Thursday, April 10, 1941
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
11
THE AtLAMTIC ASSEMBLY - MOTES: AMD MEWS
They Wanted a U.J.A.
By
JAMES L. WHITE, Salt take City President, Western States Region of the Council
This is an edited version of the report on the 1941 U. J. A. negotiations which Mr. White presented to the Assembly.
Should there be a United Jewish Appeal in 1941? If so, what might be done to bring it.about?
These were major questions which concerned the delegates attending several formal and. informal meetings preceding the General Assembly.
In all the sessions at which the subject was discussed representatives of local welfare funds expressed a unanimous desire that every effort bo made to reconstruct the UJA for 1941. At an open Board meeting, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver of Cleveland outlined the negotiations which led to the announcement of separate campaigns by the former constituents of the 1940 UJA. Sidney Hollander, president of the Council, described the efforts which the Council had made through its officers in an attempt to prevent the breakdown of the negotiations.
N.B.S. Allocation the Issue The discussion indicated that the negotiations had been discontinued, not because of the failure of the J.D.C. and the U.P.A. to agree as to the division of funds between these two agencies, but their inability to agree upon the amount that the National Refugee Service should receive from the joint funds. Delegates from local communities urged strongly that every effort be made in Atlanta to reconstitute the U.J.A. In an effort to achieve this end, Gustav H. Kann, president of the Pittsburgh Welfare Fund, called a meeting of welfare fund presidents to discuss with? the .representatives of three U.J.A. agencies the possibilities of renewing negotiations for a joint fund-raising effort in 1941. Since the bone of contention wais the disagreement as to the 1941 needs of N.R.S., Dr. William Haber, executive director of the N.R.S., opened the meeting with a discussion as to the prospective needs of that agency for the coming year. Dr. Haber asserted that during 1940 ' the N.ii.s! had actually expended $3,-476,000 out of the $3,500,000 allocated to it from the U.J.A. nationally and its New York campaign. Of this expenditure, about $1,800,000
was for relief granted, to 18,000 refugees. He said the N.R.S. had also rendered service during the year in New York City alone to 42,000 refugees seeking aid in such matters as resettlement, employment, relief, migration and retraining. He asserted that the immigration quotas for countries of refugee emigration would be filled in 1941, and that persons arriving would include an increasingly large number of older refugees who are more difficult and costly to assist. The N.R.S., despite 8 "bookkeeping" surplus, ended 1940 with a substantial cash deficit because of the lag in U.J.A. cellectlons and. the necessity for borrowing to meet current obligations.
The Dbcussion
The pros and cons of a national advisory budget service were fully discussed at an open meeting of the Board of Directors of the Council at Atlanta following the reading of the report of the Committee on the Study of National Budgeting Proposals by its chairman, Jacob Blaustein. Henry Mentor of New York presented a minority report objecting to various features of the Committee's proposals, and community leaders and national agency representatives participated in the subsequent discussion.
Arguments in favor of the proposal were presented by Jeffre L. Lazarus, Cincinnati; George L. Levison, San Francisco; James Marshall, Joseph C. Hyman, Dr. William Haber and Dr. Solomon Lowenstein, New York; and Harris Perlstein, Chicago. Opposing argiunents were presented by Simon Shetzer, Detroit; Mrs. David de Sola Pool, New York; Rabbi G. Heller, Cincinnati; Judge Louis Levhithal, Philadelphia; Henry Monsky, Onaaha; and Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, Cleveland.
Pro
Here is a summary of the important points made by those who favored the proposals:
Since it is impossible to get enough money to fill all the needs of Jewish causes here and abroad, a central fact-finding and advisory budget service is needed to consider the relative value of the programs of the agencies appealing for support. No local budget committee, no matter how.,QQO-^ scientious, can spare the time or the effort or has the research facilities required to study carefully the swiftly changing needs of the 30 or 40 agen-
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cies included in a welfare fund.
The larger communities have developed fairly effective budgeting procedures but they require additional assistance from their national body. A national group representing all the welfare fimds is in a'better position to study and evaluate needs and services than are the individual communities.
The fact finding and guidance supplied by a conscientious committee is a better way of dealing with ideologies than resorting to conflicting pressures, contradictory claims and counter-claims. The material provided by a budgeting service would naturally be weighed in each community in the light of local interests and preference. There can be no compulsion by one group upon another in American Jewish life and the service would be purely advisory.
As no national or overseas agency can possibly make its own budget on a completely objective basis, the country as a whole is entitled to some dispassionate judgment as to the relative needs and demands upon the individual communities. If the Council fails to take the opportunity it has to render this notable service, it will be relinquishing the duty it owes to the communities.
New organizations are constantly springing up as a result of the war and increasing demands are being made upon commiuilties. In their own defense, communities are compelled to look to some national body to help them in their bewilderment. There is an insistent demand from the welfare funds for facts, advice and guidance. Who shall offer this help? Shall it be given by the national and overseas agencies on a chaotic, competitive and propagandistic basis with the communities flooded with literature and subjected to conflicting pressures? Or is it better to find a group of men-decent Jews, decent Americans—who, provided with adequate professional service, can seek the facts, secure the needed information and provide budgetary help to the communities?
The only way an acceptable reconciliation of the sharply divergent points of view can be accomplished is on the basis of the practical consideration of carefully assembled facts. If the .welfai:e funics wan^ a fact-flnding and advisory budget service, they should get it, regardless of what the national agencies feel about the matter. Amazement was expressed that some of the same people who are demanding the continuation of the U,J.A„ which relieves communities of all responsibility for determining allocations between the major overseas and refugee agencies, are opposed to an advisory budget service. In past years, the communities had nothing whatever to say when the national agencies made an agreement among themselves on the distribution of funds. In 1940 they did have some voice through their representatives on the Allotment Committee. If the communities are willing to place their major budgeting decisions in the hands of men who are not at all of their own choosing, there is no reason why they should not obtain mere advice from individuals who are their representatives.
Con
Those opposing the Committee report made these points:
No fair-minded person can object to a fact-finding body. It is. the.recommendation -that, in addition to securing the facts, there should be an evaluation of programs, which is unwise. Every person in Jewish life has already acquired a psychological perspective on the different problems facing the Jews of America, whether for or against, or even if neutral, with regard to any cause. The economic, social and cultural heritage of an individual cannot help but color judg-
ments. Because of the present set-up of the Coxmcil it is inevitable that one point of view will predominate, namely, the top layers—one economic grouping. Preconceived nations are bound to color judgments in evaluation. Furthermore, even if it is argued that the budgetary service is to be advisory, such recommendations have the quaUty of becoming mandatory. If the- budgetary service to be given is only advisory, leaving final decisions to each community, how will this do away with the competitiveness and pressures which the welfare funds hope to avoid?
This proposal, if adopted will affect not only the U.P.A., the JJD.C. and the N.R.S., but ultimately every segment of Jewish life. The awesome power of the purse is traditional? Until such time as American Jewish life is democratically organized, no one is entitled to speak for American Jewry. It would, therefore, be best to let each community make its own judgments. Welfare funds at the present time are making decisions on scores of appeals. There is no reason why they cannot continue to do so on the present basis.
The Committee's report ignores the realities of American life. It would be a mistake to transfer to the Coimcil such great powers when the fate of great causes is at stake.
The Committee's report, stripped of all its phraseology, recommends that the Council advise communities as to allocations and ratios. For the first time this would introduce an element of coercion and compulsion even though the material would be termed advisory in character. This involves an effort to regiment the thinking of local communities, which are not prepared at this time to accept any handmade formulas from above.
The officers and boards of national agencies prepare their annual budgets with great care. The responsibility for preparing them belongs to these boards and not to any committee which can only meet intermittently and catmot begin to consider 100 budgets with the dedication and personal responsibility which these boards accept for their work.
No hasty action should be taken by the Coimcil at this time without full realization of what is at stake, ^he attempt' to' evaluate-would range the Council either on one side or the other and would precipitate disxmity within the communities. The Council must have the sanity and the statesmanship not to proceed more rapidly than American Jewish life permits.
Immediate action on the proposals would be particularly unfortunate in view of the status of the U.J.A. at the time of the Assembly.
Jewish communal work—^regardless of this proposal-^will go on for many years. Local commimities should be given full opportunity to discuss the proposal, to weigh the factors involved and then to determine the issue at a later date. The Committee's report should be submitted to a referendum of the constituent agencies of the Council.
Excerpt from Speech By Wm. J. Shroder Chairman of the Board
RED CROSS
(Continued from Page 10)
most interesting report of the activities of this group for the past 15 months. Guests for the afternoon included representatives from local Red Cross, Mrs. Austin Taylor and Mrs. Eastwood; Council of Women; Canadian Women's Club and I.O.D. E., with which groups our Red Cross has collaborated in war work.
Presiding at the beautifully decorated table during the tea hour were Mrs. J. Moscovich and Mrs. S. Gold-bloom. Winners of the two pictures were Mrs. H. Boyaner and Mrs. I Co»> val, the winning tickets being drawn by Mrs, Austin Taylor.
An interesting feature of the Rally-was the fine display of articles and work which is done by the Unit,
Thanks are hereby extended to all women who through their various organizations, contributed to the success of this first Red Cross gathering.
What this Assembly has been trying to do, therefore, fits into the larger picture, Jews are a difficult people. We are headstrong. We Jews are oppinionated. We are as different from each other as we differ from the non-Jewish world around us. We engender feelings at times as strong as those we decry as anti-Semitic, if the same type of feeling were expressed against us by non-Jews, and still we have a unity that we cannot escape, even if we wanted to. For we have an inter-responsibility. Despite this passion for words, we must find a way to live together and to make a contribution to the sum total of American life.
U.J.A. Reborn
Announcement of the re-establishment of the U.J.A, for 1841 was made on March 6. The agreement provides that the first $8,800,000 to be raised will be divided as follows: $4,275,000 for the JJ>.C., $2,525,000 for the UP. h,, and $2,000,000 to the National Refugee Service. The balance of the funds is to be distributed by an allotment committee.
PALESTINE HAS INCOME TAX FOR FIRST TIME
. JERUSALEM (WNS)—For the first time hi its modem history, the Palestine Government has announced an Income tax. There will be a ten per cent, annual tax on the income of companies, payable each mid-year. Rates of individual assessments have not as yet been announced.
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