Upon the arrival of Lord Melchett on the steamer Homeric Wednesday afternoon, the full text of his authorized statement to the representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on board the steamer was available. The statement read:
“I am not sure whether I shall enter the Jewish Agency if such is formed. The Joint Palestine Survey Commission of which I was chairman is a matter different from the Jewish Agency. It should, therefore, not be assumed that by signing the Commission’s report, I also considered myself obliged to participate in the Agency.
“The constitution of the Agency has never been officially put before me and I was never consulted on it, so I actually don’t even know its constitutional functions and purposes. However, it is my definite opinion that if a Jewish Agency is created, it should limit itself as a diplomatic body only and should not undertake any executive obligations similar to those of the Zionist Executive.
“The most important thing to remember is that the future of the Agency depends mainly upon the attitude of the British Government to ward it. The development of Palestine is going quickly and will continue faster due to private undertakings in which many non-Jews are also interested,” Lord Melchett declared.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
