The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-04-02
manor house of his village.

This is nothing like the massacres
of Jews at Kishinev, at Odessa, and
in other Russian towns. Those We're
purely anti-Semitic outbreaks in their
origin-the result of medieval super
s,itions and hatreds-supported more
or less. as all such outbursts of ig-
norant passion are, by the mere lust
for spoilation and robbery But this
movement in northern Roumania is
mainly agrarian. 1t is against the
landholding system of that country,
under which great tracts of land are
combined in large estates, the owners
of which are absent, in Paris or Wen
ma or at Monte Carlo, blowing in their
incomes in the pleasures of this world,
while their agents work the peasants
Cardinal Richelieu's "mules'-neXt
door to death day in and day out, in
order to secure money for the owners
and the agents. AS it happens many
of these estate agents are Jews. They
are not responsible for the system,
but with their natural business saga
city they have taken advantage of it.
1t may be that it is one of the few
vocations that they can follow in Rou-
mania with self-respect and profit.
There are only about 100000 Jews in
Roumania out of total population
of 6,150,000. Classified by religions,
there are 100000 Greek Christians;
114,2OO Roman Catholics; $500 Pro-
testants, and the 100000 Jews. There
is therefore no reason why the Jews
should have suffered particularly by
this uprising of the human beasts of
the field except that good many of
them represent absentee owners of
large estates. AS such representa-
tives they have had to take the brunt
of this outburst against the system
some of them, no doubt, deservedly;
many of them undeservedly; but in
all cases where women and children
have been involved, without blame or
responsibility on their part.
Nothing promptly and effectually
remedial can be done about all this.
Troops can be sent in, of course
they have been sent in-and, after
the due amount of human slaughter,
outward order can be restored. But
the causes cannot be touched by the
process of military force; and such
changes in the land system as the
Roumanian government now purposes
to make will require time, and a good
deal of it, in order to be healingly
operative. 1t is simply partial and
unjust civilization working itself out
on natural and fairly inevitable lines.
La Bruyere along about one hundred
years before the French Revolution
wrote this of the French peasant:
Certain strengthening beings, male
and female, are seen in the country,
black, livid and sunburned, and be-
longing to the soil which they dig
and grub with invincible stubborn
ness. They seem capable of articula-
ton, and, when they stand erect. they
display human lineaments. They are,
in fact, men. They retire at night
into their dens, where they live on
black bread, water and roots. They
spare other human beings the trouble
of ploughing, sowing and harvesting,
and thus should not be in want of
the bread they have planted" When,
however, such people are Gin want of
the bread they have planted" terri
BILE things happen. This is what allied
France in 1889, and it is one of the
serious ailments of Roumania and
Russia today.
Times wants will supply your wants.