The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-30
The Jews vigorously Defended.

In the September number OF the North
! American ReriSt0 a writer. who calls him.
self Isaac Bssht Bendsvid, reviews Goodwin
/ Smith 5 article on the Jews, which appeared
I in the August number Of the RsrielC and
which was far from complimentary TO the
Jewish race. Mr.. Bendsvid's article is a
brilliant one. He is a thorough master Of
/ the English language, and is evidently well
equipped for defending the Jews against
! Goodwin Smith or any other hostile critic Of
I his race.
/ In his article Mr. Smith, in discussing the
causes Of the persecution Of the Jews Ia
| Russia and other parts Of Europe, commended
that the Jews are hated not because Of their
religion, but for social and economical rea-
sons. He asserted that they refuse to be-
! come part Of the people Of the country in
which they live, and that they do not sup
port themselves by productive industries.
He declared they were "a parasitic race, ;" aud
that, detached from their own country, they
insert themselves for the purposes of gain
into the homes Of other nations, while they
retain marked aud repsllant nationality
Of their own" They are disliked, said Mr..
Smith, not because they absorb national
wealth, "but because, when present in num-
| bers, they eat out the core Of nationality
Mr.. Bendavid takes up the assertions OF
! Mr.. Smith and shows that there is no foun-
da:i0n for them-that they are, in fact,
baseless, aud he scores Mr.. Smith unmerci-
fully for bringing so grave an indictment
against whole race without having EVIL
dence to sustain it. He quotes Frederick
/ 81 H. - h.
Jews, 10 show that the Jews are helpful and
not hurtfuI to country. That ruler said
that ito Cypress the Jews has never brought
prosperity to any government" and he was
forced to this opinion by seeing that the
Jews OF country were source OF strength
and not of weakness; that instead Of absorb
ing the national wealth they increased it,
and that they assisted in building up
every nationality TO which they con-
tributed their vital force.
Insupport of his position Mr.. Bendavid
further points out that in the twelfth
century the Jews of Spain drove the Moors
out of that country and established the
throne Of Alonzo. Their decendents even
at the present time, who dwell in Eastern
Europe, preserve the speech Of Spain, and
remember with pride the heroic deeds of
their ancestors. The Portuguese Jews were
driven by bigotry from their Portugal
homes to France, but they still claimed to
be part of the Portuguese nation, and
! were proud of that nationality.
Mr.. Bendavid also calls attention to the
fact that. although the Jews of Germany
had been badly treated, they stood shoulder
to shoulder with Germans when Germany
rose against Napoleon after the repulse of
the French expedition into Russia. They
remembered only that they were German
citizens, and gave their blood freely for
their country. And in the civil war Of this
country the Jews were conspicuous in mill
tary and civil life both at the north and the
south.
Mr.. Bendavid's view is that the cause Of
the persecution Of the Jews in Russia is
political. The blow that is being struck at
them is indirectly aimed at Germany. Many
of the Jews of Western Russia originally
emigrated from Germany, and through the
| "Kahel" they maintain intimate business re-
lations with the Jews Of Germany. The
Russian Jews are more prosperous than the
Jews of Germany, and hence there is a very
considerable and continued movement of
Jews from Germany to Russia. And Bis
marck encouraged this migration 80 as ito
strengthen the subterranean connections be-
tween the Russian Empire and Central
Europe Pan-Slavist leaders now desire to
drive all non-Slavonio elements out of Rus
STA. The Jews are willing to be Russians,
but they are not willing to be SIavs, nor can
they be amalgamated into Slavs. They are
therefore an obstruction to the policy of the
Pan-Slavist leaders. who purpose to Rus
sianize Eastern and Central Europe.
The explanation of the persecution of the
Jews of Russia is a plausible one, but
whether it ia the correct one or not Mr..
Bendavid repels the attacks of Mr.. Smith
upon the Jews very skillfully. And while
he intimates that the Jew is gifted above
many other races Of men, he closes his ar
ticle by asking this question: Granting the
Jew to be only the equal intellectually and
morally of other men, what right or reason
has any man to affirm of him that by
law of his nature his presence as a citizen,
enjoying equal rights with other citizens, in
land of liberty and plenty, must prove a
blight, and not a blessing, to that land and
to all its inhabitants, of whatever lineage
and of whatever fsitha"