The organization of a new financial agency by the American Ort, to be known as the Ort Credit Corporation, was announced at the Ort Reconstruction Conference Dinner held Wednesday night at the Hotel Biltmore. Several hundred prominent New Yorkers, including representatives from all sections of the Jewish community, were present. Dr. Henry Moscowitz acted as toastmaster.
The Joint Distribution Committee was represented by David A. Brown, Col. Herbert H. Lehman, David Bressler and Joseph G. Hyman.
The new agency is incorporated under the laws of the State of New York with a capital of $100,000. One half of this amount was subscribed according to announcement made at the dinner by Dr. Moscowitz. Among the subscribers to the fund are: Dr. Julius Goldman, $5,000; Col. Herbert Lehman, $2,500; William Lowenstein, $5,000; S. A. Glushanok, $2,000; Murray Levine, $1,000; Mr. Romm, $1,000; M. Chafikin, $5,000; Henry Mayper, $1,000 and L. B. Boudin, $1,000.
The fund is being raised not as a charitable fund but as a business investment. It will be used to supply credit for the purchase of tools and implements for the European relatives of American Jews.
Among the speakers at the dinner were Judge Jacob Panken, Dr. David Lvovitch, Col. Herbert H. Lehman, David A. Brown and Louis B. Boudin.
Messages were received from many European organizations, and from prominent Americans, including one from Gov. Alfred E. Smith.
In describing the character of the Fund, Louis B. Boudin declared: “What we are offering is a proposition to do a very good piece of work at a minimum of cost to yourselves that is to say by lending your money at small interest for a limited period of time.”
Dr. David Lvovitch gave an outline of the situation in Europe.
Interesting data with regard to the participation of American Jews in public drives were presented by David A. Brown. Mr. Brown, in his address made a striking reply to the contention of Deputy Isaac Gruenbaum in his assertion that 1,000,000 Jews in Poland are superfluous and they must be assisted to emigrate.
“I know something about the possibilities within this country, and I think I know in a general way how far you can stretch the generous impulses of a group,” Mr. Brown said. “Remember we are a limited group, approximately $80,000,000. That is not a and with this limited group we have possibilities for any kind of an effort. We have raised since the beginning of the Joint Distribution Committee approximately $80,000,000. That is not a very large sum of money, but it is a larger amount than has been raised by any other group of people in the history of America. During the War when patriotism ran high and people were generous whether they wanted to be or not there was ? or less compulsion in our campaigning efforts.
“The largest amount of money that was ever raised in America by combined organizations not by one organization, but in one touching Catholic and Protestant and Jew and every type and kind of a relief organization that was working in Europe, the large amount of money that was raised per capita was $2.10 from 110,000,000 of people and that was an enormous effort with every agency in America working together as one, with publicity such as was unheard of before. We were able to raise $2.10 per capita. If you figure out the amount of money that has been raised per capita from the Jews alone, stretching their generosity at times almost to the breaking point, you will see how ridiculous it is for any man to come out with the estatement proposing to remove 1,000,000 Jews from Europe that would cost a conservative estimate of $1,000,000,000,” Mr. Brown said.
Col. Lehman, chairman of the Reconstruction Committee of the J. D. C. said:
“I am convinced that the Ort has done a splendid work both in cooperation with the Joint Distribution Committee, and independently of it. I am perfectly convinced that there is no agency that is going to work to the betterment and happiness of the people so much and so thoroughly as intelligent, well-directed reconstruction work, just the kind of work of which you have heard and of which you so well know, carried on by the Ort.
“There was no such thing as credit for the small trader, small merchant, the small manufacturer to be found in Poland, Roumania, Lithuania, or elsewhere in Central or Eastern Europe. Through the support and encouragement of the Joint Distribution Committee and the Ort there are today I believe 450 cooperatives in Europe with a total membership in Poland alone of 173,000 members. Multiply the members by five, the average size of family, and you find that there are directly benefiting through these cooperatives alone quite exclusive of the other reconstructive efforts that have been put forth by the organizations over three-quarters of a million people, as you will see, a very large and important and substantial percentage of the total Jewish population of that country.” Col. Lehman stated.
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.
