New-York tribune., 1901-08-25
CONDITION OF THE JEWS TO-DAY
THEIR POSITION IN THE LEADING NATIONS OF THE
WORLD AFTER CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION


spiritual life has gone hand in hand with poiit-
ical oppression when such was not immoderSte
enough 10 crush out all national hope and in
tellectual vigor.
For the West German Jews Frankfort-on-the-
Main had been a religious and intellectual CEN
tire for several centuries. Many an embryo
Borne or Heine first saw the light Of day, and
breathed his last in the Frankfort "Judengasse'
as has many a renowned medieval Corypheus
of Talmudic lore and Jewish learning. The
revolution OF 1S4S brought also TO the Frankfort
Jews a breath Of freedom, and most OF the
Western German States and principalities ad-
rnitted them TO citizenship. Prussia soon fol-
lowed the example OF South and West Germany
respecting her Jews. Between 1880 and 1903
Frederick William " and the later Emperor
William I removed all Jewish disabilities ana
in the German imperial constitution, largely
framed and consolidated by Jewish parliamen-
tarians among whom Lasker was most con-
spicuous there was left no trace or the meoi-
e=val legal status Of the Ghetto Jew.
However valuable 10 the Prussian dynasty IN
narticular and 10 political German Imperialism
in general the services rendered by Bismarck
may have been. 10 higher German progress ana
culture the Russophile attitude OF his policy
with it's anti-lberal and narrow Protestant
clerical spirit proved a serious obstacle ana
hindrance 1t opened the door to anti-Semit-
ism spreading from Russia and Rumania over
Austria and Germany. counteractng the tide OF
liberalism that had swept over Central Europe
from the west and even investing the occi-
dental strongholds of advanced thought with
its retrogressive and barbarizing tendencies.
Still the agftations Of the Stoeckers and Ahl-
wardts are fast losing their hold upon the Ger
man people at large with the disappearance
of Bismarcks personal prestige. true German
culture and spiritual advancement once more
is asserting itself. and bids fair to regain
TIE influence il lost with both people and gov
ernment since the advent OF anti-semitism in
the eighties OF the last century.
ENGLAND A HAVEN OF REFUGE.
As 10 so many other heretics also TO the
Jews England has been ancient haven OF
refuge. Under the mild and popular Anglo
Saxon rule, a considerable number OF Jews
Exceeding ten thousand in 1900. had made their
home in Great Britain. and lived in peace with
their Christian neighbors. The Norman-French
and their Papal coadJutors brought with them
the Continental epidemic OF prosecutions. and
fair Albion became infected. In 1890 the
sade against Jews reached a climax with their
total expulsion from England. to which the
peculiar people" were not readmitted until
almost four centuries later under oliver Crom-
well. Though placed on the same footing as
Catholics and other Dissenters from the Estab-
lished Church. they were in their economic. So
cial and religious pursuits left in peace and al
lowed 10 work out their own salvation. And
soon we find them recovering the foothold they
had lost through their expulsion by the priest
ridden Edward !. and asserting themselves in
the social and commercial life OF the people.
The Of Sir Moses Mortefore GTS4-
1Ss4) particularly exemplihes the assertion and
rise Of Jewish influence in modern England.
The Jews OF England practically emanci-
pated by popular consent long before Parlia-
ment gave its official sanction thereto Ben
iamin Disraeli QS05-'SD, though baptized by
his father when still infant. failed to
take pride in his Jewish descent, and public
English opinion, far from resenting this pride
honored and respected him for his racial fdelty
After Jews had held minor municipal Offices in
important English towns. Mr.. solomons was
elected in 1855, the first Jewish Lord Mayor OF
London. In 1858 the last political disabilities
against the admission of Jews to Parliament
were removed and in 1883 Baron \. de Roths-
child raised 10 the first Jewish peerage in
England under the name Of Lord Rothschild.
Great Britain and Ireland contains about
one hundred thousand Jews and some fifty
thousand more are scattered all over the Eng
lish colonies. Outside Of Cape Colony twenty
thousand Jews have. during the last few dec
ades, settled in South Africa, especially in the
Transvaal and Orange States. They are chiefly
Russian-Polish Jews. Anglicized in the London
Ghetto. some Of whom have made immense
fortunes in the diamond fields and gold mines
EMANCIPATION IN FRANCE
The recent anti-Semitic movement in France
IL merely the bastard child OF the Franco Rus
sian Alliance which, while still in its embryonic
state. lent a new impetus 10 the waning feudal
clerical influences stiil haunting the French ma
tional consciousness. In their mad assaults on
the all-victorious liberal forces OF the republic
these reactonary influences are fast spending
their vitality and losing whatever ground is
still left them among the ever decreasing ad-
herents Of French medievalisrn. OF the seven
ty-two thousand Jews who live in that country
find two-thirds in Paris. Though one may
sometimes observe in Paris to-day "A bas les
Juifs" written on the walls In public places IL
would still require the recurrence OF many
Dreyfus affair before Jewish gratitude could
forget the glorious part France has played in
the deliverance OF modern Israel from the
medieval Ghetto with it's misery. degradation
and outlawry-a house OF bondage far worse
than that OF ancient Egypt. The first Jewish
emancipatory laws in Europe date from the
great national assembly Of .he revolution un-
der the leadership OF Mirabeau OTSe-'9l) fol-
lowed up by the Napoeonic epoch Since then
the Jews in France have socially and politically
become thorough Frenchmen and have played
an important part in national affairs They
have rapidly risen 10 political and military
careers. occupying positions in the civil service
and the army quite out OF proportion TO their
small numbers.
Under the regenerator Of France after the
Franco o-Prussian War, Leon Garnbetta nS3s-
'S2). himself OF Genoese Jewish extraction