(By Our London Correspondent)
The conviction that, despite the general dissatisfaction on the part of the Jews with the recent decision of the Council of the League of Nations on the Hungarian Numerus Clausus question, that decision can be regarded as a partial victory for the Jews, was expressed here by Mr. Lucien Wolf in his report on this subject before a meeting of the Joint Foreign Committee.
“The point at issue,” Mr. Wolf stated, “was not whether the whole numerus clausus law in Hungary was invalid, but whether clause 3, which enacted that students should be admitted to the Universities on the basis of a proportional system regulated according to the race or nationality of the students, was I naccord with the articles of the Treaty of Trianon, which declare that “All Hungarian nationals shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy the same civil and political rights without distinction as to race, language or religion.” In their reply the Hungarian Government contended that the provisions of clause 3 of the law could not be held to be an infraction of the equality provisions of the Treaty of Trianon, inasmuch as their object and their effect was to guarantee to all Minorities an equal treatment which otherwise might be denied them. In the course of the investigations by a Committee of Three appointed by the Council of the League, allegations were made on the part of the petitioners to the effect that the whole object of the law was to oppress the Jewish minority in Hungary, that it was administered in accordance with a definition which took no account of their true character as Jews or their legal status as a religious community, and that the effect was to place the Jews on an inferior level to other Hungarian nationals in regard to access to the Universities. Last September the Committee of Three resolved to send all the papers to the Council and to place the question of the agenda of the Session which was to open on December 7th.”
Mr. Wolf here described the discussion by the Council when ittook up the question on December 10 and admitted that the assurance of Count Klebelsberg, Hungarian representative, that Hungary regarded the numerus clausus law as “transitory” and would modify it “as soon as the social and economic life of Hungary recovers its former stability,” is “not without ambiguity.” However, Mr. Wolf held there can be no doubt as to the Council’s interpretation of Klebelsberg’s words.
“In the preamble to its decision the Council insists,” he proceeded. “that the only legal question at issue is whether the Proportional System laid down in the law is in accord with Article 58 of the Treaty. Thus it follows that when the Council says that it abstains from dealing with the question of law pending the amendment promised by the Hungarian Government, what it expects is such an amendment of Clause 3 as will bring it into harmony with Hungary’s Treaty obligations. As for the time limit. it will be noted that the words “in the near future” represent an essential modification of the wider terms of Count Klebelsberg’s promise in this respect.
“The final result is that Hungary now finds herself pledged to bring the numerus clausus law into harmony with the Treaty of Tianon under pain of a decision by the League on the validity of the law, the nature of which is left in very little doubt and which on that account has all along been most strennously resisted by the Hungarian Government. The Jewish community loses nothing by the substitution of this decision for the reference to the Permanent Court which was originally asked for by the Joint Foreign Committee and the Alliance Israelite for at the best the Advisory Opinion of the best the Advisory Opinion of the Court should not have done more than declare clause 3 of the law invalid. and even then action upon this decision could not have been more rapid than that which is likely to follow the present Judgement of the Council. “
WORK BEGUN ON YESHIVA OF AMERICA BUILDINGS
Work on the first group of three buildings of the Yeshiva of America, which is being erected on Amsterdam Avenue, between 186th and 188th Streets, New York City, at a cost of $5,000,000, was begun last week, according to an announcement Sunday by Harry Fischel, Chairman of the Building Committee. This group, consisting of a high school, auditorium and dormitory, will occupy the block between 186th and 187th Streets at an estimated cost of $2,000,000, which was raised by Orthodox Jews, under the leadership of Samuel Levy, Chairman of the Executive Committee.
The $3,000,000 required to complete the buildings and to establish an endowment fund with which to bring noted European Jewish scholars to the institution, is now being raised, according to Mr. Levy, so that the college can be opened within two years.
“The fundamental idea underlying the establishing of this great institution of higher Jewish learning is that with the collapse, due to the war, of Eastern European Jewish life, America and Palestine have now taken the place of Eastern Europe as the world centres of Jewish culture,” said Harris L. Selig, director of the campaign.
The Yeshiva of America, which has been endorsed by many leading university and college presidents as an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of this country, is an expansion of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. It is the oldest Orthodox Jewish seminary in America and with its high school is said to number more than 500 students from all parts of the United States. Dr. Bernard Revel is President of the institution.
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.
