Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-01-18

tions have to struggle and owing to
which their work is confined to oral
agitation.
Hardly another class Of workmen have
such a passion for reading as is charac.
teristic of the Russian, Polish, Rouma-
nian and other Jews, as no orthodox
will suffer his boy to reach his seventh
year without being able to read the
Bible and the prayer book in Hebrew.
| Jewish riters have utilized the Hebrew
alphabet for works written in the Poly
glot Dialect spoken by the Polish Jew.
There are many papers in this city,
printed in Jewish German with Hebrew
characters, and they are read by thou
sands of Jews. "Wanted, a Jewish Labor
Paper, is now the Cry at the meetings
The need of such paper is felt all the
more keenly since for want of it the
Jewish immigrant is exposed to the
danger of reading that class of Jewish
literature which seeks to keep the Jew
out of every progressive movement and
to thwart the influences of modern cul-
ture. On the other hand our Jewish
comrades have the "pernicious part-
zanship' of handful of Jewish Anarch-
lists to cope with. These faithful dis
ciples of John Most are as indefatigable
in ridiculing trade unions and making
themselves generally useful" to cap-
tai by undermining the work of our
comrades. as the latter are in behalf of
organized labor.
Nothing short of Jewish labor journal
is adequate to grapple with all the diff
culties and to meet all the present needs
of the Jewish population.
The only labor paper published in the
Jewish dialect - Der Arbeiter Freund"
comes from London and is therefore
insufficient to supply the local demands
of the American movement. On the
other hand that paper is utterly devoid
of any definite and clear platform, being
as tits the property of a semi Anarchistic
organization in London, while its edi-
torial management, for want of any
Jewish anarchists who would be compe-
tent to write anything worthy of publ
cation, is in the hands of members of
the "Social Democratic Federation.
The credit for the first attempt at esta-
blishing a Jewish labor paper on the
American soil belongs to the "Pioneers
of Liberty y an organization number
ing dozen of very young, very inno-
cent, but unfortunately very energetic
Jewish anarchists, to whose enthusiasm
many a Jewish Union is indebted for its
internal discord. The Jewish "Wahr.
heit," which they founded last year,
lived three months, that is just long
enough to waste 81 200, made up of con-
tributions from poor workingmen, and
much longer than it took to establish
the pitiful illiteracy and puerile imbeci-
lity of it's anarchistic editors as well as
the helpless anarchy of its management
The Jews who were not scared by its
radical tenor welcomed neither the bonn
bastic rant which filled the colums of
that luckless journal nor the childish
babble which was characteristic of its
editorials. There are plenty Of talented
writers among the Jewish socialists in
this country, but unlike their London
comrades, they wisely Withheld their
literary help from the organ of party
whose whole activity is directed against
everything connected with trade-unlon-
ism.
Recently, however, the Pioneers were
shocked to learn of serious movement,
set on foot by the Jewish section of the
S. L. P. and strongly supported by the
United Jewish Trades, which is the
name of the central body of all the
Jewish speaking labor organizations of
New York, for the purpose of establish
ing a Jewish paper with the same plat
form and on the same plan as the Ger
man Volkszeitung' But what cha
grined them more than anything else
was the consent of Mr.. krantz, the very
able and popular editor of the London
"Arbeiter Freund", to come to New
York and assume the editorial manage,
ment of the paper to be published by
our comrades. Mr.. Krantz is in perfect
accord with the doctrines and policy
advocated by us and is staunch mem
Der of the "Social Democratic Fedora
ton" of London. His work on the Ar
better Freund" has won for him the
admiration of the Hebrew workmen
throughout this country as well as in
England and the respect and confidence
of both socialists and anarchists. After
four years of indefatigable and fruitful
service to the cause of labor in his capa-
city of editor of that weekly he wearied,
however, of the anarchistic tendencies
of its owners and of the difficulties with
which he constantly had to struggle on
that account, and thus he recently left
the office, prefering the counting room
of the paper to its editors desk. 1t was
on learning of this circumstance that
our comrades sent him an invitation to
edit their projected paper, which MIR.
Krantz readily accepted.
Destitute of financial as well as of Ii
terary support, despairing of the cause
of the prospective publication and of the
extensive oral agi alton to be connected
with it, the Pioneers" began to tall
of union and issued a call for national
convention of representatives of various
|, | Iapish la hor organizations and pf social.