“=Should our further emancipation proceed at the same pace, we shall attain full freedom only after our complete annihilation.=... The sop is thrown to us under conditions internal and external which sharply emphasize its enforced character. This measure is not one of restoration; rather it is like a rag thrown to the victim after his last shirt has been taken from him. This belated, partial, privilege must remind the Jew that of all nationalities in Russia—not excepting the semi-savage tribes—he alone needed _such_ a favor. “At this time of profound mourning, upon the graves of thousands of our brothers who have fallen victims not only to the sword of the enemy, but because of outrage within our own borders, amidst the ruins of our cities, our weary hearts cannot rejoice over the beggarly dole tossed out to us. In silence shall our people accept the miserly gift from those from whom it is accustomed to receive only blows; but, as ever, it will demand aloud that those rights of which it has been deprived should be restored to it.” It is apparent, therefore, that the legal status of the Jews in Russia has remained substantially unchanged by the war. The restrictions normally imposed upon the Jews of Russia (with the exception of certain specially designated—and numerically negligible—fractions) subject them to the following principal disabilities: 1. Other Residence Restrictions (a) WITHIN THE PALE. Although originally granted the right to live anywhere within the Pale, the privilege was gradually restricted until the Jews were, in effect, confined to the cities and larger towns. By the law of May 3 (15), 1882, the Jews were forbidden to settle in the villages of the Pale. By the law of December 29, 1887 (January 10, 1888), they were forbidden to move from one town to another. By judicial and administrative interpretation “towns” were often designated as villages and the Jews expelled from them overnight. The net result has been the congestion of the Jewish population in the cities and larger towns. Although they constitute only 12 per cent. of the _total_ population of the Pale, they form 41 per cent. of the _urban_ population. As this congestion tended to create a ferocity in competition which reduced incomes and standards to the lowest limits, many Jews of necessity attempted to escape into the interior of Russia. But their illegal stay was possible only with the connivance of a corrupt police. Even then the numerous police raids at midnight or early dawn (_oblavy_—literally “hunts”), accompanied by an excess of brutality, made the life of these illegal residents one of fear and torment. (b) OUTSIDE THE PALE. The privileged five per cent. that was granted the theoretical right of free travel and residence throughout the Empire, was also continually harassed by arbitrary police and judicial measures which practically nullified their privilege. This class comprises: