Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 447

Council of the Jewish Labour Federation. The result was a marked increase of certificates allotted to single women, from 7 per cent, in the schedule of April-September, 1934 to 25 per cent, in the schedule of October, 1934 and to 28.5 per cent, in the schedule of April, 1935. The Executive agreed that the practice of fictitious marriages was undesirable and undertook to do what it could to discourage it. It made it clear that it could only control the bona fide character of the marriages of those immigrants whose training was being supervised by the Palestine Offices, but expressed the hope that as a result of an increased grant of certificates to single women the incentive for resorting to fictitious practice would be gradually removed. Government found it necessary, howrever, to resort to the method of allotting a certain number of certificates (1,865 out of the 7,600 certificates given to the Jewish Agency for distri- ' bution from the last schedule of 8,000) to single men, leaving 3,570 for married couples. 19. Closely bound up with the problem of immigration was that of the tourist traffic which resulted in a large residue of permanent settlement. The mass movement of Jewish travellers overstaying the period of admission on finding employment had set in in the spring of 1932 and continued on a fairly large scale throughout the year of 1933. As a result of the growing labour shortage there was a wide opening left for the absorption of Jewish travellers. The knowledge which spread abroad of the plentiful opportunities of employment available in Palestine caused many whom economic distress made impatient of waiting their turn for nomination under the schedule, to resort to this practice of gaining admission into Palestine. On the other hand, the lack of provision under the Government immigration policy of even minimum facilities for the admission of independent artisans of small means and of people coming to engage in small trade, in the catering services, etc., was a factor working in the same direction. Government took strong exception to the practice, which it regarded as a mass violation of the law. Government's contention was that while the law did allow a tourist to apply for registration as a permanent resident upon finding employment, it was unlawful for a person to apply for admission as a tourist while his definite intention was to stay in the country permanently. Moreover, what roused Government's opposition was the fact that the practice of " illicit settlement " was swelling the figures of actual absorption considerably beyond the limits of the absorptive capacity which was being determined by the grant of labour schedules. The expedient of making deductions from the schedule by way of a penalty for illicit settlement, which was resorted to as from the autumn schedule of 1933, and of which repeated warnings had been given before, has already been mentioned. In October, 1933, the High Commissioner intimated to the Executive his intention to introduce restrictive regulations regarding the admission of tourists with a view to 447