transcription of a newpaper article

Aug. 17- 1919

"And so it is with us at the present time. The length of time it takes to make Palestine actually ours depends on the speed with which we work. There is no doubt but that we will work rapidly, whether we want to or not. Just this which we read from Isaac Don Levine, one of the most capable and most reliable foreign correspondents of the Chicago Daily News to the effect that at least one million Jews are looking forward to the time when they will be able to leave Russia and go to Palestine. We know that Palestine in its present condition is not in a position to admit a million or even a tenth of a million, at one time. But Jewish need will force the American Jews and those in countries spared by the war, to concentrate all their constructive energies upon Palestine in order to prepare it to receive the greatest possible number of Jews and to hasten preparations to receive even greater numbers.

What must be done to prepare the land? Buildings must be erected, gardens must be planted, the machinery for exports and imports must be set up, a steady supply of food, clothing and machinery must be established, and industries must be started immediately, in order to offer work to as many as possible. This will be the convention's first problem."

In the last few days the cables have informed us of the attitude of the mandate committee of the Peace conference which is in session in London, under the leadership of Lord Robert Cecil. The committee notified the Palestinian military administration that the Balfour Declaration must be carried out to the letter and the spirit. The Balfour Declaration is to make Palestine the homeland of the Jewish people.