Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 324

Strong adverse criticism has been levelled against the Kvutza, and its failure was predicted. However, the protagonists of the system of Kvutza settlement have not been disappointed in the hopes they placed in it. The Tables 9 and 10 show the fluctuations in the balance sheets of the Kvutzoth for the year 5690-4. Many critics prophesied that the Kvutzoth would be left gradually by their members. The Tables 10 and 11 show the movements in the membership of the various Kvutzoth and prove that such prediction was not justified. E.—Failures. This section must not be concluded without mentioning some of the failures, which brought considerable losses, but which served also as lessons of how to avoid such failures in the future. In Kfar Hittim, which is now not occupied at all, about £P. 40,000 were invested by the Keren Hayesod in addition to the Keren Kayemeth expenditure on water installation. The settlers abandoned the place because they had not received the necessary equipment in time, and because of a lack of good communication and a lack of water for irrigation. It is hoped, however, in view of the geological and geophysical investigations recently carried out there and which give hope of finding there sufficient water by boring for irrigation purposes, that Kfar Hittim will before long be reoccupied and resettled. A number of settlers of Kfar Gideon too abandoned the place, but those few who remained managed somehow to maintain it, and here, too, it is hoped that it will shortly take its place among the other flourishing settlements in the district. Two settlements, Hulda and Kfar Uriah, were destroyed duringthe disturbances in 5689 (1929). Hulda had not been abandoned, and reconstruction was begun by the Kibbutz Gordoniah. Kfar Uriah belongs to private individuals, and because of litigation with its neighbours this colony is still unoccupied. F.—Colonisation Company. At the 13th Zionist Congress it was decided to establish a. special company for dealing with national colonisation in Palestine, which should endeavour to co-operate with other bodies with a view to drawing up a joint scheme for colonisation. Formerly there used to be a shortage in candidates for colonisation when new land was acquired. The reverse is now the case : there is a dearth of suitable land for colonisation, and prospective settlers have to wait their turn. The development of the country is such that the new settler, particularly in the plantation zone, is in a position to continue working after occupying the land outside his settlement until he obtains the necessary loan for his establishment. By working temporarily 324