Count Bethlen’s Statement on Jewish Question in Hungary Made to J.t.a. Head Augurs Good for Future S

The statement made last week by the Prime Minister, Count Bethlen, to Mr. Jacob Landau, the head of the J.T.A., that the Jews of Hungary are a constructive and capable element of the population and have contributed to a considerable extent to the development of Hungary, and that they have played a great part in its literature, science and commerce, is of importance because it will be heard also by those who engage in antisemitism, the “Egyenloeseg”, the weekly organ of Hungarian Jewry, writes.

Perhaps those who still speak and write about the alleged “inferiority” of Hungarian Jewry, it says, will listen now to what Count Bethlen says. What Count Bethlen said about the economic crisis falling more heavily upon the Jews than on the rest of the population, however deplorable the fact in itself may be, the paper proceeds, puts and end to the arguments to the contrary which have been used by the antisemites. As for his statement that the number of Jews engaged in agriculture is very small, and that there are hardly any Jews to be found in the State offices, that, the “Egyenloeseg” says, is not the fault of the Jews. A former Minister, Dr. Hegedues, has made it clear that the Agrarian reform is practised in such a way that Jews may not buy land. Nor is it of their own free will that Jews have in recent years been excluded from public office.

Jewish public opinion in Hungary, the paper declares, regards this statement made by Count Bethlen on the Jewish question as a good augury for the future. Count Bethlen, who has devoted his entire life to constructive work, will now, we hope, apply himself with understanding and friendship to the position of the Hungarian Jews, whom he himself has described as a constructive and capable element in the life of Hungary.