onstrate the fact that although his right hand may as a nation have forgotten its cunning, Israel cannot forget Jerusalem. I know it will be said, and it is true, that to many Jews these are mere wordslip service-conventional or traditional celebrations. Others, it may rightly be said, do not say the prayers, observe the ceremonies, or even wish the spirit that animates them to find its fulfilment. Yet to the great mass of Jews the world over, the hope of Israel's restoration is a real and true one. It is, indeed, the one great fact that has made for the persistence of the Jews to this day. In times of trouble and persecution and when has the Jew been free from these?-the idea of the restoration, together with his belief in his religion, have been the Jew's one and only ray of light. "Man does not live by bread alone," and the Jew has lived, and will continue to live, for the Jew's ideal-his restoration to his land-Erez Yisroel-the Land of Israel.

During the centuries that have passed since the dispersion of the Jews, attempts have several times been made to realize these prayers and hopes. The rising under Akiba and Bar Cochba was suppressed in 118 C.E. The pseudo-Messianic venture of Sabbathei Zevi collapsed in 1676. It is a wide stretch of time, and the intervening period was dotted with like attempts and like failures. Nor were all the efforts entirely Jewish. Napoleon, for instance, invited the Jews of Asia and Africa to settle again in Jerusalem. The present Zionist movement-the Jewish National Organization-is the first effort of a practical nature which the Jews have put forth for the realization of Jewish hopes. It is a movement free from mysticism or fanaticism born of pietetic zeal. It is a national effort based on all the highest ideals of nationalism, and works upon such severely practical lines as colonization

in Palestine and propaganda in Jewry all over the world.

It is the lineal heir of the attachment to Zion which led the Babylonian exiles under Zerubbabel to rebuild the Temple, and which flamed up in the heroic struggle of the Maccabees against Antiochus Epiphanes.

The idea that it is a setback of Jewish history is a controversial fiction. The great bulk of the Jewish people have. throughout their history remained faithful to the dream of a restoration of their national life in Judea. Its manifestations have suffered temporary modifications under the influence of changing political conditions, and the intensity with which it has been held by individual Jews has varied according to their social circumstances, but in the main the idea has been passionately clung to.

The enthusiasm of Dr. Herzl's adherents . . . has not diminished, and the Zionist movement is today the greatest popular movement that Jewish history has ever known.-("L. W.” on Zionism in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.)

The opening of the Ghetto gates found Jewry without organization. It is little wonder that Jewish national aspirations did not appeal to those who had inhabited them. With Palestine as at best a pious, and, for the most part, a theoretic hope, these Jews turned from Jewish National Regeneration as a forlorn aspiration, and spun for themselves a theory to justify their despair. Under this influence, "Reform" Jews, mainly in Western lands, endeavored to convince the Jewish people that Judaism was the be-all and end-all of a form of religious faith, which in its missionary objects was inconsistent with national strivings. The cradle of Reform Judaism, it is worthy of note, was Germany, and it is probably not accidental that that country produced a twin-crib-that of antiSemitism. But the main effect pro

duced by Reform Judaism, with its anti-National bias, has been Jewish assimilation in its worst and not its best sense. To some extent, notably in America, Reform Judaism has recanted of its anti-Nationalism, and has, in consequence, grown all the stronger as a religious force. Its failure on the whole, however, to influence the Jew politically has been marked, and today the Jew who wishes to retain his Judaism, his Jewish thought and ideals, and to contribute in, as he thinks, the worthiest manner his share-as Jewto the world's development and progress, strives for a restoration of Jewish nationality, or pins himself to it as an article of faith. He knows that therein a remedy for the Jewish question, if but a partial one, with which so many lands are confronted, is to be found.

In

That Palestine, and it alone, claims the heart of the Jewish people, received in recent years a striking proof. 1905, the Zionist Congress-the only organized voice of the Jewish people— had before it an offer from Great Britain of a territory for an autonomous Jewish Settlement in East Africa. While thanking the British Government for its generous consideration, the Congress, by a huge majority, declared that only in Palestine could the Jewish people. with any hope of success, undertake the work of a national settlement. The Congress thus preferred that Israel should be homeless rather than that our people should be diverted from their age-long striving for the ancient homeland. And this, it should be remembered, was at a time when large numbers of the Jewish people were suffering from active persecution in Russia.

Attempts have been made to settle Jews as colonists in other lands-the most notable and recent being the Hirsch Colonies in South America. None of these schemes have appealed to the Jewish masses-they are exotic

growths. But the striking point about these Colonies is that there are few that do not possess their Zionist Societies, thus showing their desire to be linked up with their brethren in the striving for the re-establishment of a home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

The Zionist movement, established as a result of the first Jewish Congress. held at Basle in 1897, is the work of the late Theodor Herzl. He wrote "The Jewish State" in 1895, and published it in 1896. It at once aroused remarkable enthusiasm-and also strong opposition-among Jews. He was largely inspired by the revival of anti-Semitism generally all over the Continent, and the Dreyfus affair in particular. He was then living in Paris as a correspondent of the "Neue Freie Presse." In later years, when he became more conversant with the Jewish question, and more in touch with his fellow Jews, his Zionism deepened, and without the stimulus of antiSemitism he continued as ardent a worker in the cause of Jewish Nationalism, and was its leader until his death. He was from the first joined by Max Nordau, who loyally supported Herzl until the latter's death in 1904. Nordau has throughout his connection with the movement consistently in and out of season preached the Zionist faith that was in him, and is today the foremost champion of the Zionist idea all over the world.

Jews of all shades of religious opinion were attracted to the movement. In its ranks are to be found representatives of all classes of thought and position; it is, in fact, a miniature of all Israel. The first Congress laid down the objects of Zionism to be the establishment in Palestine of a legally secured publicly recognized home for the Jewish people. Its immediate effect upon the colonization by Jews of Palestine was unfavorable, as the leaders

were of opinion that, pending the grant of a Charter in Palestine for the Jewish people, no further work should be undertaken in that land. This policy, however, was subsequently modified, as the promises of political privileges were postponed. The first agricultural Jewish colony in Palestine was founded in 1878. Efforts by Jews in Palestine had till then been confined to such objects as homes for aged people, built by philanthropists like Sir Moses Montefiore. At the date of the founding of the first colony, the Jewish population of Palestine was estimated at 34,000 out of a total population of 500,000, and contained no Jewish colonists, as Jewish efforts till then were confined to the creation of purely charitable institutions. By 1903 this had grown to 70,000, out of a totai population of 680,000, and contained over 5,000 colonists. While in 1911-the last year for which figures are availablethe Jewish population is estimated at 100,000, out of a total of 700,000, with 10,000 Jewish colonists. In 1898 there were twenty-five colonies, with 70,000 acres of land in Jewish possession, and a population of 4,500. In 1911 there were forty-one colonies. These are to be found in Judea (15), Samaria (8), Galilea (16), and one in Transjordania comprising 100,000 acres. In addition Jewish schools, primary, secondary, and of various kinds have been opened, and the last Zionist Congress (Vienna, 1913) appointed a Committee to study the question of a Jewish University. Many encouraging promises of support were at once forthcoming, and, but for the war, the scheme would probably by now have been well under way. In Haifa a high school is already half built, and would have been finished by now but for an unhappy dispute between some of the Directors-German subjects, who wished the German language to take a preponderant place there. The Zionists, however, insisted

that Hebrew should be the chief language of instruction. Nothing, indeed, is more remarkable than the revival of the Hebrew tongue as a living language in Palestine. Formerly confined to the synagogue as a medium of prayer, it is now used by Zionists everywhere, but mainly, of course, in Palestine, where it has practically become one of the recognized languages of the land.

The commercial and industrial claims of the Jews to Palestine have been largely aided by the Anglo-Palestine Company-a daughter institution of the Jewish Colonial Trust (the financial instrument of the Zionist movement) which, with its chief office at Jaffa, has branches and agencies at Jerusalem, Haifa, Beyrout, Tiberias, Hebron, Safed, etc. This Company, beginning in 1904, with a capital of £40,000, and deposit and check accounts of £37,000, had, in 1913, a capital of £100,000, and and deposit and check accounts amounting to £350,000.

In addition, the Zionist Organization has created the Jewish National Fund, the object of which is to acquire land in Palestine as the inalienable property of the Jewish people, and which may be leased only to Jews. Established in 1903, it has now a capital of about £250,000, and, before the war had an income of about £40,000, contributed for the most part, in halfpennies and pennies by the Jewish masses all over the world. Besides these two main institutions, there are attached to the Organization the Palestine Land Development Company and the Jewish Agricultural Experiment Station at Haifa, the Jewish National Library at Jerusalem, the Olive Tree Fund, Co-operative Settlements, Jewish Culture Fund, Hoechozoo Societies,* etc., all of which

*The purpose of the Hoechozoo Societies is to demonstrate that people with limited means can acquire a home for themselves and a live

subsidiary organizations are devoted to the development of the Jewish Settlement in Palestine. When it is remembered that, in addition to these activities, there are, in practically every country of the world, Zionist Federations of bodies carrying on propaganda and supporting the movement, it will be readily seen that such an organization must make a world-wide appeal to Jews or it could not exist. It must be added, too, that, in the main, the organization relies upon the Jewish masses, who are the backbone of the movement. There are also in various countries special societies in connection with the Zionist movement for the study of the Hebrew language, culture-spiritual and physical-University Students' Unions, and other associations, all, from different points, concentrating upon the national regeneration of the Jewish people. As an instance of the sort of effect produced by the Jewish settlement of Palestine, I would point to the suburb of Tel Aviv, near Jaffa. It is, if you will, a new ghetto, but an utter reversal of ghettos such as we are accustomed to. European ghettos, though they almost invariably compare favorably in point of sanitation and health, physical and moral, with the slums around them cannot be regarded as models of cleanliness and order, such as are the more wealthy parts of modern cities. Tel Aviv. however, is a modern garden city, erected by Jews, inhabited by Jews, and governed by Jews, The administrative governance of this part of Jaffa is entirely in Jewish hands, it is provided with efficient drainage and lighting, wide streets, and is well policed by a Jewish force. A council elected by the inhabitants of Tel Aviv governs it, and it yields the impression of the perfect commonwealth in miniature. lihood in Palestine. There are several such societies in existence-seven in America alone, with a capital of about $500,000.

I might go on multiplying instances which show the Jewish claim to Palestine as expressed, consciously or unconsciously, through the Zionist movement. I must, however, not omit to mention that, apart from organized Zionists, many other Jews have also taken an active part in the development of Palestine, although not entirely actuated by the motives which have impelled the Zionists. In this category must be placed the colonization work of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, in which an enormous sum has been sunk; the charitable foundations of various European and other Jewish communities; the schools founded by the Alliance Israelite Universelle; the Anglo-Jewish Association; Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden, etc., the Odessa Committee's work in the promotion of agriculture and handicrafts, the Jewish women's work among their sex, various land and plantation companies, and the numerous hospitals and almshouses. When Zangwill said, "Give the land without a people to the people without a land," he spoke truly. Although it has been said that the existing population of Palestine makes it difficult for the Jews to obtain Palestine as a land of their own, the fact is that the 600,000 non-Jews of Palestine are not as 6 to 1 of an ordinary population, since a very large proportion of the non-Jews are nomads. Apart from Jewish colonization, too, there has been very little real development of the potentialities of the land. From what had been accomplished and from the amount of land still lying fallow, it is abundantly evident that Palestine can contain and support a much larger population than it holds at present.

This war will settle many questions, and it should make a settlement of the Jewish question also possible. There are thirteen millions of Jews in the world-more than half of these live

in Eastern Europe in an unsatisfactory and unsatisfied state. Will the Peace Conference bring them a message of Peace? It is calculated that, owing to the disturbance of the war, some two million Jewish people have been uprooted from their homes in Poland and in Russia. What is to be done with these? Cannot a permanent home be found for at least a part of them? Cannot a centrum be established for the Jewish people? Jewish history for the last 2,000 years has been one ceaseless attempt to live as lodgers in another man's house. I understand that some Jews oppose the settlement of the Jew in Palestine because they fear their rights to the citizenship of the various countries in which they reside may be prejudiced. To state this objection is to expose its absurdity.

We Jews are the only people in the world without a home of their own. What home can be more natural and appropriate than Palestine? Who else in the world has so great a claim to it? We Jews-Zionists and non-Zionistshave proved by our readiness to sacrifice ourselves for the countries in which we live that we can be and are faithful and loyal subjects. must be more than half a million Jews fighting in the various belligerent countries-the vast majority on the side of the Allies. So far as Britain is concerned, she is pursuing in this war no selfish ends, but in view of what has happened she must protect Egypt and the Suez Canal-the highway to The Contemporary Review.

There

India. None of us therefore can admit a possibility of the Turk remaining in control of Palestine. This must come under British protection. And what nobler use can Britain make of this land than offering a welcome to Jews there?

Russia by her glorious Revolution has solved the immediate problem of her Jews in granting them equal rights with the rest of her population. But even that will not solve the Jewish question. That is only giving us our rights as men. Our rights as Jews are equally vital to us, and equally necessary to the world at large. If Judaism or Jews disappear, the world will be the poorer; and the Jew as Jew cannot "appear" except he be endowed with national rights as Jew. We have earned, if any people on God's earth have, a right to a national existence of our own. Jewish Nationalists, like Jewish non-Nationalists, believe that they have a mission in the world. The difference between us is that the anti-Nationalist mission is entirely religious without any practical backing, while our mission is practical work in the world devoted to the highest of spiritual and idealistic objects, and, it may be, a mission which an age of iron materialism and red militarism urgently needs. Can this settlement of the Jewish problem not be one of the points which Britain will pledge herself to? Jews the world over look to Britain as the foremost fighter for justice and freedom to be their deliverer.

Wild creatures are forever at war; it is not only the human species that has its territories and countries, and struggles and strives for possession of the land, but also the shy things of the fields and hedgerows, and even

Joseph Cowen, English Zionist Federation.

fish in the ponds and streams. There is no creature with a stronger sense of the rights of ownership than the little stickleback. When the breeding season begins, in the early spring, each male fish appropriates a certain portion of