The Maccabaean

Mr. Israel Zangwill, the president of the Jewish Territorial organization, delivered an address in London during the month, in which he presented a plan for the solution of the Jewish problem. He substituted Mesopotamia for Cyrenaica. The address created a great stir in the press, and has been the inspiration of a number of fantastic rumors.

It was said that Mr. Zangwill had secured the co-operation of the Jewish Colonization Association in the scheme for the colonization of Mesopotamia, which would require an outlay of $40,000,000. It was taken for granted that Mr. Zangwill had actually fixed upon Mesopotamia as the long-sought-for Jewish territory, and many hopes were expressed that now, at last, a union of the popular forces in Israel and the moneyed strength of a class of Jewish philanthropists, would be realized.

All these rumors and hopes were rooted in the general confidence of the Jewish people in the integrity of Mr. Zangwill; and there has been no attempt in any quarter to disturb Mr. Zangwill's reputation in this respect. A careful reading of his address, however, does not corroborate these rumors. Mr. Zangwill explicitly stated that Mesopotamia had not been examined. or endorsed by the Ito geographical commission. There was no reference in his address. to the co-operation of the Jewish Colonization Association. Nothing was said of the co-operation of those Jewish millionaires who are so often mentioned as the supporters of the Ito organization.

The interest of Mr. Zangwill in Mesopotamia was aroused by reading the works

of Sir William Willcocks, the engineer who irrigated Egypt, and a pamphlet written by Dr. Paul Haupt, of Baltimore, on the possibilities of Mesopotamia.

From a consideration of these works, and a study of the situation in Turkey, Mr. Zangwill evolved a plan for the irrigation of Mesopotamia which would cost $40,000,000, this sum to be raised by an appeal to wealthy Jews to invest in the scheme as a business proposition. Mr. Zangwill estimated the profits at $110,000,000.

But he was careful to state that the opportunity may have already passed out of the hands of the Jews. The report of Sir William Willcocks, which led Mr. Zangwill to consider the project, was rendered to the former Sultan, Abdul Hamid, and Sir William had already entered into a five years' engagement with the Turkish government, obtained a credit of half a million dollars, and was already proceeding with the work, under the direction of the Turkish Minister of Public Works. Nevertheless, Mr. Zangwill proposed that a contract be made with Turkey to provide the capital, the labor and the population for the regeneration of Mesopotamia. He did not state whether he had any assurance that Turkey would make such a contract, nor what bonus would be offered in case it should not readily relinquish this opportunity to make a profit of $110,- 000,000 on an investment of $40,000,000.

This, in brief, is the substance of Mr. Zangwill's plan. Mesopotamia, being within the circle of territory known as the "neighboring lands" is not exactly the "blessed word" to Zionists, but we are sure that Mr. Zangwill will not find one