First Zionist Congress, The by Reimer Michael J.;

Author:Reimer, Michael J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2019-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Day Two, Afternoon Session

PRESIDENT: Herr Dr. Blumenfeld has the floor.

DR. BLUMENFELD: As I have taken the liberty of submitting a brief motion, permit me to briefly explain the motion, anticipating a favorable response. Today, Herr Dr. Nordau read out to us the draft of the Congress’s program, adding his request that it be accepted en bloc, thus avoiding any further discussion. After several queries concerning the draft had been made, Dr. Nordau declared that answers to these queries were already to be found in the draft. So I move to have the draft program and likewise the relevant explanatory materials printed up.1

PRESIDENT: I am giving the floor to Herr Dr. Schaffer.*

DR. SCHAFFER (BALTIMORE): Our program has been kept very concise; but the reason that it was composed in this way is so that it would encompass various points of view. If one explanation were given, then various explanations would have to be given—that is, according the interpretation of this one or that one. I beg you not to bring up again the controversy which we have happily settled. Rather, it should be left to every individual delegate to explain the program at home as seems best to him.

PRESIDENT: I give the floor to Herr Dr. Neumark.*

DR. NEUMARK: We have restored unity today. It was done with some difficulty. It might perhaps have been done with less abruptness in the exercise of protocol, but at least unity was restored, and if we make yet another statement concerning the program’s evolution, we will be forced to go into detail with regard to individual terms.

PRESIDENT: I give the floor to Herr Dr. Blumenfeld.

DR. BLUMENFELD: I am not demanding that any particular issue has to be delineated in more detail; there need be only a clarification of how the committee and the Congress interprets every single substantive term. This will be of great benefit to us in winning over the general public to support our goals.

[131] PRESIDENT: I would like to draw Herr Dr. Blumenfeld’s attention to the fact that there cannot be one valid interpretation per se; I think rather that, in a certain sense, such an interpretation is found in the Congress’s debate, which anyone can read and is available in the stenographic record. The motion is before us: printing of the program, with the relevant explanatory materials.

Upon being put to a vote, the printing of the program is approved; but the publishing of explanatory materials is rejected by a large majority.

PRESIDENT: We move to a discussion of Point 3 on the day’s agenda.2

MARMOREK: We have arrived at the crucial point of our deliberations. We all know that Jewish distress is real; we are united in wanting to relieve it; but the first thing required to achieve idealistic purposes is organization. As to what constitutes a sound organization the Social Democratic Party can teach us, although we are against this party in principle. What it has attained it has attained only through organization. The organization must not concentrate a load of work

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