The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-30

" 80 1AL1 AA@A
edge or skill. The Jewish tailou, by
division of labor and the use Of machinery,
succeeded In combining the style and
quality Of the higher grade with the cheap
ness Of the second. The result IL that,
while garments can be sold at q much
lower rate, better wages can be paid, and
are paid. Mr.. DYcBB submits that any
one who cbeapens q commodity without
lowering the rate Of wages should
be accounted not q curse, u o
benefactor to the community. The Jewish
trades unions claim to have created not
only the second-class clothing trade, but
also the ladies' mantle and waterproof
clothing trades and the cap, slipper. and
cheap shoe trades. As to the charge that
Jewish middlemen are guilty Of sweat
ing" the writer in the. Contemporary testi-
fles from personal experience that q work
man is better or under q Jewish than un-
der an English employer. In a Jewish
workshop one lie not fined for talking OF
for smoking or for lack of ~punctuality. As
every one knows, the reduction of wages
by fines 10 the subject Of bitter denuncia-
ton.
Are the Russian Jews an inferior racef
II 30, the British workman has no perma-
nent cause to fear them, since the expe-
rience Of Englishmen in Africa has taught
that inferior races cannot last long against
them. 1t IL hard, however, to reconcile
the alleged inferiority with the school rec
ords Of the Jewish immigrants. 1t appears
that in Leeds the Leyland Board School In
attended almost exclusively by the children
Of Jewish aliens, yet in the returns It
figures as one Of the best elementary schools
in the city. The attendance is the high.
est, and the proportion Of the pupils
sent to industrial schools is the lowest.
1t is observed that the Jewish children
are always best in drawing, and the teach
ers testify that they have quicker percep-
tions and better memories han their Eng
lish fellow students. There Is noticed
among them, also, an artistic element
which is seldom found among English
children. Tit notion that jews are dirty
in their personal habits and do not observe
sanitary laws finds no support in the statis-
tics of boards Of health. 1t is pointed out,
for instance. that in the city Of New York
the annual death rate per 1000 was but
go among Jewish immigrants as compared
WAN Az othoo6
II among Germans, 20.6 among English,
and % among persons Of color. Note
worthy, also, is the fact that, although
the birth rate among the Jews is smaller.
they multiply faster than other ele-
ments Of the population by reason of a
smaller mortality, especially among chill
dren under the age of five. This does not
look like a failure to observe sanitary con-
ditions.
AS regards food, 1t is indisputable
that the Jews are exceedingly clean,
what is known as kosher food being pre-
pared according to the regulations for
cleanliness prescribed by the Jewish law.
Except upon the score of superior cleanli-
ness in matters of diet and in other ways,
we could not account for the fact that Jews
are less susceptible than other races to
cholera and other epidemic diseases. To
the charge, finally, that Jewish immi-
grants demoralize the people among
whom they live, Mr.. DYCHE suggests
that some proof of the assertion ought to
be addueed from criminal statistics. The
truth is that these statistics show a
smaller percentage of criminals among the
jews than among the Christian population.
There is certainly no need Of a society for
the prevention of cruelty to children SO far
as the Jews are concerned, for they are
habitually gentle and tender to the young.
1t is difficult to conceive of the British
workman being demoralized by a drunken
Jew or q loose Jewish woman, seeing that
the Jews are VIGOROUSLY. a sober folk, and
that their women are proverbial for chas-
tity. In East London some of the places
that used to be deemed most dangerous
have become, since the Russian Jews have
settled there, quiet and safe. In White
chapel the contrast between the native
and foreign population is represented
as most striking. On the one hand,
you encounter people at as low a grade of
drunkenness and vice as it is possible for
human beings to descend to. On the other
hand, you find sober, peaceful, and industri-
GUS people, who are poor, no doubt, but
from whose lips will never fall an express
sion hat can offend the most sensitive
lady.
On he whole, Mr.. DYCHE seems to
have demonstrated that the Jewish work
man, instead Of being a detriment to Eng.
land, will, il he has the rights and oppor.
t~unities which the English workman pos
sesses, prove a strong and progressive ele-
ment in the community.