'Despatch from Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia, to Secretary of State for India' [‎93r] (10/22)

9
Ejen from outside.
?^S^a£S«}?.ss^SS55
wn 11 ! m was a matter of vital importance 0 uT" 18 , pur P? sel y neglected educa-
wou d be content to leave both soverXntv « „ h ^ S ° aS to sa >' tllat he
would provide the young men of the % ri ^ admlIllstratl on m our hands if we
Ssi a nT n a /r ration ^^« I n^f I 5>K» ed ^ ti0,, ' whicl i wouTd
scnools in iurkish times: no matter how ♦i.,-, P s - /"ere were plenty of
them and sought to improve them eraduallv Witt, f 6 ' w . e . should hav e continued
system of primary and econdarTsS .Tl to estaM ish a good
funds the origin' of whkh he did nS snedfv^ / "iV t0 fo ? nd and endo w (with
university training. For this purpose S Would P rOTid e
may possibly create through them good farmed nnH ^ Value - " You
years time we shall be no further foi ward in nhtf' g engineers, but in fifty
men fit to take over the government of the countrv ' I ' nlnS C SS 0f lllghly edl:loat ed
the onl/ma^X^ve Vlews t b f a r' in the first P la «e. he was
the 'Iraq, and in 8 tte seS o^ce connected seheme for the Government
sound and reasonable His educational r„ a PP ear to me to be in general outline
as regards the presfrvaUon of pubr eSv^L ll-T * be wide of the mar ^
months, the best comment is supplied br ti,,. a ,..,t amy got together in six
stands is largely Yasin's creaHnn t? ! ab arm y. ln s y"a which as it now
tribesmen of the^e^T sX of the iXf" 8 110 natlves "f th e Hijaz nor any
having melted awav shortlv aftpr th C f • 18 ac . coin P arile{ ^ Faisal to Damascus
are Baghdad! 8^77% fffhl L° CCU ? at t 10n - I P ro Portion of the officers
this includes 400 officers above the prescribed ^umfLr' Tf 1 1 P ermitted an d
■ i ^ nevert . lleless Arab Military Council recently drew up a conscription order
ChSlaLVndTews y A eX d^ Pti0 ? fT 0f Which WOuld have fallen heavily on
/ ; 8 f, J ew ?- , A delay of three weeks on our part in payine 1 the monfMv
subsuiy to the Sharif brought the Military Council to heel and the order did not
take effect Ihere is no punishment for desertion. The troops are paid about 31 a
month, and it is not unusual for men to desert in handfuls, whole villages at a time
after every pay day. No one supposes that the Arab army would face regular troops :
it is not even believed that the Damascus garrison, 2,000 strong, would stand up to
the Bedmn if they were to come in force after we withdraw. It is a reflection upon
asm s adinmistrative capacity that he should not have done better with the army
Me has had large sums of secret service money at his disposal, but these he has used
m propaganda, reserving a heavy percentage for his own pocket. The Arab leaders
know that the army will be no good to them against the French, and they rely on
guerilla warfare and local levies. The whole country is armed to the tune of an
average of two rifles per man, with ammunition sufficient to last a year. At a.
moderate estimate there are 75,000 rifles in Damascus alone, but in and round Aleppo
arms are said to be less numerous.
Damascenes are exceedingly anxious at the prospect which lies before them. At
the end of the year the subsidy to the Sharif will cease and the financial position of
the Arab Government will be extremely precarious, but even if it can contrive to
keep itself in existence and succeed in preventing open disorder it is anticipated
that the French in the coast provinces will foster disturbances, either by the con
tinuance of propaganda within the Arab State, or by provocative acts towards
Moslems in the area under their administration, and that on the first breach of the
peace their troops will cross the frontier on the plea of restoring order. Christians
of all sects believe that massacre is inevitable, and their fears are shared by most of
the British officers in Syria. During the last 50 years the breach between Moslems
and Christians had gradually closed; since 1860 massacre had been unknown in
JSyria until the 28th February of this year, when some Armenians were massacred
[1805] 0