other periods in our history. Suffering is our school. The Administrative Committee must launch a call to great deeds. Already we have thousands of young people in Palestine who are trained and passionately straining to go on the land. We have land for them and agricultural methods. What we lack is money and the will. This will, this money must be the products of this meeting.”
In concluding, Dr. Weizmann declared that he does not agree with much that Judge Brandeis has said, but “he is right in saying that the basis for further political action must be serious work in Palestine or else our political efforts will be nothing but machinery running empty. We will convince the nations of the world that we are right by continuing our work in Palestine at a swifter tempo than before.”
Following Dr. Weizmann’s address, Dr. Oscar Wasserman, chairman of the board of directors of the Keren Hayesod, reported on the budget previously adopted at Zurich, saying that he considered it necessary for the Keren Hayesod to discharge promptly whatever obligations it had incurred. He said that owing to insufficient receipts for the first five months, the Keren Hayesod was only able to provide the Executive with $405,000 instead of $970,000.
Such a situation, he pointed out, is in the long run intolerable. “Systematic work in Palestine must prove successful this year if the items in the budget are carried out. Hence everyone should do his utmost to support the Keren Hayesod in the remaining months of this year in order to reach the amount fixed.” He hoped that in a few years the Keren Hayesod would be free from previous liabilities and be able to devote all money to colonization and immigration.
The afternoon session was devoted to a debate on the constitution of the Agency, to the composition of the Executive, and to a discussion as to whether it possesses executive or merely departmental powers. The debate was participated in by Dr. Max Solowitschik, Dr. Cyrus Adler, Nahum Sokolow, Major H. L. Nathan, and Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff. A cable was received from Nathan Straus, honorary vice-president of the Agency.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.