Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-22
Jews Of Bokhara Are Held in
Hiqh Esteem by Russians.
ENJOY Unlimited CREDIT
By Honorable Dealing Have Won
Immunity From Persecution.
HEAVY TAXES IN THE PAST
Whenever Emirs Needed Money
Jews Were Called Upon to Pro-
duce-Riches Not Excessive.
BIT WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
.CAicaro Record Herald.
BOKHARA, Central Asia, July %, 1910.
The Jews are a very large and impor-
tant element In the population of Box
hara. and their business ability. their
honorable dealings and their enterprise
have won for them unlimited credit, COM
mercial and moral. They are the leading
merchants and bankers Of the place; they
control the silk market: they own most
Of the camel caravans which furnish
transportation to China, Afghanistan and
various sections Of Turkestan; they are
largely interested In the rug business
and in handling Persian lambs skins,
and are SO skillful in dyeing woods and
silk that they practically monopolize the
business. IL you will watch them closely
You will notice thot the fingers of half
the Jews you see in the bazaars and on
the streets. at the railway stations and
elsewhere, are stained up to the knuckles
with the dyes they use.
The Jews OF Bokhara and Samarkand
and other cities Of Turkestan are nearly
all descended from Israelites who drifted
over here from Assyria at the time Of the
captivity. and they have lived here un-
molested ever since, although they have
been restricted at times. and have often
been compelled to pay blackmail for pro-
lection: but that has been the experience
OF every rich man.
Gets Money Easiest Way.
Whenever one o. the despotic chiefs
who ruled this country, or any other
semi-civilized country. for that matter
feels the need OF money. he gets 1t the
easiest way he can. That Is usually by
squeezing 1t out Of those of his subjects
who have 1t to spare. and the Jews have
been the easiest marks. Their wealth,
however. Is overestimated from our point
OF view. People here have a lower
standard. A man who is worth a hun
dred thousand rubles is considered rich,
which Is equivalent to 100000. is a
Croesus. Before the Russians came, and
even now In Bokhara, those who saved
money were compelled to hide 1t and pre-
tend that they were poor. No man will
admit that he has money In Bokhara,
even today. because the tax collectors
are compelled to satisfy the demands of
the emir. who Is a perfect cormorant,
and assess those who are able to pay
without mercy.
That IL the reason why the Jewish pop
ulatfon Of Bokhara Is falling of and that Of
Eamarkand. Tashkend, Kokand and other
Russian cities IL increasing so rapidly. The
Russians are fair to the Jews in all these
Asiatic settlements, because they need
their money and their enterprise, but
there Is no telling what will happen when
they begin to crowd their Russian com
petitors on the road. The persecution of
the Jews In Russia has never been due
TO religious prejudice. but to professional
ana commercial jealousy. The Jews are
80 much superior to the Russians in abil-
lily, industry, enterprise and in the other
qualities which are necessary for sue
cess in every business and in every COM
munity. that they are absorbing about
all that IL worth having, and the only
way the Russians can hold their own
Is by depriving their Jewish competitors
OF the means and opportunities of making
money