AUCKLAND ZIONISTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10002, 20 June 1918, Page 3

AUCKLAND ZIONISTS

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN PALESTINE. Members of the. Auckland branch of tho Zionist Society held their fourteenth annual meeting in the Synagogue schoolroom on Sunday, the chair being occupied by the president, the Rev. S. Katz. The report referred to the remarkable progress made by Zionism during the past year, and urged that in order to maintain increasing activities it was essential that contributions should bo regularly paid.

The chairman, in moving tho adoption. of the report, said the past year would go down in the annals of Zionism as the most successful since the institution of the movement. He referred to the' declaration of sympathy expressed by the British Government, as quoted in the report, and said it was one of momentous importance. The influence of that declaration would never be erased —it would ever live in the memory of the Jewish people. It had worked wonders for the movement, and had aroused unparalleled enthusiasm, awakening the national sentiment of hundreds of thousands of Jews. It had brought to the ranks of the Zionists men of the greatest social standing, men of influence, wealth, culture, ami high political eminence, all inspired with the hope of the speedy realisation of the long-cherished ideals of tho Jewish people. The speaker mentioned the names of Jacob Schiff, the eminent banker and philanthropist; Lord Rothschild, Earl Reading (British Ambassador to the United States); Professor Henri Bergson (tho great philosopher and immortal of the French Academy who had promised to join the faculty of the Jewish University in Palestine). 1 The Rev. Katz said tho advance of the British troops, crowned by tho capture of Jerusalem, placed in the hands of the British Government the power to give effect to the good wishes embodied in the declaration, and that had been endorsed by the French and Italian Governments. A Jewish reconstruction commission was even now in Palestine, with an accredited representative of the British Government, restoring to their lands many refugees of the Zionist colonies, and at the same time restoring the damage done by tho Turks during the evacuation. ‘ The report and balance-sheet were adopted, and the following officers were elected for the ensuing year; Hon. president, tho Hon. A. M. Myers; president tho Rev. S. Katz; vice-presidents, the Rev. S. A. Goldstein and Mr N, Phillips; treasurer, Mr L. Marks; hen. secretary, Mr A. Meltzer; and a committee of ten.