Digitizing History: Palestine Broadcasting Service, 1936-1948

International and Current Affairs: Plea for Cooperation

A Plea For Cooperation

Now that war is raging in Europe and it is clear that, however long the bconflagration may last, the resultant damage will not be repaired for years, the dislocation of the economic life of the world is passing from the sphere of prophecy into that of fact . On every side one hears talk of prices, supplies, production, and transport. This is not only natural: it is sensible - provided only thatthose who dispute have some basis of knowledge and that the fascination of feather-headed excitement does not displace sober argument and cool judgment.

Hardly any country is self-supporting. Palestine certainly is not. She has been used to draw supplies from every continent, and to have trading relations with nearly every land on the globe. With certain exceptions, too, trade flowed freely, its process hampered only by limitattions thatv are common to all forms of bargaining. But now the case is altered. Transport to and from Pal;estine will not be so easily abvailable, though the extent of its embarrassment is still an unknown factor. Settlement as between buyer and seller will be more difficult, and supplies of certain matertals will. be cut off or drastically reduced. Many official restrictions on trade, both Internal and external, will be necessary to meet the fluctuating circumstances of the situation, though, in saying this, I would assure you, that these restrictions, however irksome, represent the minimum degree of control needed for the successful maintenance of our internal economy. The inevitable consequence of these changes will be a very considerable reduction in our total imports, and if we are to make the best use of our curtailed resources the cooperation of all, every man and woman in the country, every company or association, is essential. They must forego consumption of the unnecessary in order to increase their ability to obtain the necessary, and they must also take every possible measure to increase production of what is needed for home consumption, and if possible for export.

For both purposes a general re-planning of our aconomy is essential. Since conditions have changed, so must the regimen of our life, in the home, the village, the colony and the town. The change-over will entail a vast deal of hard work and organisation, and my object in addressing you this evening is to urge all that your duty and your interest alike lie in working together in this great and urgent task.

A great deal of attention has already been paid to these matters. Various regulations have been framed and passed, individuals have been selected and given wide powers, a mass of information is available, and some realisation is already apparent of the need for organised planning. But this is not enough. More coordination of effort is called for, more cooperation, and more immediate practical measures to ensure that theory is given practical expression.

Let me give a few examples :-

It is natural and permissible for the individual to take steps to safeguard his own interests, but in doing so he cannot be allowed to ignore the welfare of the rest of the community. He may hope to insure himself and his family against all anxiety in the matter of food supplies and be led in consequence to accumulate a hoard which is disproportionate to tbe stocks available for others. In such a case it is, of course, within the power of the Government to redress the balance, nor would it hesitate to do so, but the practical expression by the individual of a greater sense of communal responsibility would make such a course unnecessary.

Again, citrus forms the mainstay of our export trade, but it is obvious that there will be difficully in selling the crop. Ships are needed to carry it; boxes in which to pack it: purchasers to pay for it. With uncertainty rife under all these heads various ways of meeting the emergency have been mooted. They are being explored, and Government will do all it can to assist producers; but I must very definitely stress the point that the maximum degree of success will only be attained by a real coordination of effort on the part of all concerns and individuals connected with the citrus industry.

Or take. the problem of production. What increase can the soil of Palestine yield, either for local consumption or for cash wherewith to pay for the many articles which we need and cannot produce here? We can certainly grow more vegetables; we need more potatoes; we need more cereals, and there is land now used for crops of less urgent value which can perhaps be turned to such purposes. We may be able to increase our production of oils : we can utilize what we have more economically. For instance, the olives with which the country abounds may be better used to supply deficiencies in high-grade edible oils than in making soap. the less valuable oils and fats being used instead for soap-making.

But this is not a lecture on economics, and I must perforce leave the multifarious details to those who are better equipped than myself by technical knowledge, training and experience. My object, as I have said, is to urge co-operation. Without it there will be no efficiency, and there may be chaos and distress. The Government of Palestine is fully prepared to play its part. Without the willing help of the people of the country it can achieve little, but I am confident that that help will be forthcoming. Consumers, can assist by practising economy, and let them remember too that in such times as these prices must rise because goods sold by the merchant have to be replaced at a higher cost. Producers and merchants can help by organising their resources, replanning their economy, bringing their activities into line with those of the Government, and, above all by not attempting selfishly to exploit the situation in their own interests. Crosspurposes, too much individualism or sectarianism, will merely impede progress. There must be discipline and order - and I would remind you that, though the Government is ready to consider every suggestion and to do its utmost, within the limit of its resources, to encourage any project directed to economical planning on lines which it considers sound, the ultlmate decisions must rest with it. It will have no hesitation in using its powers,whenever requisite, to check exploitation of the weak, to stop profiteering, to insist upon adherence to rules laid down, and to scotch wildcat schemes.

ln most of the countries of the world the work of cooperation between the Government and the people, however heterogeneous their composition, is comparatively simple. The Government can deal with manufacturers, agricultural producers, technicians, daily labourers, treating each qroup as a single whole, without the complication of racial and sectarian and political interests being introduced at every turn as an over-riding factor. Here, unfortunately, the case is peculiar. Palestine has been rent with dissension for years past. If ever the saying that "Peace is but a truce upon the battlefield of Time" was true of any country, alas, it is of this country. The vital question arises whether its people intend to purpose their violent animosities in spite of the obvious need for collaboration, or not. If they do, if they fear to do otherwise, they would seem to welcome suicide, and it is hard to help those whose frame of mind is such.

Not for one moment do I underrate the depth of the genuine feelings that have been aroused by political issues in Palestine, nor query the idealism which lies behind them. But there is a time for all things, and though I would ask no man to sacrifice an ideal or to do what he honestly believed was wrong, this is emphatically no time for the bye-products of political antagonism, feuds. vendettas, jealousies and the search for political capital. It is rather a time for the sinking of differences. In so far as they are deep and vital, can they not be put on one side so that the healing hand of time may mitigate their harshness? In so far as they are ephemeral or inessential or fictitious, cast them away for the common good.

I am not at the moment concerned with the question whether one group or another makes formal acceptance of the policy lately laid down in a genuine and honest desire to solve the problem of Palestine. I am thinking of ways and means of achieving its economic safety and the material well being of its population. But none the less may one not hope and pray that in the process of our striving for these objects, a deeper realisation may come of the fundamental truth that all communities in the country are interdependent, the one upon the other, and that their fortunes are linked together, to stand or fall? May one not remember the lessons of history and reflect that in all the countries of the world which are now most closely united internally by a singleminded patriotism, unity was preceded by years of strife between conflicting elements? May one not draw analogies from the processes of Nature, from the fresh green corn emerging bravely from the dark clods of earth, from the dawn breaking forth from the glooms of night? Is it so fantastic to hope that from the storms and stresses of the past, from the trials and difficulties of the present, may spring the germ of better things, and a spirit of true concord from the bitterness and sorrow of the years that Iie behind usr? I at least hold that hope and shall not cease to strive for its eventual realisation.