American Zionist Leaders Return Home from Basle; Silver Halls Congress’ Accomplishments

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Judge Morris Rothenberg, president of the Jewish National Fund, and Daniel Frisch, chairman of the Administrative Council of the Zionist Organization of America, were among the delegates to the Zionist Congress at Basle who arrived home today aboard the Queen Elizabeth. (Statements by Dr. Wise and other delegates will appear in the Bulletin tomorrow.)

Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, president of the Z.O.A. and newly-elected chairman of the Jewish Agency executive in Washington, arrived at LaGuardia Field yesterday from Amsterdam. He condemned the recent flogging of a British officer and soldiers by Jewish extremists, but said that the basic cause of the unrest in Palestine was the British refusal to allow Jewish immigration.

Commenting on the accomplishments of the Zionist Congress, Dr. Silver said that “the old leadership was repudiated. Its record was one of retreat and political failure. The Congress reaffirmed the classic Zionist position and expressed the firm resolve of the Jewish people to resist all illegal actions of the mandatory government either to liquidate or constrict the Jewish national home. The Congress refused to lend itself to British dilatory maneuvers.” Regarding the London conference, he said that Zionist participation depends on whether the British will signify their readiness to lift restrictions on Jewish immigration and colonization.