Secretaryship of Jewish Board of Deputies: No Recommendation Made to Meeting of Board: Mr. Lionel L.

The report published in the J.T.A. Bulletin of the 16th. inst., in which the name of Mr. Albert M. Hyamson was mentioned in connection with a secretaryshop of the Board, was the first matter referred to by Mr. Lionel L. Cohen, when he presented the report of the Law and Parliamentary Committee, of which he is Chairman, at to-day’s meeting of the Board of Jewish Deputies.

There was an unusually large number of Deputies known to hold strong Zionist views present, and there was a Keen air of expectancy about, which suggested that there would be a vigorous discussion on the question of a successor to Mr. J. M. Rich, as Secretary of the Board. There was an item “appointment of a Secretary” on the agenda, but no recommendation was made to the meeting. The representatives of the press who usually sit at the press table on the stage of the Hall were asked to remain in the body of the hall, while what appeared to be a hurriedly summoned meeting of members of the Selection Committee, the Law and Parliamentary Committee, and the Joint Foreign Committee, was in progress behind the curtains, after which the meeting of the Board was opened.

I do not know, and indeed I do not wish to know, Mr. Lionel L. Cohen, K.C., said, from what source the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtained its information. It is obviously a gross breach of that confidence which is supposed to be observed with regard to proceedings held in Committee. The statement, I need hardly say, is entirely unauthorised, and comes as a complete surprise to every member, both of the Selection Committee, the Law and Parliamentary Committee, and of the Joint Foreign Committee. As is invariably the case with these partial disclosures, he went on, the statement gives a misleading account of what occurred, and I can only express my very deep regret at any pain or annoyance it may have caused to Mr. Hyamson.

It is the fate of most highly-placed public officials, Mr. Cohen continued, to incur unpopularity in the discharge of their duties at some time or other in their career. Mr. Hyamson, he said, is no exception to the rule. History is apt to reverse these ephemeral verdicts, Mr. Cohen added, and I have little doubt it will do so in this case.

However that may be, he concluded, I can only deplore the choice of a successor to Mr. Rich being made the subject of press comment of this kind, since it inevitable prejudices in advance the position of whatever candidate may eventually be selected.

The matter is still under consideration, Mr. Cohen said in the course of his statement.

STATEMENT ABOUT MR. HYAMSON WAS PUBLISHED PREVIOUSLY ELSEWHERE THAN IN J.T.A. BULLETIN MEMBER OF BOARD POINTS OUT: MR. MORRIS MYER SUGGESTS ADDING CHAIRMEN OF ALIENS AND PALESTINE COMMISSIONS TO SELECTION COMMITTEE: LAW AND PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE WILL MEET PROBABLY ON TUESDAY MR. D’AVIGDOR GOLDSMID STATES AND WILL GO INTO WHOLE MATTER INCLUDING PROBABLY MR. MYER’S SUGGESTION: AGREES IN REPLY TO MR. SIMON MARKS THAT FINAL DECISION IN REGARD TO APPOINTMENT RESTS WITH DEPUTIES

Mr. Gaventa, one of the members of the Board, stated that he had read a paragraph in the “Jewish Post” regarding Mr. Hyamson and the secretaryship of the Board. That statement, I think I read it last Friday, he said, prophesied that this was going to be a stormy meeting.

Mr. Morris Myer, the editor of the “Jewish Times” proposed that the names of the chairmen of the Aliens and Palestine Committees should be added to the Selection Committee.

We are having an early meeting of the Law and Parliamentary Committee, possibly on Tuesday next, to go into the whole matter, Mr. O. E. d’Avigdor Goldsmid, the President of the Board, replied, and I have no doubt that Mr. Myer’s suggestion will be taken into account. I want the Board to realise, he added, that it makes the task of the Committee impossible if disclosures of this kind are made.

When Mr. Simon Marks said that he took it that the ultimate decision in regard to the appointment rests with the Deputies, Mr. d’Avigdor Goldsmid replied in the affirmative.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency joins Mr. Lionel L. Cohen, K.C., in expressing regret at any pain or annoyance that may have been caused to Mr. Albert M. Hyamson by the publication of its report, which was not intended in any way to prejudice the position of whatever candidate may eventually be selected to occupy the positions rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr. J. M. Rich.

The J.T.A. naturally is unable to reveal the sources of its information, but as Mr. Gaventa pointed out at the meeting of the Board, the “Jewish Post” published the report that Mr. Hyamson’s name was being put forward by the Selection Committee in its issue of Friday, twenty-four hours in advance of the J.T.A. Bulletin.

The news was, in fact, public property even before that. A number of people who have no connection with the Board were aware of the selection on Thursday, and the matter was being discussed by members of the general public on that day.

THE “JEWISH POST” AND THE “JEWISH TIMES” ON THE MATTER

The “Jewish Post” in its issue of to-day (Sunday) writes:

The “Post” was the only paper in England which published on Friday the report that the Selection Committee of the Board of Deputies had decided to recommend to the Board that the application of Mr. Albert Hyamson, the Immigration Officer in Palestine, should be accepted, meaning that Mr. Hyamson should be appointed as Secretary of the Board of Deputies. The report in the “Post”, it adds, roused immense excitement in all Jewish quarters in England. It was the topic of talk everywhere and extreme regret was expressed that the Board of Deputies was going to take so false a step as appointing Mr. Hyamson to be its Secretary.

The “Jewish Times” writes to-day:

Reports have been going about to the effect that Mr. Albert M. Hyamson, the Chief Immigration Officer in Palestine, has already been appointed Secretary of the Jewish Board of Deputies. We have even received a cable from Jerusalem that the Hebrew daily “Davar” prints a statement that Mr. Hyamson has already accepted the post of Secretary of the Board of Deputies. These reports are premature, and not altogether correct.

Owing to the fact that our editor-in-chief, Mr. Morris Myer, is a member of the Joint Foreign Committee, and has conducted a fight there against the appointment of Mr. Hyamson to the post, we could not publish anything concerning this matter. All members of the Committee are bound not to reveal any of the proceedings beyond the official reports which are issued, but now that incorrect reports have already been put into circulation, we are able to give some of the true facts.

The Board of Deputies appointed a special Selection Committee to choose from among the many candidates who had sent in applications one whom it would recommend as Secretary of the Board of Deputies and the Joint Foreign Committee. The Selection Committee consists of Mr. O. E. d’Avigdor Goldsmid, the President of the Board of Deputies, Mr. Leonard Montefiore the President of the Anglo-Jewish Association, Mr. Isidore Salmon, H.F., Mr. Lionel L. Cohen, K.C., Dr. M. Epstein, and Mr. B. S. Straus. This committee selected Mr. Albert M. Hyamson. It considers that he is qualified to be the Secretary of these bodies. At the meeting of the Law and Parliamentary Committee the recommendation was accepted, there being only three dissentients. At the meeting of the Joint Foreign Committee the recommendation was also accepted, with seven members in favour and five dissentients. Notice was given, however, that a notion would be put at the meeting of the Board to refer the recommendation back for reconsideration by the Selection Committee. The matter was to have come up at to-day’s meeting of the Jewish Board of Deputies.

The upshot of it is, the “Jewish Times” concludes, that Mr. Hyamson is very far from having been appointed Secretary of the Board of Deputies, and nothing is known yet is to who will be the Secretary. In any case, it was a great mistake to have even recommended him to the post.

JOINT FOREIGN COMMITTEE BEEN CONSIDERING RECENT NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN DR. BRUENING AND HITLER AND THEIR POSSIBLE EFFECT ON JEWISH SITUATION IN GERMANY: I THINK HITLER TIDE WILL EBB AS QUICKLY AS IT HAS RISEN MR. LEONARD MONTEFIORE SUGGESTS

The Joint Foreign Committee has carefully considered the negotiations that have recently taken place between Dr. Bruening, the German Chancellor, and the Nationalist leaders, Adolf Hitler and Hugenberg, and their possible effect on the Jewish situation in Germany, the report of the Joint Foreign Committee presented to the meeting of the Board of Deputies to-day by Mr. Leonard G. Montefiore states.

Referring to the great nervous tension in Germany, Mr. Montefiore said that Germany is peculiarly susceptible to mass suggestion. One has only to read the antisemitic press to realise that. I think, however, he pursued, that the Hitler tide, which has been very strong, will ebb as quickly as it has risen.

With regard to the situation in Poland, Mr. d’Avigdor Goldsmid said that the situation is being watched by the Joint Foreign Committee.

Turning to the economic position of the Jews in Poland, he spoke of the value of the Jewish Reconstruction Foundation, in supporting a body of Jewish co-operative societies all over Poland, which has been at work for over six years and has achieved extraordinary success. I think you may take it as fairly accurate, Mr. d’Avigdor Goldsmid said, that one Jew cut of three receives some of the advantages of the existence of the Foundation, and we hope that it will meet with further success.