Purely Commentary By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ The 1TA's Historic Role as News-Gatherer The remarkable history of the American popular story weekly, which Mary Noel .has produced under the title "Villains Galore" (Macmillan) takes the reader back to the days when the fiction newspapers played an important role as means of entertainment of the masses. The newspaper as we know it today is a product of the modern machine age. In the days of the story weekly there was less foreign news, a minimum of telegraph copy and an over- abundance of fiction. The result was the domination of piracy among publications, and its end came with subsequent enforce- ment of copyright laws. Miss Noel describes vividly how the story papers copied one from another, how they took entire books, by Dickens, Poe and others, and incorporated them in their fiction papers. Her interesting history brought back recollections of the days when there was a dearth of Jewish news sand existing newspapers thought nothing of resorting to piracy. Thts, the American Jewish papers copied stories from the English, and six months later their confreres across the ocean, having forgotten about. the item, would, in turn, recopy it and reprint it as current news. This cycle worked until the rise of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. As a result of the vision of the late Jacob Landau and a couple of associates, the JTA introduced, about 35 years ago, an. effective news service which later developed into an important telegraphic service. During the Arab riots in 1929 the JTA fed its news to nearly all American daily newspapers, in addition to serv- icing the Jewish press. In the past three decades under the ed- itorship of Boris Smolar, JTA has assumed a role so significant that it is difficult to conceive of a well-functioning Jewish com- munity without the news service of this vital agency. At present, very ably managed by Victor Bienstock, JTA is the chief disseminator of news from Jewish .communities everywhere. As a result, there is no longer need for piracy or for plagiarism and every newspaper of merit must depend upon the magic of the three letters—JTA. Agreement Reported Reached in Principle On Merger of Three Israeli Funds Direct JTA Teletype Wire To The Jewish News JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Dr. George Wise, president of the American Friends of the Hebrew University and chairman of the university's board of governors, stated Tuesday that he obtained from the Hebrew University an agreement in principle to the decisions taken by the Ameri- ' can Friends last month with re- gard to the consolidation of the fund-raising efforts in t h e United States on behalf of the University, Weizmann Institute of Science and Haifa Technion. Dr. Wise, who left Tuesday for the United States, communi- cated to the Israel government and to the Jewish Agency the following proposals of American Friends of the Hebrew Univer- sity. 1. Immediate steps should be taken for joint appearance of representatives of the three edu- cational institutions b e f ore American Jewish Welfare Funds Pontiac Leader Gets Youth Award * * * An AntiSernite Gets a Licking Let it be said to the credit of the American voter that, in Lincoln's words, you can't fool him all of the time. California proved it last week when it defeated for renomination the anti- Semite, State Senator Jack, Tenney. We spoke of him a few weeks ago, when we called attention to the manner of his campaign, when he located a "Mrs. Younger" —a lady who was a mental case—to split the vote of his opponent, Mrs. Mildred Younger, who won the Republican nomination against him. It didn't help. The able Mrs. Mildred Younger came through on. the Republican side of the ledger, while Richard Richards defeated the notorious Tenney on the Democratic slate. Tenney conducted a campaign against "organized Jewry" in his apppeal for votes for his renomination. In 1952, he ran for the Vice-Presidency of the U. S. on the Gerald L. K. Smith Christian Nationalist Party ticket. As a State Senator he had written and mailed to members of both Houses of .the U. S. Congress pamphlets attacking Zionism and Jewry. As chairman of the California Legislative Committee on Un-American Activities he charged that "Jewish opposition" to him was linked to Com- munism. In accordance with California rules he was a candidate for renomination on both the Democratic and Republican tickets. The California voters gave him the boot. Once again, the Ameri- can way triumphed against a bigot who tried to create a Jewish issue ,in an American political Campaign in order to make capital of prejudices in his own behalf. It doesn't work in this country. * * * Important Personalities in the Limelight Edward B. Lawson : Israel and world Jewry await with the keenest interest evidence of the temper and the sentiments of the new United States Ambassador to Israel, Edward B. Lawson. The successor to the late Monnet Davis has had ari interesting diplo- matic career. He is known. to be a man of. fairness. Having at- tended the recent U. S. Middle East Envoys' conference in Istan- bul, he may have been briefed by Assistant Secretary of State Henry A. Byroade on the new Middle East policy which has met with so much opposition in Israel and in American Jewish ranks. Therefore the increased interest in the man who will soon be in Israel as the spokesman for our country. Israel Cohen : One of the most remarkable men - in English Jewry is Israel Cohen, the man to whom we referred, upon re- viewing his latest book describing his travel experiences, as "the modern Benjamin de Tudela." We share the following sentiments about him, on the occasion of his 75th birthday; in the Jewish Observer and Middle East Review (London) : "When Israel Cohen celebrates his seventy-fifth birthday tomorrow, he will be able to look back on a career connected with every significant aspect of modern Anglo-Jewry. Whether it is the early Zionist days in Man- -chester; or. Whitechapel at the turn of the century with its host of newly-arrived immigrants from Eastern Eroupe; or the tribula- tion of a poor student of Jews' College; or early journalistic days in London; or the English and World Zionist Movements; or the history of the Board of Deputies—these provide a host of memo- ries for Israel Cohen. Nor is it Anglo-Jewry only that has been the scene of Israel Cohen's endeavours. He has been a world-wide traveler on behalf of Jewry—in S. E. Asia, China, India, Europe, the U.S.A.—one might alniost describe him as the 20th century Benjamin de Tudela. Israel Cohen's many books and frequent con- tributions to the Jewish press are vivid witness to his variegated experiences. His many friends will wish him -many more years, of activity on Jewry's behalf." Nathaniel H. Goldstick: One of the nicest things. John M. Carlisle has done in a very long time was to devote an entire column to Nathaniel H. Goldstick, Assistant Corporation Counsel attached to the Detroit Police Department. Nate's interesting background lends itself well to a success story. He is the indefati- gable worker who was willing to do anything sell newspapers, "smash the baggage," shine shoes—to earn a few dollars for college tuition and to help his parents. While Carlisle made some references to the Goldstick parents, he was all-too-brief on this point. Nate's father Susel was a unique person in his own rights —always interested in Jewish affairs, a participant in synagogue activities, and in old Yiddish nomenclature he was a "klal-tuer"— a community worker. His mother, Minnie, was a born leader. Women's organizations considered themselves fortunate to be able to enlist her services. She was ready to help all who needed assistance. She was a true "eishis hayil"—a woman of valor. Nate followed in the proper footsteps. From his parents and from the school of hard knocks he acquired a good sense of humor. He has earned the encomia. 2---RETROIT JEWISH, NEWS Friday, June .18, 1954 in behalf of grants for main.- tenance budgets of the three organizations. 2. The distribution of the Welfare Fund grants should be decided in Israel by the Israel government and Jewish agency in consultation with the three institutions and on the basis of the needs of the schools. 3. A joint capital funds cam- paign should be instituted by the three institutions in the U. S. beginning in 1955-56, after stu- dies have been made and an agreement has been reached on 'priorities and needs of the three institutions. Pending the completion of a study by experts and the reach- ing of decisions by the public institutions and the three schools, the American Friends propose—with the approval of the Welfare Funds—to engage iri a capital fund campaign for the University in 1954 and early 1955, Dr. Wise said. This would be conducted primarily in com- munities where the other two institutions had already corn- pleted their drives, he stressed. David Ben-Gurion Asks Single Israeli Pioneering Movement Among Youth TEL AVIV, (JTA)—Former Premier David Ben - Gurion called on Israeli youth to unite in a single, unified pioneering movement and to dedicate their lives to the "national. mission." He spoke to a special rally of 10,000 youths between the ages of 15 and 17 called together by the Ministry of Education. When Mr. Ben-Gurion arrived at the amphitheater in an am- bulance which had brought him from a Tel Aviv hospital, the youngsters roared their welcome. Mr. Ben-Gurion was the sole speaker at the rally and spoke for an hour and a half. He asserted that it was pos- sible for all youth, regardless of their political affiliation — ex- cepting the small section of Communist youth—to unite on a basic program: security integra- tion of immigrants and settle- ment. During his speech he sur- veyed the course of Jewish his- tory and told his listeners that the choice before them was one of individual careers or serving the national mission. Responding to the plea by Mr. Ben-Gurion, 100 Israeli youths announced that they would leave their homes in established settlements and take up pioneer- ing dales in the border regions. The announcement was made after Mr. Ben-Gurion made his appeal, the second in several days, for the youth of Israel to unite to carry forth the pioneer- ing traditions of the country. Between You and Me By BORIS SMOLAR (Copyright, "1954, Jewish Telegraphic Agency) Convention The annual convention of the Zionist Organization of Amer- ica, which will take place at the end of this month, will probably be one of the least interesting ZOA conventions . . . There will be a .number of good speeches on American-Israel relations ; but no major internal issues . . Mortimer May will be elected ZOA president, since he has practically no opposition . . . the only internal issue is the approximately $300,000 deficit which ZOA faces . . • The deficit is managed largely by means of loans from the life membership fund and amounts due the World Zionist Organization .. ZOA solicits $100 life membershipS and charges off current dues annually, and there is a-reserve. of about , $450,000 in the life membership fund ... Of this sum more than $100,000 has been loaned to the Jewish National Fund, $75,000 to the Jew- ish Agency and $80,000 to the American House in Israel Fund . These loans are classified as investments . . . American House in Israel, which opened more than a year ago, is valued at $950,000. . .. Aside from the value of the building, liabilities exceed assets by about - $160,000 after taking into account a grant of $100,000 in 1952-53 by the Jewish Agency for construction purposes . . ZOA defines the House in Israel as an American project .. . Conse- quently, it has not sought the authorization for it from the Jew- ish Agency committee which has to authorize fund-raising appeals in this country, for projects in Israel . . On the other hand, ZOA maintains the American Zionist Fund which was established in 1945 to raise funds for domestic ZOA projects geared to a general cultural interest . . . For this ZOA needs no authorization from the Jewish Agency committee . During 1952-53 the American Zionist Fund was the major source of ZOA receipts, apart from membership dues, accounting for 25 percent of its total income. . Membership dues were doubled in August 1952, which ac- counts for the increase in membership receipts despite a member- ship decline . . . Income from the membership in 1952-53 amount- ' ed to about $500,000, while the ZOA spent some $882,500 during the year . .. For 1953-54 a goal of $1,171,500 has been set, in- cluding $500,000 for the American Zionist Fund. ZOA ABE LAPIDES Abe Lapides, a charter mem- ber and currently president of the Pontiac (Mich.) Boys Club earlier this month received the Man-Boy Award, highest honor conferred by Boys' Clubs of America. It was only the fourth time the award was made local- ly. A leader in the Pontiac Jewish community, Lapides is a member of the Federation and Commu- nity Council, is active - in the United Jewish Appeal and in Zionist activities. The Boys Club, in existence for 10 years, has a membership of almost 1,200 youth. Accord- ing to police records, juvenile delinquency in the area of the club, once the highest in the city, now occurs at its lowest rate. The award was made to Lap- ides by Monroe M. Osmon, chair- man of the year-end banquet, who stated that Lapides had provided "distinguished and de- voted service to the cause of youth" during his two years as Fund-Raising Trends president. Despite the general decline in fund-raising, some drives yield- ed better results in 1953 than in previous years . . • . This is espe- cially true of the drives conducted by the American Friends of Stratford Festival the Hebrew University, the American Technion Society and the Has 2 Jewish Stars; American Committee for the Weizmann Institute . . . The latter `Rex' Was at Habimah has not made public yet its report to the 1953 campaign, but the former two did . . . And their figures—published just now when The arrival of James Mason, there is talk of a merger of the three campaigns—reveal an. star of the Shakespearean Fes- interesting picture . . . Income of American Friends of the He- in tival, in Stratford, Ontario, to brew University in 1953 was $865,000—about $90,000 more than 1952 . .. American Technion Society's income in 1953 was about go over rehearsal scheduled with directors Cecil Clarke and Ty- $950,000, $350,000 more than in the previous year ... The Ameri- can Friends spent last year about $120,000 on fund-raising and rone Guthrie has drawn in- administration in the United States . .. American Technion So- creased attention to the historic ciety spent $385,000; Weizmann Institute group probably spent event scheduled to start in the about $160,000 . .- American Friends of the Hebrew University Canadian city on June 28. has a membership of about 8,500 organized• into 20 chapters Three Shakespearean plays will Technion Society has about 25 chapters in this Country . For be produced this year—'Oedipus this year the American Friends seek to raise about $1,500,000 as Rex," "Taming of the Shrew" compared with the $865,000 raised last year . . . All three groups and "Measure for Measure." receive direct support from . the Jewish federations and welfare Of special interest this year funds . . . The ratio is 55 'percent to the Hebrew University, 23 is the appearance of two Jewish percent to the Haifa Technion and 22 percent to the Weizmann members of the cast — Lloyd Institute . . . For two years—till 1952—the three institutions of Bochner and Toby Robins. Both higher learning conducted a joint fund-raising campaign in this scored well in last year's per- country . All indications point to the fact that their cam- formances and rate among the paigns will again be merged soon despite opposition. on the past ablest members of the cast. of some of the leaders . . . Favoring such a merger are the Israel. Even more interesting, how- government and the Jewish Agency as well as the Jewish Federa- ever, is the fact that Dr. Guth- tions and Welfare Funds ... They claim that about$500,000 could rie's last production of "Oedipus be saved each year on campaign expenses in this country if the Ttgs. $500,00® oo,000 Rex" was at the HA b in) h_ three separate . . drit vel were merged into one ully spent in Israel, they could be ra 're' uget Theater in Israel.