Friday, May 26. 1944 THE JEWISH NEWS $150,000,000 Plan Started For Palestine Irrigation Engineering Surveys, Initiated by Dr. Weizmann, Were Proposed by Dr. Lowdermilk; Work Is Directed by Commission Headed by Emanuel Neumann NEW YORK (JTA) — Plans for a large scale irrigation j and hydro-electric development, transforming Palestine's agricultural and industrial economy, are in preparation by American scientists and engineers, it was announced this week by the Commission of Palestine Surveys. The project, initiated more than a year ago, compares in magnitude with the Grand Coulee or Boulder Dam develoo- ments and would require a capi- tal investment of between $150,- 000,000 and $200,000,000 over a period of years. The plan calls for diversion of existing waters and the building of a network of artificial streams, which would irrigate arid and semi-arid re- gions with an area of 600,000 acres, and for the erection of power plants with an installed capacity of approximately 250,000 • KW, generating in excess of 1,000,000,000 KW of electric cur- rent per year. ed the cooperation of 21 experts including civil engineers, re- clamation and irrigation experts, geologists, hydrologists, soil ex- perts and agronomists, chemists, . ... Initiated by Dr. Weizmann It is estimated that the de- velopment of cheap power and the transition from extensive dry farming to intensive irrigation farming would make it possible to double the present, farm popu- lation in Palestine and double or treble the present total popula- tion of 1,500,000. The engineering surveys and related studies were begun by the Commission at the request of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, presi- dent of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, following the submis- sion of proposals by Walter' C. Lowdermilk, reclamation expert and assistant chief of the United States Soil Conservation Service, in a memorandum entitled "The Jordan Valley Authority." Lowdermilk's proposals were reviewed by the late Col. Theo- dore B. Parker, formerly chief engineer of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and more recently head of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His in- terest was aroused by the idea of applying the methods and ex- perience of the TVA for the re- habilitation of the Holy Land and by the special technical problems involved in the Jordan Valley Authority project. • Unusual Topography A major feature of the over- all plan takes into account the unusual topogi-aphy of the coun- try and the great difference in levels between the surface of. the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, which is the lowest body of water in the world, about 1,300 feet below sea level. In addition to t h e Mediterranean Diversion Plan, the power projects under study include possibilities such as the continuous and rapid drop of the Jordan River from the headwaters of the Jordan clear down to the south. So far as irrigation possibili- ties are concerned, hydrologists have estimated that ultimately 750,000 acres of land may be ir- rigated, as against 95,000 acres now under irrigation. The pres- ent studies already point to pos- sibilities for irrigating at least 600,000 additional acres and pos- sibly more at costs which would compare favorably with irriga- tion works in parts of the United States. - 21 Experts Work on Project The Commission on Palestine _ Surveys in New York has enlist- Jr. Home Relief Society Announces New Officers Jr. Home Relief Society an- nounces election of the follow- ing new officers: Miss Florence Naimark, president; Miss Estelle Goldsmith and Miss Betty Bra- ver, vice presidents; Miss Diana Gordon, recording secretary; Miss Marion Wexler, correspond- ing secretary; Miss Ethel Mar- cus, treasurer. The new officers will be in- stalled by Miss Bertha Belkin, retiring president, Wednesday, at 8 o'clock, in the Music Room of the Jewish Center. A music program and refreshments will follow the installation. Guests ,A EMANUEL NEUMANN industrial engineers, economists and one archaeologist. A number of these experts had been to Pal- estine and carried on investiga- tions in their respective fields, while. others worked from a mass of data compiled by the engineer- ing and research staff of the Commission. The lay members of the Commission are Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Abraham Goodman, Andre Meier, Emanuel Neumann, Judge Morris Rothenberg, Alex- ander Sachs, Israel Sieff and Robert Szold. Lasting Monument Terming the project "an all- American plan," Mr. Neumann, who directs the work of the Com- mission on Palestine Surveys, said that "if the plan is ever carried out in Palestine, it will be a lasting monument to the American spirit." To questions as to where the money for the ex- ecution of the project will come from, Mr. Neumann replied: "The financing of such a project over a period of years would require the cooperation of a) the Palestine government; b) Jewish organizations; c) private capital and d) credits based upon looted Jewish property in Eu- rope, the owners of which have been first robbed and then "liquidated" by the Nazis — loot for which Germany must make some restitution. "This is a multiple-purpose project in a higher sense of the term: 1) It will make room for large numbers of Jewish settlers; 2) It will raise the level and living standards of the Palestine Arabs; 3) It will serve as a model and ferment for the whole Near East." Hillel Evening Next Wednesday Rabbi Harry Kaplan to Ad- dress Gathering Arranged - by Bnai Brith Council Jack J. Hartstein, chairman of the Hillel Committee of the Greater Detroit Bnai. Brith Coun- cil, announces an "Evening With Hillel" to be held next Wednes- day evening, at the Brown Mem- orial Chapel of Temple Beth El. Rabbi Harry Kaplan, director of Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation at Ohio State University since 1935, one of the largest founda- tions serving a Jewish constit- uency of over 1,300, will be guest speaker. He is a past president- of the University Religious Coun- cil of Ohio State University, a member of the board of the For- eign Policy Association, and a frequent speaker before college and university groups. Rabbi Kaplan came to the Hillel Foundation from a minis- try of nine years in Pittsfield, Mass., and from a background of Jewish student work in the col- leges of New England. He is a gradate of Jewish Institute of Religion, 1927, and of University of Minnesota, 1923. He has taken post-graduate work at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin, Ohio State University, and at the Geneva, Switzerland, Institute of Interna- tional Studies. During the sum- mer of 1934 he was a member of the Sherwood Eddy Traveling Seminar of International Affairs, visiting England, France • and Switzerland with that group and traveling individually to Italy and Palestine. He is a past president of the Jewish Teachers' Association of the New England Liberal Schools, of the Pittsfield Council of So- cial Agencies, and of the Alumni Association of the Jewish Insti- tute of Religion. Rabbi Jehudah M. Cohen, di- rector of Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation at the University of Michigan, together with a num- ber of Hillel Students of.the Uni- versity of Michigan, will present a program depicting Hillel Foundation activities. Hillel Foundations now serve Jewish students on 143 campuses throughout America. The meeting on Wednesday will be open to the public. All are welcome, admission being free. Main Library Discontinues Summer •Service on Sunday The Detroit Library Commis- sion has announced that Sunday service at the Main Library was discontinued for the summer be- ginning May 21. The regular weekday hours, 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. will be continued and branch library hours will remain unchanged. Sunday service at the Main Library will be re- sumed in the fall. , Page Seven Rabbi Herzog Urges Pope To Rescue Hungarian Jews Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Congresssman Celler Appeal to Vatican to Act as Hungary Threatens to Put 800,000 Jews in Ghettos by End of May • JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog has sent an appeal to the Vatican, through neutral channels, urg- ing the Pope to exert all efforts to save the Jews of Hungary, it is learned here. The president of the Hungarian Jewish Settlers Associa- tion here, this \veek appealed to) Jews throughout the world to save the 800,000 Jews of Hungary from extermination, a s s e r ti ng that there is still a possibility of rescuing these Jews if immediate action is taken. All Hungarian Jews In Ghettos in May ZURICH, (JTA)—All of Hun- gary's 800,000 Jews will be in ghettos by the end of this month, it was stated in Budapest this week by Lazo Baky, Undersecre- tary of State in the Hungarian puppet government. The final result of the Hungarian treat- ment of Jews "will be a Jewish exodus from Hungary," Baky said. At the same time, Hungarian newspapers reveal that many Jews have been arrested and jaill ed for attempting to flee to Slo- vakia or Rumania. Baky said that 323,000 Jews were already in ghettos or concentration camps. The Jews will be massacred in the ghettos in the event that an BRAES . invasion by Russian troops be- come iminent, pro-Nazi Budapest newspapers threaten. The papers sneer at the Allied indignation over the removal of Jews to dis- tricts in Hungary which are tar- gets of Anglo-American bomb- ing. Vatican Urged to Arrange Transfer of Hungarian Jews WASHINGTON, (JTA) — Rep. Emanuel Celler (D) of N. Y., has urged that the Vatican un- dertake to arrange the evacua- tion of Jews froin Hungary. The papal authorities, Rep. Celler said, could hire ships which would carry the refugees down the Danube to where they could embark for Turkey. Rep. Celler suggested that Tur- key be asked to receive all refu- gees who can reach her shores. Such refugees, he said. could • be kept in "free zones" whose cost would be borne by the United Nations. After the war they could return home. sr ovdemty 7eotesi ze, 6e Srffititoge," This symphony was hailed with so much enthusiasm at its first performance in 1876 that critics said, "Behold the Tenth Sym- phony!", meaning that Brahms had added a symphony to Beethoven's nine. 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