TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS President, CYRUS ADLER JULIUS ROSENWALD IRVING LEHMAN ' Vice-Presidents EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CYRUS ADLER (1931) Philadelphia, Pa. JAMES H. BECKER (1931) Chicago, 111. DAVID M. BRESSLER (1931) New York, N. Y. LEO M. BROWN (1932) Mobile, Ala. FRED N. BUTZEL (1932) Detroit, Mich. BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO (1933) New York, N. Y. JAMES DAVIS (1932) Chicago, 111. ABRAM I. ELKUS (1930) New York, N. Y. ELI FRANK (1931) Baltimore, Md. HENRY ITTELSON (1931) New York, N. Y. LOUIS E. KIRSTEIN (1931) Boston, Mass. MAX J. KOHLER (1932) New York, N. Y. HERBERT H. LEHMAN (1933) New York, N. Y. IRVING LEHMAN (1932) New York, N. Y. JAMES MARSHALL (1933) New York, N. Y. MILTON J. ROSENAU (1932) Cambridge, Mass. JULIUS ROSENWALD (1933) Chicago, 111. HORACE STERN (1930) Chairman Philadelphia, Pa. LEWIS L. STRAUSS (1933) New York, N. Y. SOL M. STROOCK (1931) New York, N. Y. CYRUS L. SULZBERGER (1933) New York, N. Y. FELIX M. WARBURG (1933) New York, N. Y. MORRIS WOLF (1933) Philadelphia, Pa. SECRETARY MORRIS D. WALDMAN ASSISTANT SECRETARY HARRY SCHNEIDERMAN 171 Madison Avenue, N. E. Cor. 33rd Street, New York City Cable Address, "WISHCOM, New York." 283 284 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING NOVEMBER 10, 1929 The Twenty-third Annual Meeting of the American Jewish Committee was held at the Hotel Astor, New York City, on Sunday, November 10, 1929. Doctor Cyrus Adler, Vice-President and Chairman of the Executive Committee, called the meeting to order, stating that he had been requested by the Executive Committee to preside, owing to the death of the President, Louis Marshall. The following members were present: District II. Nathan Cohn, Nashville. VII. James Davis, Bernard Horwich, Julian W. Mack, Julius Rosenwald, Chicago. IX. Cyrus Adler, B. L. Levinthal, Morris Rosenbaum, Horace Stern, Philadelphia. X. Albert Berney, Baltimore. XI. David A. Lourie, A. C. Ratshesky, Felix Vorenberg, Boston; Henry Lasker, Springfield; Isidore Wise, Hartford; Edward M. Chase, Manchester; Archibald Silverman, Providence; Nestor Drey- fus, New London. XII. Ben Altheimer, Herman Bernstein, Nathan Bijur, David M. Bressler, Elias A. Cohen, William Fischman, Lee K. Frankel, Henry Ittleson, Max J. Kohler, Jacob Kohn, Arthur K. Kuhn, Irving Lehman, William Liebermann, Alexander Marx, Bernard Semel, Joseph Silverman, I. M. Stet- tenheim, Lewis L. Strauss, Sol M. Stroock, Cyrus L. Sulzberger, Israel Unterberg, Ludwig Vogelstein, Felix M. Warburg, New York City. XIII. Moses F. Aufsesser, Albany; Joseph L. Fink, Eugene Warner, Herman Wile, Buffalo; Henry M. Stern, Rochester; Benjamin Stolz, Syracuse. XIV. Joseph B. Perskie, Atlantic City; A. J. Dimond, East Orange; William Newcorn, Plainfield; Isaac W. Frank, Pittsburgh. REPORT OF AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE 285 Members-at-Large: Louis Bamberger, Newark; James H. Becker, Chicago; David A. Brown, Stanley M. Isaacs, New York City; Eli Frank, Baltimore; Louis Kirstein, Milton J. Rosenau, Boston; Victor Rosewater, Philadelphia; Frederic W. Wile, Washington, D. C. Delegates from Organizations: Hadassah: Miss Emily Solis-Cohen, New York City. Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America: John L. Bernstein, Harry Fischel, Abraham Herman, Jacob Massel, Albert Rosenblatt, New York City. Independent Order Brith Abraham: Max L. Hollander, Nathan D. Perlman, MaxSilverstein, New York City. Independent Order Brith Sholom: William M. Lewis, Philadelphia. Independent Order Free Sons of Israel: Solon J. Liebes- kind, New York City. National Council of Jewish Women: Mrs. Estelle M. Sternberger, New York City. United Roumanian Jews of America: Bennett E. Siegel- stein, Herman Speier, New York City. Women's League of the United Synagogue of America: Mrs. Samuel Spiegel, New York City. Zionist Organization of America: Philip Wattenberg, New York City. APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES The President appointed the following Committees: On Auditing the Accounts of the Treasurer, Morris Rosenbaum and Bernard Horwich. On Canvassing the Ballots for District Members, Victor Rosewater and Archibald Silverman. On Nominations, David M. Bressler, Chairman; Lewis L. Strauss, Eli Frank, David A. Lourie and James H. Becker. PRESENTATION OF ANNUAL REPORT The Executive Committee presented its report for the past year. 286 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK Mr. Rosenwald expressed the opinion that that part of the report dealing with Palestine, in the section devoted to a review of the condition of Jews abroad, was dispropor- tionately long. Mr. Rosewater moved that the report be accepted and approved, subject to revision by the Chairman. Mr. Ittleson moved an amendment that revision be made by the Executive Committee. Discussion on the motion and amendment was partici- pated in by Messrs. Sulzberger, Warburg, William M. Lewis, Irving Lehman, Mack, Perskie, Archibald Silverman and Frederic William Wile. After discussion, the motion as amended was carried. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION Mr. William Liebermann called attention to a statement on the subject of immigrant identification cards which appears on pages 19 to 24 of the printed report of the Twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Committee, in which the fear was expressed that the order for the issuance of such cards "may lead to further encroachment not only upon the rights of immigrants but also of naturalized and possibly native-born citizens," because it may be an opening wedge for the introduction of a general registration of aliens. Mr. Liebermann stated that when the identification card system went into effect on July 1, 1928, he wrote a letter regarding it to the Honorable Ogden L. Mills, Under-Secretary of the. Treasury. Thereupon the Honorable James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor, in a letter to Mr. Mills dated July 6, 1928, denied that the identification card plan has any of the features of a registration scheme, and that the plan was intended to benefit immigrants by facilitating the produc- tion of proof of their legal admission. Mr. Max J. Kohler stated that he prepared the state- ment on the subject of identification cards in last year's annual report and that he knows that immigrants who arrived in the United States since July 1, 1929. are required to keep these cards and that failure to produce them when asked to do so by immigration officials places upon the immigrants the burden of proving their legal admission. REPORT OF AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE 287 It was suggested that the matter be looked into further by the Executive Committee. CONDITIONS IN ROUMANTA Mr. Siegelstein, a delegate from the United Roumanian Jews of America, of which he is president, stated that he wished to report regarding the relations between that body and Mr. Charles A. Davila, the new Roumanian Minister to the United States. Upon the arrival of the Minister, on October 23rd, the United Roumanian Jews of America presented to him an address regarding anti-Jewish excesses which had recently been reported in the press. A committee of the organization which called upon Mr. Davila at his request was assured by him that the Roumanian Govern- ment would punish those responsible for the alleged execsses and do everything possible to prevent any recurrence of them. In anticipation of the meeting of the American Jewish Committee, Mr. Siegelstein communicated with the Roumanian Legation, asking for a message which he could submit to the Committee and he received, yesterday, a telegram from the counsellor of the Legation, transmitting a statement of the Minister to the effect that he had requested the government to inquire further into the matter of the excesses, and assuring the Jews of America that they may have confidence that such occurrences will not remain unpunished, and that in spite of great difficulties with which the government had to contend, the Roumanian Premier will know how to deal with the situation so that similar incidents are not repeated. Mr. Siegelstein concluded by stating that this morning he received word from Premier Maniu containing reassurances that those responsible for the excesses would be punished, and that a special com- mittee had been appointed to exercise surveillance over those who are believed to have instigated the excesses, especially Professor Cuza. ELECTIONS The Committee on Nominations recommended the election of the following: 288 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK For Officers: President: Cyrus Adler. Vice-Presidents: Julius Rosenwald and Irving Lehman. For members of the Executive Committee to serve for three years from January 1, 1930: Julius Rosenwald Horace Stern Lewis L. Strauss Cyrus L. Sulzberger Doctor Adler requested Mr. Rosenwald to take the chair. Mr. Rosenwald said: "You have heard the report of the Nominating Committee. The Chairman would like to ask the privilege of seconding the nomina- tion of Doctor Cyrus Adler as President. This is one time when I regret the extreme limits of my ability to say what I would like to say. I think every member here will agree with me that we are extremely fortunate in having Doctor Cyrus Adler to take the helm of this organization at this critical time. He is a man who has been connected with the organization from its inception, and not only has he been tremendously interested in it, but he was the right-hand man of our departed leader. He has served as Chairman of the Executive Committee for many years and you all know how ably he has served. In the great event that took place in Paris when Mr. Marshall, Judge Mack and Doctor Adler and others were in Europe, he represented the American Jewish Committee in the principal work that the American Jewish Committee has ever done. I say that, with due regard for the many good things that the Committee has done. He did one of the greatest services to the Jews of the world in representing this Committee and in helping to have adopted the Minority Treaties, which are serving the world so well.