handed over to France, as M. Clemenceau demanded, was to be
allowed to declare its own wishes without any injunctions from the
Conference. Mesopotamia would be autonomous under the League of Nations,
but a single mandatory was asked for by the king of the Hedjaz for the
entire eleven million inhabitants.

The comments of the French press on Britain's attitude, despite their
studied reserve and conventional phraseology, bordered on recrimination
and hinted at a possible cooling of friendship between the two nations,
and in the course of the controversy the evil-omened word "Fashoda" was
pronounced. The French _Temps's_ arguments were briefly these: The
populations claimed occupy such a vast stretch of territory that the
sovereignty of the Hedjaz could hardly be more than nominal and
symbolical. In fact, they cover an area of one-half of the Ottoman
Empire. These different provinces would, in reality, be under the
domination of the Great Power which was the real creator of this new
kingdom, and the monarch of the Hedjaz would be a mere stalking-horse of
Britain. This, it was urged, would not be independence, but a masked
protectorate, and in the name of the higher principles must be
prevented. Syria must be handed over to France without consulting the
population. The financial resources of the Hedjaz are utterly inadequate
for the administration of such a vast state as was being compacted. Who,
then, it was asked, would supply the indispensable funds? Obviously
Britain, who had been providing the Emir Faisal with funds ever since
his father donned the crown. If this political entity came into
existence, it would generate continuous friction between France and
Britain, separate comrades in arms, delight a vigilant enemy, and
violate a written compact which should be sacred. For these reasons it
should be rejected and Syria placed under the guardianship of France.

The Americans took the position that congruously with the high ethical
principles which had guided the labors of the Conference throughout, it
was incumbent on its members, instead of bartering civilized peoples
like chattels, to consult them as to their own aspirations. If it were
true that the Syrians were yearning to become the wards of France, there
could be no reasonable objection on the part of the French delegates to
agree to a plebiscite. But the French delegates declined to entertain
the suggestion on the ground that Syria's longing for French guidance