41 111!F‘
'Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE BUDGETING "SCARE"
When the Council of Jewish Federa-
tions and Welfare Funds meets in De-
troit in February, the issue of major im-
portance that will be presented for the
consideration of- the delegates will be the
proposal for. the establishment of a Na-
tional Advisory Budgeting Service. • -
Because this proposal has aroused so
much ill feeling 'in the past few months,
it 'is important that the , exact definition
of the proposal be studied. It reads:
"National Advisory Budgeting is defined as a
review by a national committee selected by the
Council or by the welfare fund members of the
Council. It is assumed that the Committee ap-
pointed for this task would be acceptable both
to the member agencies of the Council and to
the national and overseas organizations as an
impartial and objective group concerned pri-
marily with reaching equitable decisions which
would be helpful to fund raising and to local
budgetary procedures. The national and over-
seas agencies would in the first instance, as
heretofore, determine what their budgets should
be. The national committee to be established
would then review the budgets. and after ob-
jective and thorough study. would attempt. to-
gether with the national and overseas agencies,
to arrive at joint decisions on the amount of
funds required to carry out the specific pro-
grams. These would be recommended—in an
advisory way—to the welfare funds as minimum
goals for fund raising and fdrid distribution.
"Where joint decisions could not be reached.
the Committee would advise the welfare funds
as to the part of the agency's budget and pro-
gram of work which had been agreed upon and•
would present both sides of the major items
of difference.
"The Committee would not attempt to estab-
lish local quotas. The decisions reached by the
Committee could be utilized by the member
agencies which desired to do -so as a guide in
determining the distribution of the maximum
funds raised in each local community."
Those who are a bit "fed up" on the
multiformity of fund-raising in the Jew-
ish community undoubtedly welcome the
proposal in the hope that it will eliminate
some drives, that it will serve to combine
those of a similar nature, that it will
guide in giving the most money where it
will do the most good, and that it will
tend to reduce costs in campaigning..
The opposition, however, envisions dan-
gers in the proposal because it believes
that you can.. not apply a fact-finding.
bookkeeping system to movements which
involve judgment on values. What is
to one person, they assert, may be
less important to another; and the latter
has no right to judge the heart-heats of
the former.
Zionists have been in the vanguard of
the movement to fight budgeting, and the
"scare" that has arisen has resulted in
the formation of a committee to fight the
budgeting plan.
* * *
DOES IT THREATEN OUR UNITY?
Does the budgeting plan threaten the
unity of American Jewry?
Surely, something should be done about
the overlapping fund-raising drives. All
of us are concerned that Jews should be
rescued in Europe, that Palestine should
be rebuilt very speedily, that there should
be a diminution of misery.
Child rescue work should • have the
backing of immense funds running into
the many millions; but that is no reason
why there should be a dozen or more
movements seeking such funds.
Food and clothing must be sent over-
seas. But—why should this task be done
by a score of different groups and not
by an united Jewish Community?
There is no reason why land-redemp-
tion in Palestine should not be increased
ten-fold through the Jewish National
Fund; but that does not mean that a
dozen ideologically-differing groups must
conduct conflicting drives to acquire the
necessary funds.
An accepted budgeting plan could and
should be helpful' in cementing unity in ,
our fund-raising efforts and in strength-
ening bonds of cooperation in American
Jewish life.
Unfortunately, the differences that have
hitherto divided us have not disappeared,
and it is doutbful whether any budgeting
proposal has a chance of being put into
force at this time on a basis of com-
plete Jewish unity; if we are to judge by
the passion injected into the discussion.
* * *
"LET'S VOTE ON THE ISSUE!"
A call from the National Advisory
Budgeting Committee, demanding "Let's
vote on the issue!", disproves some of the
assertions of the opposition, maintains
that charges have been uttered without
studying the true facts and adds the fol-
lowing:
•
"THE FINAL DETERMINATION, ALLOCA-
TION, AND DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS
WOULD REMAIN WITH THE LOCAL FED-
ERATIONS. AND WELFARE FUNDS.
"Further. the setting up of the review board,
its composition, and its operations would be de-
termined by the local welfare funds and com-
munity councils. It is their servant. If it is not
representative, if it is biased. if it is ineffective,
it is theirs to change or to ignore or to abolish.
The local welfare funds and community
councils in setting up such a service are not giv-
ing up their autonomy; rather, they are assert-
ing it.
- This committee is making this and other
Statements because of its determination that In-
-A1111•1111v
7 411PINIENWv
THE JEWISH NEWS
American Brotherhood Week
By JOHN W. NASON
President, Swarthmore College
Brotherhood has never had a fair trial. History records single episodes of
genuine brotherhood. They startle us with their contrast to the prevailing
hostility of one group to another. Men are 'suspicious creatures; they fear and
distrust strangers. They understand the members of their own group. What-.
ever the group, the members of it are accepted; they are to be treated as
brothers. Conversely, those who are outside the group, the family, the clan,
the tribe, the nation, are suspect. They do not belong; they are different. They
are strangers—at worst enemies, to be killed or captured, at best people of an
inferior kind, possessed of fewer rights and privileges than those who belong.
Some will say that such a picture is an exaggeration. In part they are right.
We no longer kill strangers—except in warfare. We do not try to enslave others
—unless their skins are of a different color. But we do exclude, often without
being aware of what we are doing. All groups, organizations, societies exist in
part by exclusion. The Tenth Street gang would lose its identity if it took in
Boy Scouts from all over the city. The Society of .Phi Betta Kappa would
become meaningless- if all college graduates were members. The nation is one
group to which we all belong,' but even here there would be no significance to
belonging if there were not other nations whose citizens were distinct..
What we talk of in large terms about nations we must apply in small terms
to our own group. If the nations all belong to - one family in one world, then
we are brothers to all men. If we accept the implications of the common
citizenship of the great majority of men and women living in the United States,
then we are brothers to 135,000,000 people. This is why Brotherhood Week,
Feb. 17-24, is so important. It symbolizes the brotherhood of all men. The man
across the tracks is as much a citizen as I. The man whose skin is of a different
color has as much right as I to a job—any job for which his abilities qualify
him. The man who worships in a different place is my brother; in our different
ways we are each worshipping the same God. To Him we are all sons and
daughters.
The United States has boasted that it was made by many different countries.
And that has been one reason for our greatness. E Pluribus Unum is both our
motto and our aim. We shall grow greater and stronger as we grow toward
brotherhood, recognizing in our actions and in our attitudes the basic principle,
both human and divine, that all men are brothers.
Heard in
The Lobbies
• _By ARNOLD . LEVIN
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1946, Indepndent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)
(Copyright. 1946, 'Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
-INQUIRY COMMITTEE AFTERMATH _
Your reporter sat for days at the Wash-
ington hearings of the Anglo-American
Committee of Inquiry, and strange . as-
sociations of thought possessed him. • He
was taken back to the prewar days in
New York, to the hearings held there by
the McCormick-Dickstein Committee on
Un-American Activities, to the hearings
held in - New York's City Hall on granting
to the German-American Bund (or was it
the Friends of New 'Germany?) a permit
to use a school auditorium for one of
their meetings. Words used by the
Arabs at the Washington hearings,
phrases and slogans bandied by them,
were reminiscent of the language used by
the Naziphile german-Americans.
Such labels as "Jewish political in-
fluence," "Jewish financial power," "Jew-
ish intimidation" et cetera were frequent-
ly. heard at the hearings. They came from
the Arabs, as only several years ago they
had come from the German-Americans.
The German-Americans too, disclaimed
animosity for the Jews; they hated only
some Jews, "the red Jews," the Jews
who boycotted German goods. The Arabs
hate some Jews, the "Zionist Jews." The
Naziphiles would say that as a matter of
fact, they know "good Jews," who "un-
derstand Hitler" and disapprove of the
boycott. The Arabs too, said they knew
of "good Jews." As a matter of fact, one
of these "good Jews" testified, and -I
need not again mention his name.
All Arab witnesses were Christians,
and this was intentional to stir up Christ-
ian sympathies . . . It was a purposeful
attempt to bridge the gap between- the
Levant and the West by means of re-
ligious prejudice (not by means of re-
ligio uS affinity), as against the Jewish
technological and cultural bridge with
the West . . . Their stress on Christianity
was not unlike the pro-Nazi German-
American stress on Americanism, and the
libels' voiced against the Jews by the
Arabs indicated their Christianity is of as
flimsy and tenuous a fabric as the Amer-
icanism of the Yorkvillites.
Too many of the non-Arab witnesses
against Zionism were as hysterical as the
American supporters of the New Ger-
many . .. They were motivated not by
politics, nor economics, nor justice, but
by psychological idiosyncrasies. Their op-
position to Zionism requires medical
attention.
WASHINGTON ECHOES
Many predictions are being voiced fol-
lowing conclusion of the Washington
hearings of the Anglo-American Inquiry
Committee . . . But if we are to believe
one of the most important members of
the committee, the result of the hearings
will be the abrogation of the White
Paper . .. This man happened to be one
of the British members of the commit-
tee . . . As to the recommendation with
regard to the status of Palestine, it is
safe to predict that the committee will
not propose the establishment of a Jewish
state . . . Members of the committee, in-
cluding the Americans, are inclined to
propose the establishment of Palestine as
a bi-national state . . . They seem to be
impressed with the "non-domination"
formula, which was advocated by Zionist
leaders in pre-war days under the slogan:
"Not to Dominate and Not to be Dom-
inated" . . . The idea of partitioning
Palestine does not appeal to them, be-
cause of the various huge economic pos-
sibilities which the Lowdermilk plan and
other similar plans hold . . . They feel
that these huge plans could materialize
only if Palestine is not divided . . . And
the British members are especially keen
to have these plans carried out . . . Of
course, they indicate that the plans,
though offered by Jews, must not neces-
sarily be carried out by Jewish organ-
ization alone . . . They hint that the
Lowdermilk plan can be carried out by
a private British-controlled company, as
was the case with the Palestine Potash
Co. . . . So in the final analysis of the.
hearings in Washington, the members of
the inquiry committee are inclined to
recommend the opening of Palestine for
the admission of- several hundred thou-
sand Jews . from Europe in stages, with a
view to creating Arab-Jewish parity
which would lead to the creation of a
bi-national state . . . At the same time,
they are also in a Mood to propose that
other countries, too, should open their'
doors to Jewish immigration . . Need-
less to say that the Zionists will not ac-
cept the bi-national proposal, if offered.
*
*
*
THE AMERICAN SCENE
Preliminary figures establish that there
were about 40,000 American Jewish
casualties in the war . . . This figure in-
cludes /0,000 dead, 25,000 wounded and
5,000 who became prisoners of war . . .
The Jewish casualties comprise eight per
cent of all those suffered by the U. S.
armed forces during the war • . • The
number of Jews who served in the Amer-
ican forces during the war exceeds 500,-
000.
Zionists are furious, rightly $o,. over
the pro-Arab sentiments which "Forbes''',
a Wall Street publication, is trying to
foster . . . The magazine carries quota-
tions from Palestine Arab newspapers
only, and the impression is created: that
American interests may suffer if public
opinion in this country supports Jewish
claims on Palestine which are opposed by
the Arabs.
solar as it lies within its power, there - will-be a
VOTE ON THE ISSUE."
As we view it, it would be unfair to
prejudge and to be arbitrary in our deci-
sions. Dispassionate discussion surely
could lead to an amicable solution of the
issue.
But there is entirely too much passion
and too much partisanship in the budget-
ing issue.
For the 'sake of averting an internal
controversy, it would be best to drop the
proposal at this time—unless both sides
can get together on a wholesome formula
at the Detroit convention of the Council
of Federations in February.
- . ,
.
-481"1"1"4 1
Friday, January 25, i946
--
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate; Inc.
FASCIST FRONT
R. H. Macy and Co. acted quickly when
the Rev. Ben Richardson, executive sec-
retary of the Protestant Action Commit-
tees, called its attention to 'an anti-Semitic
incident that had occurred in its New
York store . . The personnel director
summarily dismissed the clerk guilty of
anti-Semitic insults.
New York's- new Commissioner of Po-
lice, Arthur W. Wallander, is very strict
in his handling of cases of racial preju-
dice in his department.
Why doesn't the FBI take notice of
Mrs. Freda Stanley's activities in Cleve-
land? . . . This lady is the heed of "The
United Mothers of Cleveland," an organi-
zation which, among other things, collects
money for Gerald L. K. Smith .. . And
how about Mrs. Blanche Winters of De-
troit, who boasts of her mass mailing of
the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"?
*
*
MEANINGLESS STATISTICS
Arthur T. Robb, editor and Publisher,
has worked out these statistical figures:
Out of 1,700 newspaper owner-publish-
ers in the United States a maximum of 15
are Jewish or less than one per cent of
the total . . . Mr. Robb, who obviously
means well, and whose purpose it is to
puncture anti-Semitic propaganda about
"Jewish control of America's press," has
also ' calculated another interesting per-
centage figure . . :He proves conclusively
that "at most 6 per cent of the daily and
7 or 8 per cent of the Sunday circulation
of the United States" is held by Jewish-
owned newspapers . . . And Mr. Robb
also states—and most authoritatively—
that "there is not a single • Jew on the
board of the Associated Press, the United
Press, the International News Service, the
American Newspaper Publishers' Associa-
tion, the American Society of Newspaper
Editors and the Audit Bureau of Circula-
tioiT" . . . We don't like that slant in
fighting anti-Semitism . . . Suppose 5 tter
cent of American newspaper owners were
Jewish, or suppose we did have Jewish
representatives on any or all of the .news-
paper association boards—would that us-
tify anti-Semitic propaganda about a
"Jewish-controlled press"? .. . We thank
You for your swell intentions, Mr. Robb,
but really, these statistics are futile and
meaningless, and place Jewish achieve-
ment in America on a quota basis.
*
*
*
BAD ADVICE
The -Jewish Community Relations
Council of Philadelphia, Pa., recently
published a little booklet under the title
"Counterattack" .. Among the "practi-
cal suggestions" we read a rather strange
one, listed on page 27 . . . It runs as fol-
lows: "Protest undemocratic practices by
refusing to be party to them . . Only
where life itself is at stake may one sub-
mit temporarily, - but meanwhile he must
vigorously keep protesting" .. . Bad ad-
vice, it seems to us . . . When undemo-
cratic practices go so far as to threaten
your life then more than ever must you
fight for democracy, even at the risk of
death.
*
*
*
REVERSED THEME
Arthur Laurents, a war veteran, wrote
an interesting play, "Home of the Brave,"
which was recently produced on Broad-
way . . The Laurents - play deals with
the subject of anti-Semitism in the Army
. . . It has daring and dramatic impact .
It is well written and superbly acted .
Its star, Joseph Pevney, who plays the
Jewish soldier, will be snatched up by
Hollywood and become as famous as
Louis Wolheim or Jimmy Cagney . . .
Yet the play fails to draw, and may close
any day . . . The reason is simple, but the
author doesn't . know it . . . Instead of
treating the perpetrators of anti-Semitism
clinically, Laurents psychoanalyses the
Jewish victim and cures him of anti-
Semitism . And that is the incurable
weakness of "Home of the Brave".
*
*
*
MISCELLANY
With the Jewish Community of Dan-
zig now being reorganized, plans are
being made for the return of the Jewish
ceremonial objects which are its property
and which had been deposited for safe-
keeping at the Jewish Theological Sem-
inary of America.
"The Sword of the Lord," which calls
itself an "independent Christian weekly,"
-does not make a very Christian impres-
sion . • Its. editor, Evangelist 'John R.
Rise, uses a rather chauvinistic, clannish
tone in his writings . The weekly is
published in Illinois.