelon, and open up a great extent of new country lying in the hills
behind it, which will now find an easier access to the sea, while the
whole of Galilee will benefit from so important a means of
communication. Indeed, it is a remarkable fact that while every province
in Turkey has been steadily retrograding during the last few years,
Palestine alone has been rapidly developing in agricultural and material
prosperity. In Haifa and its neighbourhood land has risen threefold in
value during the last five years, while the export and import trade has
increased with a remarkable rapidity, and the population has doubled
within ten years. Indeed, the population of the whole of Palestine shows
an increase during that period, more particularly owing to immigration
within the last year or two. The consequence is that although, so far as
security for life and property is concerned, there is still much to be
desired, great progress has been made, and with a more energetic
government the country might be rendered as safe as any in the world.
As it is, the Bedouins are being gradually pushed east of the Jordan,
and it is now becoming more and more rare for an Arab encampment to be
seen in the neighbourhood of the more settled and prosperous part of the
country. There are, of course, villages where the inhabitants have a bad
reputation, and, as a rule in the establishment of new colonies,
proximity to these should be avoided; but fertile lands, near peaceable
villages, removed from all risk of Arab incursion, and which can be
purchased at a low price, abound; and I know of no more profitable
investment of money, were the government favorable to it, whether by Jew
or Gentile, than is furnished by a judiciously selected tract of this
description. In proof of which may be cited the extraordinary wealth
which has been accumulated by the Sursocks alone, who now own thousands
of acres of the finest land in Palestine, and who purchase numerous new
villages every year.
At the same time it must be admitted that, practically, the purchase of
land in this country is attended with many difficulties. It is either
held by villages in a communal manner, or in very small patches, many of
which have several owners. In the first case the whole village, with its
lands, must be purchased, an operation involving many official
formalities, or the co-proprietors of the small patches have to agree
upon the amount of the purchase-money, and then to show a clear title
and the payment of all arrears of taxes. As a rule the purchase of any
considerable extent of land involves negotiations extending over several
months, and strangers unused to the ways of the country and the methods
by which official routine may be expedited and obstacles removed are apt
to meet with many disappointments. On the other hand, owing to official
corruption, immense tracts of land fit for cultivation, but which are
unoccupied owing to the sparseness of the population generally, may,
through favouritism and backsheesh, be obtained at an almost nominal
price.
The same erroneous impression prevails in regard to the barrenness of
the country, as in regard to its insecurity. Few travellers see more
than the beaten routes, where the hills happen to be unusually stony and
barren; but the extent of the population which once inhabited the
country furnishes the best evidence of what it is capable of supporting,
and its capacities in this respect have been most forcibly dwelt upon by
the officers engaged in the survey of the country for the Palestine
Exploration Fund, who have enjoyed unequalled opportunities of judging
upon the question. The fact that the resident Jewish agricultural
population of Galilee alone amounts to over a thousand souls, is
probably one which will astonish Western Jews more than any one else;
but I have verified it by actually visiting myself the localities in
which they are engaged in their farming operations, and am not giving
the number without having arrived at it upon sure data.
There are three prejudices which have operated against the colonization
of Palestine by Jews, and which are all absolutely unsound, and these
are, first, that the Jew cannot become an agriculturist; secondly, that
the country is barren, and, thirdly, that it is unsafe. The real
obstacle in the way to Palestine colonization does not lie in any of
these directions, but in the fact that the government is most
determinedly opposed to it.