(J. T. A. Mail Service)
Up to the end of July, 170 settlers, or twenty-six per cent of the total number who came to Biro-Bidjan, Bureya, returned home, statistics published in the “Emes” here yesterday show.
Professor B. Brook, agricultural expert who has been connected with Jewish colonization activities in Russia, is the writer of the article in which he discusses the cause for the return of the 170 Jewish settlers of Biro-Bidjan. He draws a comparison in this respect between Biro-Bidjan and the other Jewish settlements in the Ukraine and Crimea, pointing out that in the other settlements the percentage of those who abandoned the land and returned to their homes has been considerably higher than in Biro-Bidjan.
The reasons which actuated the 170 settlers to leave Biro-Bidjan, Prof. Brook declares, were as follows: the extremely unfavorable weather conditions in the Far East this year; the colonization apparatus was not prepared in respect to organization and road connections; the shortage of building material; the tractors and ploughs did not arrive in time; various errors of organization in supplying the settlers with implements and other needs. Moreover, some of these who came to Biro-Bidjan were unsuited for the difficulties which confronted them and the number of artisans was too large proportionately for an agricultural colonization enterprise.
In view of these hardships. Prof. Brook concludes, it is to be wondered at that a larger number did not abandon Biro-Bidjan.
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