River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-12-02
OPPRESSED JEWS.
Prospects of Heavy Immigration
from ROumania to this Country.

UPPhESSED JEWS.
Prospects of a Heavy Immigration
from ROumania TO this Country.
Philadelphia Times.
The announcement, yesterday, owe
the cable wires, that an emigration
/ movement was on foot among the jew!
of Roumania, and that three Thousand
native jews were about to start for Thu
country, was read by prominen
Hebrews in this city with no little inter
est. 1t seems to be the first intimatior
that anyone in this city had received
from any of the large societies in New
York that they had been appraised o
the movement, and William b. Hack
enburg said that he was certain that ne
information of the kind had as yet beer
received in this city, 1t was though
that so large number of poor emf
gratis would not come to this country
without first acquainting their owI
people on this side Of the water, so thai
they could be cared for on their ARR
val. Suggestions were made that the
intelligence was perhaps premature
and was based upon information
mailed to the societies here Rhich haC
not yet reached its destination, and
all united in saying that there was nc
cause for surprise should such a move
take place, for it was natural for the
Jews to desire to escape the oppression
they suffered at home.
During last spring and summer meet
ings were held by Isralites here and in
New York to consider the ACCESSIBILITY
of inducing immigration among the
Russian, Polish, and Roumanian Jews,
with a view of forming colony OF
those people in the far west, but no def;
mite action was taken at the time. The
Rev. Sabato Morals thought there was
ample foundation for the circulation oil
such a report, which in the end may
turn out to be more than a mere
rumOr, as it was now characterized
The dispatch said the immigrants were
coming by the way of Bremen, so that
they will enter either the port of New
York or Baltimore. If it be true that
number is on the way. or about to start
for the free shores of America, they
will without doubt be taken at once to
the interior and scattered over the
broad western prairie or cOlonized in
some place designed for that purpose.
When the treaty of Berlin was rati-
fed in the summer of 1876, it was
hoped by Jews all over the world that
a better time was coming for the long
oppressed and continually maltreated
Roumanian Jews. 1t was one of the
conditions of that treaty, and one, by
the way, that begot more controversy
and created more trouble than any
other, that were Roumania freeded from
her subjugation and tribute to the
sultan, she should grant to all her citi-
zens equality and freedom and the
franchise of the ballot There has,
however, been little change in the con-
dition of the race in that country, and
the Hebrews claim that Roumania' s
action toward them is in open violation
of the Berlin treaty.
During the six years that Benjamin
f. Peixotto, himself a Hebrew, was
United States consul, under Grant, to
Roumania, the outragns and open vio-
lence against the Jews were in meas
ure checked, and even now the vigi-
lance of the powers prevents any open
Outbursts OF rage or violence against
their persons, such as marked the his
tory of the country not many years
ago, when the Jews were often murder
ed because it was charged that they
drank the blood of the Christian chill
dren. Nevertheless, the condition of
the Jews there is degraded. They
form about half the population of the
country and number 275.0O0 souls, but
they are loaded with disabilities and
trodden under the feet of oppression
and social ostracism. They are per-
mitted to have their synagogues, but
religious freedom is merely tolerated
They are debarred from the profession
and from holding public office and by
enactment Of qualification laws they
are, with few exceptions deprived of
the elective franchise. Prince Charles,
of the house of HohenzOllern, processes
to take a liberal attitude toward the
Hebrews, but he is compelled to fight
both parliament and the populace in
their proscriptive enactments and in
born hatred of the race in his endeav-
ors. The Jewish population is made
up of many of the old Spanish Jews,
who went eastward after the expulsion
in Spain in 1892, while the majority
are Poles and Russians. One of the
arguments of the Roumanian govern
ment against them is that they are
aliens, including in this term families
who have lived for centuries in the
land. 1t is to but a few who have, in
spite of oppression, attained wealth
and distinction that any consideration
is given. The masses are poor, and
their pursuits lOwly. Many are mer-
chants, some are agriculturists, and
few are artisans. In culture and re-
finement they claim that even among
the masses the Israelites have kept
ahead of their only partially enlighten-
ed fellow countrymen. They have
their own schools, and both the bibE-
cal and post-biblical literature is taught
to high grade.
There is belief among Hebrews
here that in the event of such an in
pouring into this country as is now an
nounced, the immigrants will all be of
the poorer class, and they say that
they have enough poor to care for
now Though the Jews are in charac-
ter migratory, there are seldom such
large emigrating moves noticed among
them as this promises to be.