A Mine of Wealth—IT.
THE return of Lord Plumer, that wise and just administrator as he was a stout and thorough soldier, is not unlikely to focus the attention of the world on Palestine. A great decision on a great question has to be reached with his assistance.
It is a happy accident that the Mandate of Palestine, which carries with it the duty of exploiting the vast potash deposits of the Dead Sea, was given to a country that has enjoyed a sort of agricultural partnership with the inhabitants. Men in training for the Ministry of Agriculture in Palestine have come over for their scientific knowledge to our Home Counties, to Rothamsted, the oldest agricultural station in the world ; and when it befell that the vine and the olive with other produce would not grow, " as the Book assures," one of the chief consultants, who made several visits to the districts in question, was Sir John Russell, the head of Rothamsted. Earlier in the field than anyone was Dr. Norton, a great Canadian and American man of science, who is inspired with a real enthusiasm for the immense benefits that the world at large as well as Palestine may reap from the immense and immensely valuable stores of potash that have lain in the Valley of Jordan for centuries, as dead as the Dead Sea.
The possibilities may well touch the imagination. The strange valley that begins to the southward of Mount Hermon contains the deepest known gorge in the earth's surface. At its base the cliff-bound Jordan tumbles into the Dead Sea at a point some 1,800 feet below the sea level, although the sea is close at hand. The chemical and mechanical results of this geologic marvel have never yet been fully appreciated. In summing up the potash wealth of the world, the very specialists omitted even so much as a reference to the Dead Sea, though its store is certainly five times that of AlSace and approaches that of Stassfurt, which are virtually the sole source of the world's supply. One of the 'first men to perceive what unimaginable wealth the Sultan, the private owner of the Dead Sea, kept up his sleeve, was a Scottish engineer who entered Jerusalem with General Allenby. Since he asked for a survey, we have come to a knowledge of the vastness of this addition to the world's wealth. Potash and other valuable salts, elsewhere buried a mile or so below the surface, here lie ready to hand. The supplies, like Marvell's nectarines and peaches (which cannot grow without potash) " into our hands themselves do reach." It is as certain as any prophecy can be that Haifa will presently be one of the busiest ports of Asia, and Palestine and Transjordania, whose boundary line cuts the Dead Sea, will be hives of industry comparable with the busiest centres from which the produce of the Franco-German mines is distributed.
The approach of this unexpected shift in the economic balance of Europe and Asia is a stirring event in itself ; but not only Europe and Asia are concerned in the new prospect. Every farmer and gardener who is worth his salt, if the phrase be allowed, knows what potash means to farm and garden. Since Gilbert and Lawes made their famous investigations at Rothamsted the value of potash has been brought out with progressive emphasis. The supremely successful agriculture of Holland, which is the chief potash consumer, and of Germany, which comes next, is principally due to the percentage of this salt used on the farms ; and conversely Spain and France, which use least, with England and the United States, that use comparatively little, are growing desper- ately conscious that many of their once fertile lands are losing fertility, chiefly from lack of potash. This is not the place for elaborating the technical virtues of a so-called artificial fertilizer. Potash has a peculiar virtue in imparting flavours to root crops, to fruit, and not least, as the Americans have discovered, to tobacco. It increases the yield and quality of all agricultural crops, stiffens the straw of grain crops, improves the endurance and storing quality of all fruits, and strengthens resistance to disease. Only a deep virgin soil can produce crops worth having, unless the potash taken. away each year is regularly replaced. It is not possible to think of any greater boon for agriculture and horticulture than cheap potash ; and, of course, it is necessary also for a host of industries, from photography to glass or paper making. As things are, the supply is short; and the sale is regulated by the closest monopoly controlling any necessity of life.
A term is now to be put to this dangerouS position, through the British Government, which has it in its power to confer an inestimable benefit on the producers of the world. When the Mandate was given, the power to grant concessions was confided to the Colonial Office,. acting with the Palestine Administration. In May, 1925, the Crown Agents for the Colonies published a mono- graph on the subject and invited tenders for the recovery of the salts in the waters of the Dead Sea. Though the tenders were to be delivered by December of that year no decision has yet been reached, and the wealth lies idle.
The delay will have been worth while if a right verdict is given. The first essential is that the mine be worked outside the present monopoly, and to its full capacity, so that the fertility of the world at large. be advanced. At the same time Britain has a rare opportunity of giving to the world a concrete object lesson in justice and generosity as interpreted by a Government in its relation to the people entrusted to its rule and guidance, and by the industrialists to whom the franchise of the
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