BY ROGER B.EAMES

Twenty years ago this month of August all I Europe was seething with excitement as messages flew from capital to capital. Ambassadors were recalled, declarations of war were made. Germany had declared war on France, Great Britain had declared war on Germany because of the violation of Belgian neutrality, and the greatest war in the world's history was launched. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife at Sarajevo was the spark that ignited the tinder-box and set in motion the armies of Europe. It was a "war to end war" so the pacifists told us, yet twenty years has not sufficed to produce more than an armed truce to that strife-torn continent, and conditions today are of a most menacing character.

The disarmament conferences have failed in their repeated attempts to accomplish anything toward the reduction of the armies and navies of the world. Germany is passing through another political and economic crisis. There is strife in Austria, and in the United States the communists on the west coast and elsewhere are making disturbances.

One might suppose the baffling conditions and confessed helplessness of Rulers would at least suggest to them an appeal to a higher power, yet we hear nothing of this. A recent writer says, "One of the most significant facts of our day is the persistent refusal of human governments to seek, and to encourage their citizens to seek, the face of God for help in times of national distress." This is doubtless one reason why the long period of Gentile mis-rule in the earth is drawing to a close.

THE LABOR CONFLICT on the Pacific coast has increased in proportions until in the San Francisco Bay region more than 100,000 men are involved resulting in the disruption of nearly all business activities. A State Official says, "From the inception of the strike of the longshoremen and through many weeks of fruitless efforts to reach a settlement fair to all, the fact has been evident -increasingly evident-that destructive and subversive influences have been working against an agreement on any basis whatsoever." Ap Editor says, "The issue of the General strike is clear. It is a battle of the communists, by the medium of organized labor, and for the destruction of constituted government. It is a reign of terrorism wherein the original strike issues have been thrown into the discard-their purpose served."

AN INDEPENDENT MISSIONARY BOARD has been organized in the Presbyterian church. The Secretary says, "We are utterly unable to subscribe to the Modernist propaganda now being carried on and fostered by the Board of Foreign Missions of the largest of the Presbyterian churches in this country. . .We rejoice in the knowledge that that propaganda is contrary to the dearest convictions of hosts of earnest Christian people in that church, as well as in other churches. Such Modernist teaching, by whatever agencies it may be carried on, is leading precious souls to eternal destruction. . .There is one Gospel and one only through which souls may be saved. It is not the vague message of Modernism, but it is the Gospel which tells us how the Lord Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for sinners."-"Literary Digest."

These clear-cut statements make glad the heart of the loyal Christian who is also reminded by them that the Spirit of God is using His people to restrain the progress of the evil one, and will continue to do so until the whole Church, the true Bride of Christ, is removed from the scene (2 Thess. 2:7).

"A YEAR OF ASTOUNDING PROGRESS." In striking contrast to affairs among the Gentile nations there is apparently great prosperity in Palestine. To quote the "Jewish Chronicle," "During the year 1933 the Jewish population of Palestine increased by about 22 per cent, and now numbers 245,000. . .During the year 30,327 Jews were registered as immigrants. . .while the number of capitalists entering in possession of $5,000 or more numbered 3,250, as compared with 727 in 1932."

The Citrus Industry. "The area of Jewish citrus plantations. . .now amounts to 137,000dunams(34,250 acres). The export of oranges in 1933-4 increased, as in the previous year, by a further million cases, the shipments for the season being estimated to amount to 5,400,000 cases (both from Jewish and Arab groves). An enumeration of wage workers employed in the Jewish-owned orange groves was found to amount to 11,348 of whom 6,800 were Jews and 4,548 Arabs. By contrast with the citrus plantations, the Jewish settlements based upon dry farming only, were hard hit, owing to the fact that the year 1933, like the three preceding years, was a year of exceptional drought."

The Jordan. "The Palestine Electric Corporation has put in a third turbine-alernator on the Jordan works which is to generate 8,500 horse-power, making a total capacity of 33,000 horse-power."

The Dead Sea. "The enlargement of the evaporation area of the Palestine Potash Co. and the increase of the plant was carried out. The production of muriate of potash exceeded 10,000 tons… .The production of bromine was increased, and both the Company's products find a ready market at remunerative prices."

University. "There was a large increase, in particular from abroad, in the number of applications for admission to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the student enrollment at the beginning of the current year was 321 as compared with 181 in the previous year..A lectureship in Language and Literature with special attention to Italian, has been endowed by the Italian Government."

"Dr. W. M. Christie, of Haifa, speaks of the material progress of Palestine as a modern romance. Haifa, for example, 35 years ago was 'a little, dirty village of 1,300 people.' Now it is a thriving city with a population close to 100,000, and with prospects of still larger growth. As a seaport, Haifa is already outdoing Port Said, and the great harbor, opened last summer, barely suffices to accommodate the shipping. The revenue during one recent month was 2,500 times the figure recorded for the best month during Turkish rule." – "Alliance Weekly."

Feast of the First Fruits. "Fifty thousand persons visited Haifa for the First Fruits Festival which is already becoming a tradition in Palestine, and which is celebrated by a procession bearing offerings. The articles are subsequently sold in aid of the Jewish National Fund."

Following the Passover in Israel was the seven days of unleavened bread, and upon the eighth day the sheaf of the first-fruits of the harvest was to be brought to the priest. The last passover of significance to be kept in Israel was that of which the Lord partook with His disciples on the night of His betrayal. The next day He who was the antitype and true passover Lamb was offered up, and the type ceased to have further value, it being fulfilled in Christ. The sheaf of the first-fruits speaks of His resurrection from the dead, and of acceptance in Him. "The priest shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you" (Lev. 23:11).

The editorial comment of the "Jewish Chronicle" upon the feast is, "Now once more, despite the gloom, we rejoice to know that in the ripening of the first fruits whose symbols adorn our synagogues there is the perpetual promise of God's care for His creatures and the hope of better things to come." The Apostle Paul says, "But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart " (2 Cor. 3:15). How true! And why hold the feast at Haifa instead of Jerusalem the appointed place?

EXCAVATIONS in Mesopatamia on the site of "Ur of the Chaldees" the birth-place of Abram (Gen. 11:28) have continued for twelve seasons, resulting in discoveries of much scientific importance. "Among the notable discoveries of the twelve-year excavations at Ur was the finding of the pre-dynastic royal tombs dated approximately 3,500 B.C. which revealed a civilization previously unknown. In these royal tombs, which gave mute evidence of human sacrifices on a lavish scale, the bodies of kings and queens, soldiers and domestic servants, were found buried with an unbelievable wealth of jewelry, harps of silver and wood, vessels, weapons and tools of gold and silver, inlaid gaming boards and vanity boxes-all attesting to the artistry, the culture, and the luxury of the court of Ur 5,000 years ago."

"A discovery of quite a different kind was the finding of a bed of water-laid clay, eight feet thick, deposited below the level-and hence earlier-than the earliest purely Sumerian occupation, and above a level containing remains of a very different type. A silt deposit of such thickness, in the opinion of the archeologists, could only have been laid down by a devastating flood."-"Literary Digest."

The excavations at Ur have brought dismay to the critics whose confident assertions of the uncivilized state of those ancient peoples have been positively disproved by the discoveries. The bed of clay covering remains of a "very different type" is recognized by archeologists as having been deposited by a flood, and is another confirmation of the Biblical record.