Plans for Joint U. J. C. and U. P. A. Campaign in Minnesota Abandoned

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

Plans for a joint campaign of the United Palestine Appeal and the United Jewish Campaign in Minneapolis have been abandoned, in accordance with instructions received by the United Jewish Campaign leaders from David A. Brown, national chairman, the St. Paul and Minneapolis “American Jewish World” states.

After numerous conferences between Zionists and non-Zionists a satisfactory arrangement had been reached. The arrangement called for a fifty-fifty distribution between the two organizations.

The Zionist organization had fixed April 25 as the date on which it would begin its campaign, and arrangements were well on the way to completion. Later, leaders of the Palestine campaign were induced to change their plans and join forces with the United Jewish Campaign.

The final agreement for a joint drive took place a week ago Wednesday when the executive committee of the Zionist organization, after prolonged discussion, gave its approval to negotiations of a committee appointed for that purpose.

A communication from Mr. Brown to Joseph Schanfeld, chairman of the United Jewish Campaign in Minnesota, stated:

“I am authorized to state that the United Jewish Campaign will not accept the arrangement made and shall insist that a campaign for $300,000 be conducted throughout the state of Minnesota, payable over a period of three years or $200,000 payable before December 31, 1926. The California arrangement upon which your action is being based was an arbitrary action on the part of those who were temporarily in control in that state, but was never accepted by National Headquarters and the campaign throughout the state is already a failure. Minnesota is one of the few states that has not as yet sent us any money in answer to our ‘SOS’ call regardless of fact that hundreds of thousands of our people are actually starving to death for want of necessary food. Realize your position fully but must insist upon the importance of United Jewish Campaign as against any other effort in this country because of enormous number of people involved in the life and death struggle that confronts them. If the Jews of Minnesota want it upon their conscience to destroy the principles upon which this great campaign is being conducted, they are welcome to it. Should you accept our $200,000 one-year campaign we expect to come into that state at some future date and conduct another campaign. This decision is absolutely final and authorize you as chairman for state of Minnesota to act accordingly.”

A further exchange of letters, pointing out the fact that the joint campaign was asked by the United Jewish Campaign leaders and not by the Zionists, brought a determined negative reply from Mr. Brown. In a letter to Mr. Schanfeld, Mr. Brown wrote: “We regret exceedingly that we are compelled to take this position, but we do so with the determination that if the leaders in Minnesota will not conduct a campaign in accordance with practically every other State in the Union, we shall be compelled to take such steps to raise our money in Minnesota as the circumstances may warrant. We stand ready to go to the Christians in your State with a Christian organization if absolutely necessary.”