Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 446

in agriculture, either in the countries of origin or in Palestine, still forms the subject of discussion with the Government. 17. A system was finally evolved of dividing the schedule into parts, the nature of which is explained in the Report of the Immigration Department. The essence of this system is to increase, as far as possible, the number of " earmarked " permits, whether by issuing them to persons named in advance by their prospective employers, or to persons of definite skill whom employers undertake to engage, and to restrict correspondingly the margin of certificates left for free distribution. It was in pursuance of this principle that 400 certificates from the autumn schedule of 1934 were allotted for nominees of the Farmers' Federation on the assumption, which remains to be tested by experience, that being selected from among the members of agricultural Jewish communities abroad, they would provide a more suitable and stable supply of agricultural labour for the orange growing centres than would otherwise be the case. The experiment has been carried out by agreement with the Executive and the recipients of the 400 certificates were approved by the Palestine Offices. With regard to employers applying for the admission of skilled workers from abroad, the Jewish Agency insisted that all such applications should go through its hands and be subject to scrutiny and rejection by the Palestine Offices. This has been conceded and contrary to misleading information which appeared recently in the press, all such applications are referred by the Government to the Jewish Agency whereas formerly many of them used to be dealt with by the Government Department of Immigration directly. 18. A point which was of late the subject of some discussion between the Executive and the Government Department of Immigration is the practice of fictitious marriage for purposes of immigration. Apart from the objectionable character of the practice as such, the reason that appeared to raise Government's opposition was the resulting increase in the total number of immigrants beyond the figure contemplated. Government generally seemed anxious, while increasing to some extent the size of the labour schedules, to keep the total number of immigrants arriving under the schedule within certain bounds. The average number of arrivals per certificate has been steadily increasing in the last few years, as will be seen from the following table : 1931. 1932. 1933. 1934. 1.4 1.6 1.7 2.0 The Executive explained that in so far as this increase might to some extent be due to the practice of fictitious marriages, it had been the result of the inadequate number of certificates allotted to single women under the schedules. It had itself urged the increase of women workers' share of the schedule. Special representations on the subject were made to Government by the Women Workers' 446