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PALESTINE.
Proposed Zionist
Loan.
(Previous
Reference: Cabinet 20 (28). Con- clusion 10.)
2.The Cabinet had before them the following
documents relating to a proposal made by the
Zionist Organisation that Great Britain should
join with such Powers as are willing to co-operate
in guaranteeing a Loan of the order of magnitude
of £2,000,000, repayable in about 40 years, to be
raised under the auspices of the League of Nations:-
A Memorandum by the Lord President of the Council, supporting the proposal and urging that it should be considered from a statesman's point of view (Paper C.P.-71 (28)):
A Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Paper C.P.- 85 (28)) covering a statement sub- mitted by the Zionist Organisation, giving details, supporting the pro- posal and suggesting that the first step should be to ascertain whether the French, Italian and other Governments would be prepared to participate and support us in raising the question at Geneva:
A Note by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Paper C.P.- 110 (28)) covering a Paper by Sir Otto Niemeyer on the subject of the principles on which Loans are supported by the League of Nations, who reached the conclusion that both the Financial Committee and the Council of the League would find great difficulty in regarding the Zionist case as a proper subject
for their intervention:
A Memorandum by the Treasury (Paper C.P.-114 (28)), circulated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, con- curring in Sir Otto Niemeyer's view and opposing an independent guarantee by the British Government on financial grounds.
The Prime Minister reminded the Cabinet that
this question had been postponed, after a short
discussion at a previous Meeting, until the
Lord President's return.
The Earl of Balfour then gave the Cabinet a
full exposition of the case in favour of the pro-
posals of the Zionist Organisation, and dealt with
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