Dr. Franz Oppenheimer, one of the greatest social reformers of our age, and known in Europe as the theorist of Cooperative Colonization, is in America as a guest of the Jews.

Oppenheimer's basic idea is that the earth has resources enough to nourish all the inhabitants that dwell upon its surface. The people, however, do not have the opportunity to share all the blessings of the earth because it has been seized by the wealthy classes, that is, the nobility and the land barons. The only way to help people in want is to redeem the land from those who have monopolized it and give it back to them. Thus, he believes, the antagonism between capital and labor will disappear, because everybody will be able to live on his own ground in peace and tranquility.

It is easy to see that such ideas are not popular enough, at least not among the rich landowners and the poor city workers who strive for a different form of emancipation from that advocated by Oppenheimer. Yet, Oppenheimer gained a multitude of adherents for his second plan, which proposes that the poor class till the soil on a cooperative basis in order to improve their lot.

A man like Oppenheimer could not, for a long period, keep aloof from Jewish life. As soon as he acquainted himself with the modern Jewish Question and the plans to colonize Jews in their own land, he became intensely interested in the movement and was made the economic advisor of Dr. Herzel [the father of Zionizm. Tr.], in whom he confided the agricultural plans for the future, which were later expounded by Dr. Herzel in his book, As A New Land.

Finally, Dr. Franz Oppenheimer, with the aid of the Poale Zion [Zionists who fight in behalf of labor. Tr.], carried through his plan of organizing 3a colony in Palestine on a cooperative basis. For this purpose, he visited Palestine twice. The workers colony Marachviah, which should serve as an example for the idea that people can live in peace and tranquility, was, through the cruelty of the surrounding Christian neighbors, moistened with the blood of Jewish heroes. It, nevertheless, exemplifies the courage and spirit of the Jews.