Page:A Jewish State 1917.djvu/52

 will be the nucleus out of which the public organizations of the Jewish State will later on be developed.

Our first object is, as I said before, supremacy, assured to us by international law, over a portion of the globe sufficiently large to satisfy our just requirements.

What is the next step?

THE OCCUPATION OF LAND.

When nations wandered in historic days they let chance carry them, draw them, fling them hither and thither, and like swarms of locusts they settled down indifferently anywhere. For in historic days the earth was not known to man. But this modern Jewish migration must proceed in accordance with scientific principles.

Not more than forty years ago gold-digging was carried on in an extraordinarily primitive fashion. What adventurous days were those in California! A report brought desperadoes together from every quarter of the earth; they stole pieces of land, robbed each other of gold, and finally gambled it away, as robbers do.

And today! What is gold-digging like in the Transvaal today? Adventurous vagabonds are not there; sedate geologists and engineers alone are on the spot to regulate its gold industry, and to employ ingenious machinery in separating the ore from surrounding rock. Little is left to chance now.

Thus we must investigate and take possession of the new Jewish country by means of every modern expedient.

As soon as we have secured the land we shall send over a ship, having on board the representatives of the Society, of the Company, and of the local groups, who will enter into possession at once.

These men will have three tasks to perform: (1) An accurate, scientific investigation of all natural resources of the country; (2) The organization of a strictly centralized administration; (3) The distribution of land. These tasks intersect one another, and will all be carried out in conformity with the now familiar object in view.

One thing remains to be explained—namely, how the occupation of land according to local groups is to take place. In America the occupation of newly opened territory is set about in most naive fashion. The settlers assemble on the frontier, and at the appointed time make a simultaneous and violent rush for their portions.

We shall not proceed thus in the new land of the Jews. The lots in provinces and towns will be sold by auction, and paid for, not in money, but in work. The general plan will have settled on streets, bridges, waterworks, etc., necessary for traffic. These will be united into provinces. Within these provinces sites for towns will be similarly sold by auction. The local groups will pledge themselves to carry the business through properly and will pay expenses out of the funds provided for their self-government. The Society will be in a position to judge whether the local groups are not venturing on sacrifices too great for their means. Great commonwealths keep up great scenes of activity. Great sacrifices will thus be rewarded by the establishment of universities, technical schools, academies, etc., and these Government institutions will not be concentrated in the capital, but distributed over the country.

The personal interests of the buyers, and, if necessary, the local authorities, will guarantee the proper working of what has been taken over. In the same way as we cannot, and indeed do not wish to, obliterate distinctions between single individuals, so the