Page 104 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

Mr. Bilkert
Noth.—The following editorial appeared under the above caption in the l tines of
Mesopotamia, which is the oldest established British daily m Mesopotamia, Wednes­
day, January 23. 1929.
An effort is made in another column to convey in words an idea of the
remarkable tribute to the late Mr. Bilkert which yesterday’s funeral cere-'
mony constituted. It will be long before it is forgotten by those who saw
and experienced it. Mere was Basrah divested of all prejudices of race
and religion, all the people made one in their common grief and love for ;
a noble character, a gentleman, and a brother. Thirty-five years ago the
American missioncr who came to Basrah was cursed, kicked, despised.
Today we see an American missioncr laid to rest amid tributes more heart­
felt than those accorded to any king. Truly the years have wrought won­
drous things. On the qualities of Mr. Bilkert himself it is unnecessary
to dwell. We knew him lu be, in I'mlre Jngoe'M word*, it limn of ireinem
dons worth and of lovely character, and this sudden snatching of him’ A
away in the midst of bis work and in the heyday of his power ( Mr. Bilkert r •
was M\) cannot leave us exactly as it found us. l’adre Jagoe closed his •
address at St. Peter’s Church yesterday by saying that the last entry in’ .j
Mr. Bilkert’s diarv, written the night before his death, was ‘7 hai’c today 1
made a new Arab friend” “That,’’ said Padre Jagoe, “was Mr. Bilkert 5
—making friends.” -
Mr. Bilkert was the type of person which the East respects, the type \
of person which represents the best in Western civilization and Western - '
idealism. It is such men as he who help to smooth away the difference*
that beset mankind, and who prepare the way of peace. If Mr. Bilkert'*
tragic end leads a few more of his fellow-men nearer to the realization
that we are all brothers, it will not have been in vain.

A Final Message
Extract From a Letter From Rev. Henry A. Bilkert to Dr. Chamberlain, dated 1
Basrah, Iraq, January 18, 1929
The Mission has passed out of the pioneer stage and has driven iu ‘J
stakes deep into the land. It is natural that with the enlargement consc- !
quern on this settling down there should he larger demands on us and an I
increased appropriation for maintaining what we have achieved. With the *
Mission as now constituted as to establishment and personnel it requires
not less than the amount we are receiving this year adequately to meet our *•
responsibilities. No, I should not say adequately. But with this sum we
• V’1
can manage to make things go. If there is not some very definite assurance ■>
that the same sum will he available next year and for the succeeding years,
then it is ini|>erative that something he cut down. Naturally, in the fact’%2
of the need and the demands of the growing work the Mission will be re*
hictant to make that cut in the absence of a direct mandate from the Boani.
We beg of you not to leave us with the existing work and appropriation* *•*..-
so short of actual needs that the two can’t he made to meet. We liavc ^*J|
down to the last possible degree and in actual practice cut down still moit, -aS
We cannot repeat the struggles we have had the last three years in makii*
appropriations. ViSa
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