Dr. Herzl's Evidence before the Royal British Commission on Alien Immigration
THE sixteenth sitting of the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration was held on Monday, July 7, at the Westminster Town Hall, under the presidency of the Right Hon. Lord James of Hereford, Chairman of the Commission. The other members present were the Right Hon. Lord Rothschild, the Hon. Alfred Lyttleton, K.C., M.P., Sir Kenelm Digby, K.C.B., Major W. E. Evans-Gordon, M.P., Mr. Henry Norman, M.P., and Mr. William Vallance.
The first witness called was Dr. Theodor Herzl, and at the commencement of the proceedings Mr. Norman said: "It was originally arranged that I should examine Dr. Herzl, but I venture to suggest that it would save the time of the Commission and be a simpler method of procedure if Dr. Herzl were to be asked to read his own statement as a basis for our subsequent questions."
This was agreed to, and Major Gordon, at Dr. Herzl's request, read the following statement, which had been prepared by the witness:
FORESHADOWED DIFFICULTY
"I am an Austrian subject, and seven years ago, when I was living in Paris, I was so impressed with the state of Jewry throughout Europe that I turned my attention to the Jewish question and published a pamphlet which I called 'A Jewish State.' I may say that it was not my original intention to publish this pamphlet or to take part in a political movement; but, after placing before a number of influential Jews my views upon the Jewish question and finding that they were utterly oblivious of the danger which I then foresaw—that they could not see the large black cloud gathering in the East—I published the pamphlet which resulted in the establishment of the Zionist movement. The first Zionist Congress was held at Basle, Switzerland, in 1897, and I was elected President. I have been re-elected to that office at every subsequent Congress. My position as head of the Zionist movement brings me into close touch with Jews living in all countries throughout the world, and I am therefore cognizant of the state of affairs as affecting Jewry both generally and locally.
“On the whole I regret to say the state of Jewry is worse to-day than it was seven years ago when I published my pamphlet. To go no further, there had not then arisen the necessity—actual or supposed—for instituting an Alien Immigration Commission in England. If I may without presumption say so, I foresaw that the Jewish difficulty would arise in this country. In 'A Jewish State,' published in 1896, I said:"
"The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations. We naturally move to those places where we are not persecuted, and there our presence produces persecution. This is the case in every country, and will remain so even in those most highly civilized—France itself being no exception—till the Jewish question finds a solution on a political basis. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.'
"The fact that there is now for the first time since Cromwell a perceptible number of our people in England is the true cause of this Commission being called together. Those who deny this are, I feel quite certain, perfectly sincere. When they cry out about Alien Immigration, they are quite unconscious of the true cause of their complaint. They feel the pain and they point to the place which hurts: the cause of the pain is to be found somewhere of which they know nothing. But I think it right to say that the mere establishment of this Commission has created a difficulty—in itself no small one. For, as a result,