PALESTINIAN COLONIES.
In spite of the restriction placed on the acquisition of property by the government, the colonies continue to develope. The last venture is a small settlement in Moza, near Jerusalem. This is planned as a suburban settlement in order to draw the poor from the ghetto conditions, which prevail in Jerusalem, even in the latest additions to the city, built by charitable individuals and organizations in Europe, who seem to think that unsanitary conditions of living are part of the Jewish religion. The manager of the enterprise is Mr. A. S. Blumenthal, a comparatively young man who has made for himself a reputation as a scholar. The new colony is to engage in truck farming and poultry raising, the latter of which, according to Talmudic law, is prohibited in Jerusalem proper.
INTEREST In Russia.
The Turkish-Italian conflict has aroused deep Jewish interest in Russia.
Jewish sympathy with Turkey manifested itself in Kieff in the departure of Jewish young men to Constantinople with a view to offering their services as volunteers. The formation of similar groups is also reported from Lodz and Warsaw. Jewish sympathy with Turkey is not confined to Zionist circles. Although every allowance is made for the exemplary treatment of co-religionists in Italy, the Jews in Russia feel that the blindness of European diplomacy to a sense of wrong is also responsible for the indifference of the latter towards their own sufferings. Dr. Nordau's comments at the last Zionist Congress on the conscience of Europe are recalled, and Italy's action is regarded as another proof of the existence of the law of non-intervention in the internal affairs of a State only in cases where Jewish interests in powerful countries are involved.
The Real Russian press, true to its tradition, regards the war as a product of Jewish intrigue. The Sviet asserts that the Young Turk Committee, "with its Jewish majority, "has brought about the war." M. Menushikoff (in the Novoe Vremya) states that Abdul Hamid's refusal to grant Palestine to Dr. Herzl cost him his throne, and now the Young Turks, in this turn, pay for their failure to satisfy the Zionists.
ZIONISTS FINED IN RUSSIA
A Zionist meeting recently took place in a synagogue in Wilna, at which Herr A. Goldberg delivered a report on the 10th Congress before his constituents. Although there was only a selected audience present and the greatest precautions had been taken the local political police obtained news of the gathering, and the Governor, by administrative procedure, imposed the following fines: Herr Goldberg, 100 Rubles (or 10 days imprisonment); two wardens of the Synagogue, 50 Rubles each (or also 10 days imprisonment); and the Beadle, 25 Rubles. The fines were at once paid. A more tolerant attitude towards Zionism, however, has been shown in the granting of permission to Dr. Buchmil, of Jaffa, to deliver a public lecture in Wilna upon "Palestine and its Colonisation," whilst the Wilna Zionists have also been allowed to arrange a banquet in honor of Herr J. L. Goldberg on the occasion of his completing 30 years of activity on behalf of Jewish Colonization in Palestine.
A meeting of the entire Central Committee of the A. I. U. will be held in Paris on October 18th, the object of which is believed to be the carrying through by the executive of a resolution that the election of members upon the Central Committee shall be abolished and shall be replaced by a system of co-optation. The Executive of the Alliance would thus be entirely in the hands of a small group which is at present at the helm in Paris. The German members of the Central Committee will offer the sharpest opposition to this step which is contrary both to the statutes and the tradition of the Alliance. The statutes, which prescribe general elections, can only be altered if two-thirds of the members submit a motion to this effect, which has not yet taken place. The leading members of the Executive of the German Branch of the Alliance, Judicial Councillor Dr. Fuchs and Privy-Councillor Prof. Landau, who will attend the meeting in Paris will oppose the motion with the utmost determination and likewise refer to the proceedings in connection with the recent elections, which should lead to a lively discussion.
The resignation of Salomon Reinach as vice-president of the Alliance, occurred during the month, after the approval by the Council of the co-optation plan.