IRAK TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 71, 25 March 1933, Page 13

IRAK TODAY

DOMINION OF] FEISUL

BRITAIN'S CREATION

BRIGHT SIDE AND DAEK

(From "The Post's" Representative.) ■ LONDON, February 16.

Sir Henry Dobbs, late" High Commissioner for Irak, addressed a meeting of the Eoyal Empire Society on the subject of Britain's -work in Irak and the prospects of the new State.

After tracing the history of the country since -tho "war, he spoke of King -3?eisu3.

-•■"-Tie King," he said, "by dint of Sis exploits during the war and of the glamour added by his association with Lawrence, stood in the eyes of the British, public as an almost legendary hero; a modern Saladin, 'the last representative of Asiatic chivalry, endowed with every charm.of manner and person. He was and is a truly kingly £gnre. This was the-image "which Gertrude Bell, Oriental Secretary to Sir Cos and myself, kept ever before her; 1^ hope that I shall give no offence in any quarter "when I state that in my belief it was.tho ardent advocacy and -unquenchable faith of this wonderful woman that was the main support of the new King during the first diffi-cult-years of his reign. I suspect that she sometimes scolded his Majesty in private for his mistakes (naturally he made, mistakes) .as she often scolded others. But in spite of the many disappointments which inevitably attended the translation of ideals into facts, disappointments which lay heavy as frost on her soul, to her ho remained, until the day of. her death, the King hero and pre-destiried regenerator of the Arab race. :

J "Next to Gertrude Bell as a factor in. the King's success I reckon Sir Kinnahan Cornwallis (Ken Corinvallis), who has from the beginning combined the functions of personal assistant to Ms Majesty with, those of adviser to the Ministry of the Interior. I can only describe him as a rock, but a -wise and comfortable rock -with, a yielding surface. He has "weathered all storms. [Yet, when all is said and done, King Feisul's achievement is mainly personal." His1 problem was to retain the British support, indispensable to his throne, and at the same time to push his own ; roots, inl^o the soil; to parry the charge' of being an alien and puppet King, resting on foreign bayonets, and to enlist the adherence of the impatient Nationalists who loathed every suspicion of British control. His rolo was to be that of patriot King. And why not? "What other kind of King could he safely have been?" rranras accomplished. ■~ At the close of his lecture Sir Henry l)obbs catalogued what has been accomplished in Irak, and spoke- of i the dark spots. : "A very creditable service of Iraki administrators has been built up, whose traditions of initiative and integrity are, I sincerely believe after experience in other countries, considerably superior to those to be . found in any other Oriental land," Tie said. "The Irak Parliament has shown on the whole moderation and a practical aptitude for business and Its system of powerful committees has often been a worry to the executive.'.. An Irak army has been constituted^ armed, and trained under a .British, military mission; -a splendid body of police, the creation and the pride of Colonel Prescott, has been set up. They are perhaps ithe most efficient institution in Irak, :an& .are smart T>oth in appearance and in their work. The administration of the tribes, who form so large and formidable a part of the population, has been improved and systematised under the Tribal Disputes Regulation (a child of my own), by which the Matasarrif or Commissioner has power to exclude the Tegular Courts from taking cognisance of any tribal dispute, and to convene a body of tribal arbitrators to decide it according to tribal custom. To these tribal Courts the" tribesmen willingly resort; their differences arccomposed, and rough justice, Tecognised by all, is done. These simple and ignorant men are no longer forced into the : clutches of a rigid and.to them incomprehensible <jode r - and are no longer the victims of the lawyers, who naturally detest and decry the tribal Courts. ,': ' y '■ "A satisfactory judicial service, seasoned with British: Judges in cardinal posts (for the satisfaction of foreign interests), has been established and applies the body of Ottoman laws in force at the time of the occupation, as modified by not over abundant subsequent legislation. The population is unfortunately prcne to violence, especi-. ally in the frontier districts. Such crimes are, however, less numerous in proportion to, the population than in many districts of British India, which have been "under British administration' -for generations. Finance has presented difficult problems. STATE TREE 'FROM DEBT. "Taxation, largely in the shape of customs, has had to be raised to a height undreamt of unSer-the Turks, and agriculture has been depressed by a more rigid system of collection; but the Budgets have been balanced; the Ottoman Debt paid off, and Irak is one of the two or three States existing in the world which have no debt. This was made possible by the generosity of the British Government in forgiving iTak the cost of wartime public works, which she contracted to pay under the original Financial agreement. , Eoafls and bridges have been constructed in all 'directions, and the habits of the people have been transformed by the spread of motor-traffic and the ease of communication with the Mediterranean and Europe. Boadmaking in the difficult Kurdish mountains, and chains of police posts there have helped to control the Kurds.

. "International air. services .now traverse the country ana confer on it international importance. The principal towns have been provided with public! buildings, electricity, and pure water. The railways, hastily built during tho war, have, been reconditioned and extended. Postal services, telegraphs, and telephones connect the . larger towns. Dykes have been constructed to restrain floods ana there has been some extension of canals, but lack of funds has forbidden much work in this direction, though large projects have long been under contemplation. In default of new canals private irrigation pumps worked by oil have multiplied astonishingly all along the rivers. An efficient medical service has been established, hospitals erected, and plague and cholera got under; but malaria seems almost undiminished, tuberculosis and eye-diseases are rampant, and. the appalling child mortality is still scarcely checked. In education great efforts have been made to provide a sound grounding and to train teachers. Some three hundred primary, schools and six secondary schools have been opened. The people show a thirst for knowledge and now more are bred scholars than preferment can take off, a dangerous condition as we know, for an Oriental country.

"Agrienlture has been on the whole 'B. disappointment. Locusts, bollworm, .^nd.hot grinds .make -the-cnltlvatipn. g£

good cotton, on which high hopes had been placed, unprofitable; wheiat and barley are of low grade, and' dates seem to be losing their hold on /wwldniarkets. But oil has come to tJia- rescue. You all know how a great international oil company is now linking' the wells' of Kirkuk with the M* ditterranean; expending millions of poitfids in Irak and civilising the population by technical •employment. In IJhis industry lies the main hope of stability and prosperity."

LAND TENTJKE. J J Turning to the dark spots, the lecturer said: "We have failed to settle fhe prob* lem of land-tenure. Tribal rights tcv land, crudely obliterated by unenforceable Turkish, laws, remain unrestored, \ though reams have been written on the subject; the dangerous agrarian rebellions may at any time break forth, which the Irak army may be unable to' face. I doubt whether the vested inter-, ests of the State and town landowners will permit an equitable settlement. The Assyrians are discontented, "but fate decreed their situation. We and Irak have done our best for them, and here our conscience need not really prick us. Oh the other hand, the Kurdish question seems almost insoluble. The mutual dislike between Arabs and Kurds might in time yield to generous state action, but the suspicions against Irak aroused in Turkey and Persia, which hold down largo Kurdish populations, by any move on the part of Irak towards the grant of Kurdish autonomy, seem to interpose a fatal bar. I wish that during the period of British, control we had called a conference between Irak, Trrrkey, and Persia; examined the Kurdish position thoroughly and insisted on the joint adoption of an enlightened policy. I fear it is now too late. Yet, unless their aspirations are satisfied in some way, the Kurds are sure to rebel and the Irak army, in spite of years of British training, seems incapable of coping with them. The Irak Government contemplated conscription for the purpose of getting a larger, cheaper army; but the country districts, the tribesmen, and mountaineers will rise rather than submit to conscription. So you have a vicious circle, a voluntary army too weak to dominate the Kurds without conscription, yet too weak to enforce conscription. Here lies danger for the future. . AIR FOECE REMAINS. "The- British' A"ir Foree'1 remains in Irak, no longer formally bound to intervene for purposes of internal security, but certainly available. in extremities for such intervention. Is it, when the danger-point is passed, to be thrown into the scales tp save the situation, as an alien and almost mercenary force, in pursuit of a policy over which Britain has no ultimate control? If it is not, then, chaos may follow; yet it is almost inconceivable that it should be so used. One thing is certain, whatever treaties may lay down, so long sis the British Air Force remains in Irak, overawing the country by its presence, we may disclaim, but cannot evade responsibility for,the policy of Irak, both external and internal, aud for any mistakes that may be mado. •

"Many other questions might be posed as to the future. "Will the King ■retain the support of the extremists, now that he has served their purpose as an incomparable diplomatic instrument for ridding them of foreign control? Or will he bo driven by the Pa"nArab ambitions, which inspire him and his most energetic servants, into dangerous external adventures? Will he for ever suppress in his policy, as he has in more Tecent years done with admirable self-restraint, the bitter dynastic antagonism which existed between himself and the supplanter of his family in the Hcjaz, King Ibn Sand? I hope and believe that his Majesty's good sense and fortunate star will guide him in: these matteTSvaxight' aid preserve his present great reputation.

"So now, to raise up this Irak, we have squandered^ blood, treasure, and high ability. We have bound debts and taxes on the necks of generations of our descendants. We lave seemed by the abandonment of the Assyrians and Kurds,to sacrifice our very honour. We have suffered the imputation that, on the scene of their agony, we living, have betrayed the' hopes of our dead. lYou-ask, For all this shall we ha\je our reward? I, answer that I cannot say:" '. '■ ■- ■ ""'-. ::- . -