The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-07

" looks forward to the time when he
can be naturalized. An alien Jew le-
gally entitled to citizenship is rari-
~. He has no allegiance to forswear.
He cannot return to Russia. The rapid
ity with which the New York Jew
adopts the manners and trappings of
Americans almost disproves his an
cient heritage as peculiar people. He
objects to being regarded as thing
apart, and goes to extremes to make
himself like the native-born.
In his activities here the Russian
Jew evinces two marked Characters
tics. He is a remorseless pace-maker
He allows himself no rest nor 1ecrea-
ton, and works all hours of the day
and night. He saves every penny, will
constantly deny himself and his fam
ily nutritious food and until he has
made his mark will live in the most
loathsome surroundings. Whether a
child in the primary schools, the bent
stitcher in the sweat-shops, the man.
ufacturer, the merchant, the profess
sional man-constant industry the de-
termination to succced-that is his
only law Again, he is IN individualist.
Russias population is great mass
of incoherent human particles. Take a
walk in some crowded East Side
thoroughfare-say, Grand street-some
evening after the theaters are emptied
On Broadway the crowds move orderly
they naturally form in two lines. one
street, however, there is no regular di-
vision of traffic: each individual Sc
lects his own path; picking his way
confusedly in and out among the
crowd. This is precisely the way
this enormous mass Of 100000 Hebrews
moves among the city's industrial,
financial and social activities. Organi-
cation it completely misunderstands.
There is tremendous energy, but it is
expressed individually, and not COL
Iectively.
No people have had a more made
quate preparation educational and eco
nomic, for American citizenship. "Out
of the 100000 or 100000 Russian
newspaper in 1893, only from 10000
to $4,000 have a stable means of sub
sia?" the East-Side Jew is frequently
asked today: a shrug Of the shoulders
is the invariable answer For a CEN
fury all manner of restrictive laws
have heaped up against them. They
are kept out of all the learned profess
sions, virtually forbidden the primary
schools, the technical institutions and
the universities-even those which they
have founded themselves-and pre-
vented from owning Or leasing agri-
cultural land. Practically everything
they have is taXed-tbeir kosher food
their skull-caps, their praying shawls
the candles which .he pious Jewish
housewife lights every Friday night
They are shut up in a few cities, for
hidden to live in the country or in the
Russian towns. By the state they are
treated as outcasts. They are not
Russians and never can become such;
in the caste system of Russian socie-
ty they are reckoned in the same class
with the Kirghiz of Siberia the Kali
mucks of Astrakhan. and other semi
civilized tribes. Thus, to a large ex-
tent ignorant, unable to read or write,
personally uncleanly; without profess
sions or skilled trades; inevitably with
suspicious hatred of governmental
authority, their only capital stock is
an intellect which has not been stunted
by centuries of privation, and an in
dustry that falters at no task. how
ever poorly paid.