The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-08-30
MARKTWAIN oNTHE JEWS.
WHY the Germans and Other Con-
,,nental Nations Prosecute Them.

dnental Nations Persecute Them.
Mark Twain, in Harper's Magazine:
The Jew is not dlsturber Of the peace
~ any country. Even his enemies will
soncede that. He is not a loafer. he Is
NOT a sot, he is not noisy, he Is not
brawler nor a rloter. he Is not duarrel-
come. In the statistics Of crime his
presence is conspicuously rare in all
Countries. With murder and other
crimes of violence he has little to do;
ne Is a stranger to the hangman. In
the police courts long roll of daily as
saults and drunk and dlsorderlIes his
name seldom appears. That The Jewish
home is a home in the truest Sense no
one viii dispute. The family IS knitted
together by the strongest affections; its
members show each other every due
respect, and reverence for the elder is
an inyiolable rule of the house The Jew
Il not burden on the charities OF the
state nor the city; these could cease
from their functions without affecting
MIN When he Is well enough he works;
when he is lncapacItated his own peo-
ME take care Of him. And not.in a poor
and stingy way, but with q fne and
large benevolence. His race Is entitled
10 De called the most benevolent of all
the races Of men. A Jewish beggar is
not impossible, perhaps; such a thing
may exist, but there are few men who
ran say that they have seen that spec
tncIe. The Jew has been staged In
many uRcomplImentary foruts, but so
Tar as / know no dFamatist has done
him the Injustice to stage him as beg
gar. Whenever a Jew has real need to
beg his people save him from the ne
cesslty OF doing It. The charitable In
situations of the Jews are supported by
Jewish money, and amply. The Jews
make no noise about II; 1t Is done
quietly; they do not nag and poster and
bqrass rs for contributions they give
Us peace and set US an example-an ex-
ample which we have not found our
selves able to follow.
In Berlin a few years ago read a
speech which frankly urged the expul:
sion OF the Jews from Germany, and
the agItator's reason was as frank as
his proposition. II was this: That So
ner cent. OF the successful lawyers In
BerlIn were Jews. and that about the
same percentage Of the great and lucra-
tive business Of all sorts IN Germany
was In the hands Of the Jewish race.
Isn't 1t an amazing confession? II was
but another way OF saying that IN
uapulatlan OF 100000, Of whom only
;06 GOO were registered as Jews, So per
cent. of the brains and honesty OF the
whole was lodged In the Jews. must
insist upon the honesty--it Is an essen
tlal of successful business, taken by
and large. OF course, 1t does not rule
out rascals entirely, even among Chris
tInns. hut It Is good working rule new
rrtheiess. The speakers figures may
have been inexact. but the motive OF
persecution stands out as clear as Day
The man claimed that In Berlin the
banks, the newspapers, the theatres,
the great mercantile, shipping, mining
and manufacturing interests, the Dig
army and city contracts, the tramways
and pretty much all other properties OF
high value, and also the small busi-
nesses-Were in the hands OF the Jews.
He said the Jews were pushing the
Christian to the wall all along the linei
that Il was all q Christian could do to
scrnpe together q living, and that the
Jews must be banlshed. and soon-that
there was no other way Of saving the
Christian. Here in Vienna, last aut-
umn, an agitator said that all these dis
astrous details were true of Austria-
Hungary also; and in fierce language
he demanded the expulsion OF the Jews.
When politicians come out without a
blush and read the baby act IN this
frank way, unrebuked, II Is very good
Indication that they have market
ND
for votes.
Now. why was the race renamed?
have been told that In PRUSSIA 1t was
given TO using fictitious names, and
often changing them, so as to beat the
tax gntherers, escape military service,
and so on; and that finally the idea was
hit upon Of furnishing all the inmates
OF a house with one and the same SUR
name, and then holding the house re-
sponslble right along for those inmates.
and accountable for any disappearances
that might occur; It made the Jews
keep track OF each other. for self inter-
est's sake. and saved the government
the trouble.
II that explanation of how the Jews
of Prussia came to be renamed Is cor
rect, II It Is true that they fictltlously
registered themselves to gain certain
advantages, 1t may possibly be true
that in America they refrain from reg
istering themselves as Jews to fend of
the damaging prejudices Of the Chris
tian customer. have no way Of know
ing whether this notion is well founded
or not There may be other and better
ways Of explaining why only that poor
little 100000 OF our Jews got into the
cyclopedIa. may, Of course, be mis-
taken. but ! am strongly Of the opinion
that we have an Immense Jewish pop
ulation in America.