New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
JEWS PROVE LOYAL
 CITIZENS OF RUSSIA
Warmth of Their Patriotism Sur ~ prise in MusCoVy

any country in the world. Although
 their lot has not always been an en-
 viable one under the rule of the Czars
 the great war has found them loyal citizens of their northern fatherland
 willing and anxious to contribute their sacrifices to the success of it's cause. According to private letters and dispatches from Russia, many Jews have come forward to enlist; they have opened and equipped hospitals for the soldiers, and displayed an eagerness to aid with their goods and their labor. The warmth of their patriotism has been a surprise in Muscovy. The position of the Jewish subjects of the Czar, as it was before the war, is told in a bulletin just prepared by the National Geo. graphic society. It reads as follows:
 More than one-half of the worlds , total Jewish population, numbering about 6,500,0O0, dwells within the Russian empire. The total number of Jews in the world numbers about 13,00O,O00 The United States and Austro- Hungary, each with more than 2,00O,000, Germany with 600,000, and the British empire with 100000, ' are the other important homelands of this /scattered nation. Russia, how ever, today might be looked upon as the true fatherland of the Jewish people, as the great body of them live there. This comes primarily from the cause that the Slavs, more es- pecially the Russian Slavs, have al- ways been the most tolerant of neOn1e in matters re1ioion Ti,o Russian church, properly speaking, is not missionary church. That a Rus- sian should be member of the Rus sian branch of the Eastern Orthodox church, is regarded almost as law of nature in Muscovy, while the Rus gian feels that it is just as natural and fitting that Tartar should be a Mohammedan, and that Jew should follow the Mosaic cred.
 Originally Polish Subjects.
 Tt is true. that most of the Jews were originally Polish subjects, and, it is said. that colonies of them lived in the basin of the VoIga and the Crlmea 500 years before the birth of Christ. Through the years of their bitterest persecution, the rule of the Poles over the Jews was a light and Hmiable one. and many hundreds of
 
 country Thus, with Poland, Russia l acquired the greater part of her Jew ish subjects
 "The Czar's Jewish subjects are confined, by law, to definite part of the empire, known as the Jewish Pale of Settlement This is an irregular belt of territory, extending from the ] Baltic to the Black Sea. The Pale ineludes Poland, Lithuania, White Russia, part of Little Russia, and regions in the Caucasus. A belt If 1 land about 30 miles wide along the international boundary is also exempt. | The Pale proper, wherein nearly all | of-the Russian Jews dwell, comprises | the entire territory of Russian Poland, ] and the governments of Kovno, Vite- | bsk, Wilma, Mohilev, Volhynia, Grod- 1 no, Minsk, Chernigof, Poltava, Kief. 1 Podolia, Bessarabia, Kherson, Ekat- | erinoslav, and Taurida. Kovno, Mins,x l Mohiley and Volhynia are the most thlckly settled by Jews, who, in these | governments, constitute about two- | thirds of the entire population. Some | Jews were settled as agricultlrists ! upon the southern Steppe, and, des- pltc~ the strict law, wealthy memb hers 1 of the nation are found in business in Petrograd and Moscow. All dis abilities which attach to Jewish birth l in Russia, fall away with the conver- sion of one of the race to Orthodoxy. put, nevertheless, such conversions l seldom take place. This curtailmenr of the freedom of the Jewish suh- l jects is not matter of religious per- secTtion but rather an expression of , the Russians dread of the sunerior business ability of the Jew. May Dwell Without Pale. There are, however, certain classes 1 of Jews allowed by the law to dwell l without the Pale. These are students In n>educational institutions, merchants Iof the first guild, professional per sons and skilled artisans and such as have served twenty-five years in the 1 army Members of these classes, Nevertheless, must obtain special per Dnission to enjoy their rights under the law. No Jew is eligible to gov ernment office, unless he becomes a convert to Orthodoxy: ''TRe Jews are taxed more highly | than other citizens of Russia. Their l citizenship is of a qualified kind, for | l the law states that Jews are aliens, | whose soclal rights are regulated by 1 Sspeclai ord1nances.' Taxes on kosher meat, on candles for use in the svna l gogues, on skull caps, legacy taxes l and special taxes upon their busi- 1 nesses are taken by the state. There Ire a host of other special regula-
 lions. The Russian Jews, on their ! Fide, are organized for their protec- ion, with headquarters at Warsaw n spite of difficulties, however, the |
 ews of Russia take prominent part the country's commerce, and exer- 1 9se powerful influence of wealth."
 FISHING SCHOONER LOST