to

"From all corners of our great Russia come to us, gether with cheers of joy over the emancipation, assurances of unshattered faith in the eternal ideal the renaissance of our native Palestine. Old and young, rich and poor, from the front and from the rear, orthodox and free-thinkers, declare in one voice: Now, even now, freed from the chains of slavery, shall we be able zealously and gladly to give ourselves to the service of our ideals?

"I cannot refrain here from underscoring, with the feeling of deepest recognition, the invaluable services which the Government of the United States has so nobly and warmly shown to our pioneers. The noble President of the United States has acted from motives of humanity and brotherly relation of peoples, but at the same time, also, from deep sympathy in our regeneration. The noble impulses of America have found a worthy instrument in the person of the former Ambassador Morgenthau, that faithful son of the Jewish people, whose services in these hard years Jewry will not forget.

But all this time, while working and building, we have not lost sight of the basic point inscribed upon our banner— the public, legal character of the hearth which we are creating. We are convinced that the moment has come for reiterating our programme.

"We deem it necessary that the nations called upon to establish the standard of the future national political life should reckon with the definitely expressed will of the Jewish people, to populate and regenerate Palestine as its national hearth. We deem it further necessary that all obstacles should be removed from our path, and that guarantees and conditions should be created which will ensure the unobstructed and speedy development of our work in the land."

The Conference was attended by five hundred and fiftytwo delegates from six hundred and forty towns. There were delegates from Turkestan, Bokhara, and the Crimea. In addition, there were present five hundred visitors from provincial towns and over one thousand one hundred visitors from Petrograd.

A unique historic document was placed before the Convention when the Chairman read the full text of the Military Order of the Day, issued and signed by General Alexeieff, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, permitting the Jewish soldiers to elect from their number delegates to the Convention, and furnishing passes and transportation to the delegates to facilitate their presence at the gathering.

The spokesman of the soldier-delegates read the following resolution, which had been adopted by his colleagues :

"We-Jewish soldier-delegates from the Army-who participate in this Convention, avow to the Convention, and to the Jewish people:

"Hundreds and thousands of Jews are in battle in the Russian Army. In a time of outlawry and terrible persecution, under the burden of false accusations, the Jewish soldiers fulfilled their full military duty. In the ocean of blood poured out by the heroic Russian Army, there is no little of Jewish blood.

"Now, having become free citizens of Russia, and fully privileged members of the Army, the Jewish soldiers will continue their efforts in a new spirit of enthusiasm. Believing that the strengthening of the revolution, and the strengthening of the peoples in Russia can be accomplished only through the union of all the peoples and by a strong discipline in the free army, the Jewish soldiers declare triumphantly that they are prepared to follow the call of the revolutionary democracy to defend Russia against her enemies.

"We believe that the Russian democracy, which has assumed the task of freeing all the peoples of the world, will understand the strivings of our people, and will support Jewry in its efforts to create a national centre for the Jewish people, on its historic soil, Palestine.”

The Conference carried the following resolutions :

"Considering first that the Jewish people, in view of its disposition and dispersion all over the world, can recreate for itself conditions for the normal development of its national, cultural, and economic life, only, through the restoration of a national autonomous centre in its historic home, Palestine,

"Secondly, that the Jewish nation has never severed its ties with its ancient home, and has always longed for it, and that its moral and historic right to Palestine is incontestable and irremovable,

"Thirdly, that the aspirations of the Jewish nation, so manifested, fully coincide with the great principle of self-definition, of freedom and independence for the development of all nations proclaimed by the democracies and governments of all countries :

"The Zionist Conference in Russia unanimously expresses its firm belief that when establishing the basis of the future national and political life, the nations will recognize and count with the clearly-stated will of the Jewish nation for the resettlement and rebirth of Palestine as its national centre, and will consequently create conditions guaranteeing the free and successful development of the concentrated Jewish forces and of the restoration of Palestine.

"To ensure the concrete and full manifestation of the will of the Jewish nation, the Conference considers it necessary first to organize among the Jews a referendum on the question; secondly, to lay before the All-Russian Jewish Congress the question of Jewish claims in Palestine; and thirdly, to claim the admission of a representative of the Jewish nation at the future peace conference, to be held upon the closing of hostilities, for the expression of the wishes of the Jewish nation, and for the defence of its historic and national rights and interests."

The same spirit was revealed also by the Jews of Poland. In May, 1917, a Zionist Conference was held in Warsaw, attended by nearly four hundred delegates representing a large number of committees, synagogues, societies and groups consisting of all classes of the Jewish population. A sort of plebiscite was arranged among the Jews of Poland, with a view to ascertaining their attitude towards Zionism. The plebiscite resulted in the acceptance of a resolution in favour of Zionism.

All these and many other facts prove that the Zionist idea has made great progress among the Jewish masses. But under the new circumstances Zionism required more than the usual propaganda: it required work, political work.

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IN ENGLAND AND THE ALLIED

COUNTRIES

The introduction into this book of a comprehensive account of the various démarches on behalf of the Zionist cause recently undertaken in English political circles, and also in allied countries, is rendered difficult by the following considerations. In the first place, the publication of pourparlers which have taken place, and of schemes which have been, or are to be, submitted, is impossible, because they are still in progress, and their final issue is dependent on further

developments. In the second place, the author feels great embarrassment, being compelled to break the rule hitherto observed of avoiding any reference to his own share in the work of the movement. In this section, however, he has participated so directly in the démarches referred to that it was quite impossible to speak of them at all without referring occasionally to his share in the political activities.

A glance, however, at recent political efforts appeared indispensable, in order to bring the history of Zionism up to date. But there is no claim that the following account is more than an outline of the most important events. With these provisos we pass to the facts themselves.

It was at once clear that England was destined to play a most important part in Zionist politics. London from the beginning was the financial centre of the Zionist Organization and the Mecca of political Zionism. Even at the time of the Chovevé Zion Movement England was regarded, as it were, as the country that stands between the "Galuth and" Salvation." When the idea of Palestine had begun to be popularized among the Jews of Russia and Poland-long before the name Zionism" had become current-Disraeli's Tancred and George Eliot's Daniel Deronda were translated into Hebrew. The name of Sir Moses Montefiore was in the mouth of all Jews in Eastern Europe, and his journeys to Palestine, in connection with his great plans, had long since grown legendary. English Jews were valued because of this famous individual; they were considered simply as national Jews, whether they really were so or not. From a distance the observer did not recognize the mediocrity, the parochialism and dissensions; he saw the summits only, and they appeared splendid. A man like Albert Goldsmid, who was an English colonel and also a national Jew, appeared to be a type such as could hardly be found in any other country. That was rich material for the Jewish imagination, which fed upon it and made it much greater than the truth. It was, however, not imagination, pure and simple; a sound political instinct was also at work here. The Jewish Ghetto had for long prophesied that it is England's destiny to decide the fate of Palestine, and however much one may smile at the speculations of Ghetto politicians, these had, nevertheless, in their quick-wittedness understood much that is sometimes hidden from professional politicians. Moreover, this was not the politics of the Ghetto only. Herzl did not know the Ghetto, and received no information from

it; notwithstanding this, all roads led him to London. It was in London that he for the first time in his life publicly took part in Jewish life. At a later period again, the offer of Uganda was made by the English Government; the ElArish Expedition was organized by England. Zionist finance was English, and English was the Zionist political outlook.

In the pre-war period the Zionist Organization had everywhere sought connections. True to its programme, desiring a charter from the Ottoman Government, with the approval of the great Powers, it worked without intrigue and adventure, honestly anxious to get this charter with the approval of all nations. In this matter, England always took the first place. Herzl and his followers had worked zealously in England. This work was continued after Herzl's death. The author also, in his capacity as member of the Zionist Executive, visited this country several times. The impressions gained here were always stimulating and interesting, but the Zionist question was not prominent.

The question became prominent with the outbreak of the war. The thought lay uppermost, that the work must be carried on here in England, that, if possible, it must be concentrated here. If this thought was evident to the Zionists of other countries, was it any wonder that it deeply stirred the English Zionists? Thus it happened that this thought found an excellent champion and representative in the person of Dr. Chaim Weizmann. He took counsel with his colleagues in England, and together with them began to consider the question of what was to be done in England, in order to make the political problem of Zionism a problem of the day. The idea that England was the most important centre, and offered the most promising prospect of success, was neither new nor the opinion of a single party; it had become rather the property of the whole Zionist Organization. But it was now something entirely different from what it used to be formerly. Formerly Zionism was an abstract idea; in spite of all Herzl's great achievements, the problem remained merely a project. It is the political problem we are talking about, because the intellectual and practical labour of Zionists for Palestine had been a reality during the whole time of the Chovevé Zion and the Zionist movements. Now, however, political Zionism has also become a reality. If the war has taught us anything at all it surely is this, that nothing is more fatal than an attitude of indifference