Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-07
PATRIOTISM Is THE
FAITH OF THE JEWS
Special Dispatch to The Star.

WOODBdNE, N. J., July 8.-At a flag
raising here this week at the Baron dc
Hirsch Agricultural School. and In the In
dependence day exercises which followed.
Mr.. B. H. Hartogensis of Baltimore deliv-
cred the Grafton before a great crowd of
sturdy colonists and factory hands. machin-
lists and artisans, all recent Immigrant
Jews from Russia. The speaker praised
them for holding a public demonstration
and in this way giving public expression
to their gratitude for the blessings of lib
erty they enjoy. The immigrant Jew had
come to stay determined to be q useful
citizen. Never had newcomers. as a class.
shown such q desire to own an interest In
q house and lot: they even had rebuilt en-
tire sections. the former siums Of the cities.
They wanted to share the burdens as well
as benefit by equal opportunities before
them. All hoped that in time human lib
erty and human rights might be advanced
the world over and even in benighted Rus
sia and perverse Roumania suffering CO.
rengfonists might soon begin to enjoy equal
rights before the law even as Moses. the d.
vine legislator, had proclaimed them "One
law shall there be for you and for the
stranger in your midst" Mr.. Hartogensis
went on to say:
Il feel that the loyal Jew. true to his
traditions. makes the best of citizens, as
Jewish teachings are in consonance with
republican institutions In America. as we'll
as elsewhere
by Isaiah we are told to consider the
ruler OF our land, even of another faith and
nation. as the anointed Of the Lord The
Mosaic law binding upon your conscience
admonishes you TO uphold the authorities.
Honor for those who represent the govern
ment Is held by the rabbis to be understood
In the Fifth Commandment Of the Deca-
iogue along with respect for parents. Pray
for the welfare OF your country. for were
1t not for that men would swallow each
other mp. adds the Bible. Moreover. he who
rebels against his sovereign deserves death
Tbs Talamudists liken government by your
president, governor or mayor to that Of
heaven. Pray for It, say these wise men,
lest there be anarchy The philosopher of
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes adds words
equally applicable to US here: I counsel
thee, keep the kings command and my
son: fear the Lord and king with those
desirous OF change to not mingle, and
swear not at the king even in thought
The Maccabeans were allowed to break
the holy Sabbath to Csfend their country.
and the rabbis say that. except for apos-
tasy. fdolatry and murder. no law, divine
or human. dare be considered when the
state calls on the Jew to do his duty
Again we can stand with President
Roosevelt In his oft-repeated demand for
square deal and justice to all and above
all things. That is what Abraham was
told by God would be the tradition to be
handed down to his descendants, ever to
do right and be just. And in this consists
the mission of the seed of Abraham to an
unappreciative world wherein by exem-
plifying his ideal they are to be a blessing.
-
Let US see what account the Jew has
been giving Of himself here In America.
I'm the revolutionary war, few as were
the Jews in the land then. over a hundred
Jewish officers and men have been fdenti-
fled, many of them distinguished for serv-
Ice. Simon Wolf has proved that in sthe
civil war there were between 1000 and 5000
Jews Of all ranks. nine Of them generals.
eight colonies. and so on down the list;
while In the recent Spanish-American war
Tar greater numbers than the proportion
Of the Jews in America warranted rushed
to serve our country thus-32 army officers,
q naval officers and 2.450 non-commis-
stoned officers. We shall not forget It was
cent immigrants, that enlisted as q body
from Chicago, and were the first men to
be wounded In the Philippines, and to be
killed at the naval battle at Santiago, Jews,
and Russian Jews. at that.
1t was Haym Solomon. a Polish Jew,
who. out Of his own money, as Robert
Morris. the superintendent of finance tells
us In his diary. sustained the weak credit
of Congress during the revolutionary war,
and not only In this way provided the
sinews of the war of independence. but
without compensation supported some of
the most prominent leaders of his time.
Without this aid our country in its worst
straits must have been deprived of their
valuable services. In Maryland Haym Solo
mons son-n-law. Hart, provided the means
to keep up Lafayette's command
Jewish immigrants as a class are pro-
ducers. tillers of the soil. 1t has been
shown by census statisticians that since the
recent influx of Russian Jews the clothing
industry. through the most despised needle
workers alone. has added to the capital en-
barked in New York city as much money
as nearly equals the sum previously in
vested by the entire country. And so in
other cities, notably Baltimore. Consider,
too, this fact that has been substantiated
again and again. that the immigrant Jew
has raised the standard both of wages and
of living among his fellow workingmen +;
that Jewish artisans in New York make I'D
the whole o trades unions entirely out of
proportion to their numbers while the num-
Der of unions of artisans, high ssed spe-
cialized handicrafts men. of skilled laborers,
all highly salaried Is astonishingly large -