Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.-Editor.]

The significance of the Philadelphia Federation of Jewish Charities in the social, philanthropic and civic life of that city, is discussed by the Philadelphia “Inquirer,” on the occasion of the celebration of the Federation’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

“The Federation,” the paper declares, “embraces practically all of the Jewish charities, it has a membership of 20,000, and it raises something like $1,500,000 annually. Thus, relatively speaking, it has taken its place in the forefront of all such movements in this country.

“It is gratifying to know that this large sum of money is spent for the relief of suffering regardless of creed, color or other conditions. It is a significant fact, for instance, that the patients at the Jewish Hospital are nearly 65 per cent non-Jews.

“It is amazing.” the “Inquirer” concludes, “to see how much welfare work can be accomplished by cooperation and systematic giving, and in doing this so freely and generously the Jewish Federation is entitled to the thanks and the hearty good will of the people of Philadelphia.”

THE REPORT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ON PALESTINE

The recent report of the United States Department of Commerce regarding conditions in Palestine is commented on by the Paducah (Ky) “News-Democrat,” which observes:

“The reconstruction by this scattered people, of their ancestral home must be an extraordinary thing to watch, judging from the Commerce Department’s account. Not, indeed, that the department makes any attempt at a picturesque handling of the subject. It’s simply a dry commercial report, but in order to give a proper idea of the country’s business possibilities, the department’s investigators do find it necessary to make some reference to the settlers’ accomplishments in the last few years. That they have done so much is all the more remarkable in that they got away to an unfavorable start.”

The Staunton (Va.) “News”, writing on the same subject, says:

“Probably few persons in this country noted facts and figures made public recently by the Department of Commerce dealing with developments in the Holy Land. Yet if they could be read with proper understanding of the background they would be found to be a stirring section in one of the most romantic stories that followed the peace of 1919, the attempt to create a great Jewish community in Palestine.”