A Jew who for five years has paid the taxes of the first guild in a
municipality of the pale receives permission to leave the pale and
settle elsewhere. He must, however, gain permission for each member of
his family through the strictest formalities. Woe to him if a child has
been born to him during that time! It cannot qualify, and it may easily
happen that the father must return to the pale. A Jewish merchant of the
first guild in Moscow tried to obtain permission to send such a child to
school. Admission was refused, because he did not possess the necessary
papers. The father appealed to the senate in St. Petersburg, and asked
for provisional permission for attendance of his child at school until
the passing of a judgment in that place. The minister of justice,
Muraviev, however, entered a protest against this. Therefore the father
was obliged either to employ private tutors or to let the child grow up
without instruction.
Whoever works as assistant to a dentist, and has obtained a certificate,
may open an office for himself. The only requirement for this is that it
shall be well fitted up and that nobody shall sleep in it. This
facilitation is granted because of the fact that in Russia there is a
great lack of dentists. Yet a Jewish dentist went to a lawyer and
complained that he had fitted up his office and had handed in to the
police his request for leave to practise. The police waited three
months, then came and explained that, since he had not practised his
profession for three months, he must immediately leave Moscow. He was
obliged to leave his house immediately, and wander about all night,
because he could nowhere find lodging.
Another Jewish dentist, a woman, wished to take her examination. A
certificate was demanded testifying to her political blamelessness. When
she tried to obtain this it was refused her, since she had no right of
residence there, and therefore could not demand a certificate!
The Jews meet these tricks of the authorities with tricks of their own.
They pay for a dentist's certificate, fit up an office, and then go into
trade in bed-feathers or calico. The police official who wishes to prove
whether the dentist's profession is really practised has some ruble
notes slipped into his hand. Very recently the Jews have found a means
to become known as Christians without baptism, which they shun.
Good-natured priests, who receive nothing at all for a baptism but a
large price for a written declaration that X. Y. is an orthodox
Christian, draw up such declarations. The unbaptized Hebrew comes as an
orthodox Christian to Great Russia and carries on business, while the
helpful priest receives a little income from him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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