The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1920-02-18

III tIlt Ni'ps' - ''itf
them as II unit and tlrI, divides the
Profit ,f there is any equally among
,he members Ii is an Individual On
larged and multiplied.
Resides the unavoidable hardShips
caused by lack of means. some dis
advantages result in the form Of social
l:fe. The married members of the
group fail 10 find the sort of semi
scclllSion which they would desire. In
Dganyc. there is "A frequent complaint
that the children are too sophisticated.
they live too much with their elder
and so hear talk that Is iOt the best
pabulum for young, minds. Nor can TIA,
me. hcr give them much Of the cndcar'
ing attention they require. But in
Zen ShcmeiI, on the otter hand, each
family lives and eats apart. while n,
the same time the HUSBAND works as
n member of the group, as doe; the
wife when that is possible. Both re
ccive wages.
Again the objection is raised that
the members of the group have no
sense of personal responsibility. In
dividuals may shirk. Public opinion,
however. works against this tendency.
one shirkcr in twenty is soon dis
covered and either corrected or dis
missed. The group organization makes
provision for such dismissal
In the case of the group" plan.
whose death sentences has been decreed
b, DIR. WeitZmann, the fundamental
fcn lures are as follows:
A piece of National Fund land is
given to u group of workmcn for cul-
tivation. The group receives money
from. the National Fund for the pur-
chase of implements, stock. etc. and
to build its houses. stables and other
buildings. The National Fund asks
that the implements and stock he paid
for in ten years and the buildings in
II hundred years. on the assumption
that these necessities can bc used for
The respective number Of years. In
some places. the figures vary slightly.
Each workman receives from S25
10 SD monthly for his labor. from
the National Fund. After the harvest
is sold. 30 per cent of the money OBJ
tanned goes to the National Fund. and
tine remaining 80 per cent is to bc dis
rributcd equally among me members
Of the group.
This is the ideal. In practice there
is generally no profit. altho DR.. Weiiz
mann mentioned some notable eNcep-
tiOns. After the sale of The harvest,
the National Fund must ncar the de
ricil If any: ADVANCE loans, and pay
The wages. These deficits. however,
when considered fundamentally. do not
constitute II deficit in the real sense
of the term.
Groups have gone ont to wild I'M
settled regions where in many cases
the first years Were of necessity spent
in contesting the right to the land as
| in Karkur, for instance. ut the present
day. Years sometimes a:e takel up
in draining swamps and painting them
with trees; in laying roads. building
stone hedges. digging wells, erecting
| houses. stables, etc. Besides, it must
le kept in mind that No one group
began with adequate equipments, or
under favorable circumstances. There
were no Instructors or qualified agri-
cultural advisers ON the spot, FIRE.
auent mistakes were made in the kind
of crop planted. People suffered from
lack of medical attention. Living con-
d.tions were ubOminable. Even today.
workmen sleep on boards as beds, use
stables for living quarters, are poorly
clothed and shOd. Under such condi-
tons no group could be expected ~
return its maximum. Still they have
learned from experience. Dganyc has
become self-supportng and Ben She
me mis- on the threshold of becoming so.
Other groups are progressing to the
same stage. The process is slow. DR..
WeitZman has called the group IA
school. 1t is in fact nublic school
and public school never pays its
own expenses.
Opposed as he is to the group" sys-
ten of future land development in
Palestine, EleaZar Jaffe enumerates
certain points in their favor, such as
the possibility of guarding national
principles by mutual cooperation the
development in the direction of public
ownership; the safeguard against ex-
pioitation of one individual by another:
Improvement in the conditions and the
honor of labor in the land; the pos
sibility of making use of new and un-
trained men by the side of those more
experienced: the feasibility of the
rian as the only way of overcoming