New Latvian Government Negotiates with Jewish Deputies for Parliamentary Support

The Government of M. Samuel (Centre Party) has resigned, and M. Meierowics, ## predecessor as Premier, and leader of the Peas## Party, is engaged in negotiations with the ## in the Parliament with a view to forming on Government.

In connection with these negotations, Mr. Meier ## has invited the Jewish Deputies Rabbi M. ## Professor M. Lazarsohn and M. Dubin, to ## them on what conditions the Jewish Deputies would be willing to support his Ministry. The Jewish Deputies thereupon put several demands with ##gard to citizenship rights of the Jews and also ## securing of national autonomy for the Jewish population.

M. Meierowics did not see his way clear to mak-## any promises with regard to carrying out these ## if he assumed office, and the Jewish Deputies therefore declared themselves unable to give is their support.

(Neither M. Samuel nor M. Meierowitz, despite ## Jewish-sounding names, are Jews, although ## are of Jewish descent of some generations ##.

There are six Jewish Deputies in the Latvian Parliament, M. Dubin and R. Wittenberg (Agudas Israel), Rabbi M. Nurok (Mizrachi), Professor ## lazarsohn (Zeire Zion), Dr. N. Moizel (Jewish ##cialist Party “Bund”) and L. Fishman (Jewish ##tional Democrat). There are altogether 100 Deputies in the Latvian Parliament; the Right and Left ## are about equal in numbers and the National ##, numbering fifteen Deputies, are therefore of great importance. The Minority representatives are the six Jewish Deputies, six Germans, ## Russians and one Pole.

The late Government had a Bill in Parliament, at the time of its resignation, with regard to citizenship in which Latvian citizenship is provided for citizens of the former Russian Empire irrespective of nationality and religion, who are now in Latvia, are not adopted citizenship in any other country, and who were resident in Latvia at least fifteen years prior to August 1st, 1914; alternatively, who have been permanently resident in the territory now forming the Republic of Latvia since 1881, and the children of persons belonging to both categories.

The Jewish representatives contend that there are thousands of Jews who were resident in the territory now forming the Latvian Republic who is not register as residents of that territory be##, as citizens of the Russian Empire, they were ## to reside in all parts of Russia except in those places where Jews were prohibited. At the ## of the war thousands of these were ex## en masse by order of the Russian Commander-in-Chief, and they are now refused read##sion into Latvia because they cannot produce documentary proof that they were resident in Latavian prior to the war.