Artistic X. O. Scott Memorials A. W. Horton Government is not in any way at present committed to the plan for the division of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states with an enclave under British mandate, and the commission will confine its functions to ascertaining the facts and to considering in detail the practical possibilities of the proposed scheme, from which it is apparent that should the commission report unfavourably upon it the Government is still at liberty to abandon it. Nevertheless the Government is of the opinion that- the discussions at Geneva justify the undertaking of further investigations for drawing up a more precise plan. A final decision cannot be taken in merely general terms, and inquiry is necessary to provide the necessary materials on which, when the best possible scheme has been formulated, to judge of its equity and practicability. It may be said at once that if the Government's position had been made as clear some time ago as it is now, a great deal of heartburning would have been dispensed with, and the situation in Palestine would have been very much better than it isatthe moment, The difficulty of reconciling Jewish and Arab interests in Palestine has been notorious ever since Great Britain accepted the mandate. From the very outset it was clear that Britain contemplated the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, and from that time onwards the Arabs have been more than a little uneasy. That anxiety has been intensified by the manner in which the Jews have entered the
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