The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-23

the. Jews or the WOrto Just hSeP siSAA heads above pauperdom. But every now and then a Jew looms up so monstrous- ly rich that the proverb acquires . new lease of life. Such Jew was Baron Maurice de Hirsch, whose death some five years ago enriched the English treasury by more than 9 million in death duty. He had made his millions by Turkish rail- way contracts. cutely drawn up. Even before his death the baron had become a legendary parsonage. and his friendship with the then Prince of Wales had made him a household word" He was sportsman, and 1t was said that to re- yenge himself upon the Jockey Club of Paris, which had blackballed him. he purchased the costly premises on which the club stood and turned the members out.
 In appearance he was c Bavartan Jew. rather tall, portly, and good looking. with a few wisps of gray hair round his bald head and a great iron-gray mustache hiding a mouth full of Jewish humor; toyial good fellow, runner of race horses and man of the world.
 Yet this was the man in whom, late In life, woke the feeling of kinship with the toiling masses of his persecuted brethren. For behind the man of affairs lay the dreamer of the ghetto.
 \ have no children. I make the race my children" he was wont to say. And his aspiration were nobly seconded py his wife, Baroness Clara.
 Five years before his death he formed the Jewish Colonization Association. with a capital of two millions. divided into 10000 shares. Of these shares 19.99o were taken up by the baron himself, who was then domiciled in Paris: Lord Rothschiid took one share, the late Sir Julian Colds mid took another. and the same was done by the other gentlemen necessary to make up the legal quorum of public com pany. The most interesting Of the re- maining names is that of Ernest Casssl. who has just come into fame as the anonymous donor of s20O.oOo to tho King for a consumption hospital.
 A Great Legacy.
 At Baron Hirsch's death five or six rnii- lions more passed over to this association The object of all these millions, as oe- fined by the articles of association 10 DC found at Somerset house. and as popu- larly known some ten years ago.. when Raron Hirsch was hailed everywhere as the new Noses" was to take the Jews from the consested cities of the pale In Russia Gin which they are immureo oy the xoyernment) and to transform them into agriculturists. A good many peopie thought that it was the baron's desire ultimately to lead the people DECK to Palestine. having first trained them to the life of the fields. However this pc. If ia certain that the colonies he founded were in the new world and mainly m ths Argentina Gin South America)
 There was one great reason why ne oio not go to Palestine immediately. and that was because Baron Edmond de hotnscnhu was already making colonies in that country. The first emigration to faies- fine was. however. not artificial, but had come of itself.
 A Honeymoon Thought.
 rrnab,a .o endure longer the slow tor- +,,re bv which the life is being officially soueezed out of the Jews of Roumania and Russia. a lumber of victims Of psr- eeoution lied to Palestine. where. devoid of any agricultural implements, they found themselves confronted oy q rude soil ed with stones. Undaunted, thev tore at the soil with their fingers; famished and fevered, dying by scores' Baron Edmond De Rothschild passed py on his honeymoon. and there arose Tn nis generous heart the wish to save tnese poor people. He began to buy land and to found colonies regardless of expense. and more Jewish labor was attracted to Palestine.
 Alas: his heart was good. but his plan was bad. For undertakings, subsidized by an endless capital, rarely succeed; all the energy and initiative are taken out oh people who have not to make their hold ings pay. But to some extent Baron Ed- mond was also to blame. for he does not desire energy or initiative on the part or his Iaborers; he loves to pull the strings and make the figures work. The result was that he-like Baron Hirsch-produc- ed only puppet peasants.
 A few years ago Baron Edmond fell H. his constitution was never strong-and fearing he could not longer give proper attention to his beloved colonies he asked the Jewish Colonization Association which was administering all the Hirsch colonies to take his in charge too. This was done. under certain conditions. and though Baron Edmond. fortunately re- covering. has since returned to a seat in the administration of his colonies, it Is the Jewish Colonization Association which, by a strange turn of fortune. di- rccts the destinies of Jewish colonization both fin the old world and in the new. In 1894 Baron Hirsch was in the highest spirits about the progress of his colonies. The initial difficulties had been conquered. though they had been far greater than he had foreseen. He was looking forward to a great development Every year ha would pluck 5000 more people from their Russian prison. till at last he should have a great and fiourishing population. In two years he would summon the press of the world to see the glorious result. Alas! in two years he was dead. And now. despite the millions In the hands of his trustees. what remains of his scheme
 A Black Outlook.
 Of the twenty-two colonies in the Ar genuine not one pays, and scarcely one gives any prospect of paying. Even from Moiesevlla, which was the bright spot In the darkness of last years report, there has just come to hand the news. Crop nil" Twenty of the colonies are in the provinceN of Entre Rios, the cratic climate of which has proved to be quite fatal to farming. Most of the sites, toe. were badly chosen in relation to water and possible markets. And despite all the propplng up and approximation they are only inhabited by 9O6 families.
 The Palestine colonies are as bad. or worse. and to make them pay. the Jewish Colonization Association-so unsuccessful in its own affairs-has gone to work in a harsh, economical spirit and with an immense air of teaching Baron Edmond how to do it. One might remind them of the proverb, Physician. heal thyself!' The baron had at least wasted his own money; the HirsCh trustees are wasting the money which Baron Hirsch left to the | people of Israel. to the race that took the place of his unborn children.
 The Money Diapplied.
 Charity. like a cloak, covers d multi tule of sins" but there never was such