Group Arrives in Europe for Talks on Refugee Settlement Corporation

A group of leaders of American Jewish relief organizations arrived in London today, it was learned here, for negotiations regarding establishment of an international corporation to raise a loan for settlement of refugees overseas. The corporation would implement the arrangement made with the German Government by George S. Rublee, former director of the Intergovernmental Refugee Committee, for orderly emigration of 150,000 able-bodied Jews and 250,000 of their dependents within five years.

Since Germany made fulfillment of the arrangement dependent on establishment of an international corporation, the present project has been under close examination by important bodies since March. The present arrival of American Jewish leaders is interpreted as indicating that formation of the corporation is feasible, although preparations are expected to last several weeks.

The corporation would supplement another fund raised within the Reich consisting of 10 per cent of the German Jews’ wealth and administered by a board of Jewish and non-Jewish trustees, While the German fund would be spent for facilitating emigration of “non-Aryans,” the international corporation would have to pay the further cost of settlement. The emigrants leaving the Reich first would repay loans to both funds as soon as they were earning enough in their new homes to make this possible, thus enabling successive groups to leave the Reich. The German Government has undertaken to see that the prospective emigrants are not mistreated while awaiting their turns to leave.

During their stay in Europe, the American Jewish leaders will remain chiefly in London, where the negotiations will be carried on through the Intergovernmental Committee. Completion of the negotiations will enable, on the one hand, regulated emigration from the Reich, and on other hand, organized settlement overseas.

The Intergovernmental Committee, in considering sites for colonization, is giving particular attention to British Guiana, the Philippine Islands and the Dominican Republic. An experts’ commission has already reported that there exists land in the interior of British Guiana making a two-year experiment at colonization worth while, and the British Government has promised to facilitate such settlement, although it has indicated no financial support. Another commission, sponsored by President Roosevelt’s Advisory Committee on Refugees, has completed a survey in the Philippines, centering on the island of Mindanao, and its report will be published shortly. A third commission sponsored by the advisory committee is investigating colonization possibilities offered by the Dominican Republic.