Hey ohioc
Here is the text ripped from the pdf. If you wanna correct it, so everyone can read it. That would save you at least a little bit of typing.
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A NEW GOVERNMENT FOR PALESTINE PROPOSED
($Opy OF A LETTER OF SUGGESTION WRITTEN BY THE EDITOR WHILE IN PALESTINE, TO THE TWO LEADING HEBREWS
OF THE WORLD. BARONS ROTHSCHILD AND HIRSCH
Nnwmher 2OtF 1891 . .
!I%> foliowing ia a copy of a letter, written while in Pales-
tine, but afterward separated from me by the loss of my
luggage rtl roll&, and only recently recovered. C. T. R.
derusalem, August l&h, 1891.
70 the Jfonoruble B IRON HIRSCH.
RKSIX~TE~ SIR:-& a Christian, but a lover of the seed of
,lucoh, ckpeclally bccauhe of the promises of God vet remain-
The revenues derived from I’.~leatine by the Goverumcnt
amount to about flOO,OOO per wunum. This sum, howerrr in
ahsorhvd by the local govrrnmt~nt of Palestine. and it is dnuht-
ful whether Turkey &er rr4\cas one piaster’of it-except ill
the way of bonuses naid bv tllo*ca who obtain official nositioua
in the iand. I have-been ilnablr to obtain any reliahie figures
respecting the taxes of Syria as a whole, but it is safe to
assume that the results to Turkthy are no more profitablr
than those from Palentine. ing to t&m a&l the Holy Land,*address you upoh a subject
which I know lleh close to your heart.
That vnu may knom of mv interest in your neonle. I will
, :I U.C to ‘be wit to you a &py of each of tw; vbl&es of
111~ ()x11 writing*. in uhkh the nromises of God to vour na-
tion are cited &l c.omrnrnted l;,on.
At prf+ent. ac.c*ompanied by my wife, I am in Palestine,
taking a hasty VIW of the land of promise and its ~co~le.
and c?m+itlrrlng the+ prorperts of the*soon fulfillment ;)f ‘the
predicstinns of the prophets. A* you will see from my books,
we find the testimony of the prophets to be, that your nation
fill l,e crl’atly hles\ed and returned to divine favor between
now ;knd the year 1915, A. 1).
Tl11. pre\cnt percc(aution* in Russia w&believe to be a mark
oi d~\~nc favor r,cther than the reverse. The Lord declares
th,tt he will drive them out of all lands whither hcA has
l cittlcretl them. Kr believe that HO far from this persecu-
tmn ahiltitlg, the near future may see it greatly increased
arnr,llg thra various natinns of Europe in the midst of which
Jr\\. rc-ltle.
M’e l)(*lichve that the Lord’ l FVord tcac*heq that the penplr
arc to 1112 111 grrat pal t rHth(‘led into the land of Palestine.
,111d thch fc1c.t that all entrancr thither has recently been barred
Ill~~llllc~. II+ to tlrlnk that the time has romc’ for opening tllta
cloor thit hpr yet. wider than ever before. This seems to 111,
~ndic~atrd in the words of the prophet.-See Jer. 32::37-11;
xi 6 “2.
Aq I do not own an in& of grouutl in this laud. I c:annot
& ac*cu=t4 of having any selfish reason4 for offering the fol-
lc,\\~np +uyyc~~tlon5 of what appears to ml’ to he the only in]-
1n6 4iatP Lolution of the difficulty. My sug,ocstinn is :IS fo110w3,
and rcs!6*r* to all Syria :-
My suggestion is that thcb \\l*alth> Hebrews purchase from
Turkey. at a fair valuation, all of her pronertv interests in
these -lands; i. e., all the (?o1~~~/n~e~r1 Z&d; (linds not hc~lcl
by private owners), under thr ljro\ision that Syria and Pal-
estine shall be constituted >I FREE STATE, the government
of which shall be in the hands of a hoard of thirteen Directors.
appointed as follows: One I)i~~~(+ior to he chosen by each of the,
following Governments:-(:rt’at Britain and Ireland, Frenc*c
Germany, Russia, Austria, lt,aly. Turkey, Greece, and thr
IJnitcd States of America , i;hould they approve the sche~w ;
and the remainder of the thirteen to be elected by the auf-
frages of the people of Syria, IIOIW being eligible to said clt+
tiou who has not lived in tbc* laud for three consecuti\c
years.
Religious liberty should 11e fully gwdranteed to all 1111.
inhahitantn. Each Director ~boultl be a resident of the I,I II~I
during the tenure of of&e. and 4iould receive fl,OOO sterling
per annum, and no other fees. t*moluments or bribes, under
penalty of disgrace and bani~hmc~ut..
by the various governmentk
Those Directors appointed
s1lo11ld also be the Miuistn\
1’1ch11 ipotrutiary of those Govr~ruments without additional fee+
flll’J vtor.
I&VII of the nations in\i(tbd to ,join representatively in tllcb
~~overurnt~nt should he required to contribute a sum of IIWIIVV. c
Gay f10.000, for the carrying out of the project and a- ‘;I
teht ot its interest in the welfare of the land and its pc~pl<~.
lu+t at pre~t~nt all nations are intt~rrsted in providing a honlcs
for the Russian exiles; and the poverty of Turkey would fa-
(allitatcb the purc*hase of htxr (Islat(a in Syria at reasonable
figurr+ ‘l’hir I cannceive to hv a ft*arihlr plan, because all of
tlw ~Itnve nations are intc*re+tl in I’alrst,ine, having &r&lp I~ECZM~ER, 1891 ZION’S WATCH TOWER (170-171)
or indirectly expended lrlrpe sums of money there. The plan
of makmrr it a free state. under the control of all. I be-
lieve would be pleasing t& all; whereas, to put the land
under the control of any of them exclusively, would be
strenuously opposed by the others. The land should, how-
ever, be free tram all other nations, except through their
appointed representative Directors.
A liberal Constitution should be drawn up, alterable only
bv the consent of at least nine of the thirteen Directors. In
:ill other matters the majoritv should rule-under the limita-
tions of said Constitution. The new blood and new ideas thus
introduced into the government would soon show upon the peo-
ple and the land, and they would rapidly advance to civilized
cvonditions in every particular.
You are no doubt w-r11 aware that, notwithstanding the
large sums of money sent here by Hebrews and others, many
of the people here are fnr from comfortable; and all will
a&Tee that the tw-o things most needful to this land are a
wise, just and good government and plenty of water.
The water is indiwpensable to health. The stench is
dreadful as one passes through the city, especially in the Jew-
ish quarter. I can only account for the absence of some
plague by the extreme purity of the mountain air. In almost
tsvc’ry other climate smh filth and drouth would surely bring
nestilence. In one more month, I am told, water will be
&lling at two or three piasters. a skin. .
The present government and laws, although said to be a
great imnrovement on those of the past, all will admit are
tery far ‘from good. The poor peasants -or fellah are robbed
of almost all thry can earn-first, by the money-lender, who
exacts from 10 to 50 per cent interest, paid in advance, and
rrcuondly, by the tax-collector, who extorts all he can possi-
bly soueeze of the halame. Manv of the Jews coming from
K&ii are poor, and many are wealthy. Seemingly, thglatter
consider it their buuinmx’ t,o arind nrofits out of their breth-
c I
IVII and neighbors in&ad of helping them, while the former,
following the example of Ramanists and Greeks, think it their
duty to spend all thcair time in prayer and ceremonies, while
ttnhy are supported bv the donations of friends in Europe and
America. Your char’itiew and those of Baron Rothschild and
Sir LMoses Montefiore have been productive of great good
snd are still beneficial (cxrept, perhaps, the payment of so
many francs per head for suppoit of ‘some of the colonists,
wllkh is leadine some to multinlv their children and prand-
children as rapsly as possible, ‘to increase their incorn;).
What is needed here, therefore, next to water and clean-
lim1ss. is a good government which will protect the poor from
the* ravrnous and wealthy.
Banking institutinnq on sound bases, and doing business
honorsblv, are also rrratlv needed. The poor, I am told, hide
*batever money they VR;I have. in holes- in the earth, where
it is ultimatelv lost to themselves and the world. These,
no doubt. would deposit in banks of whose standing they would
have no doubt.
J suggest further that as derusalem is so full of items of
deep interest to the civilized world, as well as tn the Jews, it
would meet with general favor to introduce into the Consti-
tution provisions euaranteeinp that Jerusalem shall remain
practically as it ‘i’s at pres&-except that it be cleaned
un-that all shons and business be nrohibited inside the
Walls ; that sanitary regulations be &rictly enforced; that
the city be sewered thoroughly-a very practical matter and
one of but moderate expense if ‘Solomon’s Quarries,” under-
lying a great portion of the city, be utilized for the laying
of the larger sewer pipes.
Outside the city the minimum width of the streets and the
minimum L;ize of building lots should be subjects of law, as
the people have narrow ideas as to what “will do.”
Under such an arrangement as above referred to, much
money would be provided by lovers of the Holy Land for
water, aqueducts, artesian wells, etc., etc., and soon the bar-
ren plares would become a paradise.
I believe that now is the Lord’s time for the long
promised deliverance of Israel (and my reasons for YO be-
lieving you will observe in my two works mailed to you
and ahove referred to) ; and that it will h accomplished by
some such concerted project among the nations is, 1 believe,
indicated by the prophet Isaiah:
“And they shall brin
tions as an offerine unto t a
all your brethren out of all na-
e Lord. unon horses and in chariots
and in litters and upon mules and-upon swift beasts, to my
holv mountain. Jerusalem. saith the Lord. . . . . For as the
new heavens and the new’earth (the Kingdom of God I which
I will make shall have permanence before me, saith the Lord,
so shall exist permanently your seed and your name.“-Isa.
66:20, 22.
See also Jeremiah 32 :43, 44 :-
“And the fields shall yet be bought in this land whereof ye
say, It is desolate, without man or beast . . . . Men shall
buy fields for money and write it in deeds and seal it and
certifv it bv witnesses in the land of Beniamin. and in the
environs of “Jerusalem, and in the cities of -Judah, and in the
cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the lowlands, and
in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to
return, saith the Lord”
May the God of Jacob direct you, my dear Sir, and all
interested with vou in the deliverance and urosneritv of
Israel, and blessed will they be who, to any’ex&t. $eld
themselves as his servants in fulfilling his will as predicted.
But please note, my dear Sir, that the sacred Scriptures
predict the return to Palestine, and not a further wandering
to the ends of the earth-to America or elsewhere. And,
therefore, it iq my humble opinion that Israel will find no
rest for the sole of his foot. until he finds it in the land
of promise ; and I pray you therefore, not to waste your ef-
forts in assisting emigration elsewhere, but concentrate them
in the direction where God has indicated success. God bless
you.
Yours in the Faith of the Sacred Scriptures.
C. T. Russzr.~.
P. 8. A copy of this letter has also been smt to your
compatriot, Baron Rothschild.