Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03
LOEB VERSUS CURTIS
RABBI TAKES EXCEPTION TO COR
RESPONDENTS STATEMENTS.
Declares the Jews in Russia Are Not
All Money Lenders and
Peddlers.

| Rabbi julius T. Loeb of the Adath Israel
| Congregation in a statement to a Star re-
| porter this morning, in speaking of one of
the series of letters by William E. Curtis
! appearing in The Star. which contained a
| statement of the causes of the outbreaks
against the Jews in Russia. said:
MIR. Curtis in stating the reasons he
| sees them for the anti-Jewish outbreaks
| in Russia says:
" Religious intolerance is doubtless re-
| sponsible for the persecution of Jews In
| Russia as it has been everywhere since
| the cruciixion. The Russian is naturally
and by education a religious fanatic, and
| led on by the hordes of priests to hate
| all that is foreign to the Greek Catholic
Church. and melted by the dreadful laws
of ostracsm whereby the government has
deprived the Jew of all natural and civic
rights, vicious characters cannot but take
advantage of the situation and prey upon
the lives and substances of the unprotect-
ed Jews
IAN this is perfectly true But in fur
Their discussing the economic conditions in
Russia, Mr.. Curtis adds the following
queer statement:
" Thrust out of the many walks of life,
the Jews have been driven into a few
occupations, the chief of which are ped
ding and money lending. No doubt they
do great deal of swindling in one capac-
1T is more than surprising that as re-
nowned writer as Mr. w. f. Curtis should
base his theories upon mere conjecture
and allow himself to be miSled by deceit
full tales of some Russian officials which
have been repeatedly and emphatically de-
MED from all reliable sources Again 1t
is the old story newly told. In the same
manner as medieval race-hatred and relig-
ious prejudice and superstition will always
find an echo in the heart of modern civ
lhzatlqn- so 1t seems that We shall never
get rid of the ghost story of the Jewish
money lender and the Jewish peddler that
eats up half dozen Christian children for
one breakfast: as was believed by many
even in this country some forty years ago.
To use Russian saying: ON the thief
the hat is aburning.' And so, of course
some explanation had to be offered from
the quarters of Russian officialdom to ac-
count for the crimes perpetrated against
the Jews in Russia. The thief when caught
in the act will always have something to
say in the tone of not guilty. yer honorl'
But can the Russian government ever be
cleared? And will all the prevarications
suffice to blind the eyes Of posterity, which
will judge rightly and truthfully? Is it
necessary TO produce the fiction of a Shy
lock or a Fagin in order to account for
the situation? Are not conditions as they
are sufficient to tell the tale?
Prescribed the Jew.
THE Russian government has for many
years hunted down the Jew. driven him out
of all the walks of life, barred his educa-
ton, prohibited his owning land property
or holding office, either civil or military
And, what is worst of all, it never gave
| him a chance to defend himself to vindi-
| cate his rights and his standing in the
| public mind. 1t kept up constant news
paper harangue against the Jew, but never
allowed a word to be passed in favor of
| the Jew. Under the hitherto strict Rus
STA membership newspaper would print
anything but what was approved of by the
| government. And now, mark we WELL that
official and semi-official organs like the
| Novoye-Vremya, Grazdanin, Kievlarin
| SWEET and the late Bessarabyetz had their
| constant attractions in such headlines as
| Death to the Jews, Down with the Jews
! Il have read enough of these myself. l
| was born and bred in Russia and have de-
voted myself to a close observation of the
matter. If ! were asked who made the
| pozroms on the helpless Jews there, l
would say the government and none else.
Since the throne of absolutism in Russia
began to shake by reason of western civili-
cation 1t has seemed to me the Russian
/ government has assumed a policy of Jew
batting, wherein it had a double purpose:
Firstly, to divert the attention of the masses
from its own misrule by pointing to the
Jew as the cause of all suffering in Russia,
and secondly, to convert the Jews and other
varying elements in Russia to the Greek
Catholic faith in order to create a Pdnslav-
ism which might become the prop and
support of the present despotic regime. To
this end it became necessary for the gov
eminent to appoint set OF men without
the slightest sense of justice to serve the
needs of czardom and autocratic rule.
Corruption in Official Circles.
Corruption runs high in Russian official
circles and overleaps all bounds Bribery |
is an open secret and graft the order of |
the day. Peaceful and loyal citizens are |
too often impelled to purchase their peace |
from the hands of rowdy officers, as one |
does not know when single word of his |
NAV involve him in political or other |
complication and he be merclessly snatched |
away from home and family to be sent to |
the snowy fields of Siberia. The real vam-
pires in Russia the government off,
Gals and none else. Ask every honest, I'M |
sophisticated Russian and he will tell you |
the same. Father Gapon has more than
once called the public attention to this
fact, while he has condemned every prac-
tice of Jew-baiting. And this Gapon is as
suredly an honest man; not a traitor to the |