voting formation of an autonomous refugee body, omitted, at British request, Palestine from the body’s sphere of influence. The British request was reported based on the desire of that country not to have another international body, such as the League’s Mandates Commission, intervening in the affairs of Palestine.
Mr. McDonald, on the contrary, is known to feel that Palestine is the logical solution of the problem of settling a large number of German-Jewish refugees and is seeking an immigration quota for them.
After referring to Palestine, Mr. McDonald in his speech expressed the hope that other governments would display a generous attitude in admitting refugees.
He concluded by earnestly stressing the necessity of maintaining the closest cooperation with private relief organizations interested in the work of caring for refugees.
Lord Cecil, whose election as chairman of the governing body had long been ceded, declared today that he was presiding only temporarily. Stating that he is overburdened with work, he expressed a wish that one of the other members of the board take over the duties of chairman.
Six representatives of Jewish relief organizations were present at the opening meeting. They were Dr. Chaim Weizmann, head of the Zionist campaign to settle German refugees in Palestine; Dr. Nahum Goldman, chairman of the Committee of Jewish Delegations; Dr. Bernhard Kahn, European director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; Joseph C. Hyman, of New York, secretary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; Louis Unger, director of the Jewish Colonization Association, and Dr. James Bernstein, European director of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society (Hias), who represented the Hicem, joint body for Jewish migration work.
Argentina, Spain and Brazil were the three countries invited to name members of the governing body which were not represented today.
This afternoon, at a closed session, the autonomous body adopted the statutes under which it will work. The permanent office of the autonomous body will be at Lausanne, with a small executive of five members to speak in the name of the body at all times.
Tomorrow’s sitting will be an open one with short declarations by Messrs. Hyman and Unger. Dr. Weizmann will speak for an hour and Professor William Rappard, of Switzerland, will speak on the plight of the intellectual refugees.
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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.
