Bureya Jewish Trans-migrants Are Leaving Region, Moscow Hears

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The transmigrants who went to settle on the land in Bureya under the auspices of the Ozet, the society for settling Jews on the land, are leaving the territory, it is learned here on the basis of reliable reports. A rumor has it that the departing settlers are compelled by the local authorities to sign a pledge not to reveal the facts of the situation there.

A majority of the settlers who can not return to their home towns have abandoned the settlements at Birafield and are going to Chabarovsk, the nearest city, to engage in trade and others in search of work.

Writing on the subject of the Jewish transmigrants in Bureya, A. Sudarsky, member of the praesidium of the Ukrainian Ozet, in an article published in the Communist daily, “Emes,” states that both the Comzet, governmental department of Jewish land settlement, and the Ozet, give the transmigrants too many privileges. He proposes that the Ozet hire the cheapest labor, whether Jews or non-Jews. The transmigrants should be persuaded to accept the same terms as the Koreans, or be discharged.

Needy transmigrants should apply to the local organization, no obligation lies with the Ozet.

The writer urges the abandonment of the plan to prepare houses, because this is impossible; the transmigrants must build for themselves with the material provided by the Ozet. They must seek work without the aid of the Ozet, he declares.

Mr. Sudarsky criticises the plan of sending another 300 transmigrants to work in the forests, predicting failure as the earnings will be insufficient for them to save for the initial expense necessary for them to settle on the land. The forest work ruins the horses for work on the land in the spring, he declares.