The Jew and American Ideals Part 4

The greatest nations of the world are just emerging from the strain and agony of the most terrible and disastrous war in the history of mankind. From a tiny spark of hatred a great conflagration of pa.s.sion spread over the world, well-nigh destroying the entire fabric of civilization. How near we have come to that catastrophe, as a result of the war and its evil progeny, they best know who have recently visited the countries princ.i.p.ally involved and most vitally affected.

Even now civilization is not out of danger, but is weak and unsteady like a man beginning to recover from a terrible fever. Infinite care and patience and wisdom must be exercised by statesmen and peoples and by the molders of public opinion in every nation in order to make recovery possible.

Never was there a moment when racial or religious antagonism was as dangerous and so much to be feared as in this crisis. Never were the citizens of all lands so solemnly warned to avoid the poison of hatred. The pa.s.sionate hatreds engendered by the war must be crushed down and they who were foes, seeking to destroy one another, must now work together for the preservation of the civilization that is their common heritage. With the carnage and wrack and ruin of the war still oppressing us, and our hearts still lacerated and bruised, a common peril is compelling us to unite and to seek safety in fellows.h.i.+p and co-operation. Yesterday we relied upon the destructive arts of the warrior; to-day we must rely upon the conserving arts of the healer.

Yesterday we hailed Mars; to-day we hail the Christ in whose touch is life and healing.

What perverse and malevolent genius it must be that chooses this moment to open the flood gates and set free the pent pa.s.sions of anti-Semitism! How monstrous a thing it is that from a great historic pulpit of the Christian Church which Beecher glorified by his courageous idealism, the brutal and un-Christian appeals of anti-Semitism should be made now when the world needs, above all things, to be purged of the poison of hatred and strengthened by fellows.h.i.+p! How great a tragedy it is that men like Mr. Ford and his a.s.sociates can find nothing to inspire them in the vast work of restoration and reconstruction; that their energies and resources are directed to the ign.o.ble and dangerous end of inciting in the minds of millions of our people fear and hatred of the Jew, as Jew!

I am not insensible of, or indifferent to, the problems incidental to the presence in this country of more than three million Jews. Neither am I insensible of, or indifferent to, the problems incidental to our vast negro population, or to the presence of Europeans and their slow and imperfect a.s.similation. Recognizing these problems clearly and fully, I am quite certain that racial hatred and antagonism is no solvent for any one of them. The complete success of the appeals that are being made against the Jews would not benefit the Gentiles in this country in any particular. There never has been an organized propaganda of race antagonism and hatred, anywhere in the world, which benefited either race. In Russia and in Rumania--to cite only two examples--anti-Semitism has injured the Christians fully as much as it has injured the Jews. Turkish hatred and persecution of Armenians has invariably injured the Turks quite as much as it has injured their victims. In opposing the propaganda of anti-Semitism I am defending equally the interest of Jew and non-Jew. I hold no brief for the Jewish "race," so-called, or for Judaism. The only brief I hold is for the democratic and humanitarian ideals of America. That brief I hold by reason of my citizens.h.i.+p, voluntarily a.s.sumed, and the freeman's oath with which that citizens.h.i.+p was consecrated.

The solution of the problems arising out of the ma.s.sing of so many Jewish people in our large cities requires the unity and co-operation of all men and women of good will, both Jews and Gentiles, in precisely the same way, and for precisely the same reasons, as the solution of all our other problems does. There is nothing in our history which justifies the fear that our citizens of Jewish birth will be less ready than their Christian neighbors to give their whole-hearted service to that end. There never has been a call for service to this nation which found the Jewish citizens less patriotic, less willing to serve the nation, and even to sacrifice for it, than other sections of our citizenry. From Valley Forge to Chateau-Thierry that record is written. I remember well that memorable day in July, 1918, when I heard from the lips of M. Clemenceau the news, just received by him, that our American soldiers were victorious at Chateau-Thierry. Later, on the way to Chateau-Thierry, I pa.s.sed the long lines of ambulances bearing away the wounded men, many of whom were beyond all hope of recovery. Then, still later, in the great, wonderful hospital at Neuilly, I talked with many of those who fell wounded in that terrible fight. There were Jews as well as Gentiles among those men, but there was no difference in the quality of their Americanism, in their patriotism, their fort.i.tude, or their courage.

President Roosevelt, who was too decent as a man and too loyal as an American citizen to have any tolerance for anti-Semitism, more than once called attention to the fact that citizens of Jewish ancestry and faith have, in every crisis in the history of the nation which has shown justice to them, repaid the nation with loyal service. In an address to the B'nai B'raith, June 15, 1905, delivered at the White House, President Roosevelt said:

"One of the most touching poems of our own great poet, Longfellow, is that on the Jewish cemetery in Newport, and anyone who goes through any of the old cemeteries of the cities which preserve the records of Colonial times will see the name of many an American of the Jewish race who, in war or in peace, did his full share in the founding of this nation. From that day to this, from the day when the Jews of Charleston, of Philadelphia, of New York, supported the patriot cause and helped in every way, not only by money, but by arms, Was.h.i.+ngton and his colleagues, who were founding this Republic--from that day to the present we have had no struggle, military or civil, in which there have not been citizens of Jewish faith who played an eminent part for the honor and credit of the nation."

There is no movement for the advancement of humanitarian ideals in this country to which American citizens of Jewish ancestry and faith have not contributed their full share. It is impossible for any fair-minded man who knows the facts to read without indignation the article published in the _Dearborn Independent_, June 5, 1920. In addition to charging that "Jewish business methods" are responsible for the high prices which have obtained for so long, the article accuses Jewish employers of being responsible for conditions of employment not known to the Gentile world. Lest I be accused of misrepresenting the writer of this libel, I will quote his exact words:

When the susceptible people of the nation commiserated the poor Jews of the New York sweatshops they, for the most part, did not know that the inventors and operators of the "sweatshop" method were themselves Jews. Indeed, while it is the boast of our country that no race or color or creed is persecuted here, but liberty is insured to all, still it is a fact that the only heartless treatment ever accorded the Jew in the United States came from his own people, his overseers and masters....

... The record of the great Jews in charity is very n.o.ble; _their record in industrial reforms is nil_. With commendable sympathy toward their own people they will donate a part of their profits to rectify some of the human need resulting from the method by which they made their profits, but as for reforming the method by which they get their profits in order that the resulting need might be diminished or prevented, apparently it has never occurred to them. _At least, while there are many charitable names among the wealthier Jews, there are no names that stand for an actual, practical humanising of industry, its methods and its returns._

I respectfully suggest that these statements are intended to convey to the mind of the reader two impressions, neither of which corresponds to reality. The first impression is that Jewish employers have been and are more brutal and merciless than Gentile employers. Now, it is a fact that the "sweatshop," using that term in its strictest, technical sense, developed, in this country, after 1885--that is to say, following the great influx of Polish and Russian Jews and the equally great increase in the manufacture of ready-made clothing. But, while this is technically true of sweating, we had in this country long before the Jews came children's and women's labor under terrible conditions. In 1884 young girls and women worked in the factories of New Hamps.h.i.+re from five in the morning until seven at night, with only forty-five minutes' intermission, and their wages ranged from a dollar and a quarter to two dollars per week. Until quite recently, in our Southern cotton mills, owned and operated by Gentiles, we maintained conditions as bad as ever existed in the sweatshops of our large cities. It does not require any great amount of research to prove that Gentile employers have in the past been just as indifferent to the well-being of their employees, just as reactionary, and just as opposed to reform, as Jewish employers. I would remind the reader, in this connection, that we have never had in this country, not even in the sweatshops owned and controlled by Jews, anything approaching the terrible conditions which obtained in English factories in the early days of the factory system, when, in factories owned by Christians, little children, mere babies in fact, were made to work under conditions of revolting cruelty, whipped by brutal overseers, and not infrequently driven literally to death from exhaustion. Thus did Christian employers treat Christian children.

But, while it is true that in our great cities sweatshops princ.i.p.ally developed under Jewish auspices, it is equally true that in the fight to abolish sweating Jews have taken an active and honorable part. This I know of a certainty, and the insinuations to the contrary contained in the article under discussion are as cruelly unfair and unjust as they are untrue. So, too, in the fight against child labor in the cities and factories of the North. It was my privilege to take part in that fight, and I know that in the very forefront of the long struggle for remedial legislation, helping with money and with personal service, side by side with Christians, were many men and women of Jewish ancestry and faith. I know, too, that fighting on the other side were both Christians and Jews. It is preposterous that any attempt should be made to so misrepresent the struggle for "the practical humanizing of industry" as to make it appear that the Jewish people in particular were either hostile or indifferent to it.

The second impression which the article is intended to convey is that in those industries which are controlled by Jews no such attempts have been made to better the lot of the workers employed in them as have been made in those industries which are controlled by non-Jews. This charge, likewise, is wholly baseless, as anybody who desires to know the truth can readily ascertain. It was my good fortune and privilege, as one of the representatives of the public appointed by President Wilson, to serve as a member of the First Industrial Conference convoked by the President in October, 1919. Among the members of that Conference chosen to represent the public were both Christians and Jews, and I venture to say that there was not one of the former who for a single moment doubted the sincerity, the patriotism, or the humanitarianism of the Jewish members. Moreover, in the course of our work there was brought to our attention an astonis.h.i.+ng amount of information concerning efforts being made by progressive and high-minded employers in all parts of the country to introduce into their industries reforms looking to the betterment of the lot of their employees, including profit-sharing and partic.i.p.ation in shop management and control by the workers. It is neither more nor less than the literal truth that these reports were quite as favorable to the Jewish employers as to their Christian compet.i.tors. As a matter of fact, in the ready-made-clothing industry, which is very largely in the hands of Jews, many of the most interesting experiments in industrial democracy and many of the sincerest efforts to humanize industry are being made. These things are known to every student of the problem--and they suffice to brand the statements made against the Jews in the article under discussion as both untrue and studiously unjust.

Not only is it true that in the ever-increasing effort to bring about "the practical humanizing of industry" no distinction can honestly and justly be drawn between Gentile and Jewish employers, just as no such distinction can honestly and justly be drawn with respect to the selfishness and ignorance which result in conditions that are inhuman and oppressive; it is equally true, as a study of the records of Congress and the legislative bodies of the individual states will show beyond question, that no such distinction between Jew and Gentile can be honestly and justly drawn with respect to the ma.s.s of social legislation enacted in recent years. Socially minded men and women have supported such legislation, regardless of differences of race and creed, while men and women who lacked social consciousness, who were selfish and indifferent to the claims of their fellow human beings, have opposed such legislation, making common cause regardless of differences of race and creed.

All this is exactly as it should be, of course, and precisely what might be expected to result from our ideals, our inst.i.tutions, and our laws. It would be tragic and disastrous, indeed, if our experience were otherwise. The charges made against our Jewish citizens by the _Dearborn Independent_ amount in reality to a terrible verdict of failure against America and the democratic ideal which America represents. The only hope we can have of solving the great problems which confront this nation rests, and can only rest, upon the a.s.surance that an enlightened citizenry, united by love of country and of mankind, and undivided by race or creed, will strive with ever-increasing strength, vision, and courage toward the goal of equality of opportunity for all. Thus only shall this nation which we love fulfill the high hopes of its greatest spiritual leaders and statesmen. To destroy the faith of our sons and daughters in American democratic ideals--which is precisely what anti-Semitism is aiming to do--is a monstrous thing.

X

A FINAL WORD

I have finished with the _Dearborn Independent_ and the flimsy fabric of its ridiculous charges. My self-imposed task is finished, and I am content to leave the grotesque legend of the protocols, together with the monstrous and cruel charge based upon them, to the judgment of my fellow citizens of Gentile birth. Into the motives of Mr. Henry Ford I do not care to enter. I suspect that they are pathological in their origin. Be that how it may, my pity for the man is as profound as my contempt for the propaganda with which he has chosen to a.s.sociate himself. To be capable of deliberately inciting and fostering race hatred at any time is to cease to be capable of enjoying the fellows.h.i.+p of decent and just men and women; to incite such hatred now, in the midst of such unprecedented suffering and the universal need of fellows.h.i.+p and healing, is a pitiful self-degradation.

This organized propaganda of anti-Semitism has had one wholesome result which its organizers neither foresaw nor intended. It has called forth a notable protest by men and women of Gentile birth and Christian faith which may well stand as the answer of American civilization and democracy to this ancient and hateful evil. All honor to President Wilson for departing from official traditions and placing his name to that protest. Throughout the civilized world that declaration has gone--America's answer to anti-Semitism.

I suppose that so long as the imperfections of human nature endure, so long as there are men and women who are weak, selfish, cruel, vengeful, or ignorant, there will be racial and religious hatreds to be guarded against and opposed. I suppose, too, that until wars have ceased to be possible, in war's aftermath such hatreds will flourish.

Against every form of racial and religious hatred, against sectarian bigotry and intolerance, every loyal American citizen should be prepared to take an uncompromising stand. That obligation, I take it, is implicit in our citizens.h.i.+p. It is for the integrity of that citizens.h.i.+p that I am concerned to plead. Anti-Semitism commands our special attention to-day because it is being spread by an elaborately organized propaganda. But the duty of the Christian to defend the Jew against persecution is neither greater nor less than the duty of the Protestant to defend the right of the Catholic or of all white citizens--Christians and Jews, Catholics and Protestants--to stand solidly against injustice to the negro and in defense of his rights when these are a.s.sailed. My plea, is not for pro-Semitism in opposition to anti-Semitism, but for loyalty to American ideals in opposition to any and all attempts to divide our citizens.h.i.+p on racial or religious lines.

Because of a reasoned faith in those principles and ideals of democracy which brought this nation into being, and toward the realization of which we have steadily progressed through suns.h.i.+ne and storm, through peace and war, I am opposed to anti-Semitism and every manifestation of it. Anti-Semitism and the American ideal can never be reconciled. Far sooner shall men reconcile fire and water, or mix oil and water inseparably, than blend the cruel and hateful pa.s.sions of anti-Semitism with the generous spirit of America. For America's safety and honor, therefore, I plead for unity against this sinister foe lurking within the gates, as against all other foes, no matter under what flag they may be marshaled.

POSTSCRIPT

After the foregoing was written I received from the head of a great American corporation a letter calling my attention to an anti-Semitic pamphlet published in New York City, ent.i.tled "Who Rules Russia?" and asking me for information concerning certain statements made therein.

The pamphlet is printed in two languages, English and Russian, and bears the imprint of an organization called "a.s.sociation Unity of Russia." Letters to the address given in the pamphlet, ordering copies of it, brought no response of any kind and it was necessary for me to resort to other methods of obtaining a copy. Incidentally, I caused certain inquiries to be made concerning the a.s.sociation Unity of Russia. Now that I have made a careful examination of the pamphlet, I do not wonder that my request that copies be sent me was ignored.

Certainly the publishers did not intend that it should be circulated among persons familiar with the subject and competent to expose its misrepresentations.

So far as I can learn, the a.s.sociation Unity of Russia is the name of a group of Russian _emigres_ residing in New York. They are monarchists and reactionaries, their hope being the restoration of tsarism. Like most of their kind, they are bitter Jew-baiters. Their pamphlet is entirely typical of Russian anti-Semitism, particularly in its reckless disregard of truth. I find here reproduced the charge that "the Soviet bureaucracy is almost entirely controlled by Jews and Jewesses." Not only so, but it is charged that the non-Bolshevist Socialist parties are mainly composed of Jews. The pamphlet ends with the statement, "the Russian state is actually dominated by the Jewish nation." There is no argument in the pamphlet, which consists of alleged lists of officials cla.s.sified according to nationality and race.

That some of these lists are deliberate inventions of the anonymous compiler or compilers is quite certain, for the most complete files of Bolshevist publications in this country do not contain either the lists or the data from which it might be possible to compile them.

Other lists represent the most reckless lying. For example, on page 5 I find what purports to be a list of the members of the Council of the People's Commissars. The actual list, copied from Bolshevist official sources, I have reproduced on an earlier page. This fraudulent list contains twenty-two names, of which number seventeen are alleged to be Jews, three Russians, and two Armenians. Looking over the list, I find that it omits well-known and important commissars such as the following: Raskolnikov (Navy), Petrovsky (Interior), Krestinsky (Finance), Kra.s.sin (Industry and Commerce and Transportation), Sereda (Agriculture), Kolontai (Public Welfare), Rykov (Supreme Economic Council), Bruchanov (Supply), Smidt (Labor), Semashko (Public Health), and Bonch-Brouyevich (Secretary). All these are Russians; there is not a Jew among them. The list contains, on the other hand, the names of a number of Bolsheviki who are not, and who never have been, members of the Council of the People's Commissars. Some of them may hold positions of minor importance in the Soviet regime or in the Communist party. The inclusion of their names in this list as members of the central government is an impudent imposture.

The fact that the pamphlet is printed in Russian and English is calculated to impress and deceive the reader. No one who knows the situation will believe that the use of Russian had any other purpose or that it was intended for propaganda among Russians. Such a doc.u.ment, partly printed in Russian and purporting to be issued by Russians, is relied upon to convince Americans that the compiler or compilers--who prefer to remain anonymous--know what they are talking about. Not many will take the pains to scrutinize the various lists closely. Consequently, even where one page contradicts another, the fact goes undetected. A few examples will show how stupid these Jew-baiters are. On page 9 Latsis, of the Extraordinary Commission, is accurately described as a Lett, but on page 23 he becomes a Jew.

Fritchie is a Lett on page 10 and a Jew on page 22--and neither description is correct.

On page 25 Kerensky is described as a Jew, and it is said that his real name is Kirbis. This legend has been published before and thoroughly exposed. The fact is that Kerensky is not a Jew and never was known by the name of Kirbis or any other name than Kerensky. He never partic.i.p.ated in the "underground" work of the revolutionary movement and therefore had no need of an alias. Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky comes from an old Russian family thoroughly orthodox and respectable. His history has been completely explored. No. The anonymous Jew-baiters have simply reproduced a silly legend that appeared in the reactionary anti-Semitic sheet, _Novoye Vremia_, of Petrograd, shortly before the revolution of March, 1917, and was immediately exposed and ridiculed.

In an examination of the various lists of names given I find at least twenty-five instances of non-Jews, princ.i.p.ally Russians, being described as Jews. I find, also, many Jewish names purporting to be the names of Bolshevist officials of some importance, though it is safe to say that they were never heard of by any student of contemporary Russian affairs. I do not say that no such persons exist, but I do a.s.sert that if they exist they do not hold the positions attributed to them, and that even their names are not to be found in the Bolshevist journals from which this pamphlet is said to have been compiled. Perhaps some of the members of the pathetic little group of Russian monarchist _emigres_ who meet weekly in the bas.e.m.e.nt of a certain church to pray for the restoration of tsarism will condescend to tell us how the names were chosen.

How stupid these pious humbugs are in their forgeries! Here is a list of names alleged to be a complete list of members of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party Mensheviki. Of course all are Jews. I look over the list and see at once that three of those named are not even members of that party, let alone of its supreme authority. Ratner, Rappoport, and Gotz do not belong to that party, but are prominent as leaders in the Socialists-Revolutionists party.

Perhaps there are other mistakes in this list--but what is the use of wasting time in checking it further? Here is another list, even more defective, which is offered as a list of the members of the Central Committee of the party of Socialists-Revolutionists of the Right. It contains fifteen names, of which fourteen are Jews and only one, that of Tchaykovsky, is a Russian. But Tchaykovsky is not a member of this party at all and, therefore, not of its Central Committee. He belongs to the party of People's Socialists. In the list I find the names of Lvovitch and Berlinrout, who likewise do not belong to this party and are not members of the committee in question. They are well-known leaders of the Zionists-Socialists. Abramovitch and Khintchouk are included in this utterly worthless list, though they do not belong to the party of Socialists-Revolutionists of the Right, but to the Social Democratic party.

I do not suppose that many of my readers will care very much about the party affiliations of these men or about the factional divisions of Russian Socialism. The fact that this latest addition to the pamphlet literature of anti-Semitism emanates from Russian sources and is printed partly in Russian gives it an appearance of authority that is wholly unjustified by its content. It has seemed to me worth while, therefore, to call attention to its clumsy misrepresentations, its self-contradictions, its stupid blunders, and its stupendous effrontery. This precious example of Russian monarchistic anti-Semitic literature is just about fit to be placed alongside the _Dearborn Independent_.

THE END

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