The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-05
THE BENEVOLENT BARON.
HiTsCh as the New Moses Of the PeO-
pie Of Israel.

Progress of the New Exodus-A Talk
With the Man Who, Having Planted
seven Colonies in Argentina, Pro-
noses to Plant Seven Times Seven.
From the London Graphic.
How shall we talk" asked Baron de
Hirsch. when visited by an interviewer a
few days ago, in English, French OF
German?"
AS you please, baron"
An right" laughed the baron, in a
voice resonant with good humor. Since
we are in England we will converse in
English 1t is all the same to me. And
he shrugged his shoulders with the mil
Ionaire's indifference TO TRIES.
IN HIS LONDON HOME.
took from my POCKET sneaf of photo
graphs representing scenes IN the Jewish
Colonies, which Baron de Hirsch's munif-
.cence has established in the Argentine.
They had been sent to the Daily Graphic
office by a correspondent, and they con
stituted my excuse for disturbing the New
Moses with a morning call. AS he
glanced through them seized the oppor-
tunity of looking more narrowly at the
remarkable man and his surroundings.
We we're seated in a handsome room at
don home. Through the corners of the
half-veiled windows, looking out on a
uarterre of flowers with the Green Park
beyond, the unbeams entered in brilliant
ailments and danced about the gilt frame
of a gorgeous but otherwise comfortable
armchair in which the baron sat.
Portly, robust and good-looking,
he seems to carry his sixty-odd
wears we'll The weight of his
millions sits lightly on his broad Shout
ders and the eyes, which look at you
from midway between the huge iron-gray
mustache and the carefully brushed-up
circle of silver-gray hair, have the tw in
kle and cheeriness of a temper for which
the world has lost none of its SAVIOR. He
is soberly dressed in a slate-colored morn
ing costume, with a small diamond pin
thrust negligently into his dark blue era
vat. The table before him is Uttered with
papers, books and curious mechanical
contrivances, aud when l entered he was
deep in his mornings work with his pri-
vate secretaries.
The photographs interested him. 81
have some photographs, too" he said. as
be turned them over, "better than these,
but perhaps not quite so unstudied. Dear
me-! How interesting it is to see these
old Jewish faces under the Argentine
sun Look at this sad-faced man carrying
a bundle of sticks. still clad in his Polish
coat and these little Hebrew cowboys,
who have passed from Ghetto to the open
country of the new world"
DEARLY BOUGHT EXPERIENCES.
"How are your colonies getting on?"
inquired.
ting aside the photographs. Il am quite
satisfied. OF course l have had diff
culties; but now, hope, l believe, am in
the right way. My hands, you know,
were forced by the suddenness of the per-
secutions. | was deluged with Jews of
all kinds, and had to winnow the chaf
from the corn. And there was good
teal of chat, ! assure you. 1 could tell
you many amusing stories of the impOs-
tors who foisted themselves on me, some
of them neither Jews, nor even Russians
But l stuck to the work made all sort of
experiments; turned to the right and to
the left; and now, if l have not yet hit
upon an ideal scheme at any rate / know
not what to do
And the baron laughed gayly over his
dearly bought experience
But the colonies are on their legs now,
are they notl'
Yes; and they are getting on very
nicely AS yet have rather more than
5000 persons established in seven colonies
in the provinces of Buenos Ayres, Entire
Rios, Santa F'e and COrdova. They are
all doing well. and, although the oldest of
the settlements was only founded three
years ago, they are raising very large
crops. Nearly $4,000 acres are under
wheat alone. Millions of fruit trees have
been planted. and every kind of vegeta-
bic. 1t is not precisely a land in which
milk and honey flourish, but it gives
magnificent return for honest labor.
The remarkable thing is the good
will and adapta bility with which the
coionists have taken to the soil. The pre-
dictions of our enemies that the Jews
ha, II 70 a hax
been falsified The Russian Jew has
grit, industry, sobriety and is eager for
work. No matter what he has been at
home, he takes readily to the spade.
know of one family-the father was
professor, the daughters are educated
girls accomplished musicians and lin
gusts, speaking French, German and
Italian. They are all following the pillow
today. Yes, they gave me the greatest
hope"
ORGANIZATION IN RUSSIA.
What about the organization of the
exodus from Russia -
That has been very much improved of
late. Formerly the refugees were sent
to my managers at Buenos Ayres in mis-
cellaneous crowds, and the result was
that they were long time being got into
order while not few had to be returned
as hopeless Now, while the manage
ment in the Argentine is laying out and
equipping colonies and villages a special
committee in Russia is organizing and
training the emigrants. The Russian
committee selects and collects fifty fami-
lies at a time, grouping and training
them in such way that they shall sup
ply all the elements of a self-governing
agricultural settlement, including rabbi
and doctor. When they are ready
they are shipped to the Argentine,
and on landing 60 straight to their
colony. There is no hitch Each
family goes direct to its house, which
IT. finds ready in every detail, with six or
eight oxen in the stables, two plows and
Two harrows in the sheds, and about 100
acres of land cleared ready for tilage. So
perfect are the arrangements that the
very neXt morning the colonists set to
work. Subsidies are granted them for the
purchase of food until the trst crop is
harvested, after which they support
themselves Only yesterday $50 emf
grants who were organized on this plan
arrived in Argentina. / have ar
ranged for this year the esta blishment of
nine new villages of fifty families each,
aud calculate on eight or ten souls to
family.
DIFFICULTIES.