_From Where Does the Jew Come?_ Five-sixths of the Jewish immigration
comes from Russia. While the Jews number probably 11,000,000 in the
world, about 5,000,000 of them live in that empire, mostly in what is
called the Jewish Pale of Settlement. Why there are so many in Russia
needs a brief statement. Poland invited the Jews to settle within her
borders in order to build up her cities. Here was gathered the largest
population of Jews since the destruction of Jerusalem. In some of the
provinces of Poland the Jews number one-sixth, and in some of the cities
one-half of the population. When Poland was divided between Russia,
Prussia and Austria, fifteen provinces fell to the share of Russia. These
form the Pale of Settlement, for there the Jew is allowed to dwell and
there he is engaged in all forms of industry, including farming.
_Why They Come._ We have learned some reasons why the Jew leaves Russia.
Other reasons are his desire for a better education for his children,
freedom to engage in any business he may choose, and the privilege of
worshipping God and of saying what he thinks without danger of arrest
and imprisonment. Strange as it seems to us, there are still many places
in the world where if a man thinks the judge or the ruler has done wrong
he dares not say so openly. If he were heard to criticise them he would
be in danger of prison. Sometimes when we complain of our own country we
forget how fortunate we are to live in such a land of liberty.
Let us now find some of the reasons for the Russian hatred of the Jew.
There could be no such merciless persecution of any race without some
cause, and it is pretty well understood that the Russian government
encourages and often provokes the attacks upon these people. The Russians
dislike the Jews because the Jews are not Christians, and because they
are much smarter business men than the average Russian, and would soon
own all the land of the ignorant peasants if they were allowed to live
among them and loan them money; the American Indian was cheated in this
way by the smarter and better educated white man. Then the government
does not like the Jew because the Russian government is corrupt and does
not want the people to have a voice in governing themselves, and the Jew
stands for the rights of the common people. Thus we see that while there
is some just cause for dislike of the Jew, there are other reasons why he
should be praised and commended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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