The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-04-29
JEWS In AGRICULTURE.
WORE THAN 1000 HEBREWS OWN
AND WORK FARMS.
some Of Them on New Eneland's
abandoned Acres"-Facts Brought
Out by Lecture before Students Of
Jewish Theological Seminary. -.

! Although many centuries have
passed since the Jews, as nation
ost Palestine, and with it their agri-
cultural life, still The lapse OF SO
many years has not entirely eradicat-
! I'd from the Jewish mind the desire
sor ullnS the soil. To that large ma
| Iorlty of people who are accustomed
( o consider the industrial trades and
mercantile pursuits as the only actiyi-
tleS for the Hebrews of this country,
1t may come as a surprise to learn
cnat there are a. present in the Unit
ed States over 1900 Jewish farmers.
men with families, representing more
than 10000 persons, who are profit
ably engaged in tilling American soil.
This was brought out by Cyrus
l.. Sulzberger, president of the Jew
'Sh Agricultural and Industrial AID
Society, in a recent lecture before the
students of the Jewish Theological
Seminary on agricultural and Re
moval Work" This lecture was the
third in a course on practical philan-
thropy arranged for the students in
order to acquaint them with the va
rious kinds Of communal work, which
will come within their province when
they have been graduated as rabbis
and have become leaders in congre-
gational life
Prior to the formation of the Jew
ish Agricultural and Aid Society five
years ago the work it is now doing
was done by the trustees of the
Baron de Hirsch Fund. The objec.
of the society is to relieve the con
sestion in the Jewish quarters Of
large cities, particularly New York
and Chicago, toward which cities Jew
ish immigration is mainly directed.
Two methods are being tried by the
organization to accomplish its OBJ
ject; one is, to encourage, by means
Of subsidies, various industries in
country towns; and the other is 10
get the immigrants to take up farm
ing for their livelihood. The second
has thus far proved the more success
full Of the two. Loans are made to
farmers and 10 prospective farmers.
The Anatter is a purely business pro-
position, and the society requires the
amounts loaned to be repaid in in
stalments together with interest at
4 per cent-a low rate in comparison
to the II per cent charged to farmers
in the northwestern part of the cOun-
try. There is no hint of charity, nCr
is there any pauperization of the So
ciety's bene fciaries. In the vast ma
jority OF cases money is loaned only
to those who have already saved a
few hundred dollars, which, together
with the sum loaned by the society,
they will spend in buying a farm.
Once having acquired the farm, they
will stick to it and make it profitable,
since they feel that their
own savings are bound up in the pro-
ject.
Three hundred and thirty-four Jew
lsh farmers, representing 1868 per-
sons all told, have taken up some of
the abandoned" farms of New Eng
and, and through sheer pluck, per-
sistence, and industry, have made
hem profitable. Naturally, these
arms are at some distances from
each other; nevertheless, the reli-
,iOus life is not neglected, and neigh
)oring farmers regularly meet at the
louse Of one Of their number to hold |
ervices. The society has helped very
many families to settle on farms in |
mall towns all over the country, and |
Turing the few years Of its existence |
has made loans to the amount of |
100000. the average single loan be-
aid back $4,000, and $4,000 inter
st. During the last year $50 loans
we're made
The new project of the Agricultural
nd Aid Society is the establishing of
o-called farming factories" The or
anization has bought large farm
4 Long Island, where houses are be-
lg erected, and men who desire to
o farm work will be taught the prac-
cal side of the work and paid days
rages for their labor When they
ave learned enough to be able to
andle all the necessary implements
nd to be good practical farmers, the
ociety will loan them money enough,
n the usual condition, to buy farms
their own. A similar plan has
cen begun in Wisconsin by the Mil
'aukee Agricultural Association,
ranch of the Agricultural and Aid
ociety here.
The work that is being done by the
,dustrial Removal Society is SINH
II. 1t sends newly arrived Jewish
to one Of the cities where
lere is a Jewish community. Here
le salaried agent OF the committee
roceeds to find employment for the
ew arrivals in any one of number .
industries. In the short time of
le society's existence it has sent .
1000 Jews from New York, distri-
lting them in every State in the
MON, with the exception OF Nevada, +
Id very few of them nave ever re- r
rned.-New York Post. G
Italy imports every year nearly s. /,
q, 600 tons OF coal. almost exclusive .
arom the United Kingdom. z