Tells British J. N. F. Parley Only Jews Can Determine Ultimate Aims in Palestine

Despite the attempts that have been made to undermine the position of the Jews in Palestine, to circumscribe their activities there and to give new interpretations to Zionism, only the Jewish people can determine the ultimate arms in Palestine and give the correct interpretation of the Jewish National Home, declared Leopold Schen, president of the Jewish National Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, at the annual conference of the Fund which was held here yesterday.

Telling the conference that the Jewish National Fund in the British Isles had made considerable progress despite the events of last August, Mr. Schen reported an income for the last eleven months of $82,755.

Elias M. Epstein, secretary of the head office of the Jewish National Fund in Jerusalem, speaking of the world position of the Fund, stressed its achievements in a period of depression and said that the economic stability of the Palestine Jewish community remained unbroken. Although

the suspension of the labor immigration schedule had frightened capital away, the Fund now owns 295,613 dunams of land as compared with 22,000 dunams in 1920, Mr. Epstein said.

Since last August the Fund had acquired 12,620 dunams of land, he reported, and its activities for further purchases, drainage works and afforestation are making progress. The work in the cities has also not been neglected, land having been bought in North Tel Aviv with the assistance of the Palestine Economic Corporation to provide houses for artisans and clerical workers.

A message received from M. M. Ussishkin, head of the Jewish National Fund, declared that he “cannot conceive of a land without people or a people without land. Without land even Palestine would be creating another ghetto rather than a country with an independent folk.” Speaking on behalf of the Zionist Executive, S. Kaplansky, greeted the conference which closed with the adoption of optimistic resolutions for the work of the coming year.