The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-01-24
SOLOMON IN N[N YORK
His Mission to Stay the Flood
of East Side Lawsuits.
INTERVIEWS, FIVE CENTS

tionaI Alliance in the Ghetto to
Which Thousands Resort-COn-
trast Between solomon's Ways and
the Regular Judges.
Not afrayed in ali his glory, but
whirlfng easily in revolving chair,
CARRIED in ordinary citizens clothes,
stenographer at his side, Solomon
sits in Judgment. He sits in small
office partitioned off from a larger
room, In which his trouble ridden
visitors await the instruction or WIS
dom, justice, judgment and equity.
One at time they are ushered into
the room by the stenograpner'
stepped beyond her years In the SUI
ferings Of the East Side.
Solomon is Bernard Rabb1no and
his Office Ia the Legal Aid Bureau.
Solomon's visitors are what would
be lawyers clients or even prisoners
at the bar If they did not come to him
before resorting to the court.
Solomon practically never takes
their affairs to court. He is Judge,
fury, lawyer for the plaintiff, and
lawyer for the defendant all In one.
He settles disputes which might be
taken to the Municipal or Magis-
trates' courts, Special Sessions, and
Supreme Court No compulsion
drives his visitors to him. They come
voluntarily.
They pay five cents for as many
consultations as Solomon may deem
necessary When the plaintiff ap-
pears, his statement is taken down
J by the stenographer, and letter is
written to the defendant asking him
to call at the Legal Aid Bureau.
Sometimes Mr. Rabbino arranges
to have plaintiff and defendant meet;
sometimes he defers the second COM
ing Of the plaintiff until he has seen
the defendant alone. OF course, the
defendant does not always appear at
the summons.
The Legal AID Bureau Is in the
has grown astonishingly. In the first
year 1900 persons applied; in the
second, 10000, and this year the
number may rise to $4,000.
The bureau employs two stenog
raphers, an office boy and several
voluntary assistants, who have the
! legal knowledge to help Mr.. Rabbino.
It is the outgrowth of genuine East
Side needs; and it's purpose is to end
the enormous amount of petty litiga-
| ton which Is an actual menace to the
East Side.
IN Russia the oppressed Jew had
not the privilege of rightfng his
grievances In court. Here, the privi-
| lege granted, he avails himself of it
| to the full.
Every little difficulty is presented
for solution to the Magistrate, who
has neither the time, nor, perhaps,
the complete comprehension of pecu-
liar race psychology needed to enter
into the details of each petty misun-
derstandtng. The Magistrate Is there
to apply the law to Irishman. Italian,
| Pole and Jew alike.
Moreover. a still deeper historic
cause may account for the frequency
with which the Jew resorts to the
court. From time immemorial he
has been accustomed to consult the
rabbi on points of the law; and the
law. be it remembered, prescribes for
every possible act of daily life. If a
bit OF meat seemed not to be kosher
| the Jew carried 1t to the rabbi for
inspection and abided by his judg-
ment Thus 1t Is that Mr.. Rabbino is
Magistrate and rabbi in one.
| His clients, almost without excep-
ton, trust to his decision as of old
the pious Jew relied on the judgment
of the rabbi. Their demeanor to-
ward him is respectful, not cringing;
they listen to his words as though
spoken from the Torah.
To prevent petty litigation and
keep the poor people from the courts
Is but one Of the many advantages Of
the Legal Aid Bureau. 1t has carried
on a campaign against abuses to
which the ignorant immigrant Is sub
jected on his arrival in this country.
Ordinary wage cases form more
than one-fourth of the total number
handled in the bureau.
Next in number are the domestic
difficulties cases. Here Is where Solo
mon and the bureau show at their
best They have restored many hus-
band to his wife, many child to its
parents, prosecuted many a bigam-
ist and by their fight against the
get" (rabbtnical divorce) prevented
] many e crime against the marriage
laws Of this country.
When the immigrant casts loose
from his moorings, his standards I'M
consciously change. He Is free to cast
| off restraint. He has come to Anne
RIGA, the land of freedom. Why
shackle himself with the burdensome
letters of the old country7
He has come to America to make
money and stretch his limbs a bit.
! Temptations assail him undreamed
| of in Russian Observation-Disclosures, mu-
sic halls, cafes He is weaned from
the customs of his forefathers, and
his new habits initiate against the
peace of family life. Wife dcsertion
and bigamy are frequent.
! Around the Earth.