25,000 More Jewish Families to Be Settled on Land when New Agreement Between Soviet and Agrojoint is

Declaring that the program of land settling work outlined by the Joint Distribution Committee for the year 1926-1927 was executed beyond the original plans, Dr. Joseph Rosen, head of the Agrojoint. accompanied by Ezekiel Grower, legal advisor of the Agrojoint, intimated that 25,000 additional Jewish families will be settled in European Russia if the new agreement between the Soviet Government and the Agrojoint will go into effect.

The ten million dollar fund, initiated by Julius Rosenwald’s $5,000,000 contribution, which will be matched by a $10,000,000 appropriation of the Soviet government over a period of ten years, will make the extension work possible, Dr. Rosen stated.

Dr. Rosen also declared that the Agrojoint is not opposed to the Soviet government plan of an extensive Jewish colonization work in Bureya, Siberia. The Agrojoint will not participate in this work simply because it has still much to do in those regions where the present colonies are located.

The head of the Agrojoint scored those who spread unfounded rumors concerning friction between the Jewish colonists and the peasants, stories of bad crops and anti-Jewish attacks.

“We came over to discuss with our J. D. C. friends interested in the Jewish agricultural colonization work in Russia some of our plans in connection with this work,” Dr. Rosen declared.

The economic condition of the Russian Jews in the cities and towns is getting worse and worse. Private trade has been reduced to practically nothing and in some lines the home and artisan industries are being completely crowded out by the development of government industrial enterprises. Hence the movement of the Jews to the land is constantly increasing. The pressure of prospective settlers this spring is much greater than last year. With the means available all organizations together can take care this year of only about 3,000 new families while the demand is tenfold. In the Crimea the quota was filled within a few days after opening of the spring movement and several hundred families came out without permission and had to be partly turned back and partly taken in over and above the original program.

“Our plans for the 1926-1927 season were carried out on the average more than 150 percent.” he stated. “For instance our plans called for the surveying of 108,000 acres of land, while we have actually surveyed over 200,000 acres; we planned to dig, drill and repair 176 wells and have actually provided 389 wells; we planned to put up 1500 houses and have put up 1627. We had planned to put up 15 school buildings and actually built 29 of them; we had planned to put up 18 buildings for farmers’ cooperatives and have put up 36, and so in all other lines. In 1926-1927 we expended for this work a little over $1,500,000. of the Agro-joint funds and about $180,000. of government funds in cash, not taking into consideration the timber land, reduced transportation, etc. supplied by the government.

“From the very beginning of the work at the J.D.C. conferences in Philadelphia and in Chicago, we tried to make it clear that the land situation in European Russia is a temporary condition, that delay meant increasing difficulty in securing desirable tracts. We very much regret that our appropriations for this work have always been inadequate. But even now it is still possible to settle up to 25,000 additional families in the Ukraine, Crimea and White Russia if we can provide the necessary funds. The Government is more than ever interested in this work,” he stated. “Irrespective of the Siberian project, in which the Agro-joint is not participating, a special commission has recently been appointed, with one of the most influential members of the Government as Chairman, to decide a number of important matters in connection with additional allotment of land for Jewish settlement in Crimea.

“We are sorry to note that there seem to be some people interested in maliciously spreading from time to time false rumors about pogroms, fights and quarrels between the Jewish settlers and the peasants. We do not exactly know who these people are but they surely deserve compassion as sooner or later their conscience must awaken.

“The news of Mr. Rosenwald’s promise to make a magnificent contribution for our work in Russia was published by all the metropolitan and provincial Russian papers and made a profound impression. We are aware that Mr. Rosenwald. Mr. Warburg and their friends are interested only in the real good accomplished by their contributions and not in any expression of appreciation but we cannot refrain from conveying to them the message from our people in Russia how deeply they appreciate this interest and this very real help for the need of this help, we are sorry to say, is still very real.”