Digest of Remarks by Louis Lipsky at Smuts Luncheon

Louis Lipsky greeted Gen. Smuts in the name of the Zionist organization. He expressed the hope that his endeavors would bring about a better understanding of the purposes of the League of Nations in the United States. Speaking of Gen. Smuts he told of the latter’s endeavors in working out the Mandate system and said: “He (General Smuts) has earned the gratitude of all Jews for what he has done to secure the recognition of Jewish right in Palestine, for it was only through the Mandate system that it has become possible for our claim to justice with regard to Palestine to be heard and established in an international forum.

“Gen. Smuts was not actuated by doctrinaire motives in advocating the Mandate system for Palestine,” continued Mr. Lipsky. “His interest was concentrated there because of his deep understanding of the difficulties of the Jewish people and of the problem which the existence of the Jewish people throughout the world represents….He has given his continuous support to the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate.”

Concluding, Lipsky said: “Often, great rulers have managed to break through the barriers of hostile environment to speak in a manner which made all Jews, from the highest to the lowest, feel a thrill of lasting satisfaction, for in them was recognized a state of mind which might eventually become universal. We have to remember among the righteous of the nations of the world, men like Arthur James Balfour, David Lloyd George, Ramsay MacDonald and a man of such sterling quality as General Smuts. While there are living friends like these, the Jewish people will be strengthened in their faith and in the hope that ultimately full and complete justice will be done to their problem in international life which is represented by the existence and persistence of the Jewish people.”