Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 302

A. Building Industry. In August, 1933, the number of building labourers in the country was 6,800, and in May, 1935, 15,000. The additional 8,200 are distributed among the following places : Tel-Aviv ......... 3,000 Haifa ......... 3,000 Jerusalem ... ... ... 600 - Other Places ......... 1,600 The total expenditure in the Jewish building industry in 1934 was ,£P. 5,000,000, of which £P. 2,700,000 was spent in Tel-Aviv, and £P. 1,500,000 in Haifa and its environs. The large immigration increased the demand for dwellings in town and country, the development of industry entailed the construction of large special factories, and the Mortgage Banks increased their capital and granted many mortgages. The General Palestine Mortgage Bank issued loans for £P. 750,000 in the year 1934 alone. There has been a great deal of building also in the colonies. The increase of citrus plantations has entailed the construction of additional buildings, and dwellings have been built for resident settlers and new immigrants. Industry has also penetrated to the larger colonies, and colonies such as Petach-Tikvah, Rehoboth, Rishon-le-Zion and Hedera are gradually developing into towns. The increased building activity has resulted in the rise of wages to an excessive degree. Many workers abandoned their previous place of employment and went over to building, and in consequence agricultural labour suffered particularly severely. But there were also other branches of industry, which the workers left in order to engage in building. Nevertheless the demand for building labourers continued from month to month, and their number has now reached the total of 15,000. B. Industry and Manual Trades. The development of industry and manual trades forms an Important chapter in the'history of the last two years. According to the census carried out by the Jewish Agency in August, 1933, there were then 15,000 workers engaged in industry and manual trades. According to our estimate in May, 1935, based upon typical partial investigations, the number of workers in industry .and manual trades was 22,500. About 20 per cent, of the industrial workers are employed in branches connected with building, and the rest in the food industry, textile and boot industries, etc. Many industrial undertakings have been transferred from abroad to Palestine. Their owners have invested capital, experience and new machines, and they have built factories for the manufacture of products which had hitherto to be imported from abroad. These pioneers of Jewish industry have met and continue to meet with .serious difficulties. Foreign firms are introducing into Palestine 302