Jewish Colonies in Russia Suffer Bad Crops; Credits Extended by Government

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Until the new crop is reaped the settlers in the new Jewish colonies will have to depend on outside relief, it was stated here following the receipts of reports as to the crop situation in various parts of Russia.

A government credit of 300,000 roubles was made available to provide the colonies with food and forage. The government has also decided to send sixteen wagons of bread and thirty wagons of potatoes monthly until conditions become better. This situation obtains primarily in the colonies in Crimea, in the district of Cherson and in the vicinty of Odessa, where Jewish settlements were created with the assistance of the Ort.

The representative of the Agrojoint, the agronomist Lubarski, who is now travelling in the colonies, reports that the situation is not as bad in the district of the Agrojoint colonies, where only a few settlements suffered.

Smidovitch, vice-president of the Soviet Union, who is trouing the colonies, is personally investigating the situation.

The Ozet, society for settling Jews on the land, has decided to take extraordinary measures to assist the colonists in the spring sowing, particularly in those regions where the winter crop was frozen. The Ort, in a statement issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent, declared that the latest reports received indicate that in about 90 percent of the Jewish colonies in the Odessa district, the winter crop was spoiled. Food and forage were despatched to the affected settlements.

In many places the colonists have to obtain their food from the neighboring towns.

An official statement issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent by the agronomist, Zegelnicky, general manager of the Ort, declares; “The dry fall last year did not enable many colonists to do winter sowing. Of those done, fifty percent were spoiled by frost, forty percent by storms, with only ten percent remaining resulting in depression among the colonists.

“To relieve the situation, the Ort sent twelve wagons of Kukurusa for the livestock. In the future the Ort will further the development of dairy and poulty farms and vineyards which are less exposed to natural misfortunes,” Mr. Zegelnicky declared.

COMMUNICATION TO THE EDITOR

Sir:

We are glad to learn according to your issue of yesterday, that the Romanian Government has finally dissolved the Christian Students’ League, which in our opinion was responsible for all the disturbances in years past.

This dissolution is in accordance with the promise made to me by His Excellency, Minister George ## as well as in accordance with the cable forwarded to us from the ## Government the other day–it being our first request contained in our petition to the Minister, under date of March 14, ##. Let us hope that they will grant all the others, to the end that the condition of our unfortunates abroad will be improved and made livable.

I was also gratified to receive word from the Minister that our petition to ## the trial of the fifty Jewish students at ## was granted.

Yours very truly,

Bennett E Siegelstein

President United Roumanian Jews of America.

New York, May 12, 19##