British military measures to regain control of the old city of Jerusalem occupied by Arab rebels appear fo have been successful. Without the use of artillery or aeroplanes, which discarded bombs for pamphlets urging surrender, but by encirclement of the district, so rich in religious and historical treasures, British troops have re-asserted authority and the oldest city in Christendom is now in the hands of forces which will ensure peace.—House-to-house searches in an area with narrower streets than any Chinese village is proceeding and the task of weeding out malcontents in the shadow of some of the greatest symbols of the Christian and the Mohammedan faiths is progressing. All the reports from the city indicate that the Arab rebels were attempting to use the sancruary of the Mosque of Omar for their activities knowing full well that there would be no drastic military measures owing to the character of their retreat. Indeed, if in the last and most desperate resort such measures had been used they would have constituted a calamity of great magnitude because there is not a single square mile of land in the world which compresses so much history. Within a very short distance from the Church of the Holy Sepulehre, which includes Calvary, the site of the crucifixion, is the Mosque of Omar otherwise known as the Dome of the Rock which has both Christian and Mohammedan traditions but is now Mohammedan, The Mosque itself is one of the most beautiful buildings in the Near East and its dome hangs like a huge silver scimitar over the city contrasting in sheer beauty with many of the rather tawdry Christian monuments which are shown te tourists with much dubious historical claim The Dome is nearly 100 feet high with 16th century windows and its magnificent tiles date back to Sulieman the Magnificent, The Rock itself is enclosed by a French wrought. iron gulf placed there by the Crusaders, Jewish tradition has the Ark of the Convenant buried beneath it. Mohammedan tradition has it that Mohammed himself rose to heaven on a miraculous horse from the Rock, while a depression in the south-west corner is. said to be that of Mohammed's footprint, although the Crusaders of the 12th century attributed it to Christ. Traces of steps made by the Crusaders who set up an altar on the Rock are still te be seen The Mad Race Mr. Joseph P. Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador te Great Britain, struck a note in his speech a: the Trafalgar Dinner of the Navy League or Wednesday, which is so often overlooked, anc that is the economic aspect of the piling ur of enormous armaments. Failure to rearm, lit maintained, might mean domination by a stronger Power, or group of Powers, but furt her rapid rearming would eventually bring severe economic difficulties to all concerned as surely as would a world war. So long as democratic and dictator countries persist in widening the division between them by emphasizing their differences the vast unproductive expenditure upon arms will continue, anc it is quite clear that there is no country in thi world which can indulge in this dreadful luxury indefinitely. When the huge sums which. are being spent by the various nations as thei insurance against war are added together ar. enormous total is reached of wealth whic otherwise employed might be of inestimabk value to the whole world. It should be possible to bring about a better international atmosphere in which the onstanding problems could be dis Passionately discussed and disposed of. Th injustices perpetrated by the Peace 'Treaty should be remedied as far as possible; they ar" the main cause of much of the uneasiness: which exists, and prima facie do not seem in capable of adjustment. In some instances as foi example the claim for the return of Germany': colonies a substantial change will have to made in public opinion not only in Grea' Britain but in@the mandated territories whicl before were German colonies. For example the old story that Germany's pre-war colonial howed her to be unfit for the ad ministration of native territories would hav to be exploded once and for all With tha untruth out of the way some progress migh be made towards a settlement of this matter though the opposition which is growing Africa against such a return serves to mak the position serious. The return' of the colonic: might not put an end to this mad armament race, but it has to be remembered that an; step which contributes to general appeasement will sooner or later have to be taken int consideration.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.