THE NEW PALESTINE

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1928, Page 8

THE NEW PALESTINE

MANY FINE. ROADS

AUCKLAND, October 23

One of", the representatives of fiftyone nations attending-the International Missionary. Conference at Jerusalem last Easter was the Rev. D. C. Herron. Minister of St. David’s Presbyterian Church, Auckland, who returned to the Niagara from Sydney, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, -Greece, Italy, Switzerland, . France and Great Britain were included in Mr Herron’s tour abroad, but the great conference at was the outstanding experience. .In all there were 250 delegates. The only other New Zealander, present was the Rev. D. Calder, Dominion representative df .the British and Foreign Bible Society. . • There were some novel associations in the gathering, said Mr Herron. The delegates were accommodated in tents and cubicles, and lie had on his right two German scholars and on his left the Negro bishop of Nigeria and, a Uganda chief. The Germans spoke frankly of the war/hut without bitterness, and expressed the view that Germany’s defeat had had the effect of strengthening the religious life of her people. Meetings were held hi a truly remarkable atmosphere, in a hall built to the order df the ex-Kaiser, a plaster statue of whom, lacking' a leg, broken off by earthquake, adorned one of the walls above chapel decorations of an orthodox Christian character. British administration had had a tremendous'.beneficial effect upon the conditions of life in Palestine, particularly so far as roads were concerned. There were numerous rebuilt highways in Palestine, as good as those of New Zealand, and some were even better. The police force was largely composed of Arabs, or Palestinians as they termed themselves, mounted on splendid Arab horses. One outward effect of the Zionist movement had been the planting df hundreds oi thousands of trees, including many fruit trees. Although there were a great many Jews m the country it was patent, when considering the possibilities oi the “back to Palestine” movement that such a rock.v and poor country could never carry a great population. There were those d- who thought the prominence given to the Jewish, aspirations by the Balfour declaration had been harmful, inasmuch as it had sharpened the feeling between Jews and Moslems, which at all times created tension in the country. Zionism had built a fine modern city, named Tel-Aviv, near Jaffa, but whereas it had a population of 45,000 last year it had since dwindled to 40 000.