The opponents of Palestinian colonization could not deny that Palestine was once the “land of milk and honey,” but to justify themselves they tried to make out that two thousand years of desolation and neglect had laid the Holy Land waste and transformed it for all time into an unproductive desert. No more fallacious idea ever obtained currency. True, Palestine is no longer the luxuriant garden it once was, for history has crushed it under an iron heel, and what traces were left of its former richness lacked care and protection, so that disintegration and sterility took possession of the Holy Land as though it were a land accursed. Nevertheless, there is not the slightest reason to despair of a new development of the country, if only the task of carrying out this new development be entrusted to those who are willing to devote themselves to it, head, heart and hand, with the passion of patriotism and the zeal that springs from the consciousness of a historic responsibility. The appendices to this book contain many excerpts from the works of competent authorities, which afford reliable information as to what may be achieved by a systematic and devoted cultivation. One may infer from these quotations, which are not in any way coloured by a facile optimism, what indestructible germs of future prosperity remain, in spite of all “_injuriæ temporum_.” If only an indolent administration and a lazy and retrograde population are replaced by capable national elements, the promise will be turned into a rich fulfilment. Figures and facts show too that notwithstanding all the unkindness of history, not only has the soil of Palestine retained its capacity for development, but trade has maintained itself, all things considered, at a high level. The ports of _Jaffa_ and _Haifa_ teem with traffic, although little enough is being done in harbour construction; and exports considerably exceed imports, which shows that, despite the neglect of centuries, the natural productiveness of the soil is still capable of adjustment to present-day conditions. No factory chimneys bear witness to active industry, no convenient means of communication favour trade; a phlegmatic, sparse population, entirely untouched by modern civilization, takes indolently what nature proffers, without any thought of supplementing it by its own endeavours. But given capable agriculturists, engineers and technicians, trained and enterprising merchants, and ample capital, how quickly could stagnation be turned into living and creative vigorous prosperity. The idea of the colonization of Palestine is, moreover, connected with the remarkable colonizing impetus which has taken hold of the entire modern world. And, judged by outward characteristics, are the European migrations to foreign lands, their colonization and development, so very different from this feature of Jewish aspirations? Exuberant energy finds no appropriate outlet in Europe, and seeks it far away,