THE JEWISH COLONIAL TRUST
The Jewish Colonial Trust, Limited,\nwas incorporated under the British Com-\npanies Act, on March 20, 1899.
It operates through a central office in London, England, through the Anglo-Palestine Company, Limited, in Jaffa, Palestine, and the Anglo-Palestine Banking Company, Limited, in Constantinople, Turkey.
Its purposes are defined in its articles of incorporation, under which it is authorized, among other things, to carry on the business of banking in all its branches and to promote, develop, work and carry on industries, undertakings and colonization schemes in Palestine and Syria, in the interests of the Jewish people.
The authorized capital of the Jewish Colonial Trust is two million pounds, ($10,000,000.00), divided into shares of one pound, ($5.00) each, of which one hundred are known as Founders' shares. The Founders' shares, held by representatives of the Zionist Congress, are not entitled to any dividends.
The paid-up capital of the Trust on December 31, 1908, was 255,561 pounds, ($1,277,805.) This capital was subscribed by thousands of Jewish people, who were urged to create this corporation as an essential agency in the work of developing a sturdy, independent Jewish population in Palestine. After a lengthy propaganda, the office of the Trust was opened for business in London, in 1900, with onequarter of a million pounds subscribed.
The Trust has since conducted a banking business in London, with: agencies in all European capitals and subsidiary corporations in Palestine, and the Turkish Empire.
Believing that its work in Palestine should be directed from Palestine, the
Trust established in 1903, the Anglo-Palestine Company, Limited, with its legal center in London, and its business office in Jaffa. The Trust subscribed to over one-half of the authorized capital of the Anglo-Palestine Company, but has since increased its subscription, as the business of the Anglo-Palestine Company increased, to 68,784 pounds.
The Anglo-Palestine Company may therefore be considered almost identical with the Trust. From the start, the Company has done a flourishing business in Palestine, paying regular dividends on its stock, and entering with foresight into a number of industrial and commercial enterprises, initiated by Jews in Palestine and Syria. Its Jaffa office was opened in 1903. In 1904 a branch was opened in Jerusalem, and in 1906, two more branches were opened in Beirut and Hebron, and at the present writing, a branch is being considered for Haifa, where the new Technological Institute created by the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden is to be erected, and which is destined to become the principal port of Palestine. Through the Anglo-Palestine Company, banking facilities have been extended to many merchants, industrial enterprises and real estate enterprises.
With the success of the revolution in Turkey, which is taken to mean that constitutional guarantees have been given to its citizens, and to all legitimate business, the directors of the Jewish Colonial Trust decided that it would be of advantage to the cause in which its stockholders are largely interested, and, at the same time, a good business venture, to enter the field of banking in the Turkish Empire. Accordingly, the Anglo-Levantine Banking Company, Limited, of Constantinople, was