The decorating of Dr. Herzl may have been nothing more than amiability on the part of the Sultan, but it certainly showed that his Majesty was not displeased with the doctor's mission.
The leaders of this new movement are not, however, pinning all their faith on the Sultan.
If it becomes impossible to secure Palestine they will treat for a tract of land in some healthy part of South America.
The land once secured, it is the intention to send a number of the poorer Jews out to it.
These men are to be drawn from the laboring classes, and it is to be their work to lay out streets, build bridges and railroads, etc., and generally prepare the way for those who are to follow.
It is not intended to make any class distinctions of rich or poor, or to send out a class of rich persons to profit by the work done for them by their less fortunate brothers. The leaders of the movement will lay out extensive works in the various kinds of building that we have mentioned, and it is expected that the business these works will create will attract settlers to the new country, who will start up foundries and factories. It is the intention to furnish the colony with all the latest improvements and inventions, and it is but reasonable to suppose that the new land will soon become an important centre of industry.
The promoters of the scheme look for great assistance from England, and have approached Lord Salisbury in the hope of gaining his friendship.
Europe would of course have a great deal to say about the establishment of an enlightened and progressive race on the borders of the Red Sea, and the new nation could not be established without the consent of the Powers.
Russia is about building a new canal, which, when finished, will be one of the greatest works ever undertaken.