The Maccabaean

sell food and clothing to all the inhabitants, whether Jew or non-Jew, and, gradually, as its financial strength increases, it might, following the lead of the co-operative enterprises in Great Britain and other countries, undertake such far-reaching activities as the construction and renting of houses, life and fire insurance, banking, etc. Furthermore, since this Kehillah would be the representative body of the Jews of Palestine, it would have a moral and material advantage, as a semi-official body, over all other schemes of mere co-operation, that will go a long way to insure a large membership, a heavy volume of trade and financial success.

All the available profits of the Kehillah, over and above a necessary reserve fund, would be divided semi-annually, among the members, in proportion to the amount expended by each in purchases from the Kehillah stores. Thus, one member whose record for a period of six months will show an expenditure of one thousand dollars for goods secured from the Kehillah (whether for rent paid to the Kehillah for the occupation of one of its houses, street car tickets, on a tramway belonging to the Kehillah, tickets to the Kehillah theatre or for clothing and groceries purchased from the Kehillah "Department" stores) will receive a dividend or rebate ten times as much as another member with a record of expenditures of only one hundred dollars. The amount of the purchases might be checked and the rebates determined by a simple method of trading stamps, which would be given to each buyer, as the receipts for money paid to the Kehillah.

In a short time, the Kehillah would become more than merely an instrument for effective buying and selling. It might begin almost immediately, to fulfill the duties of a co-operative institution for the benefit of the Jewish farmers of Palestine, as the sales-agency for their products and the purchasing agency for the necessary agricultural implements, etc. Every member of the Kehillah, who is also a farmer, would be offered the opportunity of entering into a contract with the Kehillah wherein the latter would bind itself to purchase from the farmer-member all the products of his

farm, over and above that which is necessary for the personal use of the farmer's family. These contracts would run for periods of several, let us say, three years and would be renewable for like periods at the end of each term. A Board of Appraisers, representing the farmers and the Kehillah, would determine, periodically, the market prices for the farmers' produce during each stated period, and the farmer would be required to turn over all the products at the prices fixed by this Board. This would offer a secure market for farm products, while it would form the basis upon which the Kehillah might undertake activities in manufacture and commerce.

The Kehillah would, naturally, develop certain manufacturing enterprises, as a result of its experience in the sale of products. By gradually building up a market, it could, as time went on, solve the most pressing problem in industry—the problem of developing a market for products. In its manufacturing plants, it would naturally give the preference of employment to its own members—and this would offer a large opportunity for Jewish labor. All the employees of the Kehillah should, as soon as practicable, be placed upon a profit-sharing basis, so that the wages received by each employee, on a plan similar to the rebates awarded to purchasers, might be the measure for the division of surplus profits.

Those industries, like railroads, gas and water supply, etc., which, by nature and social demands, must continue as monopolies, might be conducted by the government of Palestine itself, or they might, in whole or in part, be operated by the Kehillah, for the benefit of the community as a whole. In all other industries, the Kehillah, as a corporation representative of the public, would compete with private enterprise and individual initiative. Yet, we have the right to expect that through efficient management, and because of the support that it will receive as the "Kehillah of Erez Israel," it will be able to become the predominant type of commercial and industrial organization in Palestine.

How prostrate lies before Thy radiant throne,Thy bleeding Israel, Thy dearest child;On whom Thy love and fairest fortune smiled,When on the sacred ark Thy glory shone!Behold his anguish now within the zoneOf bloody strife where craven legions wildIn wanton spite the streets of Lemberg piledWith heaps of bleeding flesh and splintered bone!Oh, raise him from the dust and lead him home!His heart is pining on a foreign strandWith yearnings for his promised, holy land.Restore Thy glory to the sacred clime,And he'll rebuild Thy house with golden dome,And sing Thy praises to the end of time.