Be With Us
Lord God! Thou wert with us, Thy flame outburned the stake, Thy presence made us free in chains, Of Thee we sang through searing pains With hearts that could not break; For still in bondage, torture, war, Thy voice was heard above the roar; The Lord will not forsake.
Lord God, art thou with us?Our sluggish brothers wake;And now there sings the morning bird,The time is now to speak Thy Word,To shout till nations quake,Till all the world is loud with thee!We sleep in case, nor hear nor see—Lord God, do not forsake!
The Co-Operative Settlement of Dagania
The Jewish agricultural colony of Dagania (previously called Um-Djuni after the neighboring Arab village) lies in the Jordan valley and is bounded on the North by the Jordon at the point where it leaves the Sea of Tiberias. The land, which is about 5 kilometers long by one kilometer broad is suitable for intensive cultivation owing to its uniformly even surface. At certain points the land scarcely rises more than 5 meters above the level of the Jordan, so that it can be adequately watered without considerable cost. The cost is on the whole of medium quality and suffers occasionally from lack of rain. At first Dagania was cultivated partly by the laborers of the Jewish farm Kinnereth, but this arrangement proved unpractical owing to the distance from Kinnereth to Dagania, as the Jordan is situated between them and is at this part unpassable in the winter. Two years ago the Palestine Land Development Company handed over the cultivation of Dagania to a group of 6 agriculturists from Galilee who were entrusted with the work quite independently without and administrative supervision. The members of the group were allowed a fixed monthly wage, and they were also to obtain one half of the net profits of the farm. The experiment succeeded very well, although the settlers had to combat with countless difficulties. The first year resulted in a net profit of £160. For various reasons this group then left Dagania and found employment upon another co-operative estate of the Palestine
Land Development Company in Galilee. Its place was taken by another workmen's co-operative society of 9 members, who had formerly been employed as agriculturists in the colony of Chedera and had already been organized there upon a co-operative basis. The second group undertook the cultivation of 1400 dunam (about 350 acres) under the same conditions as their predecessors. Unfortunately the rainfall in the last year was much smaller than in the preceding year, and the conditions of living had not improved in the colony in other respects either, but there was nevertheless a net profit of oxcar. The second group undertook the cultivation of 1400 dunam (about 350 acres) under the same conditions as their predecessors. Unfortunately the rainfall in the last year was much smaller than in the preceding year, and the conditions of living had not improved in the colony in other respects either, but there was nevertheless a net profit of £100 realized in the second year.
A short time ago the Jewish National Fund took in hand the work of erecting buildings for the agriculturists in Dagania. The houses are being built upon a very fine site near the Jordan. The erection of these dwellings will remove the principal evil under which the new settlers had to suffer hitherto, and it is now possible to enlarge the undertaking. For the present another four laborers are to be engaged and the land to be cultivated is to be increased to 2,000 dunam. <A more considerable extension is contemplated for a later period. The members of the Dagania Co-operative Society are fully convinced that the co-operative system, after the first difficulties are overcome, will prove excellent and afford the only sound basis for the future colonizing activity in Palestine. :