Let us for a moment consider the character and extent of the impulses which the influx of the newcomers imparts to the social organism. The nature of these impulses is two-fold; the increase of numbers adds power to the community, and the diversity of interests which is an inevitable concomitant of increased population, brings wealth, culture, and all the higher gains of human effort.
To elucidate these propositions we cannot do better than here quote the carefully considered statements of the foremost of American publicists, Henry C. Carey, himself an American of Americans, and the great expounder of the protective system of political economy. As Chairman of the Committee on Industrial Interests and Labor, in its report to the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania in 1873, referring to the Immigration question, he writes as follows:
"Closing their eyes to the important facts which have been thus presented, very many of our working men look with jealous eyes at every measure tending toward bringing those of other countries to take a place side by side with them, believing, as they do, that the more the supply of labor the lower must certainly become the price. Nevertheless, could they but be persuaded to study carefully the facts of even the last twenty years they could not fail to become impressed with the fact, that growth of wages has always kept even pace with growth of immigration; the reward of labor on the contrary declining as immigration has been arrested or destroyed. At no previous period had the demand for labor, or its reward, grown so rapidly as in the early years of the great California one, say from 1850 to 1854, when immigration grew to 400,000. At none, has labor been more in excess of the demand than in the years that followed the great crisis of 1857, whenimmigration declined to figures scarcely greater than had been attained 20 years before; and when, as in 1860-61, not one out of five of the skilled workmen of the country was steadily employed. Here, in Philadelphia, when it was desired to build a street railroad they advertised for two hundred and fifty hands at but sixty cents a day, and had more than five thousand offered, a majority of whom were skilled artisans who were wholly out of work. In the neighborhood of one great establishment, a rolling mill, the number of unemployed men was so great that the county authorities, to save its skilled workmen from open pauperism, determined to build a turnpike, employing experienced hands at breaking stone, for fifty cents a day, rather than supporting them as paupers. At no period of our history has the reward of labor grown so rapidly as in the last ten years, when the exodus of European working men has so rapidly increased that the states of Central and Western Europe now find themselves forced to consideration of the measures required for retaining their countrymen at home; and when the highest German authorities admit that the pecuniary loss resulting from training and educating men for export to this country has now already more than counterbalanced the French indemnity of $1,200,000,000. To all appearance the immigration of the present year will closely approach to half a million; and yet it is at this moment, in face of so wonderful an addition to our stock of working men and women, that we have a determined agitation for bringing about a reduction of time and increase of wages. In the years prior to the rebellion, when immigration so largely declined, the agitation was for employment at almost any price. Why is this? Why is it that, contrary to the rule elsewhere observed, demand for labor goes ahead of supply when this latter is great, and falls behind it when the supply is small? To this the answer is, that the power to compel nature to labor in man's service increases almost geometrically as numbers increase arithmetically; as employment becomes diversified; and as men are more enabled to combine their efforts for attainment of that object."
"Closing their eyes to the important facts which have been thus presented, very many of our working men look with jealous eyes at every measure tending toward bringing those of other countries to take a place side by side with them, believing, as they do, that the more the supply of labor the lower must certainly become the price. Nevertheless, could they but be persuaded to study carefully the facts of even the last twenty years they could not fail to become impressed with the fact, that growth of wages has always kept even pace with growth of immigration; the reward of labor on the contrary declining as immigration has been arrested or destroyed. At no previous period had the demand for labor, or its reward, grown so rapidly as in the early years of the great California one, say from 1850 to 1854, when immigration grew to 400,000. At none, has labor been more in excess of the demand than in the years that followed the great crisis of 1857, whenimmigration declined to figures scarcely greater than had been attained 20 years before; and when, as in 1860-61, not one out of five of the skilled workmen of the country was steadily employed. Here, in Philadelphia, when it was desired to build a street railroad they advertised for two hundred and fifty hands at but sixty cents a day, and had more than five thousand offered, a majority of whom were skilled artisans who were wholly out of work. In the neighborhood of one great establishment, a rolling mill, the number of unemployed men was so great that the county authorities, to save its skilled workmen from open pauperism, determined to build a turnpike, employing experienced hands at breaking stone, for fifty cents a day, rather than supporting them as paupers. At no period of our history has the reward of labor grown so rapidly as in the last ten years, when the exodus of European working men has so rapidly increased that the states of Central and Western Europe now find themselves forced to consideration of the measures required for retaining their countrymen at home; and when the highest German authorities admit that the pecuniary loss resulting from training and educating men for export to this country has now already more than counterbalanced the French indemnity of $1,200,000,000. To all appearance the immigration of the present year will closely approach to half a million; and yet it is at this moment, in face of so wonderful an addition to our stock of working men and women, that we have a determined agitation for bringing about a reduction of time and increase of wages. In the years prior to the rebellion, when immigration so largely declined, the agitation was for employment at almost any price. Why is this? Why is it that, contrary to the rule elsewhere observed, demand for labor goes ahead of supply when this latter is great, and falls behind it when the supply is small? To this the answer is, that the power to compel nature to labor in man's service increases almost geometrically as numbers increase arithmetically; as employment becomes diversified; and as men are more enabled to combine their efforts for attainment of that object."
"As a consequence of the great increase in the power of combination that has thus been brought about, we find the manufacturing product of the country to have grown in the period 1860 to 1872, from 1800 to 5000 millions, the mere increase having been almost twice the total amount to which the country had attained in the centuries that had preceded the war of the rebellion. Adding to the figures the foreign manufactures consumed, we obtain for the first—a period when immigration was rapidly declining—a total consumption of about $65 per head; whereas in the period which since has passed, and in which immigration has so greatly grown, it has risen to more than $130 per head. So far, therefore, is the working man from having occasion to dread the competition of the immigrant, that he needs, night and morning, to pray for maintenance of that policywhich is now making demand on Europe for so much of its half fed and half clothed population, thereby compelling both landed and manufacturing capitalists to the adoption of measures tending so to improve the condition of them who are left behind as to induce them to forego the idea of abandoning their native land. Never in the world's history has there been furnished such conclusive evidence of the fact, that measures tending to benefit the working man anywhere tend toward raising his condition everywhere; and that, therefore, there is a perfect harmony in the real and permanent interests of mankind at large."
"As a consequence of the great increase in the power of combination that has thus been brought about, we find the manufacturing product of the country to have grown in the period 1860 to 1872, from 1800 to 5000 millions, the mere increase having been almost twice the total amount to which the country had attained in the centuries that had preceded the war of the rebellion. Adding to the figures the foreign manufactures consumed, we obtain for the first—a period when immigration was rapidly declining—a total consumption of about $65 per head; whereas in the period which since has passed, and in which immigration has so greatly grown, it has risen to more than $130 per head. So far, therefore, is the working man from having occasion to dread the competition of the immigrant, that he needs, night and morning, to pray for maintenance of that policywhich is now making demand on Europe for so much of its half fed and half clothed population, thereby compelling both landed and manufacturing capitalists to the adoption of measures tending so to improve the condition of them who are left behind as to induce them to forego the idea of abandoning their native land. Never in the world's history has there been furnished such conclusive evidence of the fact, that measures tending to benefit the working man anywhere tend toward raising his condition everywhere; and that, therefore, there is a perfect harmony in the real and permanent interests of mankind at large."
As still more directly bearing on this subject, I quote from the same report as follows:
"Less than a dozen years since, our working men looked jealously upon the negro, believing that any measure tending toward his emancipation would certainly be followed by such an influx of cheap labor as must seriously affect themselves. Directly the reverse, the negro migrates to Texas and there becomes a customer for manufactured products of a class greatly higher than that of those which his master had been accustomed to purchase for his slave."
"Less than a dozen years since, our working men looked jealously upon the negro, believing that any measure tending toward his emancipation would certainly be followed by such an influx of cheap labor as must seriously affect themselves. Directly the reverse, the negro migrates to Texas and there becomes a customer for manufactured products of a class greatly higher than that of those which his master had been accustomed to purchase for his slave."
Carey here reaches the very pith of the question. Every newcomer becomes a customer for those already on the ground, for all that he needs for his maintenance, just as the new born babe furnishes a new customer for the dry goods store, the milk man, not to mention the doctor and sometimes the lawyer. The baby, it is true, does not, as the phrase goes, "enter into competition" for a living, while the immigrant does, but in this respect the latter is the more valuable acquisition, for unless the immigrant is supported by charity, he has to produce at least as much as he consumes, and thus the community is an inevitable gainer by his presence. Inasmuch as a very large proportion of the immigrants produce more than they consume, in other words, save something of their earnings, it is manifest that the community gains doubly by their presence. It gains through the increase by the immigrant of the general social force, in his contribution to the total of the community's traffic and exchange, and also gains through the newcomer's addition to the general capital stock.
But, it is urged on the other hand, this may all be true of some kinds of immigrants, and not be true of others who are low in the scale of moral worth and of physical and intellectualcapacity, and it is these whose coming should be restricted. Be it so; we may safely admit this proposition, and proceed thence to the sole remaining problem of drawing the line.
Where shall this line be drawn? The native American agitation proceeded on the very ground we have postulated, and grew to the proportions of carrying a majority in no less than nine states. It grew to these proportions as the result of an agitation that arose from the influx of impoverished Irishmen after the famine of 1847, and of their followers from Scotland and England in the succeeding decade. Has the agitation been justified by time? Have the prophecies of the Know Nothings that our people could not possibly assimilate the great mass of foreigners who were then thronging hither, whose proportion to the native population was even greater than it is now, who were alien to our institutions and our laws, in habits and in religion at variance with the great majority of the citizens, been fulfilled? Of course not; the facts have but developed what the common sense of the people soon perceived to be true. These immigrants have all been assimilated. Those of them that survive, and their children assuredly, have become thoroughly Americanized and effectually welded into the commonalty of our republic.
How was it with the Germans who came hither in such swarms under the allurements of the great gold finds in the West, and the growth of steam navigation on the ocean after 1850? They too have been assimilated, notwithstanding that through their variance in language they were even more differentiated from the native inhabitants than the immigrants from the British Isles. How about the Scandinavians and the Holland Dutch, the French and Italians? Has the grafting of these scions on the rooted stem degenerated the stock? We have ample evidence to the contrary, sufficiently palpable to need no citation in detail.
Where then shall we draw the line? We have seen that the immigrant, though he arrives penniless as tens of thousands of them have done and do, does certainly not impoverish the community. We have seen, on the contrary, that though he arrives penniless, he enhances the wealth of the community by bringing with him the germ of all commodities, Labor. Wherethen shall we draw the line? Shall we exclude the poor Roman Catholic Pole, who is driven from his home by the vindictive policy of his barbarous conquerer? Does he not bring energy and labor? Shall we exclude the Russian Jew, who is driven from his native soil by the stupid villany of the same Tartar barbarism? Is his thrift and industry likely to impoverish our community? The pious fools who, four hundred years ago, drove three hundred thousand of such people from the Iberian Peninsula had a bigger majority than the Know Nothings of later date who wanted to do as much for the Roman Catholics fifty years ago, and they had their way. They diminished the population according to their wish, but they wrought the ruin of the then richest nation of Europe, a ruin from which it has even to this day not yet arisen.
No; let the immigrants come, as they have come. Let us but guard ourselves against the preventable evils which are likely to attend their coming, by the careful enforcement of the laws that are enacted to that end. Let us draw the line so as to exclude the habitual paupers, the habitual criminals, the incurably insane; the rest will take care of themselves and add to our well being and our wealth by filling up the waste stretches of the great expanse behind us; they will but follow in the way trodden by the immigrants who landed two hundred and seventy years ago at Plymouth Rock, and will work out their salvation as did their predecessors by making the desert to blossom as the rose.
Note:—Various movements for the relief of the Russian refugees have been organized independently from 1882 on by the Jewish communities throughout the country and especially in the seabord cities. The renewed severity of the Russian persecutions in 1890 called forth a general movement for the relief of the sufferers which was focused at a convention held in Philadelphia, February 16, 1891, and which resulted in the formation of the "Jewish Alliance of America."[125]This organization was composed in the main of Russian Jews already settled in this country, but the increasing demand on the Jewish people by the extraordinarily large influx of the refugees during 1891 necessitated a more general organization of the measures for their relief. To that end the Trustees of the Baron de Hirsch Fund issued a call[126]for a general convention of representatives of the Jewish organizations throughout the country, which accordingly met in New York City on September 23, 1891. This convention[127]resolved itself into "The American Committee for Ameliorating the Condition of Russian Refugees," and elected an Executive Committee[128]to carry out its plans. With this organization the Jewish Alliance of America was merged in February, 1892, but with the diminution of the influx in the course of that year the united organization devolved its functions on a "Central Committee" composed of members of the American Committee, the Baron de Hirsch Trust and the United Hebrew Charities of New York.
Note:—Various movements for the relief of the Russian refugees have been organized independently from 1882 on by the Jewish communities throughout the country and especially in the seabord cities. The renewed severity of the Russian persecutions in 1890 called forth a general movement for the relief of the sufferers which was focused at a convention held in Philadelphia, February 16, 1891, and which resulted in the formation of the "Jewish Alliance of America."[125]This organization was composed in the main of Russian Jews already settled in this country, but the increasing demand on the Jewish people by the extraordinarily large influx of the refugees during 1891 necessitated a more general organization of the measures for their relief. To that end the Trustees of the Baron de Hirsch Fund issued a call[126]for a general convention of representatives of the Jewish organizations throughout the country, which accordingly met in New York City on September 23, 1891. This convention[127]resolved itself into "The American Committee for Ameliorating the Condition of Russian Refugees," and elected an Executive Committee[128]to carry out its plans. With this organization the Jewish Alliance of America was merged in February, 1892, but with the diminution of the influx in the course of that year the united organization devolved its functions on a "Central Committee" composed of members of the American Committee, the Baron de Hirsch Trust and the United Hebrew Charities of New York.
The several organized movements above noted elicited earnest expressions of sympathy from many leading men in our community. A number of these are so pointed and relevant to our present subject matter as to dictate their citation in this connection.
On the occasion of the movement for the formation of the Jewish Alliance, CARDINAL GIBBONS wrote as follows, under date of Baltimore, Dec. 15th, 1890.
"Every friend of humanity must deplore the systematic persecution of the Jews in Russia."For my part, I cannot well conceive how Christians can entertain other than kind sentiments towards the Hebrew race, when I consider how much we are indebted to them. We have from them the inspired volume of the Old Testament, which has been a consolation in all ages to devout souls. Christ, our Lord, the Founder of our religion, His blessed mother, as well as the Apostles, were all Jewsaccording to the flesh. These facts attach me strongly to the Jewish race."
"Every friend of humanity must deplore the systematic persecution of the Jews in Russia.
"For my part, I cannot well conceive how Christians can entertain other than kind sentiments towards the Hebrew race, when I consider how much we are indebted to them. We have from them the inspired volume of the Old Testament, which has been a consolation in all ages to devout souls. Christ, our Lord, the Founder of our religion, His blessed mother, as well as the Apostles, were all Jewsaccording to the flesh. These facts attach me strongly to the Jewish race."
The call for the convention which resulted in the organization of the American Committee for Ameliorating the Condition of Russian Refugees, elicited the following letter from Judge DILLON to Mr. Seligman:
Dear Sir: Coming to this place (Saratoga) on the train from New York, I saw in theEvening Posta statement that prominent Hebrews in all parts of the United States have been invited by the Trustees of the Baron de Hirsch fund to meet in this city on Wednesday, September 23rd in the building of the Hebrew Educational Alliance at East Broadway and Jefferson streets, for the purpose of co-operating in the formation of an American Relief Committee to make the best possible disposition of the exiled Russian Jews coming to this country.The persecution of your people with mediæval cruelty, whereby they are exiled without cause, suddenly anden masse, with all the multiplied and nameless hardships and sufferings which must necessarily attend such an exodus, from a country in which they had lived for generations and had the right to peacefully remain, has awakened among all right-thinking persons sympathy for the victims and indignation against their oppressors. This is not a matter that appeals alone to the people of your race. It appeals to every man with a heart of flesh in his bosom. There remains no longer any place for prejudice or selfishness. Reports are made that some Jewish refugees have already been sent back from this country for fear that they may become a public charge. This must not be. Without shame we cannot remain idle and cold spectators and see this done under our very eyes. Ever since the establishment of our nation, it has been its just boast that it was the asylum of the toiling and oppressed people of all other countries, who in good faith sought our shores with a view of permanent residence and citizenship. I am not criticising necessary or provident defensive modification of this policy, but the former considerations have a rightful application to your fugitive people, who in their necessity come from preference to this land of freedom to find and make themselves homes.I would as soon shut my door against a benighted wanderer seeking refuge from the merciless blizzard as to shut our national ports against those of your people, who, stricken like wild beasts, are driven here in the stress of the raging storm which threatens their destruction. Let us receive them with welcome and hospitality. Let us show to the nations of the world that there is one spot on God's earth where these unfortunate exiles may rest their tired feet, set up again their household goods, reconstruct their ruined homes and worship in peace the God of their fathers.I notice in the article referred to that it is proposed "to appeal tothe Jews of the United States to unite in a co-operative plan to find homes and employment for Russian immigrants." I beg to suggest that this concerns not your people alone. It quite as deeply concerns the good name of the American people to see that no refugee shall be returned for poverty, or for any cause, save for crime, or shall be allowed to suffer until he can find work.I do not rest these sentiments upon the unfeigned respect I feel for the immemorial traditions and glorious history of your people, who in theology, ethics, philosophy, arts, literature, jurisprudence and legislation have either led the thought of the world or kept abreast with it. I prefer to rest them upon the broader, higher and truer ground, that these exiles are men, with all the inprescriptable rights that belong to men because they are men, irrespective of religion, race or nationality, rights which governments do not create or confer, so they cannot rightfully deny or destroy. I enclose my check for the cause (would it were more), and in doing so, I could not refrain, before resting my head upon my pillow, to thus state the reasons why I did it.With great respect, I am as ever,Very truly yours,John F. Dillon.To Jesse Seligman, Esq.
Dear Sir: Coming to this place (Saratoga) on the train from New York, I saw in theEvening Posta statement that prominent Hebrews in all parts of the United States have been invited by the Trustees of the Baron de Hirsch fund to meet in this city on Wednesday, September 23rd in the building of the Hebrew Educational Alliance at East Broadway and Jefferson streets, for the purpose of co-operating in the formation of an American Relief Committee to make the best possible disposition of the exiled Russian Jews coming to this country.
The persecution of your people with mediæval cruelty, whereby they are exiled without cause, suddenly anden masse, with all the multiplied and nameless hardships and sufferings which must necessarily attend such an exodus, from a country in which they had lived for generations and had the right to peacefully remain, has awakened among all right-thinking persons sympathy for the victims and indignation against their oppressors. This is not a matter that appeals alone to the people of your race. It appeals to every man with a heart of flesh in his bosom. There remains no longer any place for prejudice or selfishness. Reports are made that some Jewish refugees have already been sent back from this country for fear that they may become a public charge. This must not be. Without shame we cannot remain idle and cold spectators and see this done under our very eyes. Ever since the establishment of our nation, it has been its just boast that it was the asylum of the toiling and oppressed people of all other countries, who in good faith sought our shores with a view of permanent residence and citizenship. I am not criticising necessary or provident defensive modification of this policy, but the former considerations have a rightful application to your fugitive people, who in their necessity come from preference to this land of freedom to find and make themselves homes.
I would as soon shut my door against a benighted wanderer seeking refuge from the merciless blizzard as to shut our national ports against those of your people, who, stricken like wild beasts, are driven here in the stress of the raging storm which threatens their destruction. Let us receive them with welcome and hospitality. Let us show to the nations of the world that there is one spot on God's earth where these unfortunate exiles may rest their tired feet, set up again their household goods, reconstruct their ruined homes and worship in peace the God of their fathers.
I notice in the article referred to that it is proposed "to appeal tothe Jews of the United States to unite in a co-operative plan to find homes and employment for Russian immigrants." I beg to suggest that this concerns not your people alone. It quite as deeply concerns the good name of the American people to see that no refugee shall be returned for poverty, or for any cause, save for crime, or shall be allowed to suffer until he can find work.
I do not rest these sentiments upon the unfeigned respect I feel for the immemorial traditions and glorious history of your people, who in theology, ethics, philosophy, arts, literature, jurisprudence and legislation have either led the thought of the world or kept abreast with it. I prefer to rest them upon the broader, higher and truer ground, that these exiles are men, with all the inprescriptable rights that belong to men because they are men, irrespective of religion, race or nationality, rights which governments do not create or confer, so they cannot rightfully deny or destroy. I enclose my check for the cause (would it were more), and in doing so, I could not refrain, before resting my head upon my pillow, to thus state the reasons why I did it.
With great respect, I am as ever,Very truly yours,John F. Dillon.
To Jesse Seligman, Esq.
On the same occasion as that noted above,Hon.CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW expressed himself as follows:
"We behold to-day in Russia with horror the amazing spectacle in the nineteenth century of the whole power of the government brought to bear upon three millions of Hebrews to treat them as aliens and enemies. They have been for three hundred years the subjects and the citizens of the Russian Empire, and yet the whole power of the state, of its army, of its civil force, is brought to bear to deprive them of the opportunities of employment and to refuse them, except within certain limits, the right to live in the country where their ancestors have lived for ten to twenty generations. It is because monarchical institutions, autocratic institutions, class institutions do not possess the power of assimilation and of homogeneity."In the past fifty years, fifteen millions of people have come to this country from abroad. They belonged to every race, they spoke every language but our own. They worshipped in every form, under every symbol and in every creed. But American liberty solved the problem. These people did not know about our institutions, or understand them. They had been taught to believe that liberty was license, and yet the solvent power of American liberty made them citizens and gave to the immigrants of a few years ago, the samerights before the law and in making the law that is possessed by the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers. These fifteen millions of people, under the operation of this glorious principle, have become bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. They have aided in the development of the country; they have assisted in increasing its wealth, its power and its glory, and have marched with equal step and equal love under the old flag for the preservation of the glorious Republic which had made them free."
"We behold to-day in Russia with horror the amazing spectacle in the nineteenth century of the whole power of the government brought to bear upon three millions of Hebrews to treat them as aliens and enemies. They have been for three hundred years the subjects and the citizens of the Russian Empire, and yet the whole power of the state, of its army, of its civil force, is brought to bear to deprive them of the opportunities of employment and to refuse them, except within certain limits, the right to live in the country where their ancestors have lived for ten to twenty generations. It is because monarchical institutions, autocratic institutions, class institutions do not possess the power of assimilation and of homogeneity.
"In the past fifty years, fifteen millions of people have come to this country from abroad. They belonged to every race, they spoke every language but our own. They worshipped in every form, under every symbol and in every creed. But American liberty solved the problem. These people did not know about our institutions, or understand them. They had been taught to believe that liberty was license, and yet the solvent power of American liberty made them citizens and gave to the immigrants of a few years ago, the samerights before the law and in making the law that is possessed by the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers. These fifteen millions of people, under the operation of this glorious principle, have become bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. They have aided in the development of the country; they have assisted in increasing its wealth, its power and its glory, and have marched with equal step and equal love under the old flag for the preservation of the glorious Republic which had made them free."
Following is an extract from a letter written to Hon. Simon Wolf by Father Sylvester Malone, of St. Peter and Paul Church, Brooklyn:
I have listened to St. Patrick's Day discussions in time past in which your co-religionists were likened to the Irish. Both suffered because of their holding with such tenacity to what was their belief. This was true in the case of the Hebrew in his own native land and in every other land whither tyranny forced him to emigrate. The Irish have been the victims of cruel persecution in their own native land. Here, however, they are free, and are always successful when they do not by some fault of their own mar their best hopes of success. The Jewish people too have had great success in America, but the later emigration, directly from Russia, has not been acceptable to many of our citizens. They have run the gauntlet, as my countrymen had to do some fifty years ago. They must learn wisdom and patience."
I have listened to St. Patrick's Day discussions in time past in which your co-religionists were likened to the Irish. Both suffered because of their holding with such tenacity to what was their belief. This was true in the case of the Hebrew in his own native land and in every other land whither tyranny forced him to emigrate. The Irish have been the victims of cruel persecution in their own native land. Here, however, they are free, and are always successful when they do not by some fault of their own mar their best hopes of success. The Jewish people too have had great success in America, but the later emigration, directly from Russia, has not been acceptable to many of our citizens. They have run the gauntlet, as my countrymen had to do some fifty years ago. They must learn wisdom and patience."
As an instructive conclusion to our present subject we add the following extract from the New YorkSunof September 1st, 1894. It needs no further comment:
"In the Jews, Judaism is deeply ingrained. As many as 10,000 or 12,000 of the Jewish tailors of this city were on a strike for higher wages all last week; and day after day they loitered in the streets, or congregated in their hall, or sat down any where to talk in their jargon. But upon the forenoon of Saturday last the strikers, who had been highly excited the day before, were not to be found at their usual places of rendezvous. Nearly all of them had gone to their synagogues. They were engaged in Divine worship. They were at prayer. They were listening to the voice of the rabbi. They were following a custom established by Moses, and kept up through all the ages ever since his time. In the hundreds of garrets, rear halls, and rickety old edifices which are used as synagogues in what is called the "ghetto," on the east side of New York, the Jews on strike celebrated the everlasting name of "Jahveh" last Saturday forenoon, the holy Sabbath."This is Judaism in New York and the world over."Lots of workingmen, who are called Christians, go on a strike fromtime to time, but who is there that ever heard of any body of strikers other than Jews, giving heed to the ceremonies of their religion during the heat of a strike? We are told that nearly all of these Jewish strikers are orthodox, and all wore their hats in the synagogues. Many of them, we are assured, are familiar with the Torah and the Talmud, and can quote Ben Ezra and Maimonides...."Judaism is in the bones of the Jews, and of all Jews, from the equator to the poles."Was there ever any crowd of Presbyterian strikers, or of Baptist, Methodist, or Unitarian strikers, or of Roman Catholic strikers, who made it their business to go to church in a body, for the purpose of engaging in worship and prayer, during a strike? Let us ask Rev. Dr. John Hall, or Bishop Simpson, or that learned and mirthful priest, Father Flattery, not to speak of the eminent Dominican, Father O'Neil, or our three Universalist preachers."The Jews of New York, like the Jews of all the rest of the world, believe in Judaism, and are rooted and grounded in it."Oh, that we could say that the people who call themselves Christians believe in Christianity and practise it, either at work or when on strike!"
"In the Jews, Judaism is deeply ingrained. As many as 10,000 or 12,000 of the Jewish tailors of this city were on a strike for higher wages all last week; and day after day they loitered in the streets, or congregated in their hall, or sat down any where to talk in their jargon. But upon the forenoon of Saturday last the strikers, who had been highly excited the day before, were not to be found at their usual places of rendezvous. Nearly all of them had gone to their synagogues. They were engaged in Divine worship. They were at prayer. They were listening to the voice of the rabbi. They were following a custom established by Moses, and kept up through all the ages ever since his time. In the hundreds of garrets, rear halls, and rickety old edifices which are used as synagogues in what is called the "ghetto," on the east side of New York, the Jews on strike celebrated the everlasting name of "Jahveh" last Saturday forenoon, the holy Sabbath.
"This is Judaism in New York and the world over.
"Lots of workingmen, who are called Christians, go on a strike fromtime to time, but who is there that ever heard of any body of strikers other than Jews, giving heed to the ceremonies of their religion during the heat of a strike? We are told that nearly all of these Jewish strikers are orthodox, and all wore their hats in the synagogues. Many of them, we are assured, are familiar with the Torah and the Talmud, and can quote Ben Ezra and Maimonides....
"Judaism is in the bones of the Jews, and of all Jews, from the equator to the poles.
"Was there ever any crowd of Presbyterian strikers, or of Baptist, Methodist, or Unitarian strikers, or of Roman Catholic strikers, who made it their business to go to church in a body, for the purpose of engaging in worship and prayer, during a strike? Let us ask Rev. Dr. John Hall, or Bishop Simpson, or that learned and mirthful priest, Father Flattery, not to speak of the eminent Dominican, Father O'Neil, or our three Universalist preachers.
"The Jews of New York, like the Jews of all the rest of the world, believe in Judaism, and are rooted and grounded in it.
"Oh, that we could say that the people who call themselves Christians believe in Christianity and practise it, either at work or when on strike!"
FOOTNOTES:[122]Page 15.[123]See page51.[124]See note, p.559.[125]The officers of this organization were as follows:President: Simon Muhr, Philadelphia.Vice Presidents: Hon. Ferdinand Levy, New York; Rev. Dr. H. W. Schneeberger, Baltimore; Dr. Chas. D. Spivak, Philadelphia.Secretary: Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.Treasurer: Hon. Simon Wolf, Washington, D. C.Board of Directors—Philadelphia: Louis E. Levy, Chas. Hoffman, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen;Baltimore: Jacob J. H. Mitnick, Joseph Eisner, S. L. Auerbach;New York: Daniel P. Hays, Dr. Henry M. Leipziger;Chicago: Dr. A. P. Kadison, A. Bernstein;Boston: David Blaustein;Pittsburg, Pa.: Wm. Hoffman;Albany, N. Y.: Louis Aronowitch;Troy, N. Y.: H. Kuschevsky;Omaha, Neb.: B. Kohn.[126]The call was signed by the officers of the Baron de Hirsch Fund as follows:President: Myer S. Isaacs.Vice President: Jacob H. Schiff.Treasurer: Jesse Seligman.Honorary Secretary: Julius Goldman.Trustees: Oscar S. Straus, Henry Rice, and James H. Hoffman, of New York; Mayer Sulzberger, and Wm. B. Hackenburg, of Philadelphia.General Agent: Adolphus S. Solomons, Washington, D. C.[127]The convention was organized with the following named officers:President: Lewis Seasongood, Cincinnati;Vice Presidents: Lazarus Silverman, Chicago, Joseph Fox, New York;Secretaries: Adolphus S. Solomon, Washington, and Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.[128]The Executive Committee thus elected, in addition to the general officers, was composed of representatives of various organizations in different sections of the country, as follows:New York: Henry Rice, Julius Bien, Jacob H. Schiff, Morris Tuska, Ferdinand Levy, Isaac Hamburger, M. Warley Platzek;Philadelphia: Simon Muhr, Louis E. Levy;Baltimore: Aaron Friedenwald;Boston: Jacob Hecht;Cincinnati: Julius Freiburg;Chicago: Adolph Loeb, Julius Rosenthal;Peoria, Ill.: Samuel Woolner;Washington, D. C.: Simon Wolf;Milwaukee: Bernard Gross;St. Louis, Mo.: Marcus Bernheimer;Portland, Or.: David Solis-Cohen;Detroit, Mich.: Martin Butzel;Minneapolis, Minn.: Emanuel Cohen;Atlanta, Ga.: Aaron Haas;Galveston, Tex.: Leo. N. Levi;Memphis, Tenn.: Elias Loewenstein;Ex-Officio, Myer S. Isaacs,New York.The Committee organized by electing as Chairman, M. Warley Platzek, of New York, and as Vice Chairman, Julius Freiburg, of Cincinnati, the Secretaries of the General Committee acting in the same capacity on the Executive Committee.
[122]Page 15.
[122]Page 15.
[123]See page51.
[123]See page51.
[124]See note, p.559.
[124]See note, p.559.
[125]The officers of this organization were as follows:President: Simon Muhr, Philadelphia.Vice Presidents: Hon. Ferdinand Levy, New York; Rev. Dr. H. W. Schneeberger, Baltimore; Dr. Chas. D. Spivak, Philadelphia.Secretary: Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.Treasurer: Hon. Simon Wolf, Washington, D. C.Board of Directors—Philadelphia: Louis E. Levy, Chas. Hoffman, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen;Baltimore: Jacob J. H. Mitnick, Joseph Eisner, S. L. Auerbach;New York: Daniel P. Hays, Dr. Henry M. Leipziger;Chicago: Dr. A. P. Kadison, A. Bernstein;Boston: David Blaustein;Pittsburg, Pa.: Wm. Hoffman;Albany, N. Y.: Louis Aronowitch;Troy, N. Y.: H. Kuschevsky;Omaha, Neb.: B. Kohn.
[125]The officers of this organization were as follows:
President: Simon Muhr, Philadelphia.
Vice Presidents: Hon. Ferdinand Levy, New York; Rev. Dr. H. W. Schneeberger, Baltimore; Dr. Chas. D. Spivak, Philadelphia.
Secretary: Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.
Treasurer: Hon. Simon Wolf, Washington, D. C.
Board of Directors—Philadelphia: Louis E. Levy, Chas. Hoffman, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen;Baltimore: Jacob J. H. Mitnick, Joseph Eisner, S. L. Auerbach;New York: Daniel P. Hays, Dr. Henry M. Leipziger;Chicago: Dr. A. P. Kadison, A. Bernstein;Boston: David Blaustein;Pittsburg, Pa.: Wm. Hoffman;Albany, N. Y.: Louis Aronowitch;Troy, N. Y.: H. Kuschevsky;Omaha, Neb.: B. Kohn.
[126]The call was signed by the officers of the Baron de Hirsch Fund as follows:President: Myer S. Isaacs.Vice President: Jacob H. Schiff.Treasurer: Jesse Seligman.Honorary Secretary: Julius Goldman.Trustees: Oscar S. Straus, Henry Rice, and James H. Hoffman, of New York; Mayer Sulzberger, and Wm. B. Hackenburg, of Philadelphia.General Agent: Adolphus S. Solomons, Washington, D. C.
[126]The call was signed by the officers of the Baron de Hirsch Fund as follows:
President: Myer S. Isaacs.
Vice President: Jacob H. Schiff.
Treasurer: Jesse Seligman.
Honorary Secretary: Julius Goldman.
Trustees: Oscar S. Straus, Henry Rice, and James H. Hoffman, of New York; Mayer Sulzberger, and Wm. B. Hackenburg, of Philadelphia.
General Agent: Adolphus S. Solomons, Washington, D. C.
[127]The convention was organized with the following named officers:President: Lewis Seasongood, Cincinnati;Vice Presidents: Lazarus Silverman, Chicago, Joseph Fox, New York;Secretaries: Adolphus S. Solomon, Washington, and Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.
[127]The convention was organized with the following named officers:
President: Lewis Seasongood, Cincinnati;Vice Presidents: Lazarus Silverman, Chicago, Joseph Fox, New York;Secretaries: Adolphus S. Solomon, Washington, and Bernard Harris, Philadelphia.
[128]The Executive Committee thus elected, in addition to the general officers, was composed of representatives of various organizations in different sections of the country, as follows:New York: Henry Rice, Julius Bien, Jacob H. Schiff, Morris Tuska, Ferdinand Levy, Isaac Hamburger, M. Warley Platzek;Philadelphia: Simon Muhr, Louis E. Levy;Baltimore: Aaron Friedenwald;Boston: Jacob Hecht;Cincinnati: Julius Freiburg;Chicago: Adolph Loeb, Julius Rosenthal;Peoria, Ill.: Samuel Woolner;Washington, D. C.: Simon Wolf;Milwaukee: Bernard Gross;St. Louis, Mo.: Marcus Bernheimer;Portland, Or.: David Solis-Cohen;Detroit, Mich.: Martin Butzel;Minneapolis, Minn.: Emanuel Cohen;Atlanta, Ga.: Aaron Haas;Galveston, Tex.: Leo. N. Levi;Memphis, Tenn.: Elias Loewenstein;Ex-Officio, Myer S. Isaacs,New York.The Committee organized by electing as Chairman, M. Warley Platzek, of New York, and as Vice Chairman, Julius Freiburg, of Cincinnati, the Secretaries of the General Committee acting in the same capacity on the Executive Committee.
[128]The Executive Committee thus elected, in addition to the general officers, was composed of representatives of various organizations in different sections of the country, as follows:
New York: Henry Rice, Julius Bien, Jacob H. Schiff, Morris Tuska, Ferdinand Levy, Isaac Hamburger, M. Warley Platzek;Philadelphia: Simon Muhr, Louis E. Levy;Baltimore: Aaron Friedenwald;Boston: Jacob Hecht;Cincinnati: Julius Freiburg;Chicago: Adolph Loeb, Julius Rosenthal;Peoria, Ill.: Samuel Woolner;Washington, D. C.: Simon Wolf;Milwaukee: Bernard Gross;St. Louis, Mo.: Marcus Bernheimer;Portland, Or.: David Solis-Cohen;Detroit, Mich.: Martin Butzel;Minneapolis, Minn.: Emanuel Cohen;Atlanta, Ga.: Aaron Haas;Galveston, Tex.: Leo. N. Levi;Memphis, Tenn.: Elias Loewenstein;Ex-Officio, Myer S. Isaacs,New York.
The Committee organized by electing as Chairman, M. Warley Platzek, of New York, and as Vice Chairman, Julius Freiburg, of Cincinnati, the Secretaries of the General Committee acting in the same capacity on the Executive Committee.
The project of the present volume had contemplated a lesser number of pages than it now includes, but it has been restricted to its present bounds only by eliminating much that was germane to its subject. The grand fabric of Jewish charity, whose broad expanse extends throughout the land, compassing every element of society, responsive to every call of humanity, expressive of every trait of civilization and conducive to every avenue of culture, has been adverted to but incidentally. In the field of philanthropic effort the Jewish citizens of the American Union may unhesitatingly claim to have built for themselves monuments more numerous and larger by far than their proportionate share; in this field the historic spirit of Judaism continues even increasingly to manifest itself. In this field and in this alone the Jewish spirit has been materialistic. Its forces have been directed not to saving souls by a change of creed, but by bettering the conditions of human existence. The great ideals of Judaism, the universal fatherhood of God, the universal brotherhood of men, and the direct responsibility of every human being to the Maker of all, have steadfastly been upheld, but its forces have not been exerted in striving to make good the seeming shortcomings of the Divine nature, but in striving to make good the essential shortcomings of our human nature, by alleviating the distresses arising from the constitution of society and by lessening the sufferings that are inevitably incident to the conditions of life. To this end the American Jewish citizens have organized a widely diversified system of relief for the sick and the needy, and while so doing have not restricted their efforts within denominational bounds, but have opened their doors and stretched out their hands to all humanity. Not alone, however, in dealing with conditions that are inseparable from the social system, but furthermore in dealing with such as are removable, in educating and lifting up those of the community who are in need of fostering care, in furthering the spread of intelligence and in raising the standard ofcitizenship, the Jewish people have been unceasingly active, and especially so in free America, where, as the foregoing pages have recorded, they have stood from the very beginning "shoulder to shoulder" with their fellow citizens of every creed, in every movement that has made for freedom and for liberty, for culture and for charity. And well they might. To no others of the Old World denizens was the New World more completely new; for no other people has the promise of the Columbian epoch been more completely fulfilled than for the Jews.
And, therefore, more especially while the closing years of the nineteenth century have seen its brilliant promise darkened by a broad shadow of the Middle Ages; while the ghastly tragedy that marked in Spain the opening year of American discovery is being rehearsed in Russia with all the effects of modern aggrandizement, we may not better close this book than with the grand apostrophe of the Columbian year that has been left us by the Jewish poetess, Emma Lazarus:
Thou, two-faced year, mother of Change and Fate,Didst weep when Spain cast forth with flaming swordThe children of the prophets of the Lord.Prince, priest and people spurned by zealot hate,Hounded from sea to sea, from state to state,The West refused them and the East abhorred,No anchorage the known world could afford,Close locked was every port, barred every gate.Then smiling, thou unveil'dst, O two-faced year,A virgin world where doors of sunset part,Saying, 'Ho, all who weary, enter here!Here falls each ancient barrier that the artOf race or creed or rank devised, to rearGrim-bulwarked hatred between heart and heart.'