Haifa, Nov. 27.—The native population here is in a high state of
excitement at news which has just reached us. The government, it is
reported, intends transferring the seat of the provincial government
from Acre to this place. This change has been recommended on the grounds
of the superior excellence of the harbour of Haifa, of its increasing
export trade and rapidly growing population, and, above all, of the
constantly augmenting influence of foreigners, which is the natural
result of the inflow of their capital and of their industry and
enterprise.
The old fortress of Acre, at present the residence of the governor, or
mutessarif, contains a population of about nine thousand, pent up within
the walls of the fort and crowded into an area of little more than fifty
acres. They are for the most part fanatic Moslems, which means a state
of stagnation in industry and commercial pursuits; and in consequence of
the military rule which prohibits any extension of the town outside of
the walls of the fortress within range of the guns, no expansion is
possible to the inhabitants. The population of Haifa, on the other hand,
is increasing with great rapidity, and the place seems to resound from
one end to the other with the clink of the stone-mason's chisel, as new
houses spring up in all directions. These considerations would not
alone, however, account for the resolution at which the government seems
to have arrived.
Three fourths of the population of Haifa are either Roman or Greek
Catholics; in other words, they are under the protection of the French
Consul when religious questions are concerned; and the policy of the
French government in Syria has been to extend its religious protectorate
into political and secular matters, to a degree which is constantly
giving rise to awkward questions and complications not devoid of danger.
A great part of the house property in the town of Haifa is owned by the
monks of Mount Carmel, who consider the whole of Carmel, from the
monastery at the western extremity of the mountain, to their chapel at
the Place of Elijah's Sacrifice at the other end, as a sort of private
preserve, and push their religious pretensions to such an extreme that
they look with the utmost jealousy upon any foreigner who attempts to
buy land in the mountain, and oppose any such proceeding with all their
energy.
The policy of the Turkish government, on the other hand, is to prevent
any foreigners buying land there, or, indeed, anywhere else in
Palestine, although they are entitled to do so by treaty; and in pursuit
of this policy the local authorities are instructed to throw every
obstacle in the way of foreign enterprise of all descriptions, but
especially to render it impossible for persons not subjects of Turkey to
acquire landed property. They have, on these grounds, used their utmost
endeavors to ruin the Jewish colony of Zimmarin, which is also in the
neighborhood of Haifa, by prohibiting the colonists from building houses
for themselves, on the ground that they have no right to the land. They
have based this claim on the allegation that the proprietor of the
property, who was an Austrian Jew, in whose name it was bought for the
colonists, died childless, and, according to Turkish law, landed
property reverts to the Turkish government under these circumstances;
and the government therefore claimed the property. It so happened,
however, that the owner did not die childless. Indeed, I know his son
myself, but the government refused to admit the evidence of any but
Moslems as to whether he had a son or not, a demand which, as the
deceased proprietor did not live in Turkey, it was naturally impossible
to comply with. The question has therefore been pending between Baron
Rothschild, who took over the property on the death of its nominal
proprietor, and the Turkish government for nearly two years; but I
understand that permission has at last been obtained for the erection of
houses by the colonists, and the affair has been arranged.
The fact, however, that foreign questions are constantly arising at
Haifa, either out of French pretensions or the claims of the German or
Jewish colonists, and that no such questions are possible at Acre, where
there is but a limited Christian or foreign population, has rendered it
desirable in the eyes of the Governor-general of Syria to suggest the
removal of the governor of the district to this place. The change has
not yet been sanctioned at Constantinople, and the inhabitants of Acre,
where property will suffer an immediate depreciation, have been pouring
petitions into Constantinople to protest against the change, urging as a
reason that they, who were loyal and devoted subjects of his majesty,
will suffer; while the population of Haifa, composed principally of
Christians and foreigners, will benefit. It is just possible, however,
that the government may consider that the loyalty and devotion of the
petitioners form the best reasons why the governor should be moved to a
place where the loyalty and devotion of the people are not so assured,
and should therefore be watched. At all events, there can be no doubt
that the change, should it take place, will cause an immediate rise in
the value of property here, and that there will be a considerable influx
of people from Acre to this town, which has the advantage in summer of
being a much cooler and more agreeable place of residence.
Meantime, advantage has been taken of this opportunity to remove the
present governor and replace him by a more intelligent and active
functionary, a change which has caused great satisfaction, both to
Moslems and Christians, as, in spite of his fanaticism, he had contrived
to make himself very unpopular with the former, while he altogether
failed to keep the peace at Acre between the rival sects of the latter,
who, though very limited in number, were constantly engaged in broils.
Moreover, it is not the habit of the Turkish government to retain its
functionaries, under any circumstances, long at the same post.
The only drawback to Haifa as the new seat of government is its limited
water supply. At present the town depends entirely upon its wells, and
although an abundance of water can be found at a trifling depth, it is
usually a little too brackish to be altogether palatable. Under these
circumstances it became of the utmost importance, in view of the
proposed change, to try and find a spring, sufficiently copious and near
the town to be utilized, and it occurred to a friend and myself that
such a one might exist at Rushmea, where are the ruins of an old
Crusading fort, which I have described in a former letter, distant about
an hour's ride from the town, at an elevation of about seven hundred
feet above the level of the sea. There is a well here called the Well of
Elias, into which I once descended, and found that it was supplied with
water which entered through a tunnel in the rock, but had no outlet; and
the shepherds told me that, however much they watered their flocks, the
water always remained at the same height, while in winter, although the
well was eight feet deep, the water rose in it so high as to overflow
the mouth. Under these circumstances it was evident that the well was,
in fact, a sort of back-water of some underground stream or rivulet,
which found a subterranean channel for itself. This we determined, by
excavation, to try and discover.
We therefore commenced digging near the well, and about two feet from
the surface struck the roof of a subterranean aqueduct. Uncovering this,
we found that the channel had become silted up with mud, which required
to be removed. We then found that we were in an arched tunnel, the sides
of which were roughly built with stone, while the floor was paved with
the same material, in which a channel had been cut, but it was four
inches higher than the water in the well. We were therefore obliged to
take it up, cutting, altogether, a trench thirty yards long and eight
feet deep. On drawing the water off by means of this channel, we
uncovered the mouth of the tunnel, by which it entered, sufficiently to
send in a man with a light. After wading through the mud for a few
paces, he came upon a vault beautifully cemented, thus proving that in
ancient times the stream had been utilized. It would have involved a
greater expense, however, to clear out than I was prepared to incur,
unaided by the community for whose benefit it would have inured. As it
was, the stream thus discovered was almost sufficient in volume to be
worth conveying to Haifa, a distance of three miles, and could doubtless
be much increased. In the course of our excavations we came upon several
large blocks of square stone, which had formed part of the ancient
tunnel.
The project of the railway from Haifa to Damascus, the concession for
which had lapsed in consequence of the combined greed and apathy of the
first grantees, is now revived under more favorable auspices, and I have
little doubt that the change of the seat of the government to this place
will give it a renewed impetus, so that before long it will be carried
out.
Meantime, unwonted energy is displayed by the government in improving
our communications. Having occasion a few weeks ago to ride to Beyrout,
I saw the surveyors at work tracing out a line for a carriage road to
connect that important city with Haifa. The distance is about eighty
miles, and there are no serious engineering difficulties in the way.
This road is sadly needed, especially now, when, owing to the cholera in
Europe, no steamer touches here on its way to Beyrout, although we are
visited once a fortnight by one coming from that place after it has
performed there a quarantine of five days. The habit, unfortunately, of
the government of making the road, and postponing to an indefinite
period the construction of the bridges, goes far to neutralize its good
intentions. The towns through which the road passes are heavily taxed,
and then, owing to the want of bridges, it is useless for a great part
of the year. Should this road be completed, Beyrout, Damascus, Jaffa,
Jerusalem, Nazareth, Haifa, Tyre, and Sidon will all be connected by
roads over which stages could run; and this would go far to facilitate
travel in Palestine, and enable tourists to dispense with that system of
tenting which now renders it so slow and expensive.