Warns Against Believing Jews of Eastern Europe Worse off Now Than Before War

A warning against believing that law and order has broken down and that the Jews of Eastern Europe are in a worse position now than before the World War was voiced by Lucien Wolf, secretary of the Joint Foreign Committee of the Board of Deputies and the Anglo-Jewish Association, at a meeting of the latter organization. Scuffles and minor outbreaks will continue, declared Mr. Wolf, but the “Jews of Eastern Europe are in a better condition today because the Minorities Treaties are on the whole working well.

“As the years pass we find that the governments originally reluctant to acknowledge the treaties now realize that they cannot get rid of them and are therefore doing their best to accommodate themselves by the preservation of law and order.”

Speaking of the situation in Roumania, Mr. Wolf said: “Looking at (it) dispassionately, I think nothing is as bad as it is made out. Bad feeling exists among the population, but the government is acting with loyalty and firmness. It is difficult for the government to do everything immediately, but the Joint Foreign Committee has the testimony of many important impartial Roumanian Jews who are not dissatisfied with the present situation. In view of the recent alarming reports in the press I want to make this statement.”

The meeting also congratulated Leonard Cohen, president of the Jewish Colonization Association, on his being knighted. In responding, Mr. Cohen reported the results of the last Ica meeting, stating that political conditions in Russia were giving the Ica a certain amount of anxiety but that while the outlook was obscure, he hoped for the best. He declared himself unable to give details and said that the less said the better. The meeting also welcomed Leonard Stein on his assuming the chairmanship of the executive of the Anglo-Jewish Association, succeeding Joseph Prag.