Last Friday there arose a most interesting debate on Palestine,
which is one of the few spots where prosperity has returned in full flood. Colonel Wedgwood's Puckish sentimentality made him hotly oppose a Treasury guarantee for a new loan to . be used in development works. His opposition was really a test for a slashing attack on all who were not strongly biased in favour of Jewish colonization. Lord Winterton repelled this 'attack decisively by asking its author how he would like somebody to make a similar speech about India. Other members disliked lending money to a prosperous country on special terms, which was a curious economic absurdity. If there is going to be any lending, it is surely better to lend to those who have the best chance of repaying. Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister seems to be finding the Colonial Office far from being a backwater.
* *
Previous page
