Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-11-28

Spanish which the Jews brought with
then: whel. expelled from Spain by
Ferdinand and Isabelle.
1.-THE humble Jews Of the Ashkenaz-
| in, the mean clad, uneasy men who
swarm in Poland and the Ukraine and
fill the Jewries of Western Europe and
America, talk Yiddish-a salad Of Ger
mar Slav, Hebrew and any local Ian
guage-in their homes, Hebrew, then
though we'll known to orthodox Jews
throu ghout the world, remained up-
spoken, and the modern movement for
! it's revival has had but 4 small meas
ue of success. But there is one great
exception to this rule-namely, Jerusa-
lam. Here Jews from all over the
world from Samarkand to Mogador
and from California to Petro5rad have
found Hebrew 4 common tongue and
here it is freely spoken as nowhere
else. The movement is opposed only
! by the Jewish schools maintained here
and throughout the east by "LAlliance
Universlle" which stands firmly for
French culture and the French lam
guage The Zionists ask for official
recognition Of Hebrew in equality with
Arabic in government use. At present
this is accorded, but it is expensive
and involves the maintenance Of a
large establishment Of Jewish clerks
and translators in ~1velnment offices.
There is no other objection 20 it, and
probably the Zionists council will agree
that the financial burden Of senti-
mental privilege for very small ma
jority should not be entirely borne out
of taxation.
IN Jerusalem the Jews are in a
majority. Elsewhere they are greatly
in the minority, but there are villages
and small districts that are almost
purely Jewish. The Zionists ask that
these should be allowed local autonomy
somewhat equivalent to that Of an
English borough, with power Of levy
ing their own rates. There should be-
no insuperable difficulty in meeting
such a demand.
THE outline that I have given con-
tains all that the Ziorists who wish
to safeguard the Jews now living in
Palestine ask in their political pro-
gramme They regard those who live
abroad and ask for more as agents
provocateurs, who will be the cause of
their ruin. But there remains the
problem of providing a national home
for the Jews. How is this to be done?
The land is already owned. AS things
are now, the country can support but
few more people. There are hundreds
of thousands of poor Jews in the ghet-
tos Iof Poland, the Ukraine and Ru-
mania who would swarm into Palestine
If the gates were open. Already there
are more refugees here than the Zion
lists can support, and the burden is
falling to an increasing extent on the
British authorities. How can these
poor city starving children Of per-
secution who have failed in life's battle
make desirable Immigrants for
country with a future? If they are
to be helped will they rot rely on help,
like those fearful pr1,lutt Of philan-
thropic societies in other parts of the
world? VIII not the children Of Zion
be the remittance men Of the Zionist
Council and incapable Of standing
alone? VIII they till the soil, or will
they seek to get q mortgage on the
land of the fellaheen, and watch the
Arabs work for them? And how save
by the employment of a large force, are
we to protect these immigrants, when
they arrive from the Arab and Chris
tian fury which is now raging against
them in advance, owing 10 the way
in which the question has been repre-
scented or misrepresented.
These questions 1, have put and l
find the Zionists here awake to danger
which it is imperative should be real
lied abroad. The Zionist reply in effect
| is this: immigration will have to be
most carefully controlled, and selected
| immigrants allowed in only as labor Is
required or land becomes available. 1t
| is true that the Jew has not been
known as an agriculturist. But in Eu-
ropean countries he has until modern
times been jealously kept off the land.
In America, where agriculture has al
WAYS been q business like any other
the Jew in spite of this inherited disa-
bility has made good and there are
some 10000 Jewish agriculturists. Here
in Palestine in the earlier of the mod
ern Jewish colonies it must be admit
ted that the Jews have not shown a
disposition to work themselves; they
employ Arabs. But the sons and
grandsons of the colonists of the '7Os
and sos take a much greater interest
in the soil and themselves work the
land more and more. Moreover, the
as33 s5 5 lss