HC
UC-NRLF
THE INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT
OF PALESTINE
BY
N. WILBUSCHEWITSCH
TRANSLATED BY
EDEN AND CEDAR PAUL
2/6 net.
AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF THE CENTRAL BUREAU
OF THE ZIONIST ORGANISATION (LONDON)
THE INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT
OF PALESTINE
BY
N. WILBUSCHEWITSCH
TRANSLATED BY
EDEN AND CEDAR PAUL
2/6 net.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF THE CENTRAL BUREAU
OF THE ZIONIST ORGANISATION (LONDON)
ffc </<?<?
y'O «•* \ / I**-
CHART- SKETCH
or THE
JEWISH COLONIES
RTUF A07enc/J
Bethlehem
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I Introductory 5
Chapter II The Mining Industry 9
1. Quarry-stone 9
2. Lime 10
3. Gypsum 10
4. Salt 10
5. Carnallite 11
6. Bromine 11
7. Sulphur 11
8. Phosphates 11
9. Asphalt , 12
10. Bituminous Limes 12
11. Petroleum 13
12. Other Minerals 14
Chapter III Large-scale Industry 15
1. Flour Milling 15
2. The Olive Oil Industry 16
3. Ethereal Oils 17
4. Sugar Refineries 18
5. Cocoa and Chocolate 18
6. Beer, Wines, and Spirits 18
7. Starch 19
8. Match Making 19
9. Saw-Mills 20
10. Paper Milling 20
11. Textiles 20
12. Tanneries 21
1.3. Machine Constructing and Repairing Works 21
14. Building Materials 22
15. The Chemical Industry 23
Chapter IV The Labour Question 24
Chanter V Small-Scale Industry 33
1. The Preparation of Food-stuffs .... 33
2. Preserving 34
3. Macaroni and other Cereal Foods ... 35
4. The Fishing Industry 35
5. The Tobacco Industry 36
6. The Textile Industry 36
7. The Clothing Industry 38
8. Straw Hat Making 39
9. Button Making 39
10. Artistic Crafts 39
11. Printing and Bookbinding 41
12. The Wooden Furniture Industry ... 41
13. Iron Furniture . . . 42
14. Iron and Steel Works . . . ' 42
Chapter VI Means of Communication 43
Chapter VII Irrigation Works 46
Chapter VIII The Building Industry 50
Chapter IX Developmental Prospects 51
449897
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
16 17
1 An Arabian Lime Kiln
2 Cave with Stalactites in Jebel-Usdum (Mt. Sodom)
3 The making of Gunpowder in a Cave near Bet-Jibrin . . . j
4 Neby-Musa . . . J
5 Arab Watermill
6 Olive Grove at Bethlehem
7 Arab Sesame Mill :
8 Bedouins making Butter
9 The Drying of Cheeses by the Bedouins |
10 Wine Cellar at Zichron- Jakob • - I 24/25
11 Fishing in the Sea of Tiberias (I) I
12 Fishing in the Sea of Tiberias (II) .....
13 Syrian Weaver |
14 Potter in Nazareth \ 32 33
15 Curio-Dealer in Damascus I
16 Sword-Smithy in Damascus '
17 River Arnon near its Embouchure into the Dead Sea • • |
18 Outflow of the Spring Ledan near Tel-el-Kadi I 40 41
19 The Jordan not far from Jericho
20 River Jabbok '
21 Water Engine in an Orange Grove near Jaffa • •
22 Water Wheel in Hama on the River Orontes j> 4g
23 Building Operations in Palestine
24 Antiquated Building Methods
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY
Under the Turkish regime manufacturing industry was but
little developed in Syria. Above all was this true of Palestine,
the southern portion of Syria. Such industries as existed were
mainly home industries and handicrafts, for factories on the
European scale were rare. Before the war, the total products
of Syrian industry and handicraft (including those of Palestine)
were estimated at approximately one hundred million francs
per annum. This sum represented about 11 % of the total-
income from all sources and was comprised of the following items
Mining industry (quarring for the most
part), fisheries (maritime and in the
inland waters)
Large-scale manufactures (textiles, oils,
mills, tanneries, wines etc.)
Home industries and handicrafts ....
Communications (railways, coastal trans-
port, harbours and railway stations, high
roads, posts and telegraphs)
in round figures
frs.
10,000,000
30,000,000
30,000,000
30,000,000
The total annual value of the products of agriculture and of agri-
cultural by-products was estimated at seven hundred million francs
comprising about 80 o/o of the total income.
The development of industry and commerce was hindered
by political conditions, such as the restrictions imposed by the
capitulations, defective legislation, and inadequate transport faci-
lities. The main source of trouble, however, was the venality and
arbitrariness of the officials, in conjunction with the widespread
poverty, lack of education, and low standard of living of a popu-
lation mainly agricultural and making little demand for the pro-
ducts of manufacturing industry. Additional causes were the pau-
city of available mineral wealth, lack of capital, and deficient spirit
of enterprise. The total imports of Syria and Palestine, with
a population of three and a half millions, amounted to nearly
frs. 150,000,000 per annum, this sum being made up as follows:
Products
Value in round
figures
Value per head
of population
Textiles
frs.
70,000,000
frs.
20
Other manufactured articles . .
Flour and other agricultural pro-
duce
60,000,000
20.000.000
17
6
The imports by way of Jaffa for southern Palestine with' a popu-
lation of half a million amounted to nearly a quarter of the total
imports. It follows that for Palestine the annual imports amounted
to seventy francs per head of population, whereas for the rest
of Syria the figure was only forty francs per head. The reason
for this difference is partly to be found in the more extensive
requirements of the urban population of Palestine, consisting
largely of Jew's and foreigners. An additional reason is that manu-
facturing industry is less developed in Palestine than in northern
Syria, wihere textiles and other branches of industry flourish, so
that the needs of the population are to a large extent supplied
by local products and imports are superfluous.
Nowr that the war is over, the change in political conditions
will, doubtless, bring about increased wellbeing, and, as a result
of this, industry and commerce will thrive.
It is impossible, as yet, to foretell how and with what speed
manufacturing industry will develop in Palestine; it is impossible
to foresee which branches of industry will flourish most abun-
dantly. We must first know how the various Syrian provinces
are to be grouped politically; we must know how Palestine
is to be linked with Egypt and her other neighbours; we must
be informed regarding the future status of these adjacent countries
and regarding their mutual relationships.
This much is certain. The first essential to the growth of
every manufacturing industry is that there should be a market
for the wares; the next requisite is the technical capacity for
the production of goods which can challenge competition with
those imported from other lands. Now as far as most branches
of (industry are concerned, the market of Palestine is too small
to justify the installation in that country of modern large-scale
factories. On the other hand, the standard of life of the Jewish
working class is too high for the persistence of home industry
as hitherto carried on in this region, with low wages and pri-
mitive working conditions. If manufactures are to be estab-
lished in Palestine at all, a wider market must be found for
the commodities thus produced, and this market will for the
most part be confined to the east. Advantage must be taken
of the position of the country as one of the nodal points of the
Old World. The example of the ancient Phoenicians must be
followed. During their prolonged exile the Jews have taken over
the heritage of Phoenicia and have played a leading part in world
commerce. It may be hoped that the new Jewish imigration
may bring to all the eastern countries adjoining Palestine fresh
Jewish settlements containing traders, technicians and craftsmen.
We may further anticipate that these will maintain communications
with Palestine as a metropolitan centre, and that the newcomers
will induce the earlier Jewish settlers in the east to open up
relations with their brethren in Palestine. The Jewish settlers
in the east can play the part played by the Phoenician colonists
of old ; through their activities the manufactures of Palestine
may be diffused throughout the orient and indeed throughout
the world; by thus opening access to the world market, they
can contribute greatly to the^ growth of industry in Palestine.
It may here be pointed out that one of the most important
prerequisites for the development of manufacturing industry in
Palestine is that Transjordania should remain attached to western
Palestine. Eastward of the Jordan lie extensive and fertile plains,
potentially fertile though now little better than deserts, and
there are also hill regions eminently susceptible of afforestation.
In the lands eastward and southward from the Dead Sea there
are mineral riches and these, in conjunction with the water power
which can be obtained from1 the eastern rivers, are of prime
importance to the development of industry in Palestine. By
direct communication with Akabah, transport would be notably
cheapened, facilitating the import of raw materials from India and
the far east. The need for paying heavy freights through the
Suez Canal being thus obviated, trade with Arabia and India
would be greatly encouraged. We have further to remember
the trade with the Bedouins, from whom Palestine buys cattle,
camels, wool, butter, hides, etc. to the annual value of from
ten to twenty million francs. In return, Palestine supplies the
Bedouins with cereals, tobacco, sugar and other groceries, tex-
tiles, arms and ammunition, etc. This exchange of goods is of
great importance to the industry and commerce of Palestine.
Along the Bedouin routes, therefore, on the margin of the desert,
great trading centres must be founded, able to take over, in
part at least, the commerce of Syria, that of Damascus, Horns,
Hainan and Aleppo.
The following preconditions are assumed in the subjoined
attempt to forecast the industrial development of Palestine:
1. Within is natural frontiers, as far north as Lebanon (Li-
tani) and the Damascus region (Nahr-el-Aujeh) in the north,
and as far as the uninhabited desert in the east and the south,
Palestine will constitute a single and indivisible area. Under
British suzerainty, it will maintain intimate relationships with
Syria and with the adjacent British colonies, Egypt, Mesopotamia,
and Arabia.
2. Under British suzerainty, Palestine will enjoy just and
strict laws, whereby the rights of individuals will be safeguarded
and protection will be afforded against arbitrary conduct on
the part of officials and the administration.
3. It is further assumed that the restrictions imposed by the
capitulations will be annulled, that import dues will be abo-
lished, and that Palestine will be thrown open to free competition
in conjunction with Syria, Egypt, Arabia and Mesopotamia.
4. Special legislation on behalf of the Jews will favour these
in respect of colonisation and in respect of the development of
agriculture and manufacturing industry.
5. The Jewish settlement of Palestine will be effected in
accordance with an intelligent design, and with as few mistakes
as possible. There must be no grave deficiency either of capital
or labour power.
6. During the ensuing twenty to twenty-five years the po-
pulation of Palestine will be supplemented by the influx of a
million or so of Jews. In intelligence, cultural development, and
standard of live, these must be on a par with the inhabitants
of western Europe. Their chief occupations must be manufac-
turing industry and agriculture.
If these preconditions be fulfilled, the natural advantages of
the region are such as to justify the sketch to be given in the
sequel. Granted these requirements, the industry and commerce
of Palestine will develop in a manner well suited to the natural
conditions of the country and to the extent of population it is
competent to support. The results will then be all that can be
desired for the land and its inhabitants.
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CHAPTER II.
THE MINING INDUSTRY
Before the war a number of plans had been put forward
for the utilisation of the mineral wealth of Palestine, but hardly
any mining operations had actually been undertaken. In the
first place, most of the mineral treasures of Palestine are little
suited for export as raw material. In the second place, the de-
velopment of the mining industry was greatly hampered by the
internal political situation and by the granting of monopolies,
the minerals of the Dead Sea region being allotted to the Djiftlik,
salt to the Dette Publique, phosphates to the Hedjaz railway.
Throughout the Turkish empire the mining industry was but
little developed. For the year 1908 the entire output of the
country's mines was estimated at =£2,230,000, approximately
55 o/o of this sum representing salt, and approximately 17 o/0 re-
presenting coal. In area, Syria comprised about 15 °/o of the
empire, but its share in the total mining output was barely 3l/2 %.
During the war, attempts were made to exploit the minerals
of Syria. In Lebanon for instance, coal was mined, as much
as fifty tons daily being produced; in the Yarmuk valley mineral
oil was extracted from the bituminous lime of Naharin and
was used as a lubricant on the Hedjaz railway but the quantities
obtained were insignificant. No adequate attempts were made
to utilise the underground wealth of the country.
For the purposes of this essay the mineral treasures of
Palestine may be classified as follows:
1. QUARRY-STONE. Hitherto this has been the principal
object of the local mining industry. Good building stone is
obtainable almost anywhere. Limestone and dolomite in the moun-
tain regions; calcareous sandstone on the coast; basalt aj Tiberias
and in Hauran. During the days of classical antiquity the Syrian
stone industry was highly developed but has now fallen 'into
decay. In view of the great number of new buildings likely to
be erected and in order to provide employment lor Jewish
workmen, it is of the utmost importance that the industry should
be modernised, that up to-date methods should be adopted,
that new machinery and tools should be employed. Thus only
can good building stone be produced at a reasonable price,
and thus only can occupation be provided for many thousands.
— 10 —
By the use of modern machinery too, excellent paving stone
could be secured from the rough natural slabs found at Jasim
near Jerusalem. This might prove a lucrative industry.
2. LIME is found everywhere in large quantities and of good
quality. At the present tim'e it is utilised solely for the production
of the quicklime needed for building, the lime being burned
for the most part in simple charcoal kilns, though of late to some
extent in continuous pit-kilns. Hydraulic lime and cement have
not as yet been produced, but could be manufactured from the
existing supplies of lime and clay, and could be utilised not
only in Syria but for export to countries near at hand. Preli-
minary experiments have shown that there is quite a number
of limes and marls well suited for this manufacture.
3. GYPSUM is produced in small quantities near Damascus.
There are deposits of good gypsum at Jebel-Usdum ; and gypsum
of even better quality is found at Jebel-Gipsin, near Melhamia.
With improved transport facilitates it would be possible to obtain
gypsum from both these places. There can be little doubt that
the growth of the buiMing industry in Palestine will call for
a large output of native gypsum.
4. SALT is found in Palestine in vast quantities. At Jebel-
Usdum there is rock salt of a high standard of purity, 99 °/o;
The waters of the Dead Sea, containing sodium chloride in con-
centrated solution (8 o/o ), could furnish practically inexhaustible
supplies of salt. Numerous salt springs are found upon the shores
of this sea and in the southern end of the Jordan valley. West-
ward from El-Arisch there are likewise to be found deposits
of salt and these have been Worked to some extent during
the war.
Salt is one of the monopolies of the Dette Publique. Owing
to the difficulties of transport and the high cost of freightage
hardly any salt is worked in Palestine and very little in Syria.
In the vilayets of Beyrout and Damascus and in the mutessariflik
of Jerusalem the Beyrout administration sells yearly thirteen
thousand five hundred tons of salt to the value of frs. 2,000,000.
This represents an annual consumption of 5.4 kilogrammes per
head of population, the cost being fifty centimes per head.
The consumption per head in Germany is about 18 kilogrammes,
and in England 37 kilogrammes (as far as England is concerned
the dietetic consumption of salt amounts to 7.8 kilogrammes
per head, the balance being used in cattle feeding and for
industrial purposes). The salt used in Palestine comes for the
most part from Asia Minor.
— 11 —
The degree to which Palestinian salt can be exploited will
depend upon the provision of cheaper transport facilities to the
Dead Sea region and upon the growth of the chemical industry
of the country. Salt will be widely employed in the feeding
of cattle, in the manufacture of soda, in salting fish, in soap
making, the leather industry, the manufacture of glass, as an
ingredient of manures, etc. The Dette Publique used to export
large quantities of salt, from seventy-five thousand to one hundred
and ten thousand tons, being procured from Asia Minor and
sent annually to India.
5. CARNALLITE is contained in enormous quantities in the
waters of the Dead Sea. Crude carnaUite, obtained by crystall-
isation, is said to contain 26 % of potassium chloride, whereas
the crude carnallite from the Stassfurt mines contain anly 16 %..
The potassium chloride extracted from carnallite, varying in purity
from 85 o/o to 99 o/b, forms an ingredient of artificial manures,
is used in the manufacture of potash and saltpetre, nitric acid,
gunpowder and other explosives, soap, and glass, large quan-
tities being utilised for these purposes. Owing to the higfh
temperature which constantly prevails on the shores of the Dead
Sea, the production of crude carnallite is easy and inexpensive,
seeing that no fuel is required. The possibilities of its purifi-
cation and export will depend upon improved transport and
upon the general development of native industry. As an ingredient
of manures, carnallite would be a valuable addition to the soil in
many parts of Palestine.
6. BROMINE, in the form of magnesium bromide, can easily
be extracted from the waters of the Dead Sea. The lye that
remains after crystallisation has been effected contains from
1.2o/o to 1.3% of bromine. At Stassfurt, bromine is extracted from
lye containing no more than 0.2 o/0. Bromine is a most valuable
product, suitable for export.
7. SULPHUR is found in the lower end of the Jordan valley
and in the environs of the Dead Sea. For the most part it is
met with in lumps, some of whidi are pure sulphur, whilst others
may contain as much as 65 o/o to 80o/0 of sulphur, but average samples-
show a sulphur content ranging from1 30 % to 35 °/o. Although
the sulphur deposits are not extensive, there is enough of the
mineral to supply local needs, and the sulphur can be used in the
manufacture of sulphuric acid and of carbon bisulphide (used
as a solvent).
8. PHOSPHATES are found to the east of Salt, the crude
mineral containing from 50 o/b to 70 o/0 of calcium phosphate.
— 12 —
The deposits are supposed to total one hundred and fifty thousand
tons. The right of exploitation belongs to the Hedjaz railway.
The deposit being scanty and its situation remote the prospect
of profitable extraction has been small, so that for various reasons
little work has hitherto been done. These phosphates from the
£ast of Jordan and also those from the desert regions of Judea
(containing from 40 o/0 to 50 o/0 of calcium phosphate) could be
.utilised in Palestine for manuring purposes, thus greatly pro-
moting the development of agriculture.
9. ASPHALT. There is not much asphalt in Palestine,
but what there is is of good quality. Professor Blankenhorn
declares that in the floor of the Dead Sea there is a fissure
containing pure asphalt. The quantity of asphalt practically ob-
tainable in the vicinity of the Dead Sea is estimated at several
•thousand cubic metres. More tho the northward are the asphalt
deposits of Hasbeiya, the mineral being found here in larger
quantities, but of inferior quality. Between 1895 and 1900, as-
phalt was mined at Hasbeiya at a depth of about twenty metres,
the annual product being from three hundred to six hundred
tons. Owing to its excellent quality and high price, Palestinian
asphalt lias hitherto been employed solely in the manufacture
of pigments and varnishes, and might contribute powerfully to
the local development of the respective industries. The native
asphalt is less suitable for road making and flooring purposes.
Jn Transjordania, between Ziza and Daba, and elsewhere, deposits
of pure asphalt are found.
10. BITUMINOUS LIMES are found for the most wart in
the lateral valleys eastward of the Jordan, but also in various
parts of western Palestine and Transjordania. This mineral
occurs in inexhaustible quantities, but the average content of
bitumen is less than 10o/o. The richest bituminous limes
are those of Neby-Musa, containing from 10 °/o to 25 % of
bitumen. The bituminous limes of Palestine are little suited for
asphalt works, but Can be used for the manufacture of mineral
oil. Since fuel is scarce in Palestine, the plentiful supply of
this mineral is of great importance. The manufacture of gas
for heating and lighting purposes, bituminous lime being used
-as the raw material, might be successfully developed, especially
in Jerusalem. The best method of treating the mineral and the
possibility of securing valuable by-products have not yet been
sufficiently studied, and the importance of the prospective manu-
facture renders it desirable that a thorough preliminary investi-
gation should be undertaken without delay.
I O — —
11. PETROLEUM. In all probability petroleum can be found
in Palestine. It is even contended that the underground oil-
fields of Palestine are most extensive and that they stretch
along the entire valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea region;
but careful borings must be made before we can decide whether
mineral oil is forthcoming in quantities which it would pay to
work. Some experts declare that the mineral oil occurs only
at a depth of from three hundred to five hundred metres. In
Naharin the Syrian Exploration Company has made borings
to a depth of one hundred and sixty metres, but these have
have done little to clear up the problem1 as to whether workable
deposits exist. This company, with a capital of =£100,000, had
a prospecting licence for the environs of Biria near Safed, for
the Yarmuk valley, the Jabbok valley, Wady-el-Arab, and for the
western littoral of the Dead Sea. The Standard Oil Company
took over the licence from Ismail Bey el Husseni, SeKm Ayoub
and Soleiman Nassif. In the sumhier of 1914 it was about to
undertake borings on a large scale ,in Kornub, seventy miles
southward of Hebron, but the outbreak of the war put an
end to the project. Experts maintain that the prospects of suc-
cessful oil workings at the Kornub are considerably better than
at Naharin.
Palestine is situated in the petroleum zone between Meso-
potamia and Egypt. In Hit there are oil spring's. In the south
too, in the region anciently known as the land of Midian,
petroleum is said to exist. Towards the end of 1913 an English
company, the Midian Company Limited, was founded in order
to work petroleum, pitchblende, and radium in this area, but
has not yet commended operations. In Egypt, close at hand,
petroleum was found on the Golf of Suez at dephts of 1265
and 1635 feet. During the years 1912, 1913, 1914 and 1915
the yield of the Egyptian oilfields was respectively twenty-five
thousand, fifteen thousand, one hundred and twenty-five thou-
sand, and thirty-six thousand tons.
Before the war the annual consumption of petroleum in Pale-
stine and Syria was about thirty thousand tons, this being approxi-
mately nine kilogrammes per head of population. Of this quantity
southern Palestine consumed about 20 o/0, approximately fifteen
kilogrammes per head of population. Should mineral oil be
discovered in Palestine in quantities approaching those which
Egypt can supply, it \vould notably contribute to the development
of the country. The difficulties due to the scarcity of fuel would
— 14 —
be for the most part solved, and there would be a surplus of
petroleum available for export.
12. OTHER MINERALS. In Rohr-el-Safi near Fenan there
are remains of ancient copper mines and smelting works. Copper
ore containing from 25 °/o to 40 o/0 of copper is still obtainable
in this region, but not, it would appear, in any considerable
quantities. Alum has been found on the eastern shores of the
Dead Sea. Chromium, boracite, and galena are said to occur, and
amber is found in Lebanon. Ozokerite containing about 22 <>o
of ceresin was first discovered in Lebanon near Behamdun during
the year 1918 by Professor Kort in the bituminous deposits of
that region. It is possible that a detailed investigation and ela-
borate boring experiments for the discovery of mineral treasures
will disclose further deposits of ozokerite and other minerals
in Palestine.
The above survey of the mining possibilities of the country will
have shown that in the development of the native mining industry,
more attention must be paid to the possibilities of consumption
within the confines of Palestine than to possibilities for the export
of raw materials. It follows that mining prospects are closely
interconnected with the prospect of developing large-scale indus-
tries in which the Palestinian minerals can be utilised on the spot.
— 15 —
CHAPTER III.
LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRY
(carried on in power^driven factories)
By large-scale industry we denote those undertakings which
require a great capital expenditure |in oomparision with the amount
of labour employed, which ip reduce commodities chiefly with the aid
of machinery in place of hand labour, and which are conducted
on ordinary capitalist lines - - undertakings wherein management
by cooperative societies or artels is hardly practicable. Among
such industrial undertakings for which Palestinian conditions are
suitable, the following may be enumerated: -
1. FLOUR MILLING. Western Palestine (and Judea in
particular) has not hitherto produced sufficient wheat for the
requirements of its population. Transjordania, on the other hand,
grows a considerable surplus of Wheat. The annual wheat pro-
duction in Judea is seventy kilogrammes per head of population,
whilst that in Transjordania is three hundred and fifty kilo-
grammes. The estimate of consumption of wheat, per head per
annum, is: in Turkey 145 kilogrammes; in Greecfe 162 kilo-
grammes; in France 256 kilogrammes. Consequently it has been
necessary to import European flour into Palestine. Between
1910 and 1913 the imports by way of Jaffa ranged from 3700
tons to 11,650 tons, and those by way of Haifa ranged from
670 tons to 2170 tons. Transjordania, on the other hand, exports
wheat, sending it for the most part to Damascus and Lebanon,
but despatching some of the grain abroad by the port of
Haifa (the amount of grain thus exported by way of Haifa from
1909 to 1913 ranged from! 5400 tons to 18,600 tons).
The mills ,m Palestine are of a simple type. In western
Palestine we find about one hundred and thirty-five primitive
water mills, and about one hundred and thirty mills driven
by steam or other engines. Most of these latter are in the towns
and are adapted for producing the finer kinds of flour.
In Transjordania there are about fifty primitive water mills and
about forty mills of simple construction but driven by mechanical
power. Large power^Jrjiven roller flour mills are found only in
Damascus and Beyrout. Should better communication between
Transjordania and Jerusalem be established, and should the future
— 16 —
development of agriculture lead to local production of sufficient
quantities of wheat, a certain number of large roller mills could
be successfully established in Palestine.
2. THE OLIVE OIL INDUSTRY flourishes in Palestine
despite the primitive methods employed. In the villages there are
oliive oil mills to the number of about six hundred, and in two-
years the output of these mills has totalled something like seven
thousand tons of oil, of an estimated value of frs. 7,000,000.
Nearly half of this oil finds a dietetic use, but the larger
moiety is employed in the manufacture of soap. The quantity
exported is trifling, amounting to barely one hundred tons. On
the other hand a considerable quantity is imported for soap-
m'aking, as much as two thousand five hundred tons per year.
Of late years the fifty soap-factories of Palestine have pro-
duced as much as nine thousand tons of soap per annum. Of
this, from six thousand to eight thousand tons, valued at from
five to six and a half million francs, has been exported to
Egypt by way of Jaffa. The production of sesame ranges from
ten thousand to twenty thousand tons, and the export of this grain
is from six thousand to twelve thousand tons per annum at an
estimated value of from three million to six million francs.
Other vegetable oils have no economic importance at present.
In Damascus the annual production of hemp-seed ranges
from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred tons, the estimated
value bein (frs. 250,000. Part of this is exported by way of
Beyrout. ,
In western and eastern Palestine four hundred tons of butter
of the approximate value of frs. 1,000,000 are produced. Most
of this butter, known locally as semne, is consumed in the
country. The supply is (supplemented by semne which the Bedouin
Arabs bring in the spring time. The quantity thus supplied
ranges annually from six hundred to two thousand tons and is
valued at from one and a half million to five million francs. The
extent of this import varies conversely with the richness of
the local pasturage, and most of it goes to northern Syria, for
eastern Palestine supplies its own needs. The greater part of
the semne is adulterated by the addition of mutton fat, American,
margarine (imports about six hundred tons), and cocoa butter
(imports about one hundred tons per annum). Semne is ex-
ported to Egypt and Turkey, five hundred tons being shipped
via Beyrout, and from five hundred to one thousand tons via
Alexandretta. The estimated value of this export is from three,
to four million francs.
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s
Z* °QO(>,ri:S^.?0^£nd
CO '5 *^
— 17 —
Thus the total annual value of the oil industry of Palestine
is about frs. 18,000,000, this comprising: olive oil frs. 3,500,000;
sesame frs. 4,500,000; soap frs. 6,000,000; semne (including that
of all Syria) frs. 4,000,000. In addition, Palestine and southern
Syria consume imported varnishes valued at frs. 200,000, candles
valued at frs. 300,000 and margarine valued at frs. 1,000,000.
The oil jndustry of Palestine would undergo extensive devel-
opment were it organised on modern lines. Such interprises,
if they are to pay, must be instituted on a considerable scale.
A large amount of capital must be available for the purchase of
olive oil during the season. The number of olive trees was insuf-
ficient before the war, and many of the trees have been destroyed
while the war was in progress. At this juncture, therefore,
olives have to be imported into Palestine as raw material for
the oil industry. One of the first requisites is the cultivation
of such plants as give an annual yield of oil ,(s°y bean, arachis,
cotton, etc.) and oil-bearing trees (olives and various euphor-
biaceas, alerites icordata, stillingia sebifera, castor oil, bay, the
turpentine tree, etc.).
The oil industry must concern itself with: (a) the extrac-
tion of the remnants of oil from the offal of olives which have
already passed through the ordinary presses (the annual amount
of such available offal in Palestine is about ten thousand tons) ;
(b) expression of oil from imported olives and from those which,
as time passes, will be grown in Palestine in increasing quanti-
ties; (c) the solidification of oil for the manufacture of vege-
table tallow and the manufacture of cooking butter; (d) the
manufacture of soap; (e) the manufacture of varnishes (from
hemp, linseed, and stillingia oil; (f) the manufacture of candles.
As population increases, as demand extends, and concommitantly
with a general rise in the standard of living and a wider devel-
opment of other manufacturing industries, there will be excellent
prospects for the oil industry. Beyond question, with eareful
management, this branch could be made profitable from the
very outset.
3. ETHEREAL OILS. In Palestine these could be extracted
from quite a number of plants. Jewish experimenters have made
attempts to produce them from roses, geraniums, mimosas, and
orange flowers, but these attempts have hitherto miscarried for
various reasons. Oil of aniseed and oil of thyme are now
prepared in Galilee. In the Jordan valley small quantities of
oil are extracted from the Bohemian olive (balamites Aegyptiana).
At Antioch, bay oil is extracted in considerable quantities, the
— 18 —
output being about two hundred tons per annum. The main
difficulty in the way of developing these industries is the shortage
of cheap labour, which is requisite for picking the flowers. In
Bey rout, however, there is a large and successful French factory
for the production of ethereal oils.
4. SUGAR REFINERIES. The annual consumption of sugar
in southern Syria, exclusive of Aleppo, is about twenty thousand
tons, this representing eight 'kilogrammes per head. The con-
sumption in Europe is twelve kilogrammes per head per :innum;
in the United States (of America it is thirty kilogrammes ; in
England it actually reaches the figure of thirty-six kilogrammes.
Of the twenty thousand tons above mentioned, three thousand
five hundred tons are imported by way of Jaffa.
There is a flourishing sugar industry in Egypt and during
the seven year period from 1906-7 to 1912-13 the production
gradually increased from forty thousand tons to sixty five thou-
sand tons per annum. Ten thousand tons of sugar are exported
fronr Egypt, but from thirty to forty thousand tons are imported.
Palestine is well suited for the production of both beet sugar
and cane sugar, and although the local consumption of sugar is
small it is quite possible that this industry could be successfully
established in Palestine.
5. COCOA & CHOCOLATE. The manufacture of these
comestibles could be carried on in Palestine, in the first instance
from imported cocoa beans, and mainly with an eye to the
oriental market. Before the war the consumption of these com-
modities in Egypt was valued at frs. 800,000 per annum. With
the extension of dairy farming, Palestine could follow the example
of Switzerland and could develop the manufacture of milk choco-
late. It seems probable that cocoa could be grown success-
fully in the lower part of the Jordan valley, and if so the
country could supply its own raw material for the cocoa industry.
Sweetmeats, crystallised fruits, and halwa (prepared from
the excellent Palestinian sesame), made in part according to
European recipes, but chiefly, like those of Damascus, to suit
local tastes, could be successfully produced for consumption
in Palestine, and for the oriental market in general. Under able
management there can be no doubt that this would prove a
successful branch of industry.
6. BEER, WINES, & SPIRITS. Wine production is already
well developed in Palestine. At Rishon-le-Zion, and Zichron-
Jakob there are large and well-equipped cellars. At Mikwe-
Israel Rechoboth, Katrah, Petach-Tikva etc. there are smaller
— 19 —
cellars owned by Jews. At Sarona, Latron Haifa etc. are cellars
owned by non-Jews.
Spirit is distilled in Palestine from1 grapes alone. About one
thousand tons of spirit valued at frs. 500,000 are imported into
southern Syria, chiefly from Russia. Of late there has been a
development of spirit-distilling in Egypt, the raw material being
the molasses from the local sugar refineries. For the immediate
starting of this industry in Palestine, the only raw material
that suggests itself is durra, a variety of sorghum, a cheap
cereal containing a very high percentage of stacch. The annual
production of durra in Syria is from one hundred and fifty
thousand to two hundred thousand tons. For the preparation
of better kinds of spirit, carobs (locust beans) could be used;
Haifa and southern Syria export thirteen hundred tons of locust
beans per annum. Various other vegetables containing large
quantities of sugar, vegetables which thrive in Palestine and in
Egypt and are cheap in these regions, could be utilised as raw
materials for spirit manufacture. Among these may be mentioned
the sweet potato (ipomoea batatas) containing 10 o/0 of sugar,
the Jerusalem artichoke, (helianthus tuberosus), containing 14 o/0
to 15 o/o of sugar, and the kulkas (colocasia antiquorum). Yet
other plants adapted for this purpose may be introduced in
the future.
/The beer annually imported into southern Syria is valued
at frs. 300,000. Small as the demand is and expensive as is
the establishment of a brewery in a warm climate, the high
cost of freightage in the case of bottled beer suggests that local
brewing would be profitable. Moreover, the local production
of beer would doubtless be followed by an increase in the demand.
7. STARCH. This is now prepared from wheat at Damascus
in twenty-twro small factories. It is employed mainly as an
article of diet. The yearly output is less than one thousand
tons. The development of this branch of manufacture, like that
the spirit industry, is closely associated with the prospects of
agriculture and is dependent upon the cultivation of inexpensive
starch-containing plants, such as durra, maize, and potatoes.
The manufacture of dectrine, employed in dressing and stiffening
textiles, and that of dectrose employed in jam-making in place of
sugar, are dlosely connected with the same possibilities.
8. MATCH MAKING. For the manufacture of matches it
will be necessary to import wood. The annual consumption in
Palestine is about four thousand cases containing one hundred
and twenty dozen small boxes each. The rest of Syria consumes
— 20 —
ten thousand cases. The consumption of matches in Egypt is
valued at frs. 2,000,000 per annum. Several unsuccessful attempts
have been made to establish small match factories; but in Jaffa,
shortly before the war, the construction of such a factory was
begun, and it is stated that the enterprise has been successful.
9. SAW-MILLS, associated with woodworking and veneering
machinery, could be etablished as accessories to a wholesale
timber business in one of the ports in order to supply the local
demand for manufactured wooden articles. The principal source
of import for such a business would be the southern coast of
Asia Minor.
10. PAPER MILLING. The principal raw material now
available for paper manufacture is straw. Drainage of the swramps
will cut off such plants as papyrus, sedge, etc. as a source of
raw material. By afforestation, however, a supply of woods
suitable for paper manufacture, such woods as pine and poplar,
could be assured. Rags for fthe milling of the better qualities
of paper could be collected locally or imported from neighbouring
countries. From Egypt two thousand tons of rags are exported
annually to England. Already before the war the local demand
for paper was considerable, the annual imports being as follows:
Beyrout
Pa le$tine& Syrian
Ports others than
Beyrout
Egypt
tons
tons
frs.
Brown-paper ....
Cardboard
460
420
340
120
| 4,000,000
Printing paper ....
Writing paper ....
300
250
95
60
} 3,000,000
Cigarette paper . . .
65
45
1,000,000
Other varieties . . .
220
270
3,000,000
Total values
frs. 600,000
frs. 1,000,000
11,000,000
For the packing of oranges Palestine uses about two hundred
and seventy tons of tissue paper, Unquestionably the demand
for paper, and above all for printing paper, will undergo an
enormous increase in Palestine, pari passu with the general
development of the country.
11. TEXTILES. The production of sheep's wool in southern
Syria before the war was about twelVe hundred and fifty tons
per annum, and the Bedouins from1 Arabia (distinct from the
northern Bedouins) brought a similar quantity to sell.
Wool was exported to the value of frs. 3,500,000 chiefly by
way of Beyrout and Tripoli (Tarabulus). For the textile industry
of southern Syria, ten thousand bales of yarn, for the most part
— 21 —
cotton yarn of inferior quality, are imported from Italy, India
and England. The value of this import is about frs. 20,000,000.
In addition, Alexandretta imports yarn valued at from twelve
to twenty-five million francfs. Jhe figures above given include
about one hundred tons of woollen yarn.
As far as Palestine is concerned, the cultivation of cotton is
still in the experimental stage, but cotton is grown in northern
Syria, the output being about two thousand tons per annum.
If Palestine is to share in the prosperity of the textile industries
of Syria, if spinning mills for wool or cotton are to be esta-
blished in Palestine, it is essential that there should be in the
south a simultaneous development of weaving mills. (For further
details see Chapter V.) The wool-washing industry must be asso-
ciated with wool-spinning, and wool-fat is an important by-product.
In connection )with the development of this industry it will be
essential to establish great purchasing centres east of the Jordan
on the Bedouin route froom north to south.
12. TANNERIES. The tanning industry is fairly well de-
veloped in northern Syria, but has made little progress in Pa-
lestine. In Syrian towns, chiefly Damascus, Aisotab and Aleppo,
about half a million lamb-skins and goat-skins, are tanned every
year, and manufactured into red and into yellow satienna. Dressed
hides are made into box-calf and into veaux satines.
The local production of leather is far from satisfying the
demand. It is true that there is an export valued at more than
frs. 1,000,000, but against this there is an import of undressed
and dressed skins valued at about frs. 6,000,000.
Since leather dressing is an industry widely engaged in by
Russian Jews, tanning and the leather industry might well be
developed in Palestine, seeing that entrepreneurs and experts
in the business could easely be (secured. Preferably, however,
the industry would depend upon imported undressed skins, for
the skins obtainable in Palestine are few in number and poor
in quality. But materials requisite for tanning, such as gall-nuts
and sumach are obtainable in abundance.
Beyond question a tannery, if it could find a local market
in the form of a well-developed boot and shoe industry and
of an industry for producing other manufactured leather goods,
would have excellent prospects of success (see below in
Chapter V).
13. MACHINE CONSTRUCTING AND REPAIRING
WORKS. Before the war, establishments of this character in
Palestine employed from four to five hundred workmen. About
— 22 —
five hundred tons of castings are made annually in Palestine,
chiefly for pumps, milling rollers, and oil presses. Should local
manufacturing industry develop and should Palestinian agriculture
be modernised, the local market for machinery would be greatly
extended, and works of this nature would flourish. Were the
government to undertake railway development, engineering works
might be founded for the supply of materials needed in construc-
tion. If sufficient capital were available, under experienced ma-
nagement such enterprises might prosper.
14. BUILDING MATERIALS. In southern Syria from eight
to ten thousand tons of cement and nearly seven thousand tons
of hydraulic lime have been utilised annually, the Palestinian
consumption of hydraulic lime being six thousand tons. In
view of the reconstruction works now imminent, a manufactory
capable of turning out twenty thousand tons of cement and ten
thousand tons of hydraulic lime might well be established without
delay. The neighbourhood of Haifa would be the most suit-
able site.
Gypsum is chiefly imported into Beyrout, about one thou-
sand tons being utilised here every year. It is also used in
Damascus for local purposes in an extremely primitive manner.
The gypsum deposits near Melhamieh and the still richer de-
posits at Jebel-Usdum could be usefully exploited for the home
market were there but greater facilities for transport from the
Dead Sea region. Roofing tiles and glazed tiles to the number
of from four to five million are imported into southern Syria,
half of them going to Palestine. A considerable proportion of these
tiles could be produced at the tile and brick works of the
Syrian orphan asylum in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, however, is not
the best centre for this industry, owing to the high cost of
transport thence to other parts of the country. Good day for brick
and tile making is procurable in various localities.
GLASSWORKS. If the mistakes made in establishing the
great glassworks at Damascus are to be avoided, careful preli-
minary enquiries are requisite as to whether glass manufacture
can be made to pay in Palestine. The local demand is at
present insignificant, amounting only to an estimated value of
about frs. 1,000,000 per annum. Seeing that fuel is so dear
and that a very great variety of glassware would have to be
manufactured, the prospects for this industry are not encouraging
at present.
SILICATE STONE. The manufacture of silicate stone slabs
might be undertaken in Jaffa and in other places where good
— 23 —
sand is obtainable. But when the methods of quarrying !iave
been brought .up to date and when transport facilities have been
improved, the competition of natural stone will be serious.
15. THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY cannot within any period
easy to foresee reckon upon a local demand which would justify
attempts to exploit all the treasures of the Dead Sea region,
as for instance by the production from sodium chloride of caustic
soda, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, hydro-chloric acid etc.
In Chapter II we have referred to the possibility of utilising the
potassium salts in carnallite and of extracting bromine. Here
the chances of successful development are certainly better. It
is quite possible also, that small works producing sulphuric
acid and carbon disulphide for the local market would pay
very well. A further lucrative possibility is to be found in con-
nection with the utilisation of water power from the Jordan
or is tributaries in extensive works for the production of nitrogen
from the air. Used in the manufacture of artificial manures,
nitrates thus obtained would contribute notably to the devel-
opment of agriculture.
The foregoing sketch will have shown that the possibilities
for the growth of large-scale manufacture are closely inter-
connected with those for the development of agriculture, with
the practicability of exploiting the mineral treasures of the country,
and with the chances of an increase in population, a rising
standard of life, and a general enhancement of demand.
Strict legislation for the safeguarding of private property,
the abolition of the speculative monopolies and concessions wliich
hinder the proper utilisation of mineral wealth, improved and
cheapened transport facilities, and above all a unified admini-
stration which with intelligent forethought shall envisage the
many sided development of the country - - such are the prere-
quisites to the sudcess of new manufactures.
Large-scale industry in Palestine must be based upon private
enterprise, the enterprise of persons possessing the capital, and
the expert knowledge that are indispensable. These persons
must be enabled to secure experienced managers, foremen, and
technicians and they must be willing in most Cases to renounce
the prospect of making high profits forthwith. Under such auspi-
ces, and with due precautions, a revival of Palestine might be
effected, for the country, though at present to a large extent
a desert, is favourably situated, and has wealthy neighbours. Thus
general wellbeing might be ensured; regular employment might
be provided for many thousands; and for many thousands more,
possibilities for an active existence might indirectly be furnished.
— 24 —
CHAPTER IV.
THE LABOUR QUESTION
The labour question is of vital importance to the development
of manufacturing industry and above all to the development of
those branches of industry which employ a large number of work-
people as compared with the amount of capital invested in plant,
for the development, that is, of small-scale industry and handi-
crafts. Throughout Palestine the opinion Is widespread that the
unskilled Jewish workman, demanding high wages and displaying
a low productivity, is less adapted to fulfil the local labour
requirements than are the (native workers, and is unable to
produce wares capable of challenging competition. The con-
tention is not wholly unfounded, but is only applicable to the
conditions now obtaining, wherein the working methods are
adapted to the requirements of the native-born population, where
they are consequently primitive in character, and where the
mentality and the bodily powers of the Jewish workers (phy-
sically weak though1 mentally well developed) are not given
a fair chance. The (opinion, moreover, correct as it may be
in particular instances, cannot be accepted as a generalisation.
Experience teaches that the productive powers of a culti-
vated workmen, one aware of his own capacity, are so great
that throughout the world it is cheaper to employ him arid the
results are more satisfactory than when a coolie whose demands
are smaller (is engaged. But the skilled workman must be fur-
nished with modern applicances to enable him to do his work
successfully. His culture fits him 'for the utilisation of up-to-
date methods and his self-respect brings in its train a sense of
responsibility. For these reasons, a skilled and intelligent work-
man when employed under suitable conditions is certainly more
productive than a man of less skill and intelligence and is
better capable of work which will Challenge competition, despite
his higher wages and higher standard of life, which are essential
to his existence. These theoretical considerations are confirmed
by American experience, for in America the workmen's wages
are from three to five times as great as in Russia or in Palestine,
o <
^ *1
ti tiu
£ U
w
9§l
PHaisH
aO
il|Ilil ,s
•«><? Sj« SS
UMi^SS^**
e 111*0*11
<LI £ « § CTJ^TJ ** .2
li^lilillil
IIilfs|l|HI
j=|-c|z;^|_|S8
— 25 —
and in the States he not anly produces complex manufactured
articles but also agricultural products, more cheaply than they
can be produced in Palestine. It must not be supposed that
in America work is invariably performed with the aid of com-
plicated machinery. In many instances some simple but cle-
verly designed appliance enables the work to be done, well and
cheaply. Take, for example an elementary engineering operation.
Before the war, in Palestine, when sand or soil had to be
dug up and removed to some short distance, from forty centimes
to one franc per cubic metre had to be paid, the charge varying
with the nature of the soil. The labourers, persons of both
sexes, carried the material in tubs, and their daily earnings
ranged from fifty-five centimes to one franc fifty Centimes. For
similar work the Americans use a troughshaped shovel, the
so-called ,,scarper" drawn by two horses. Should the ground
be too hard for the use of this implement it is first broken up
with the plough. As soon as the shovel of the scarper is full,
pressure on the handle raises the shovel from the ground. It
is then slid to the desired place, or conveyed thither upon
wheels, and emptied by tipping. Work carried out in this manner
near Fort Collins, where a dam three metres in height was
being *t>uilt in connection with an irrigation scheme, cost fifty
centimes per cubic metre. In the Modesto Irrigation District of
California, an aqueduct two metres in depth was excavated at
a cost of thirty centimes per cubic metre. The team of a scarper,
including the driver's wages of two dollars, costs three dollars
twenty-five cents (frs. 17) a day. Fodder is inexpensive and
represents one dollar of this amount. In Palestine, though human
labour is icheap, the upkeep of two horses costs from frs. 6
to frs. 8 per day.
Yet more striking instancies might be given, showing
the comparative avantages of modern applicances as against pri-
mitive methods. For instance, in a cooperative factory near
Ogden where tomatoes are canned, with the aid of a perfectly
designed soldering apparatus one solderer with two assistants
is able in a 'single day to seal fourteen thousand tins each
containing two and a half pounds of tomatoes. At San Jose
in California, with the use of the same applicant, fifteen thou-
sand tins were sealed in one day.
In the textile industry a weaver working at a power-driven
loom will turn out as much as one hundred and twenty metres
of cotton doth in a day of from eight to nine hours, whereas
the best Syrian weaver, working at a hand-loom, for a day of
— 26 —
from twelve to fourteen hours, cannot produce more than ten
or twelve metres of plain woven cotton doth.
It would be superfluous to give additional examples. Those
already adduced will suffice to show that the Jewish workman,
a man of comperatively high intelligence, if set to work under
conditions suited to his mental and physical capacities, would be
able, though paid higher wages, to produce commodities that
could successfully challenge competition with those made by
lower grade labour.
The chief supply of labour for the prospective industries
of Palestine must be drawn from1 Jewish immigrants arriving
from Poland, West Russia and Galicia. Statistics of the year
1910 classified the Jews according to occupation as follows:
Occupation
Russia
Austria
Germany
Persons
%
Persons
%
Persons
%
Agriculture . .
37,373
2.4
57,004
12.3
3,371
1.4
Industry ....
555,229
36.3
122,728
26.5
45,993
18.8
Commerce and
transport . . .
520,938
34
153,401
33.3
133,451
54.5
Domestic Service
and Casual la-
bour ....
125,750
11.5
39,457
8.5
7,260
3
Public Services
and liberal pro-
fessions . . .
175,109
8.2
36,971
8
14,641
6
Unproductive and
unclassified oc-
cupations . .
116,338
7.6
52,792
11 4
39,870
16.3
Totals
1,530,737
100
462,353
100
244,586
100
It thus appears that more than one third of the Jews in Russia
and more than one fourth of the Jews in Austria (in Galicia for
the most part) are engaged in industrial1 pursuits. Additional
and more detailed statistics are available showing that about 50 o/0
of Russian Jews are actively engaged in productive occupations,
devoting themselves to all possible branches of manufacturing
industry and handicraft. Beyond question from these sources
it would be possible to derive a supply of labour extremely well
adapted for the industrial colonisation of Palestine. This is a
suitable place for a description of the intellectual qualities of
the Jews considered in relation to their capacities as industrial
workers. The account is based upon knowledge obtained by
— 27 —
the writer through practical experience during many years' asso-
ciation with Jewish workman in Russia and in Palestine.
The Jewish workman of Russian origin is in most cases a
strong individualist. He is inspired with definitive ambitions,
desires to better himself, and thinks more of the future than
of the conditions under whidi he is living at the moment. His
main aim is to secure independence. He Will not work with care
and diligence unless he personally understands the object of what
he is doing, realises its necessity and recognises that his own
interest is involved. When employed at a fixed wage he will
endeavour to take things easily and to work as little as possible,
showing scant concern for the quality of his work if he is driven
to it simply by the spur of need and if he fails to see that
he can gain anything for himself by more strenuous activity.
In such circumstances his mind turns rather towards goals and
ideas which will bring him spiritual satisfaction ; for the struggle
towards a distant aim, the struggle for an ideal, is in his very
biood. He insists upon a gt>od wage, finding it impossible to
live upon a pittance. In general intelligence, and in his capacity
for grasping new ideas he is little if at all inferior to the western
European workman. Indeed he ex-dels in alertness, and recep-
tivity, but fails somewhat in respect of punctuality and staying
power. The Jew is always trying to make his work easier and
to get as much out of it as possible. Highly skilled workmen
are rare among the Jews. Jewish builders in Palestine have
learned their craft from the Arabs and are inferior to these
alike in theoretical knowledge and in practical skill. -Conditions
are little better in Russia, where Jews have been unable to
obtain employment in the larger and better equipped factories
and workshops, so that their training has mostly been obtained
in small Jewish workshops, where modern methods of work
are unknown, where the work is often botched, where unsui-
table tools are used, and where cheap and inferior articles are
turned out. Directly the Jewish workman sees a chance cf
becoming independent he opens a workshop of his own and
continues there the same unsatisfactory methods of production.
My opinion on this matter is fully borne out by the statistical
^ata on industries and trades in the pale of settlement. These
data, txjmpiled by the Jewish Colonisation Association in the
year 1898, relate to twenty-five administrative districts in Poland
and western Russia. They show an immoderately high percen-
tage of masters, a small proportion of journeymen, and a very
— 28 —
high proportion of apprentices as compared with the journeymen:
Masters
o/o
Journeymen
Apprentices
Totals
1. Foodstuffs
2. Clothing and laundry . .
3. Leather ... ...
43,655
84,915
40,522
75
44
47
9,675
62,667
25,562
4,547
46,372
19,222
57,887
193,954
85,306
4. Woodwork
5. Metalwork (unskilled) . .
6. Metalwork (skilled) . . .
7. Chemicals . . . .
25,653
13,296
12,203
2,764
52
47
60
76
14,119
8,680
4,212
594
9.816
6,417
4,113
259
45,588
28,393
20,528
3,617
8. Building and pottery . .
9. Textiles
10. Printing and bookbinding .
19.791
10,589
5,998
63
57
51
7,994
4,582
3,343
4,705
3,257
2,354
31,590
18,428
11,965
Totals
259,396
140,528
101,062
500,986
Percentages
52"/o
28"/o
20"/o
100°/o
We see that, on the average of the total persons engaged in these
industries 52 o/0 are masters whilst only 28 o/o are journeymen
and 20 °/o are apprentices. Thus to every hundred masters there
are no mare than fifty-four journeymen, whereas there are
nearly forty apprentices. Of like character is the situation in
Roumania. In that country of 19,289 Jews engaged in manufac-
turing industry 9801 (51 o/o) are masters, 5551 (29 o/o) are jour-
neymen and 3937 (20 o/0) are apprentices. During the last two
decades a notable improvement has occurred in these respects.
On the other hand, during the years of the war the training*
of workmen and skilled foremen and managers was greatly
hindered. In the pale of settlement for nearly five years manu-
facturing industry was at a standstill, this applying above all
to the Jews. The young men were Called up for military service
and were thus deprived of any opportunity for learning their
trade. The result was in the case of nearly all the younger
journeymen that technical knowledge was forgotten and the
hand lost its cunning.
Sound technical training of the workmen and the introduction
of modern working methods are of prime importance to the
development of the newer Jewish industries 'in Palestine. In
default of such conditions the new manufacturing industries will
not undergo proper expansion and the Jewish workers will
be unable to compete with those engaged in native industries
carried on by the old methods. All the more is it indispensable
that the new industries should be modernised, since Palestine,
as far as can be foreseen, will have no protective tariffs, and will
— 29 —
have to face the unrestricted competition of the civilised European
states.
In Russia, technical schools are established among the Russian
Jews to promote the development of industry and to increase the
skill of the workers. Unfortunately the desired ends are tarely
obtained by these methods. Experience shows that it is ex-
tremely difficult to learn a trade properly in a technical school
and in default of several years' practical experience. Especially
is this so in the case of a Jewish pupil, who does not
usually spring from a family of skilled workers and who has
had no previous technical training. Quite a number of students
in the Jewish technical schools, when the close of their term of
study was approaching, were inspired with the ambition of
becoming technicians and engineers. Often enough, however,
such young fellows had to content themselves with situations as
clerks, making the most for this purpose of their theoretical
acquirements and reaping no benefit from' their years of manual1
training, which had after all been imperfect and did not enable
them to command an adequate wage. A few only of the pupils
practised a skilled trade on leaving the technical school, endeav-
ouring to Continue and perfect their training in workshops and
factories. Experience has shown convincingly that a highly skilled
workman can 'be trained only through practical work in tactories
and workshops producing, a hijghr dass of goods. For completing
the technical knowledge of a workman what is requisite is atten-
'dance at evening4 school's wh'ere the training is of a practical
nature, not at such schools as confine themselves to cramming
his head with theoretical generalities of very dubious value.
.During the foundation of the new Palestinian industries
to be carried on by Jewish workmen these considerations must
be given full weight. Large-scale industries must be installed,
industries turning out commodities with modern machinery, as
fully automatic as poissible, and in which the workers' task is
confined to supervising and directing the machine. The workmen
employed in such industries, comparatively few in number, must
be given a personal interest in the success of the enterprise,
as by profit-sharing, by facilities for securing by easy payments
residences in garden cities, and by other provisions tor the
welfare of the employees.
In small-scale industries on the other hand, those wherein
commodities are manufactured in large quantities and in
which each individual workman produces the finished article,
. - 30 —
where the entire process of production is under his eyes, and
where the capital expenditure upon machinery is small, the
workmen or groups of workmen must be allowed to assume
independent but orderly control of the operations. Here the
individualist spirit and the sense of independence characteristic
of Jewish workers will have free play; their diligence and
intelligence will operate to the best advantage, Contributing alike
to the prosperity of the individual worker, to the success of our
manufacturing industry, and to the fulfilment of our national
aspirations.
To this end, and for the furtherance of small-scale industry,
crafts, and trades, model factories must be established. Should
it appear, after due consideration, that any particular branch
of industry is likely to be useful and profitable in Palestine,
trusty and highly skilled workmen, men with years of experience,
must in the first instance be secured. It might be desirable and
even essential, when a new branch of industry has to be tho-
roughly learned, to despatch skilled workmen abroad to complete
their training in regions where this particular branch of pro-
duction has been brought to perfection. The next stage would
be to found model workshops, small places but whith a thoroughly
modern equipment, either subsidised private enterprises or purely
national concerns. In these the selected industry would be carried
on for a time under tutelage, while the foremen and the skilled
workmen were being thoroughly trained, while the new com-
modities were making their way in Palestine and in adjoining
countries, while buyers were becoming acquainted with the pro-
ducts, and while a market was gradually being secured. When
the new manufacture has passed the experimental stage and
has proved profitable, wjh'en! a jg'roup of workmen, on piece-work,
are abTe to make the desired profit, the undertaking should be
assigned to independent groups of workers or to cooperative
societies. Thoroughly up-to-date machinery, driven where ne-
cessary by mechanical (electrical or other) power should be
placed at the disposal of the workers on easy terms of purchase.
In addition a central station must be established for the purchase
of raw materials and for the sale of the finished products. In
most cases there m'ust be a 'Central1 workshop where the requisite
finish can be given to the artiid'es made by individual workmen
at their homes or by groups of workmen in cooperative work-
shops. As a rule the model factory can serve this purpose. An
industrial1 bank should be established to finance these small-scale
— 31 —
industries, and there should be a national technical bureau to
keep them under due observation.
We stand to-day on the threshold of a social transformation ;
a revaluation of the old values is at hand; stereotyped ideas
and social ordinances are about to be swept away. Now, when
we hope to build up a new Palestine, is the time when we
should make an effort to avoid the old errors. As far as the
working and productive elements of society are concerned, we
may find it possible, to a large extent, to fulfil the traditional
desire for an association of industry with agriculture. In this
wise, perchance, we may be able to make the workman inde-
pendent, to promote the intensity of his working powjers, to raise
him in the physical and moral scale, to counteract the deleterious
influences of factory labour, and to obviate the occurenCe of
strikes which are ever injurious to the progress of an industry.
The endeavour should be made to house the workers in garden
cities. Facilities should be given for the cultivation of fruit,
vegetables, and flowers, an allotment being provided with the
possibility of purchase on easy terms. The allotment should
be close to the dwelling house, and this latter should also, when
desirable, 'have a workshop with electrical installations. Every
workman should work at his skilled trade vigorously but for
short hours only, either in his own house or in the Cooperative
workshops, and should then secure a change of occupation by
cultivating his garden under the free air of heaven. The nature
of each particular branch of industry will determine whether coo-
perative workshops are requisite or whether each workman should
have the necessary appliances in his own home and thus be
independent within the group. Aided by his family, each work-
man might produce in his own garden, a considerable pro-
portion of the food istuffs required for domestic use, and such
agricultural labours could not fail to be health-giving to the
wife and children as well as to the man. Thus th'e worker:
1. producing his own food, could live at once more healthily
and more cheaply; 2. furnished with up-to-date applicances he
could produce goods able to challenge competition; 3. he
could lead an independent life, could utilise his working powers
to the full, could develop his individuality, and make the most
of his avantages. By 'cooperative stores and by Centralised arrange-
ments for the purchase of raw materials and the sale of manu-
factured goods, the producers could to a considerable extent
obviate the high costs "of facttory administration and could avoid
having to pay profits to middlemen. With good cooperative
— 32 —
organisation the workers would unquestionably do very well,
would be able to pay off the preliminary loans and would become
perfectly independent.
The system here sketched, in which the process of manu-
facture is decentralised internally and centralised in relation to
the outer world, a Combination of industry with agriculture,
and the securing of an independent position for the individual
worker, would seem to be the most appropriate methods for
the development of small-scale industry and handicraft in Pales-
tine, by Jewish workers. Working under such conditions, the
labourer would be able to develop his individuality and his
intelligence, and 'would have this personal life established on a
solid foundation. Slowly but surely the industry and commerce
of Palestine would attain a higher level of development.
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— 33 -
CHAPTER V.
SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRY
Factories % workshops with decentralised management
It is impossible to establish a sharp line of demarcation
between large-scale industry and small-scale industry, for many
branches of manufacturing industry are carried on, now upon
a large scale, and now upon! a small1. In the following exposition
we understand by small-scale industry those occupations which
are suitable for decentralised management, those in which indi-
vidual labour is of primary importance and such machinery and
tools as are employed are of no more than subsidiary use,
and those in which the worker (as in the case when he turns
out articles produced in very large numbers) supervises practi-
cally the whole process of manufacture and can assemble them
individually or in groups. In general terms they are occupations
which, under suitable conditions, can be carried on independently
by groups of workers or by Cooperative societies.
Among small-scale industries of this character the following
must be considered:
1. THE PREPARATION OF FOOD-STUFFS. This is wholly
dependent upon agriculture, and with the future development
of Palestine it will be able to tount upon an enlarged local
market and also upon the possibilities of export, especially to
adjacent countries. Before the war, among" the countries sup-
plying Egyptian needs, the Turkish empire already occupied the
second place, purveying in especial large quantities of articles
of diet to the Egyptians. Turkey exported to Egypt goods
valued at about =£3,000,000, this constituting from 10 o/0 to 12 o/0
of Egyptian imports. Should Palestine become more competent
to supply the Egyptian market, her position will give her favour-
able opportunities for the development of a trade already well-
established. We therefore append a table showing the amount
of foodstuffs imported into Egypt from the Turkish empire,
indicating what percentage in each case the import from Turkey
is of the total import into Egypt, and indicating further the
quantity of each commodity annualy produced in southern Syria.
Food Stuffs
Egyptian imports from Turkey
during the year 1911
Production in Syria
(Damascus, Bey-
rout, andjerusalem;
Aleppo excepted)
tons
Kilogrammes
Estimated
values in frcs.
%
Meat, salted, smoked, tinned
Fish, salted, smoked, tinned
Butter, boiled (semne) or
fresh
239,608
112,048
676,951
2,619,267
67,534
8,936
15,249
5,817,444
1,407,320
9,709,112
389,573
1,390,277
159,055
5,758,148
3,922,622
3.262.450
280,000
167,000
1,470,000
3,140,000
54,000
137,000
3,700
13,700
875,000
590,000
4,200,000
75,500
216,000
316,000
1,430,000
138,000
4,900,000
1,020,000
14.000.000
10
13
65
57
77
54
1
0.3
90
50
67
7
19
12
70
1
81
34
46
125
(expert^ fom
A exandretta)
150—200
(fish caught in the Sea of
Tiberias a-d the Waters
of Merom)
1000—2000
(semne produced local by
and also that brought by
the Bedouins)
2000
12
1000
(produced in Damascus)
4000—7000
12,COO
500—1500
(dried apricots)
3000—5000
(apricot dough)
600
(dried figs)
270
(preserved fruits and
vegetable)
6000—8000
(fruit honey)
7000
(two years' production)
500—700
(sesame oil)
9000
(hectolitres) 50,000
1000—1500
Cheese
Honey
Various flesh foods . . .
Starch
Cereal foods
Raisins
Olives
Dried fruits
Bottled fruits and vege-
tables
Other vegetable products .
Jam and candied fruits .
Olive oil
Other vegetable oils . .
Soap
Wine in cask
Tobacco
The goods imported from1 the Turkish empire have been
mostly cheap and nasty, and it should be the aim' of Jewish
industry in Palestine to produce wares of a better quality even
if they should be more costly. Producers should not think solely
of the Egyptian market; but since the annual value of the im-
ports into Egypt is from =£25,000,000 to .£30,000,000, Pa-
lestine ought to be able to get a share of the trade.
2. PRESERVING. The possible extent of this industry
depends upon the available supply of fruit and vegetables. Apart
from olives, grapes, almonds, and oranges, Palestine does not
— 35 —
at present grow large quantities of any fruit suitable for this
industry. (Damascus produces annually nearly one hundred
thousand tons of apricots; and large quantities of apples and
quinces are grown in Damascus and Zebdani.) At first, there-
fore, this industry will have to concern itself mainly with the
preserving of vegetables. With an up-to-date plant it should
prove possible to supply preserved fruits and vegetables after
the European manner. With modern methods of work the in-
dustry can be carried on quite economically. For example,
the cooperative Canning business at Ogden in the state of Utah
to which reference has previously been made, though paying
high wages, was able to turn out daily fourteen thousand tins
of tomatoes containing two and a half pounds each at a price
of from seventy-five centimes to one franc per tin. The agricul-
tural workers in this industry received a monthly wage of from
thirty-five to forty dollars with board in addition, while many of the
factory hands were paid as much as four dollars per day; but, as
already said, with the use of modern machinery the factory hands
can work (in a most economical manner. If Jewish labour in Pa-
lestine is to enter into competition upon the world market,
the adoption of similar methods and appliances is indispensable.
3. MACARONI AND OTHER CEREAL FOODS are pro-
duced locally in small quantities only. The yellow and shiny
Hauran wheat is said to be well adapted for the manufacture
of macaroni; if this be so, this branch of industry might be
well developed. In Italy some twenty-five thousand to thirty
thousand men iare engaged an the (manufacture of macaroni.
It seems quite likely that this industry, together with the manu-
facture of other cereal foods, including biscuits, might thrive
in Palestine and might provide employment for large numbers
of persons,
4. THE FISHING INDUSTRY in Palestine is carried on
by extremely primitive methods. Despite the extensive cost
line of the country, the local sea fisheries are not able to meet
the demands of the sea-ports, so that of late Jaffa has annually
imported more than four hundred tons of fish (salted, smoked
and tinned.) The industry should be developed in the form of
a deep sea fishery, and employment could thus be provided
lor a great many persons. It may be noted that in Russia about
eight thousand five hundred men make a livelihood as fishermen.
According to Italian statistics of the year 1914 there were one
hundred and fifty thousand fishermen in that country and twenty-
nine thousand four hundred and eighty-six fishing smacks.
— 36 —
The fish-canning industry is closely connected with the
ordinary fish industry. Fish canneries could be established on
the sea coast and on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias.
The annual catch in the Sea of Tiberias and the Waters
of Merom is estimated at from one hundred and fifty to
two hundred tons. It is stated that a variety of sardine (en-
graulis encrasicholus) appears every spring in vast numbers in
the waters southward from1 Jaffa. Flounders are likewise met
with in these waters.
5. THE TABACCO INDUSTRY of Palestine is hampered
at present by the monopolies of the Regie Company. Among
the Jews of Russia there are many skilled persons engaged in
tobacco culture and in the later stages of tobacco manufacture.
According to statistics for the year 1910 of the Jewish population
of Russia, 17,547 persons were engaged in the tobacco industry.
The prospects of the industry in Palestine are unquestionably
favourable, and if properly developed it could provide employ-
ment for thousands of persons. Moreover, the tobacco industry,
especially in the form of cigarette manufacture, is one well
suited for home industry. Palestinian tobacco would find a
good market in Egypt, which imports annually about ten thousand
tons of tobacco and cigarettes in addition. Forty per cent of
the tobacco comes from Turkey. The export of cigarettes
from Egypt amounts to about five thousand tons, at an estimated
value of frs. 10,000,000.
6. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY is well developed in southern
Syria notwithstanding the primitive methods employed. There
are more than fifteen thousand hand-looms in this region and
there are besides in the vilayet of Aleppo and additional fifteen
thousand hand-looms. Of the southern Syrian looms, two
thousand five hundred are engaged in weaving silk and three
thousand in weaving half-silk goods. The looms work for the
most part upon imported yarn. The imports of cotton are three
thousand tons, of flax two thousand tons, of wool one hundred
tons, and of silk two hundred tons, the total value of these
imports being estimated at frs. 10,000,000. Native hand-spun
yarn and silk are also woven. 'The doth is specially produced
for the eastern market, being 'partly sold in Syria and partly
exported. As far as Palestine is concerned the industry is little
developed, for there are only eight hundred looms, for the
most part in Gaza an Mejdel.
The output of southern Syria has an estimated value of
from frs. 20,000,000 to frs. 30,000,000. The marine export of
— 37 -
textiles (the export of Aleppo excluded) comprising silk, cotton,
and woollen piece-goods, had an estimated value of frs. 3,000,000.
The import of textiles (Aleppo again excluded), British for the
most part, had an estimated value of from1 frs. 40,000,000 to
frs. 50,000,000. The estimated annual consumption of textiles
per head of population is from frs. 20 to frs. 25. Egypt imports
annually textiles to the value of frs. 200,000,000, the imports
from Syria and the rest of Turkey being valued at frs. 5,000,000.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, owing to
European competition, the value of the Syrian textile industry
had declined by about one third. As far as it has been able
to maintain its position, this has been owing to the peculiar
character of the oriental demand (which the European looms
have not been able to satisfy perfectly), owing to the very
low wages earned (from fifty centimes to two francs per day
of from twelve to fourteen hours), and owing to the use of
cheap varieties of yarn, some of it being refuse yarn which
Cannot be woven in power-driven looms. The Palestinian textile
industry, advantageously related to the domestic and neighbouring
foreign markets, would certainly flourish if, while producing
goods specially suited for the eastern market, it were to employ
power-driven looms wherewith each workman in the normal
working day of eight hours can turn out ten to twelve times
as much cloth as a handloom weaver. Plenty of skilled machine-
loom1 weavers are to be found among the Jews of western
Russia and Poland (in the year 1910 among the Jews of Russia
93,144 persons were engaged in the textile industry), but these
Russian Jews would have to adapt their work to eastern require-
ments. With good organisation it would not take long to
introduce power-driven weaving into Palestine. Ably conducted,
the industry would fhourish abundantly and would provide a large
amount of employment.
Spinning, cloth-dressing, and dyeing are closely connected
with weaving. Apart from these, there are many branches of the
textile industry such as hosiery-making, carpet weaving, felt-
making, rope making etc., which could be developed locally.
Before the war, there were at work in Damascus and Aleppo
from six to eight thousand sock-knitting machines. At the same
period there were annually imported from Germany and still
more recently also from Japan, socks and stockings to the
value of from frs. 1,500,000 to frs. 2,000,000. Simple felts, used
mostly to make saddles for donkeys and camels, are produced
by primitive methods; felts of better quality are imported. The
— 38 —
rope-walks of Damascus, using local hemp as the raw material,
turn out annually from one thousand to fifteen hundred tons
of rope and cordage, supplying the eastern market in general.
The rope is twisted by hand in primitive fashion, and though
the hemp is good the finished rope is greatly inferior in quality
to that of European manufacture. The introduction of the Ame-
rican aloe, from which sisal hemp is prepared, would give a
great impetus to the Palestinian rope and cable manufacture, so
that the industry might assume large proportions. The region
of southern Idumaea would probably be well suited for the
cultivation of this aloe (agave Americana) for the plant thrives
in an exceedingly dry climate. With a rainfall ranging from
thirty five to forty centimetres, a hectare of land planted with
the American aloe will yield annually from thirty thousand to
forty-five thousand leaves, or from seven hundred and fifty to
twelve hundred kilogrammes of sisal hemp. Ships7 cables of
the finest quality are manufactured from sisal hemp ; the stronger
fibres are used in brush manufacture; the finer sisal hemp and
the fibres of banana leaves are utilised in weaving and in the
making of hosiery. The Palestinian Jews have an opportunity
for modernising the entire textile industry and for manufacturing
thoroughly good articles, in part out of materials already grown
locally and in part out of materials produced from plants to be
acclimatised in the future. By working for the market which
is already open, by providing the east with goods of superior
quality, and by employing up-to-date methods and the most
modern machinery procurable, it would be possible to provide
for the paying of liigher wages, such as are necessary for the
higher standard of life of the Jewish workers.
7. THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY. In this industry, and
above all in the ready-made clothing trade, the Jews lead the
world, providing goods of this class, not merely for local use,
but likewise for export. Ready-made clothing and boots and
shoes were imported before the war both into Palestine and
into Syria. Even more extensive were the imports into Egypt
(ready-made clothing and underclothing valued at frs. 25,000,000;
boots, shoes etc. valued at frs. 7,000,000).
There is no doubt that this branch of industry and commerce
could be developed locally, not only for the Palestinian and
Syrian market but for export to neighbouring countries, thus
furnishing employment for many thousands of workers. In Ger-
many, in the year 1895, per million of population thirty thousand
persons were engaged in the clothing industry (in the widest
— 39 —
sense of that term) ; in Egypt, where the standard of life among
the countryfolk is so much lower, the proportion thus engaged
is seven thousand per million of population. Throughout the
world, the industry is carried on chiefly in small workshops. In
Palestine, -with cooperative methods and with centralisation for
purchase and sale, excellent articles well-adapted for local de-
mands could be produced, and could gradually make their way
into the general oriental market.
8. STRAW-HAT MAKING. This could likewise be intro-
duced into Palestine with good prospects of success. We are
given do understand that the papyrus plant which grows wild
on the Mule plain would be very suitable for making straw hats,
and that for this purpose it could be grown in Palestine. Straw-hat
making is a flourishing industry in Italy, occupying more than
one hunderd and twenty thousand persons, two thirds of these
being Tuscans. Besides providing for the local demand, Italy
exports annually straw-hats valued at frs. 30,000,000. Under
expert management this manufacture might thrive in Palestine
and provide plentiful employment.
9. BUTTON MAKING from mother-of-pearl was begun in
Jerusalem during the year 1914 by the Strauss factory and proved
profitable, Palestine may be encouraged by the example of japan
where the manufacture of mother-of-pearl buttons was initiated
towards the close of the nineteenth century. So rapid was the
progress of the industry that within a brief period goods to
the value of frs. 50,000,000 were being produced annually. Ex-
cellent mother-of-pearl can be secured upon the western shores
of the Red Sea, and mother-of-pearl of somewat inferior quality
can be obtained from the Persian Gulf. The making of buttons
from mother-of-pearl as well as from1 various metals, from horn,
bone cocoanut shell, and other materials might well become
a home industry in Palestine. Here again, under expert manage-
ment and with the necessary mercantile ability, the industry
would thrive and would provide work for thousands.
10. ARTISTIC CRAFTS have been carried on for denturies
in Jerusalem and Damascus. Although Jerusalem, owing to its
sacred character and owing to the great afflux of tourists to
the city, would seem to be extraordinarily well-adapted for all
kinds of artist craftmanship, the growth of these industries has
remained within moderate bounds. In Jerusalem and Bethlehem
the chief manufactures of this kind have been religious ornaments
made from mother-of-pearl1 and olive wood, giving occupation
to one thousand persons; in Damascus about two thousand
— 40 —
persons are engaged in artistic Crafts, the principal being the
making of brass ware. The wages are low, above all in Damascus;
the models are simple and monotonous; generally speaking the
execution is rough and primitive. It is natural, therefore, that
the market should be restricted. By modernising the industry,
by the manufacture of articles suitable for the world market
though retaining the Jewish oriental style, by the introduction
of machinery arid modern appliances whilst reserving handicrafts-
manship for artistic articles of higher quality in a word,
with expert management and sound business principles, there
can be no doubt that the artistic crafts would flourish abundantly
in Jerusalem. (For example we learn that before the war, in and
around Pforzheim nearly eighty thousand persons were engaged
in the jewelry industry.) The pioneer entreprises of ,,Bezalel"
have given the initial impetus to this industry in Jerusalem.
BezaleFs experience which lasted several years may serve to
point the proper path of development and may render possible
the avoidance of numerous errors. The indispensable requisites
are these: suitable models; permanent exhibitions in Jerusalem
and in the great capitals of the world; the cooperative purchase
of raw materials and the cooperative sale of the finished pro-
ducts; credit institutions and similar organisations for the devel-
opment and maintenance of the industry. All these artist crafts
could be carried on as home industries or by productive cooper-
ative societies. Under able business management, the prospects
are most hopeful, and employment could be provided for many
thousands of persons.
Within a brief period' a start might be made in the following
branches of artist craftmanship:
Silver filigree work, plain, encrusted or set with stones.
Brassware of the Damascus pattern, with copper and silver inlays.
Brass founding and Zinc founding, rough finished wares, toys, etc.
Metal wares made with stamps, dies, and on the lathe. Rough finished
articles, artistic bindings for furniture, etc.
Etching and Wood Engraving.
Galvano-plasty for table ware, jewelry, etc.
Stone-polishing for the production of various articles, from local va-
rieties of marble, malachite, etc.
The Cutting of Diamonds and other precious stones, the work being
done upon imported stones. There was at one time a diamond
cutting business in Jerusalem, and it is supposed to have paid its way.
Carving of Small Objects in Ivory and Metal. Jewelry, bas-reliefs, etc.
Carving in Stone, Bone, and Wood. As inlays for jewelry, furniture, etc.
Wood Encrustations for furniture, boxes, etc.
Fancy Furniture both in the European and in the Damascene styles.
— 41 —
Cane Furniture. This has a great vogue in the east.
Enamel Work in metal and silver.
Porcelain Painting.
Terracotta Ware.
Plaster Casts.
Mother of Pearl and Amber Articles.
Leatfter Work, stamped, etc.
Stuff dyeing.
Plush Work.
Carpets, woollen and silken. This industry was developed by Bezalel.
In his day it occupied as many as one hundred and fifty workmen.
The industry might be extensively developed.
Lace and Embroideries in silk, silver, etc.
Papier Mache boxes and other articles, lacquered and painted.
11. PRINTING & BOOKBINDING. There is a great field
in the Holy Land for the development of these industries. Printing
and bookbinding establishments, founded in Jerusalem for the
production of prayerbooks and copies of the sacred writings,
would doubtless be able to challenge competition throughout
the world. The scripture bearing the imprint ,,Jerusalem" would
be especially valued by the Jews of the dispersion, and would
thus find a universal market. Educational developments and the
effective revival of the Hebrew tongue will require a large number
of new books. Palestine, as the spiritual centre of Jewry, will
have to issue a number of periodicals. Industrial developments
will necessitate the printing of much advertising matter. Printing
and bookbinding, lithography, and other polygraphic industries
and the making of cardboard,, might become thriving industries,
giving employment to thousands of workers.
12. THE WOODEN FURNITURE INDUSTRY is pursued
in Palestine als a handicraft. The artistic furniture annually turned
out in Damascus is valued at from frs. 300,000 to frs. 400,000.
There is a large power-driven factory in Beyrout. A great deal
of Austrian bent-wood furniture is used in Syria, the annual
imports by way of Jaffa and Haifa being valued at frs. 150,000
and those by way of Beyrout at frs. 250,000. The Egyptian
imports of bent-wood furniture have an estimated value of
frs. 2,000,000. Bent-wood furniture has shown itself well-suited
to the climate, and satisfies popular demand. As the Jewish
population increases, there will be a greatly enhanced demand
for furniture of all kinds. This branch of industry could indubi-
tably be extensively developed. Under expert management furni-
ture could be made for export to adjoining countries. This would
provide employment for many hundreds of persons.
13. IRON FURNITURE and iron bedsteads especially, to an
annual value of frs. 300,000 Centers Syria by way of Jaffa and
— 42 —
Beyrout, and is imported into Egypt to a value of more than
frs. 2,000,000. Such furniture is exceedingly well suited to oriental
requirements. In Poland (Warsaw) large numbers of jews are
occupied in the iron furniture industry and as immigrants to
Palestine, could assist in its development there. Attempts have
already been made to manufacture various kinds of iron forniture
in Palestine. There was a market for the goods, but they were
made in so primitive a fashion, were so bad and so dear, that
the enterprise had to be abandoned. There can be no doubt
that, thoroughly modernised, this industry would thrive in Palestine,
and that there would be a good market for its products.
14. IRON & STEEL WORKS. With businesslike management
it would be easy in Palestine to manufacture meial incrustations,
locks, agricultural and building tools etc. The forging of knives,
swords and so on, in fact the production of metallic apparatus
of all kinds, are industries which might furnish employment
for hundreds.
It would lead us too far afield to enumerate here all the
branches of small-scale industry, and at this juncture, when
political and other conditions are still in a state of flux, it
would be unduly venturesome to attempt a definite judgment
concerning developmental possibilities. It is quite likely that
in addition to the articles previously mentioned, a number of
others, such as docks and watches, gramaphones, surgical and
optical instruments, various instruments of precision, sewing
machines, adding machines, typewriters, lamps, toys, brushes and
combs, fancy goods, pins and needles, buckles, knives, forks,
and spoons, etc. etc. - - in a word all such articles for whose
manufacture the local 'procurability of raw materials is com-
paratively unimportant and upon which freightage is inconside-
rable — could be manufactured in Palestine for the world market,
thus providing employment for many thousands of persons. But
for the fulfilment of these possibilities it is essential that the
enterprises should be managed in a thoroughly businesslike way.
Not merely must there be at the head of such undertakings
experienced men perfectly conversant with the world market.
Highly skilled workmen and persons with sufficient organising
capacity are likewise requisite. Thus alone could a market be
secured, thus alone could goods able to challenge competition
be produced, and thus alone could the taste of consumers in
various countries be duly considered.
— 43 —
CHAPTER VI.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATIONS
During the war the railway system of Palestine has undergone
considerable expansion, but quite a number of railway lines, some
of these being of normal gauge and others being light railways,
are still merely projected and await construction in the immediate
future. The railways now existing in Palestine and in the vicinity
consist of the following lines:
Haifa, Lucid, Gaza, Kantara (normal gauge) . . ...
kilometres
415
Belah Beer-Sheba : . .
50
Jaffa Ludd Jerusalem (partly narrow gauge)
89
Wady, Sarar Beer-Sheba (narrow gauge) .
80
Tine, Bethany, and Esned-Kudj
52
Haifa, Afuleh, Deraa (light railway) v- - . .
Belad-El Scheich Acre ... ...
164
17
Afuleh Jenin Tul-Keram (light railway) . .
80
Massudje, Nablus
15
Deraa, Damascus, 137 kilometres }
Deraa, Maa. 323 kilometres J
450
Totals
1,422
The projected railways are the following:
(a) Haifa-Rayak to connect the normal gauge Cairo-Haifa
railway with the Rayak-Constantinople line. According to the
draft scheme and in completion of the preliminary work under-
taken by Meissner Pasha, the line will run via Tiberias, Rosh-Pina,
Metula, and Saghbin to Rayak. The new line will be two
hundred and fifty kilometres in length.
(b) The projected Cairo-Bagdad railway a normal gauge
line more than one thousand kilometres in length, will cross
Palestine, about one fourth of the new line being within the
limits of that country. A connection with the Palestinian system
is to be effected from Akabah. The last-named extension will
be of enormous importance to Palestinian trade with Persia
and India and to the development of Palestinian industry.
44
(c) Haifa-Acre. This line, seventeen kilometres in length,
destroyed during the war, is to be constructed, and is to be
continued along the coast for one hundred and twenty kilometres
to Sur (Tyre) Saida (Sidon) and Beyrout.
Dock construction in Haifa is now under consideration.
According to an earlier plan a breakwater twelve hundred metres
in length, 'was to have been constructed, providing an anchorage
with an area of from thirty to forty hectares. The costs
of construction \vere estimated at from frs. 15,000,000 to
frs. 20,000,000. According to more recent designs, whose exe-
cution will be far costlier, the anchorage is to be considerably
greater.
With the development of the country and its increase in
population there will be a notable expansion in light railways
or narrow gauge railways. Before the war a light railway had been
projected to connect Katrah, Petach-Tikva, Sarona, Jaffa and Rishon.
Such a line could count on a annual freightage of fifty thousand
tons, and would pay very well. If prolonged to Rehoboth and
supplemented by branch lines, it might even secure an annual
freightage of eighty thousand tons. Another line, of a total
length exceeding one hundred kilometres, running from Jerusalem
by way of Jericho and Salt to Amman, with a branch to the
Dead Sea would serve to carry grain and charcoal, and ultimately
also salt, gypsum, phosphates, etc. from Transjordania to the
west, and should prove lucrative. The inauguration of great
irrigation works and the practice of intensive agriculture would
necessitate much additional light railway construction, above all
in the Jordan valley.
In the near future new high roads will prove absolutely
essential to the development of the country. At the present
time the main roads of Palestine have a length of nearly one
thousand kilometres, but they are for the most part unfinished
or in exceedingly bad condition. No long time can elapse before
it will prove necessary to build additional roads extending over
two thousand kilometres or more. All these roads, old and
new alike, will have to be highways of the first class and
suitable for motor traffic.
For proper railway development in Palestine the colonisation
of the country must be deliberately undertaken and must be
entrusted to a Jewish Sociaty for the Colonisation and Recon:
struction of Palestine. Only such a society would be competent,
— 45 —
by the fixing of freights, to encourage production in various parts
of the country, and to secure labour suitable for constructing
and working the railways.
With regard to the numbers of the railway staff, the follow-
ing data of the staff on the Hedjaz railway and on the Jaffa-
Jerusalem railway will give some idea of what will be requisite.
The figures relate to the years just before the war.
1. Management: Engineers and assistants . . .
Bookkeeping etc
Medical service
Hedjaz
Railway
1600 kms.
351
50 100
15|
Jaffa-Jerusalem
ha Iway
87 kms.
E|'»
2. Train Service: Guards and brakesmen . . .
Station staffs
1801 o80
200J m
U}«
3. Traction service: Locomotive Engineers and
firemen
160]
20 1
Workshop and goodsyard
lianHc
800 106°
60 80
Pump hands and oilers . .
4. Line Supervision: District managers and as-
sistants
100
100) Cnn
101 Kn
Platelayers, labourers etc.
500| m
40f50
Total
2,040
180
or per kilometre
1.5 men
2 men
It must of course, be noted that the numbers of the staff do
not depend solely upon the length of the line, but must vary
also with the frequency of the train service and the weight of
the trains.
— 46 —
CHAPTER VII.
IRRIGATION WORKS
A carefully designed irrigation system is of the first impor-
tance to the development of the country and to the encourage-
ment of agriculture. In the vilayet of Damascus, for example,
suitable irrigation, despite the antiquated methods employed, has
served to convert what was practically desert into a fertile and
flourishing region, able to support a population of one million.
In addition to the electrical station of Tekoa, nearly four hundred
water mills are driven by the waters of the irrigation service.
Branching out into a network of canals, the waters are utilised
wholly for irrigation purposes, so that in the dry season not a
drop runs to waste in the swampy lakes of Baret-el Ateihe.
The slime from the irrigation waters and the sewage of the
great city simultaneously irrigate and manure all the environs.
The rivers of Palestine should be utilised in a similar manner,
but with more modern appliances. As a result of certain measure-
ments and observations I estimate the mean available waters of
Palestine during the summer months as follows:
The Jordan, the main stream with its tributaries . .
The Auja (about 8 c. m. and the other rivers flowing
seawards, together with the lesser streams of the
inland region)
The eastern tributaries of the Dead Sea
By regulating the marshy lakes and the stagnant waters
of the rivers near the coast, by draining the marshes,
and from springs near the coast, the water obtain-
able may be estimated at from
Total
cubic metres per
second
40 — 50
15 — 25
2 3
13 — 22
70 —100
For the irrigation of one hectare 0.5 to 0.7 of a litre of
water per second is requisite. A continuous supply of this
quantity by day and by night during an irrigation period of from
one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty days, represents
covering the land with! a depth of water ranging from seven hun-
— 47 —
dred to eleven hundred millimetres. Taking the available quantity
shown in the above table, namely seventy to one hundred cubic
metres per second, it would be possible to irrigate from one
hundred and twenty thousand to one hundred and seventy thou-
sand hectares of land.
The estimated extent of the low-lying plains of Palestine
is about four hundred thousand hectares, one third of this area
belonging to the Jordan valley and about two-thirds to the
coastal region and the plains of western Palestine. Irrigation
on this scale would only be requisite for intensive Culture, but
were the scheme carried out, the region could be transformed
into a fertile garden, providing food for millions of persons
and supplying raw materials for various industries. One third
only of these regions could be irrigated from the Palestinian
waters at present available; the storage of rainwater would
be necessary for the irrigation of the remainder. To this end,
gigantic dams or barrages would have to be constructed in
the mountains. Thus the water flowing down the ravines and
wadis during the winter months could be stored up and devoted
to irrigation of the plains in the summer. A great deal of land
would have to be levelled, and the water from the mountain
reservoirs would be conveyed wherever required by a vast system
of canals. The large and steep ravines of Transjordania are
well-adapted for works of the kind here proposed, and to convert
these wadis into colossal reservoirs would not involve any loss
of cultivable land. If up-to-date machinery and modern methods
of work were employed, the cost of constructing the reservoirs
would be comparatively small. In Colarado, six reservoirs with
a storage capacity of five million two hundred thousand cubic
metres were constructed at a cost of fourteen centimes per cubic
metre of stored water; lour other reservoirs in the same loca-
lity provided storage for two million cubic metres of water at
a cost of ten centimes per cubic metre; twenty four reservoirs
in the basin of the Cache le Poudre River had a storage capacity
of one hundred and twenty-two million cubic metres, and the
cost was actually less than three centimes per cubic metre -
noth withstanding the high wages paid in America.
Additional supplies of water could be secured by drainage
of swamps and morasses, and by regulating the flow of the rivers.
In the case of the Jordan, for instance, this might be effected
in the Mule Plain, by lowering the level of the waters of Merom
by means of an outflow canal. This plan was worked out during
— 48 —
the war in the fullest detail by Major Weidner. The water
vaporised in the marshes (varying in the Jordan valley from
seven to twenty-five millimetres per day, or seventy to two
hundred and fifty cubic metres per hectare of evaporating surface)
and the ground water of the morasses, having been pumped
into reservoirs, could likewise be employed for irrigation. The
extent of the marsh lands of Palestine is estimated at twenty
five thousand hectares, one fourth of this area being on the coast,
one fourth in the Mule Plain, more than one fourth among the
inland marshes in the Plains of Asodiis and Esdraelon, in Beisan,
Blccha, Genezareth and other parts of the Jordan valley, and nearly
one fourth at Rohr-el-Safi in the southern part of the Dead Sea
region. The cost of drainage is usually supposed to range be-
tween frs. 100 and frs.400 per hectare. If the drainage operations
are to be carried out by Jewish labourers., it is absolutely essential
that up-to-date mechanical applicances should be employed were
it only for the teason that in an unhealthy climate the number
of employees must be restricted as greatly as possible, in order
that they may receive (specially high wages. The same point of
view has to be considered in connection with the irrigation
works, and here American iexperience can guide us.
In America the usal Icost of installing irrigation works is
about frs. 115 per hectare; in the state of California it is frs. 166
per hectare; the maximum cost is reached in Arizona, where it
is frs. 314 per hectare of irrigated land. These figures can give
some idea of the probable cost of irrigation works in Palestine.
Irrigation is expensive when springs are used as the source of
supply, costing on the average from frs. 2000 to frs. 3000 per
hectare. The irrigation works on the Odgeha cost frs. 500 per
hectare of irrigated land. We see therefore, that it would hardly
be practicable to utilise springs as a source of supply in great
irrigations schemes for the 'cultivation of the less valuable plants
(hay, cereals, etc.).
Theoretically the rivers of Palestine can supply an energy
of five hundred thousand horsepower, but the energy practi-
cally available from this source is not more than about one
hundred horsepower. The Jordan and its tributaries are our
chief concern in this 'connection, but the Odgeha and the other
rivers flowing into the Mediterranean, and also the mountain
torrents of the Dead Sea region, might become of great im-
portance in the supply of energy for local purposes. Used as
a source of electric power, this energy might be made available
4]£$i4«i
§ I III :*£js
— 49 —
in connection with the irrigation of high-level cultivable areas;
it could be used for tramways, for illuminating purposes,
in the manufacture of nitrogenous manures, and for various
agricultural purposes ; it could be turned to account in a number
of industrial enterprises. In these ways it would effectively
contribute to the development of industry and agriculture. Elec-
trical developments are, in fact, closely interconnected with the
possibilities for a general advance in Palestine, with those of
an increase in population and of intensive agriculture. For
the settlement of the Jordan valley by Jews, electric mountain
railways would prove useful, enabling the settlers to reside in
cool and healthy hill (stations, the electric railways supplying
easy communication with the low lying and hot valley regions.
It seems probable that the returns from agriculture from irri-
gated land in the Jordan valley would more than suffice to
repay the cost of feuch installations.
— 50 —
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BUILDING INDUSTRY
The imminent settling of the country by a mass of Jewish
immigrants will lead to a great extension of building operations.
Hundreds of new colonies will be established; existing towns
will be enlarged by the addition of new quarters; and entirely
new towns will spring up. When 'we remember that from
three hundred to six hundred labour days are requisite for the
construction of the simplest habitation, we shall begin to realise
the enormous amount of labour that 'will be requisite to cope
with the new developments.
Moreover, every town will require public buildings for edu-
cative, scientific, and artistic purposes; synagogues, theatres,
hospitals, public offices, and various other buildings used for
purposes of communal utility. In addition, the resettlement of
the country will entail the building of private villas and mansions,
of hotels and welfare institutes, of factories, work-shops etc.
and the construction of these various edifices must be taken
into account in estimating the demand for labour. This much
is certain, that a vigorous building industry will be closely
associated with the increasing development and advancing well-
being of Palestine, and that occupation for many thousands
of workmen, foremen, managers, and technicians will be found
in this field of activity.
It is absolutely essential that modern appliances and methods
should be introduced into the Palestinian building industry without
delay, to enable houses to be constructed cheaply and expeditiously
and to render possible the employment of the comparatively
expensive Jewish labour. Due attention must be paid to the
need that the houses should be at the same time tasteful and
well suited to the climatic conditions. Especial stress must be
laid upon the importance of modernising the quarrying industry.
Men with experience in the American quarrying industry will
be especially valuable as inspectors and foremen, to teach up-
to-date methods.
51 —
CHAPTER IX.
DEVELOPMENTAL PROSPECTS
The foregoing survey of industry, handicraft, and commerce
in Palestine will have shown that there is no prospect of the
country's becoming in the near future one of the homes of
large-scale industry. The natural qualities of the region and
the peculiar mentality of the Jewish population are alike better
fitted to promote the growth of small-scale industry. Industrial
development in Palestine must be deliberately guided in con-
formity with these considerations. It would be hazardous to
offer any general numerical statement regarding the amount of
employment which Palestinian industry and commerce might
provide when fully developed. Assuming, however, that in the
course of the two ensuing decades the industrial population of
Palestine increases by half a million, so that about one hundred
and fifty thousand additional persons find employment in various
occupations* it may be suggested that these persons will be
occupied more or less as follows:
Large-scale industry, mining, various
concessions
First Decade
2,OCO — 5,000
Second Decade
5,000 — 10,000
Small-scale industry, handicraft,- and
fishery
10,OCO —30,000
30,000 —100,000
Communications; construction of
railways, docks, and roads (staffing
of same) .
1,000 — 3,000
5,000 — 8,000
1,000 — 2,000
8,000 — 12,000
Irrigation works, construction and
staffing
1,000 — 2,000
2,000 — 4,000
The building industry
6,000 —12,000
14,000 — 32,000
Total
25,000 —60,000
60,000 —160,000
The table shows that most of the labour, or at any rate,
from half to two thirds, is allotted to small-scale industry. Next
in importance comes building, which is likely to absorb one
* The ratio of the actual workers to the total population among
the Jews in Russia during the year 1910, was, in manufacturing industry
1 — 3.2; in agriculture 1 — 4.8.
— 52 —
fifth of the new labour, and it must be remembered that these
workers are essentially handicraftsmen. It may be well to point
out that whereas the development of large-scale industry, of
communications, and building, has definite limits, small-scale in-
dustry, on the other hand, by the introduction of new branches
and by the perfection and expansion of those already established,
is, under good business management, susceptible of almost un-
restricted growth, providing continually increasing opportunities
for employment. For this reason, the development of small-scale
industry on the lines suggested in Chap. V would seem to be
of the greatest possible importance, and should not prove difficult
if the work of colonisation be intelligently carried out.
One of the first requisites for the furtherance of industry
and commerce in Palestine is the foundation of a bank with
ample capital, a -bank for commerce and industry. The aims
of this institution should be, in the first place, to found great
undertakings, such a those for the utilisation of all the water
supplies of the country for irrigation and as sources of energy;
the establishment of centres for overland trade ; the foundation of
enterprises for town lighting; tramway and railway development,
the building of docks; the encouragement of mining enterprise;
the promotion of companies to carry on the various industries
suitable for the country. The bank will have to help in securing
the necessary concessions, and must attract from other countries
the capital requisite for Palestinian development, while carefully
avoiding the encouragement of unduly speculative enterprises.
In the second place, it will be the great and difficult task of
the bank to promote the development of small-scale industries
and handicrafts, since these are to be the mainstay ot the
future industrial development of the 'Country. The future will
show whether small-scale industries will develop along the lines
suggested in Chapter IV. In any case, these developments must
be very carefully planned.
The next requirement is an improvement in transport con-
ditions to facilitate the import of the principal raw materials
for the developing industries and the export of the products,
and to put an end to the evils prevailing to-day, when inland
transport over quite a brief stretch is often costlier then marine
transport for several thousand miles. A steam navigation company
must be founded, or in default of this, special agreements must
be made as to freights with the existing steamship lines. Of
primary importance are the proper development of the Pales-
— 53 -
tinian railway system and the prolongation of the local railway
lines to effect junctions with neighbouring systems, so that
favourable tariffs may be obtained for the transport of various
goods. These railway enterprises must be undertaken by the
Jewish Society for the Colonisation and Reconstruction of Pale-
stine for only upon this condition will the work of colonisation
be carried out methodically in such a way as to further the
development of industry and agriculture, while under these aus-
pices the railway construction works and the staffing of the
railways will from the very first provide employment for thou-
sands of the new settlers.
For the facilitation of transport, high roads must be built
throughout the Country, roads good enough for motor traffic
as well as for other wheeled vehicles. Great storehouses must
be constructed, with silos for cereals and cold storage for perish-
able goods. At the same time care must be taken to encourage
the supply of such raw materials as are requisite for the new
Palestinian industries. Those not (procurable locally and the necess-
ary exotic foodstuffs in addition, must be obtained in sufficient
quantities and at advantageous prices from the best sources
of. supply and stored in the warehouses. These warehouses
will serve also for the storage of goods for export. Extremely
valuable institutions will be (1) a museum for commerce and
industry displaying all the products manufactured in the east,
showing the raw materials from which these are made and the
most modern appliances used in their manufacture and (2) a
laboratory for the chemical and technical study of raw materials,
building materials, etc.
A technical school with a commercial section would help
greatly in the promotion of industrial development. This insti-
tution must not have a purely European curriculum such as was
planned for the proposed technical institute in Haifa, which
was to concern itself almost exclusively with teaching machine
construction and design, and similar matters. The technical school
must be adapted to the peculiar requirements of Syria and the
east. The pupils should (receive such a training, including a
knowledge of the requisite languages, as will enable them to
secure occupation in Palestine and elsewhere in the east. Gaining
a sure footing in the labour market and the goods market of
the orient, the ex-students of 'the technical school could con-
tribute powerfully to the diffusion of Palestinian manufactures
in adjoining countries. The plans of the Haifa technical institute
must be modified in this sense, so that the place may afford
— 54 —
really practical assistance in the development of Palestinian
industry.
Many difficulties will have to be overcome before the indus-
tries of Palestine can be effectively developed with the aid
of Jewish settlers. By the lack of uniformity in the country,
no less than by the lack of uniformity among the proposed
immigrants, so many complications are introduced that the
most careful study of the problem in all its details is absolutely
indispensable. More harm than good will result if we approach
the undertaking with nothing better than the rule of thumb
methods that have often characterised earlier colonisation schemes.
For example, in establishing an irrigation system to provide
a region hitherto desert with the water that shall give it life,
we must never fail to bear in mind the need for taking precautions
to prevent the spread of malarial fever. Particularly does this
apply to the construction of reservoirs for the storage of rainwater.
Again, whilst the Jewish settlers may appear at the first
glance to be socialistically and communistically inclined, it must
never be forgotten that in essence the Jews are extremely indi-
vidualistic, and are as yet comparatively ill adapted for com-
munal life. It must further be remembered that the various
foreign ideas which the Jews of the dispersion have of late
acquired are in many respects little more than a gloss. Established
in >a country of their own, and given opportunities for free
development, the Jews will speedily be found to aspire towards
civic independence and the cultivation of personal individuality.
The complex and manifold peculiarities of the country and
its inhabitants, present and prospective, must be elaborately studied
and must be allowed for with sedulous attention. Errors of
judgment on the part of the leaders in the colonisation scheme
might easily result in making (many of the peculiarities of the
settlers prove disastrous qualities. The greatest possible stress
must therefore be laid upon the importance of caution, foresight,
and thoroughly efficient organisation, in order that the seed
may fall upon good ground. Then the wonderful possibilities
of the country and the people may be turned to full account.
Then, we may hope, Palestine will become the garden of the
world.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY
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