One of the gravest and most harassing problems which beset the Government was that of the food supply. Jerusalem is fed largely by wheat imported from Trans-jordania, or, if that fails, from overseas. At the time of the British occupation the first of these sources was cut off by the Turks, who were still in possession of the rich corn lands of Amman, Kerak and the Hauran. The second was curtailed by submarines. The Turks had moved with them all food supplies that they could carry. There were practically no available supplies in the city. Army provisions were, very naturally, required for the army; and transport was working over broken and unmade roads under every sort of disadvantage. Women and children were to be seen walking in the streets in every stage of emaciation and besieging Government offices for a crust of bread. Here again the British Army came to the rescue and, on the urgent representations of the Government, supplied at once, and continued to supply until long after, a sufficient quantity of wheat to enable the Government to set up food stores and ration cards, and to avert the terror of starvation.
In the spring of 1920 occasional minor disturbances occurred in more than one part of Palestine; and on the 4th April, 1920, a racial riot, which was soon suppressed, broke out in Jerusalem.
The Chief Administrators under the Military Administration subsequent to Brigadier-General Clayton were:
| Major-General Sir A. Money | March, 1918–July, 1919. |
| Major-General Sir H. D. Watson | August–December, 1919. |
| Major-General Sir L. Bols | January–June, 1920. |
The Civil Administration, 1st July, 1920.—The Military Administration (Occupied Enemy Territory Administration) terminated on the 30th June, 1920, and on the 1st July the Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, P.C., G.B.E., assumed office as His Majesty's High Commissioner for Palestine, and a Civil Administration was set up. In October, 1920, there was constituted an Advisory Council, consisting of 10 unofficial members nominated by the High Commissioner (4 Moslems, 3 Christians, 3 Jews) and of 10 official members.
