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No. 28. | Vienna, 11 July 1902. | 6th Year

The English Parliamentary Commission on the Alien Immigration Question.

Examination of Dr. Herzl.

London, 7 July 1902.

At the invitation of the Parliamentary Commission on Alien Immigration, Dr. Herzl appeared today before this Commission in order to state his views on the question of alien immigration (read: Jewish immigration from the East), which has become a burning one in England. We reproduce Dr. Herzl's statement below:

"When I was living in Paris seven years ago, the condition of Jewry made such an impression upon me that I turned my attention to the Jewish question and published a pamphlet under the title 'Der Juden-staat' [The Jewish State].

I must say at the outset that it was not originally my intention to publish the pamphlet or to take part in a political movement. But when I laid my views before a number of influential Jews and came to the conviction that they entirely ignored the danger which I even then foresaw, and that they did not see the great black cloud gathering in the East, I published the pamphlet, which gave rise to the Zionist movement in its present form.

The first Zionist Congress was held at Basle in Switzerland in the year 1897, and I was elected its President. At each of the succeeding Congresses I was called again to this office. My position as leader of the Zionist movement brings me into close touch with Jews living scattered in all parts of the world, and consequently I am fully acquainted with conditions, so far as they concern Jewry in general as well as that of the Eastern countries in particular.

I regret to have to say that the Jews are to-day even worse off than seven years ago, at the time when I published my pamphlet. Without emphasising anything else, it suffices if I say that at that time the real or supposed necessity of appointing a Commission on Alien Immigration in England did not yet exist.

Let it not be taken as presumption on my part if I say that even then I foresaw the emergence of the Jewish question in this country too. In the pamphlet 'Der Judenstaat,' published by me in the year 1896, I said the following:

'The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers; where it does not exist, it is carried in by Jews who migrate thither.

Following the law of nature, they naturally move to those places where they are not persecuted; but there persecution is called forth precisely by their presence. So it is in every country, and so it will remain, even in those which enjoy the highest civilisation — France itself being no exception — until the Jewish question finds its solution on a political basis. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying antisemitism into England as well, having already transplanted it into America.'

The fact that now, for the first time since Cromwell's days, a considerable number of our people are in England is the true motive for the appointment of this Commission. I am convinced that those who deny this hold that opinion in all sincerity. But when they complain of alien immigration, the true cause of their complaint is unknown to them; they feel the pain and they point to the painful spot, but the cause must be sought in a world wholly unknown to them.

I hold it my duty, however, to say that the mere appointment of this Commission has in itself called into being a difficulty, and no small one; for in the end the Commission must recommend either restrictive legislation or none at all. If restrictive legislation is not recommended, the mere fact that the Commission has held its sittings will result in immigration into England taking a fresh start.

If, on the other hand, such restrictive legislation with all its provisions is adopted by Parliament, then England breaks away from the great principle of granting free asylum to the oppressed, and hitherto this principle has been England's glory. For the rest, I believe