J. D. C. Not in Position This Year to Aid Jewish Colonization in Pinsk Region

Land Would Have to be Gotten Free; Present Committments Don’t Allow New Projects

There is very little likelihood that the Joint Distribution Committee will be in a position during 1928 to aid the project of settling Jews on the land in the Pinsk region if the swamps are drained, according to communications of Dr. Joseph Rosen, agricultural expert of the committee, and Joseph C. Hyman, secretary of the committee, made public by Z. Tygel, executive director of the Federation of Polish Jews in America.

The Federation of Polish Jews at its semi-annual meeting three months ago passed resolutions requesting the Joint Distribution Committee to have Dr. Rosen investigate the land settling possibilities for Polish Jews in the Pinsk region and to appoint a special committee which would proceed to Poland to determine the conditions on the spot.

In reply to the request Mr. Hyman in a communication to the Federation of Polish Jews declared:

“The committee reviewed with great interest your suggestion that the settlement of Jews on the land in Poland be given immediate consideration. It is natural that the success of agriculture under varying conditions. In Russia, has caused groups of Jews in Poland and other countries where conditions, political and economic, have not yet opened such possibilities, to hope that they, too, might find similar opportunities for settling on the land. The reconstructive relief which this organization has been able to render in various countries has taken different forms under varying conditions. In Russia, a spontaneous agricultural movement, fostered by economic and political conditions, made possible emphasis on agricultural work. The Russian Revolution upset theories of private trade and made available land on a large scale for new settlement. One of the officers of the Joint Distribution Committee, at the Chicago Constructive Relief Conference, pointed out some of the differences between conditions in Russia and Poland with regard to land settlement. In Poland, the Government has not made land available for agricultural work and the conditions prevailing do not indicate that the very small sums which the Joint Distribution Committee has for further work in Eu ope can practicably be applied toward the encouragement of large scale agricultural work.

“The appropriations which the Joint Distribution Committee can make for Eastern Europe for the year 1928 are very modest. They have been reduced substantially from the applications made to us by our European Director. Our commitments are such that there are no free funds available for any further projects and we shall require the assistance of all those persons interested in our activities to meet our minimum budgets. The committee at this time faces a large deficit and has to meet notes which fall due shortly and against which the committee borrowed substantial sums from the banks. In these circumstances, unless we were to discontinue further assistance to the orphan and child care institutions, all further help to the loan kassas, all further aid to the Gemiloth Chessed kassa free loan societies, unless we were to stop entirely subventioning the cultural and educational institutions in Poland and lump whatever allotments were thus made available for all these purposes, into one sum for the project which you propose, the committee could find practically no funds whatsoever for any additional activities. The committee must be guided by its financial situation, and by the amount of moneys which it receives form the country for its program. Its present commitments are such that practically without taking on any new programs whatsoever, it will still need to observe the mose careful economies in order to meet these obigations. The committee, in view of all these circumstances, can not embark upon the project which you urge,” the secretary of the Joint Distribution Committee declared.

Dr Rosen in a statement made to the Federation of Polish Jews last October, declared:

“From what I know there are three to four million acres of swamp land in the Pinsk district belonging partly to the Government and partly to private land owners, which can be drained and turned into farms. We are actually draining the same kind of land in White Russia which adjoins the Pinsk district, and are settling people there.

“Under similar conditions, the present cost of draining the land amounts to $40 or $50 per acre. With improved methods by using American machinery for ditching and clearing the land, the cost can be reduced to about $30 per acre. To make a living each family must have about 25 acres of this land. As you see, under these conditions if the land does not have to be purchased, the initial cost of the farm, under best conditions, would be about $750. In addition to this, the buildings and live stock and machinery, would cost at least another $750., making the cost of settling a family about $1,500, provided the land can be secured free of charge.