CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE Part 1 of 4

THE SOLUTION TO THE PALESTINE PROBLEM

When the Zionists tried to obtain the promise from the British Government to establish for them a "Jewish Center" in Palestine there appeared a difference of opinion among Jews whether this step was wise and beneficial to the Jews of the world. British Jews were divided. Some favored the efforts of Dr. Chaim Weizmann to obtain a declaration from the British War Cabinet. Others were opposed.

Samuel Landman of London, personal secretary to Weizmann and Secretary of the World Zionist Organization from 1917 to 1922, confirmed how in 1916 the World Zionist Organization entered into a secret agreement with the British War Cabinet in which Great Britain promised Palestine to the Zionists as payment for using Zionist pressure in the United States to bring the United States into World War I as Great Britain's ally. Mr. Landman states:

the only way ... to induce the American President to come into the War was to secure the co-operation of Zionist Jews by promising them Palestine, and thus enlist and mobilize the hitherto unsuspectedly powerful forces of Zionist Jews in America and elsewhere in favor of the Allies on a quid pro quo contract basis. (1)

One of the most important opponents to Zionism and of obtaining a declaration from the British cabinet was Lord Montagu, Secretary for India, the only Jew then in the British cabinet.

On August 23,19 17 Lord Montagu submitted a Memorandum to the British cabinet entitled "The Anti-Semitism of the Present Government," in which he said inter alia "I wish to place on record my view that the policy of His Majesty's Government is anti-Semitic in result, and will prove arallying ground for anti-Semites in every country of the world." (2) Lord Montagu laid down the principles on which he opposed Zionism and the issuing of a declaration by the British government. He stated: "I assert there is not a Jewish nation. (3) Secondly, he stated:

when the Jews are told that Palestine is their national home, every country will immediately desire to get rid of its Jewish citizens, and you will find a population in Palestine driving out its present inhabitants, taking all the best in the country, drawn from all quarters of the globe, speaking every language on the face of the earth, and incapable of communicating with one another except by means of an interpreter. (4)

Lord Montagu was not alone in opposing Zionism. A League of British Jews, led by such prominent Englishmen as Claude G. Montefiore, Israel Abrahams and Lord Swaythling was formed to oppose political Zionism. (5)

MEMORANDUM TO PRESIDENT WILSON: 300 AMERICAN JEWISH LEADERS PRESENT ANTI-ZIONIST MEMORANDUM TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT

Morris Jastrow, a Professor in the University of Pennsylvania, stated in his book Zionism and the Future of Palestine that "three hundred prominent American Jews, representing all parts of the United States and men in all professions and in the various walks of life signed a memorandum opposing Zionist aims which they forwarded to President Wilson." (6) It is important to record the full text of that memorandum which was handed to President Wilson on behalf of the signers by Congressman Julius Kahn on March 4, 1919 for transmission to the Peace conference at Paris.

A STATEMENT TO THE PEACE CONFERENCE

As a future form of government for Palestine will undoubtedly be considered by the approaching Peace Conference, we, the undersigned citizens of the United States, unite in this statement, setting forth our objections to the organization of a Jewish State in Palestine as proposed by the Zionist Societies in this country and Europe and to the segregation of the Jews as a nationalistic unit in any country.


We feel that in so doing we are voicing the opinion of the majority of American Jews born in this country and of those foreign born who have lived here long enough to thoroughly assimilate American political and social conditions. The American Zionists represent, according to the most recent statistics available, only a small proportion of the Jews living in this country, about 150,000 out of 3,500,000. (American Jewish Year Book 1918, Philadelphia.)

At the outset we wish to indicate our entire sympathy with the efforts of Zionists which aim to secure for Jews at present living in lands of oppression a refuge in Palestine or elsewhere, where they may freely develop their capabilities and carry on their activities as free citizens.

But we raise our voices in warning and protest against the demand of the Zionists for the reorganization of the Jews as a national unit, to whom, now or in the future, territorial sovereignty in Palestine shall be committed. This demand not only misinterprets the trend of the history of the Jews, who ceased to be a nation 2000 years ago, but involves the limitation and possible annulment of the larger claims of Jews for full citizenship and human rights in all lands in which those rights are not yet secure. For the very reason that the new era upon which the world is entering aims to establish government everywhere on principles of true democracy, we reject the Zionistic project of a6'national home for the Jewish people in Palestine."

Zionism arose as a result of the intolerable conditions under which Jews have been forced to live in Russia and Roumania. But it is evident that for the Jewish population of these countries, variously estimated at from six to ten millions, Palestine can become no homeland. Even with the improvement of the neglected condition of this country, its limited area can offer no solution. The Jewish question in Russia and Roumania can be settled only within those countries by the grant of full rights of citizenship to Jews.

We are all the more opposed to the Zionists, because they, themselves, distinctly repudiate the solely ameliorative program. They demand and hail with delight the "Balfour Declaration" to establish "a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine," i.e., a home not merely for Jews living in countries in which they are oppressed, but for Jews universally. No Jew, wherever he may live, can consider himself free from the implications of such a grant.

The willingness of Jews interested in the welfare of their brethren to aid in redeeming Palestine from the blight of centuries of Turkish misrule, is no acceptance of the Zionist project to segregate Jews as a political unit and to re-institute a section of such a political unit in Palestine or elsewhere.

At the present juncture in the world's affairs when lands that have hitherto been subjected to foreign domination are to be recognized as free and independent states, we rejoice in the avowed proposal of the Peace Congress to put into practical application the fundamental principles of democracy. That principle, which asserts equal rights for all citizens of a state, irrespective of creed or ethnic descent, should be applied in such a manner as to exclude segregation of any kind, be it nationalistic or other. Such segregation must inevitably create differences among the sections of the population of a country. Any such plan of segregation is necessarily reactionary in its tendency, undemocratic in spirit and totally contrary to the practices of free government, especially as these are exemplified by our own country. We therefore strongly urge the abandonment of such a basis for the reorganization of any state.


OBJECTIONS TO SEGREGATION OF JEWS AS A POLITICAL UNIT

Against such a political segregation of the Jews in Palestine or elsewhere we object:

1. Because the Jews are dedicated heart and sole to the welfare of the countries in which they dwell under free conditions. All Jews repudiate every suspicion of a double allegiance, but to our minds it is necessarily implied in and cannot by any logic be eliminated from the establishment of a sovereign State for the Jews in Palestine.

By the large part taken by them in the great war, the Jews have once and for all shattered the base aspersions of the Anti-Semites which charged them with being aliens in every land, incapable of true patriotism and prompted only by sinister and self-seeking motives. Moreover, it is safe to assume that the overwhelming bulk of the Jews of America, England, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland and the other lands of freedom, have no thought whatever of surrendering their citizenship in these lands in order to resort to a "Jewish homeland in Palestine." As a rule, those who favor such a restoration advocate it not for themselves but for others. Those whoactthus, and yet insist on theirpatriotic attachment to the countries of which they are citizens, are self-deceived in their profession of Zionism and under the spell of an emotional romanticism or of a religious sentiment fostered through centuries of gloom.

2. We also object to political segregation of Jews for those who take their Zionistic professions seriously as referring not to "others" but to themselves. Granted that the establishment of a sovereign Jewish State in Palestine would lead many to emigrate to that land, the political conditions of the millions who would be unable to migrate for generations to come, if ever, would be made far more precarious. Roumania - despite the pledges of the Berlin Treaty - has legally branded her Jews as aliens, though many are descended from families settled in that country longer than the present Roumanian government has existed. The establishment of a Jewish State will manifestly serve the malevolent rulers of that and other lands as a new justification for additional repressive legislation. The multitudes who remain would be subject to worse perils, if possible, even though the few who escape might prosper in Palestine.

3. We object to the political segregation also of those who might succeed in establishing themselves in Palestine. The proposition involves dangers which, it is manifest, have not had the serious consideration of those who are so zealous in its advocacy. These dangers are adverted to in a most kindly spirit of warning by Sir George Adam Smith, who is generally acknowledged to be the greatest authority in the world on everything connected with Palestine, either past or present. In a recent publication, Syria and the Holy Land, he points out that there is absolutely no fixity to the boundaries of Palestine. These have varied greatly in the course of the centuries. The claims to various sections of this undefined territory would unquestionably evoke bittercontroversies. "It is not true," say Sir George, "that Palestine is the national home of the Jewish people and of no other people." "It is not correct to call its non-Jewish inhabitants 'Arabs' or to say that they have left no imageof their spirit and made no history except in the great Mosque." "Nor can we evade the fact that Christian communities have been as long in possession of their portion of this land as ever the Jews were." "These are legitimate questions," he says, "stirred up by the claims of Zionism, but the Zionists have not yet fully faced them."

To subject the Jews to the possible recurrence of such bitter and sanguinary conflicts which would be inevitable, would be a crime against the triumphs of their whole past history and against the lofty and world-embracing visions of their great prophets and leaders

4. Though these grave difficulties be met, still we protest against the political segregation of the Jews and the re-establishment in Palestine of a distinctly Jewish State as utterly opposed to the principles of democracy which it is the avowed purpose of the World's Peace Conference to establish.

Whether the Jews be regarded as a "race" or as a "religion" it is contrary to the democratic principles for which the world war was waged to found a nation on either or both of these bases. America, England, France, Italy, Switzerland and all the most advanced nations of the world are composed of representatives of many races and religions. Their glory lies in the freedom of conscience and worship, in the liberty of thought and custom which binds the followers of many faiths and varied civilizations in the common bonds of political union. A Jewish State involves fundamental limitations as to race and religion, else the term "Jewish" means nothing. To unite Church and State, in any form, as under the old Jewish hierarchy, would be a leap backward of two thousand years.

"The rights of other creeds and races will be respected under Jewish dominance," is the assurance of Zionism. But the keynotes of democracy are neither condescension nor tolerance, but justice and equality. All this applies with special force to a country like Palestine. That land is filled with associations sacred to the followers of three great religions, and as a result of migrating movements of many centuries contains an extraordinary number of different ethnic groups, far out of proportion to the small extent of the country itself. Such a condition points clearly to a reorganization of Palestine on the broadest possible basis.

5. We object to the political segregation of the Jews because it is an error to assume that the bond uniting them is of a national character. They are bound by two factors: First, the bond of common religious beliefs and aspirations and, secondly, the bond of common traditions, customs, and experiences, largely, alas, of common trials and sufferings. Nothing in their present status suggests that they form in any real sense a separate nationalistic unit.

The reorganization of Palestine as far as it affects the Jews is but part of a far larger issue, namely, the constructive endeavor to secure the emancipation of the Jews in all the lands in which they dwell. This movement, inaugurated in the eighteenth century and advancing with steady progress through the western lands, was checked by such reactionary tendencies as caused the expulsion of the Poles from Eastern Prussia and the massacre of Armenians in Turkey. As directed against Jews these tendencies crystallized into a political movement called Anti-Semitism, which had its rise in Germany. Its virulence spread (especially) throughout eastern Europe and led to cruel outbreaks in Roumania and elsewhere, and to the pogroms of Russia with their dire consequences.

To guard against such evils in the future we urge that the great constructive movement, so sadly interrupted, be reinstituted and that efficient measures be taken to insure the protection of the law and the full rights of citizenship to Jews in every land. If the basis of the reorganization of govemments is henceforth to be democratic, it cannot be contemplated to exclude any group of people from the enjoyment of full rights.

As to the future of Palestine, it is our fervent hope that what was once a "promised land" for the Jews may become a "land of promise" for all races and creeds, safeguarded by the League of Nations which, it is expected, will be one of the fruits of the Peace Conference to whose deliberations the world now looks forward so anxiously and so full of hope. We ask that Palestine be constituted as a free and independent state, to be governed under a democratic form of government recognizing no distinctions of creed or race or ethnic descent, and with adequate power to protect the country against oppression of any kind. We do not wish to see Palestine, either now or at any time in the future, organized as a Jewish State. (7)

The full text of this Memorandum was published in The New York Times on March 5, 1919 under the headline, "Protest to Wilson Against Zionist State; Representative Jews Ask Him to Present It to the Peace Conference." The Times stated:

Acting on behalf of a committee of thirty-one prominent Jews, Congressman Kahn of California, in Washington today presented to President Wilson a petition on behalf of the Zionist organization for the consideration of the Peace Conference. President Wilson acknowledged the petition in a few words and agreed to have the matter put before the conference after his arrival in Paris. (8)

Although the Memorandum to Wilson was signed by 300 top Jewish leaders,, a committee of thirty-one Jewish leaders signed it when it was sent to The New York Times. They are the following: 1) Congressman Julius Kahn, of San Francisco, California, who was then ranking Republican on the Military Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives; 2) Henry Morgenthau, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey; 3) Simon Rosendale, Attorney General of the State of New York and a founder of the Jewish Publication Society of America and the American Jewish Historical Society; 4) Simon Wolf, former U.S. Consul in Egypt and representative of B'nai B'rith in Washington who "opposed governmental attempts to identify Jews as a group and was vociferous in denying Zionist aspirations, a matter in which he claimed assurances from President Wil~on;"~ 5) Max Senior, first President of the National Conference of Jewish Charities; 6) Lee M. Friedman, attorney of Boston, Massachusetts who was later President of the American Jewish Historical Society; 7) Seligman J. Strauss, Judge of Common Pleas, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; 8) Morris Jastrow, Jr., "Professor of Semitic Languages of the University of Pennsylvania and the Librarian of the university. One of the most eminent orientalists of his time and a leader in the study of the history of religion, he was the author of more than 200 books and articles on Semitic languages, religions, and literature, and on contemporary political que~tions";~~ 9) Rabbi Henry Berkowitz, the first Secretary of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; 10) Rabbi David Philipson, a founder and past President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; 11) Edward Max Baker, President of the Cleveland Stock Exchange, Cleveland, Ohio and member of the national board of the American Jewish Committee; 12) L. H. Kempner, Mayor of Galveston, Texas; 13) Jesse Isidor Straus, president of Macy's Department Store in New York City and later U.S. Ambassador to France; 14) Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, Professor of Political Economy and Finance at Columbia University, New York City, founder and past president of the American Economic Society, and Editor in Chief of the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences; 15) Jacob H. Hollander, Professor of Political Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland and formerly President Theodore Roosevelt's Special Commissioner to the Dominican Republic; 16) Adolph Simon Ochs, publisher of The New York Times and of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Times; 17) Lessing Rosenthal, lawyer and president of the Civil Service Reform Association of Chicago and trustee of the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C. and of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; 18) Abraham Kochland, Jewish leader in Boston, Massachusetts; 19) Jacob R. Morse, lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts; 20) Daniel Peixotto Hays, head of the New York City Municipal Civil Service Commission. A lawyer of an old Sephardic Jewish Family in New York, Hays was on the executive committee of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, a trustee and Secretary of the Jewish Publication Society, and President of the Young Men's Hebrew Association; 21) Louis Stem, National President of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, President of the National Jewish Welfare Board, member of the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee and a member of the Rockefeller Foundation Commission to Study Voluntary Health and Welfare Agencies; 22) Rabbi William Rosenau, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and a member of the Board of Governors of Hebrew Unioncollege; 23) Rabbi William Landsberg, Rabbi of Rochester, New York; 24) M, C. Shloss, Judge of San Francisco, California; 25) Dr. Julius Rosenstein, Surgeon, Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco, California; 26) Isais Wolf Hellman, founder of the Union Trust Company in Los Angeles, California. He was one of three contributors of the land for the establishment of the University of Southern California. He was also on the Board of Regents of the University of California for 37 years; 27) Josiah Cohen, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a life trustee of the Carnegie Institute and a founder of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and a director of the Federation of Jewish Charities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 28) Horace Stem, lawyer who was later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Pennsylvania, a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, President of Dropsie College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, director of the Philadelphia Federation of Jewish Charities and vice president of the Jewish Publication Society of America; 29) Julius Walter Freiberg, member of the Cincinnati, Ohio Charter Commission and past president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; 30) Rabbi Abraham Simon, one of the organizers of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and a founder of the Synagogue Council of America; and, 3 1) Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, distiller of Louisville, Kentucky and noted philanthropist. He was treasurer of the American Jewish Committee from 1906 to 1921. "Particularly hostile to Zionism, in 1918 he addressed a letter to the Central Conference of American Rabbis urging the founding of a 'Reform Church of American Israelites' to consist of ' 100 percent Americans,'"' (11)

On March 4, 1919 Professor Morris Jastrow wrote the following letter to President Wilson referring to the statement to the Peace Conference:

Philadelphia, Pa. March 4, 1919.

From Morriss Jastrow, Jr.

My dear President Wilson

I am sending you these few lines, in the first place to wish you a safe journey, secondly to assure you, as I took the liberty of doing on your former sailing, that you carry with you again the fervent wishes and the firm confidence of all those who realize that we are entering upon a new order, which demands entirely different methods in international relationships, and above all, that outlook towards the future which you possess in so preeminent a degree.

Thirdly, I want to say a word about the statement to the Peace Conference which I understand was handed to you by Representative Julius Kahn, before you left Washington, and in which I am deeply interested, having had a share in drawing up the document and in formulating the plans for obtaining the signatures of the representative citizens from all parts of the United States which are attached to it. We could easily have obtained thousands of signatures, for there are very many American citizens of the Jewish faith who, while entirely sympathetic towards the plan of promoting the colonization of Jews in Palestine, feel that it is a serious mistake, involving a misreading of the history of the Jews, to make the attempt of setting up at any time such a thing as a Jewish State in Palestine.

I hope my dear President Wilson that you will be able to find the time on the steamer to read the statement carefully, so as to realize our point of view. The only feature of Zionism to which we are opposed is the introduction of the political factor, which is bound to work mischief in Palestine, and will endanger the position that the Jews have acquired in Western lands. Those of us who have signed this document feel strongly that the principle of self-determination of peoples should be applied to Palestine precisely as to other countries; and this would leadnaturally to apalestinian State (under such mandatory control as the Peace Conference may decide) in which all religions and all nationalities represented at present in Palestine, or that may be there in the future, shall be placed precisely on the same footing. All we ask is that in the deliberations of the Peace Conference on this subject the views of those voiced in the statement will be taken into consideration.

I have the honor to be,

Obediently yours, Morris Jastrow Jr. (12)

President Wilson answered that letter as follows:

U.S.S. George Washington

12 March, 1919

To Morris Jastrow, Jr.

My dear Professor Jastrow:

Thank you for your letter of March fourth. You may be sure that the views of the highly responsible persons for whom you and Mr. Kahn speak will certainly receive most respectful consideration. I have time, as you will understand, just at this moment for only a line of acknowledgment, but it is one of very cordial and appreciative acknowledgment.

Cordially and sincerely yours,

(Woodrow Wilson) (13)

The full list of the three hundred prominent American Jews who signed this Statement was printed in The Jewish Review and Observer, Cleveland, Ohio, on March 14, 19 19. The names and positions of these foresighted gentlemen are reproduced below:

List of Signers to the Statement.

Chicago — George Pick, general agent Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company; William N. Eisendrath, president The Solution to the Palestine Problem 1027 Monarch Leather Company; Moses E. Greenbaum, president Greenbaum Sons' Bank and Trust Co., president Chicago Sinai Congregation; Harry Hart, president Hart, Schaffer & Marx; Max Epstein, president General American Tank Car Corp.; Henry L. Frank, ex-president Jewish Training School of Chicago; Lessing Rosenthal, attorney-at-law; Abraham G. Becker, A. G- Becker & Co., ex-president Associated Jewish Charities; Carl Meyer, lawyer; Tobias Schanfarber, rabbi Kehilath Ansche Mayrin Congregation; Moses E, Greenebaum, president Chicago Sinai Congregation; Jacob Schandie, president Congregation Warfow; Felix A. Levy, rabbi Temple Emanuel.

Baltimore — Jacob Hollander, Ph.D., professor political economy, Johns Hopkins University; Harry S. Greenbaum, M.D.; Leon Coblens, merchant, 1817 Eutaw Place; Abraham Cohen, Ph.D., associate professor mathematics, Johns Hopkins University; Rabbi William Rosenau, Ph.D., rabbi Congregation Oheb Shalon; Sylvan Lauchheimer, attorney-at-law, 11 1 St. Charles street; Eli Frank, attorney-at-law.

New Rochelle, N. Y. — Richard M. Stem, rabbi Temple Israel of New Rochelle; Oscar Heyman, president Temple Israel of New Rochelle; Charles 0. Tobias, president of Organized Hebrew Charities of New Rochelle; Louis Kalem, vice president Temple Israel; L. K. Goldman, chairman Jewish Welfare Board; S. Wonns, president Y. M. H. A.

Rochester, N, Y. — Max Landsberg, rabbi Congregation B'rith Kodesh; Mrs. Eugene M. Rosenthal, 1350 East Avenue; Mrs. Samuel M. Weil, 13 16 East Avenue; Arthur L. Stem, Michark, Stem & Co.; Herman Cohn, H. Cohn & Co.; Simon N. Stem, Charles Stem & Co.; Sol Wile, Wile & Oilman; Benjamin Stolz.

Schenectady, N. Y. — Louis M. King, trustee Congregation Schaari Schamarim; Myer Mann, president Schenectady Merchants' Association; L. R. Manheim, treasurercongregation Schaari Schamarim; Robert Dickoff, trustee Congregation Schaari Schamarim Congregation; F. Davidson, trustee Schaari Schamarim Congregation; Lester Stein, secretary congregation Schaari Schamarim.

Albany. N. Y. — Simon Rosendale, former attorney general, state of New York; F. Teech. attorney-at-law; Rabbi Eli Mayer, Ph.D., rabbi Temple Beth Emeth; Ben A. Mann, president Congregation Beth Emeth; Albert Hessberg, attorney; Rabbi Max Schlesinger, emeritus rabbi Temple Beth Emeth; Nathan Hatch, president of Field & Hatch Knitting Co.; Wm. G. Lewis, M.D.; Charles Stem, deputy attorney general of the state of New York; Henry E. Stem, judge city court of Albany; David Huhefelder, former justice city court of Albany; Henry Hirschfeld, justice of city court of Albany; Bertram Aufsesser, former United States commissioner.

Pittsburg, Pa. — Samuel H. Goldenson, Ph.D., rabbi Temple Rodef Shalom; Josiah Cohen, president of Rodef Shalom; Marcus Aaron, member Pennsylvania state board of education; A. Leo Weil; Wm. B. Kell, president Damascus Bronze Co.; Maurice Falk, Falk Co.; Leon Falk, president Duquesne Reduction Co.; Charles Dreifus, Oliver Building; Harvey S. Straussberger, Federal Street; Albert C. Lehman, president Blaw-Knox Co.

Dayton, 0. — David Lefkowitz, rabbi Congregation B'nai Yeshurum; Leo Schram, M.D., city physician; M. B. Nauman, attorney-at-law, president Eschol lodge; A. W. Thudman, attorney-at-law, president Eschol lodge, I. 0. B. B.; Harry Lehman, regional director, war industries board; Eugene L. Aach, Big Brother Association; Sidney C. Kusworm, president Congregation K. K. B. Y.

Fort Wayne,Ind. — Aaron Weinstein, M. R., rabbi; Marx Frank, president Congregation.

Little Rock, Ark. — Louis Witt, rabbi Congregation B'nai Israel; S. Daniel, president Congregation B'nai Israel; I. Kempner, merchant; Ellas Maine; Leo P. Bott, secretary Congregation; Leo Pfeiffer, president Jewish Charities; Theo. Sanders, architect.

Louisville, Ky. — Rev. Dr. Joseph Rauth, rabbi Temple Emanu-El; Fred Levy, member firm Levy Bros.; Bernard Bernheim, vice president Lincoln Savings Bank & Trust Co.; Benjamin S. Washer, attorney, president Congregation Adath Israel; Joseph Selligman, attorney, former county attorney; Lewis S. Strong, chief engineer Louisville Gas & Electric Co.; Leon L. Solomon, M.D., president medical department, University of Louisville.

Birmingham, Ah. — Morris Newfield, rabbi Temple Emmanu- El; LeoK. Steiner, chairman American Jewish R. Corn. for Ala.; Isaac Adler, Ed., delegate U. H. Congregation; A. Leo Oberdoefer, president Council Jewish Community of Birmingham; B. Jacobs, vice president, member of board of education; Simon Notz, consular agent of France; M. V. Joseph, president Temple Emanu-El: Otto Marx, American Jewish Community for Ala.

St. Joseph, Mo. — Louis Bernstein, rabbi Temple Adath Joseph St.; Samuel Hassenbusch, president Temple Adath Joseph; Samuel Sale, D. D., rabbi Congregation Shaare Emeth; H. Toholske, M.D., professor of surgery, Miss. Medical College.

Denver, Col. — Rabbi Wm. Friedman, Temple Emanuel; Samuel E. Kohn, treasurer Temple Emanuel; Berthold Flesher, chairman finance committee, National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives.

Memphis, Tenn.-J. W. Newburger, president Congregation Children of Israel, Falls Building; Charles J. Haase, delegate American Jewish Congress; Lea Goodman, commissioner public utilities, Exchange building; Elias Gates, vice president Memphis Library Association; M. H. Rosenthd, director American Red Cross, Memphis chapter; Milton S. Binswanger, president of Federation of Jewish Charities; William Gineshreber, rabbi Congregation Children of Israel.

New Haven, Conn. — Dr. M. Mailhouse, 105 Elm Street.

New York City, N. Y. — Lee Reinheimer, secretary and treasurer B. T. Babitt Soap Manufacturing Co.; George Corinaldi, assistant auditor B. T. Babbitt Soap Manufacturing Co.; Eugene Hirschfeld, billing department, B. T. Babitt; Jerome Wandlesen, president Mendleson Corp., Albany, N. Y.; Captain E. P. Bemheim, vice president Alvey Feguson Co., Grand Central Terminal building; J. G. Moses, attorney, 15 William Street; Jesse Straus, member of firm of R. H. Macy's Co.; Herbert M. Bates, member of firm of R. H. Macy's Co.; Adolph S. Ochs, publ. cont. owner New York Times; George Washington Ochs, editor Current Historical Magazine; Sidney C. Berg; Hyman Berg; Fred Danburg; Louis J. Chamansky, attorney, 20 Broad Street; Edward Lauterbach, senior director Hebrew Orphan Assn., N. Y., trustee Fed. Com. Char.; Mark J. Katz, secretary National Liberal Immigration League; Isaac A. Levy, law stenographer, 22 William Street; Peter Lowenfeld, lawyer; Daniel i Frohman, theatrical manager and president Actors' Fund of America; Edwin R. Seligman, professor political economy, Columbia University; Samuel Greenbaum, justice of a Supreme Court; Henry Morgenthau, former United States ambassador to Turkey; Mrs. Henry Morgenthau; Daniel P. Hays, attorney-at-law.

Washington, D. C. — Julius Kahn, house of representatives; Simon Lyon, attorney.

Boston, Mass. — Ab. Koshland; Henry Ehrlich, M.D.; Simon E. Hecht; J. Eiseman; Morris Rosenthal; S. Frank Franhenstein; Sidney A. Eiseman; Stanley H: Sinton; Abram P. Spitz; Lee M. Friedman; Leo Wiener, professor Slavic language and literature, Harvard University; Rabbi Harry Levi, rabbi Temple Israel; Louis Strauss, vice president Leopold-Morse Co.

Paterson, N. J. — Abram S. Isaacs, professor Semetic language, N. Y. U.

Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-S. S. Strauss, judge of court of common pleas; Joseph D. Coons, attorney-at-law, member of Luzerne county; J. Silberblatt; Marcus Salzman, rabbi Congregation.

Shreveport, La. — Rabbi Moses Jacobson, rabbi B'nai Zion Congregation; David B. Tamue, judge of city court; Herman Herold, honorary president B'nai Zion Congregation; Leon I. Kahn, commission public utilities; William Hirsch, secretary state fair of Louisiana; George W. Levy, president Y. M. H. A.; H. Herold, president B'nai Zion Congregation, delegate from Louisiana to American Jewish Congregation.

Cincinnati, 0. — Dr. K. Kohler, president Hebrew Union College; Henry Englander, professor Hebrew Union College; David Philipson, rabbi Bene Israel Congregation; Henry Beckman, president Congregation K. K. B. I.; Harry M. Hoffheimer, former judge superior court, Cincinnati; Ralph W. Mach, board of governors, Hebrew Union College; Leo Wise, editor American Israelite; Max Senior, Mitchell building; Joseph Raushoff, M.D., professor of surgery, U. 0 . C.; Albert Freiberg, professor orthopaedic surgery, recently major, army; J. Walter Freiberg; Maurice Freiberg; Charles Shohl, member board of education, Jewish Charities; George Zepin, rabbi; G. J. Brown, vice president Chamber of Commerce; Alfred M. Cohen; Alfred Mack; Eli Winkler, vice president board of governors, Hebrew Union College; Leopold Roth, secretary and treasurer Roth Shoe Manufacturing Company; Morris F. Westheimer, vice president Jewish hospital; Leo J. Lowman; Samuel Trownstine; Charles Kuhn; Samuel Ach, vice president board of education; Stanley F. Rauh, vice president Rauh Company; Henry Rollman, president Rollman & Sons Company.

Cleveland, 0. — E. M. Baker, president Cleveland Stock Exchange; Nathan Leser, attorney-at-law; Dr. Aaron Hahn, attorney-at-law; L. J. Wolf, president Aurora, Elgin, Chicago Raiload Company.

Galveston, Tex. — I. Kempner, mayor of city of Galveston; Robert I. Cohen, president Congregation B'nai Israel, treasurer United Charities; Jules Black, president Hebrew Benevolent Society; Rabbi Henry Cohen, vice chairman Home Senice Red Cross; Daniel Webster Kempner, field director American Red Cross; Marion J. Levy, assistant county attorney; Abe Blum, secretary Galveston water works.

Dallas, Tex. — Dr. William Greenburg, rabbi Temple Emanu-El; Edgar L. Pike, park commissioner; Edward Titche; Jules Hexter, vice president Civic Federation; Charles Singer, chairman Armenian, Syrian Relief Fund; A. Sanger, ex-food administrator of Texas, merchant; H. S. Scheline, president local branch Jewish Welfare Board.

Philadelphia — Henry Berkowitz, D. D., chancellor of Jewish Chautauqua Society; Albert Wolf, president Congregation Rodeph Shalom; Horace Stem, attorney-at-law, 1524 North Sixteenth Street; Howard Loeb, president Philadelphia Tradesmen's National bank; Simon L. Kohn, merchant; Oscar Loeb, vice president Jewish Chautauqua Society; Eugene M. Stem; Clinton 0. Mayer, Pres. Jewish Foster Home and Orphan Asylum; Edwin Wolf, president board of education of Philadelphia; Isaac T. Schwatt, Ph.D., professor mathematics, University of Pennsylvania; Jacob Gimbel, Gimbel Brothers Department Stores; Morris Jastrow, Jr., professor Semitic lang., University of Pennsylvania.

Nashville, Tenn. — Louis Leftwich, prof. med. jurisprudence, Vanderbilt University; Isadore Lewinthal, rabbi Vine Street Temple; Nathan Cohn, member American Jewish comm.; J. A. C. Morse, president Vine Street Temple; Isadore K. Abrahams, vice president Vine Street Temple; Lee Lowenthall, member of board of trustees, Vanderbilt University.

San Francisco, Cal. — M. C. Aaron, asso. justice of supreme court, Cal.; Henry Siadenstein, Hills building; Dr. Julius Rosenstern, surgeon, Mt. Zion hospital; Isais W. Hellman, president Wells Fargo, Nevada, National Park; I. W. Hellman, Jr., president Union Trust Co., president Federation of Jewish Charities; Dr. E. 0 . Jllinchk, visiting physician Mt. Zion hospital; Wm. C. Voorsanger, medical visiting physician, Mt. Zion hospital; C. Huritz, medical doctor, assistant professor medicine, University of Columbia.

Milwaukee, Wis. — Max Landauer, honorary president Temple Emanu-El, president Mt. Sinai hospital; A. Shepstein, president Congregation Emanu-El; Jerome C. Galstein; Paul Sidenberg, first vice president Mt. Sinai hospital; Isaac D. Adler, director of Wisconsin National Bank; Adolph Landauer, director Federation Jewish Charities; Samuel Hirshberg, rabbi Temple Emanu-El.

Greenville, Miss. — Harry A. Merfeld, rabbi Hebrew Union Congregation; Nathan Goldstein, president Hebrew Union Congregation; J. Wilzin, member city council; Montrose Goldstein, member board of education, city of Greenville; K. Schall, member Washington county boasd of education; E. J. Bogen, attorney board Mississippi levee commission; Jerome B. Hirsch, M.D., city physician. (14)

SOLUTIONS ATTEMPTED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

The Mandate system was established by the Covenant of the League of Nations. Many of the tersitories which were mled by Gestnany and Turkey and liberated by the Allied Powers were placed under Mandates in accordance with Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The said Article states:

To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to sVdnd by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modem world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant.

The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position, can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised hy them as Mandatories on behalf of the League.

The character of the Mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances.

Paragraph 4 of Article 22 refers to the territories which were under the sovereignty of Turkey. It states:

Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. (15)

The British Government obtained the Mandate over Palestine and used its influence in the League of Nations to incorporate the Balfour Declaration in the Mandate.

The Balfour Declaration stated as follows:

His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. (16)

Foreign Office documents of correspondence between Lord Balfour and Lord Curzon clarified the interpretation of the British government regarding the Balfour Declaration:

1. Lord Curzon (Foreign Office) to Mr. Balfour (Peace Delegation) 16th January 1919.

This afternoon Sir A. Money. who is the administrator of Palestine under Allenby, came to see me. He had much to say about that country. But his main point, and that of Allenby, is that we should go slow about the Zionist aspirations and the Zionist State. Otherwise we might jeopardize all that we have won. A Jewish Government in any form would mean an Arab rising, and the nine-tenths of the population who are not Jews would make short shrift with the Hebrews.

As you may know, I share these views, and have for long felt that the pretensions of Weizmann and Company are extravagant and ought to be checked. The statement that they asked our leave to make, but which I think was held up by you, would in my judgment do great harm. and I certainly would not assume the responsibility of authorizing it.

2. Mr. Balfour to Lord Curzon, 20th January, 1919.

As far as I know, Weizmann has never put forward a claim for the Jewish Government of Palestine. Such a claim is in my opinion certainly inadmissible and personally I do not think we should go further than the original declaration which I made to Lord Rothschild. (17)

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