The Denver Jewish news., 1923-11-08
Zangwiu the Main Topic of Dis
cussion by Gershon Agronsky
New York Suffers From Zangwilts-Fr0m American
tits. The Jewish Congress-IOuis Marshall-The
Observation-Disclosures Zangwin
Bv GERsHoN AGRoNsKY

What Is there about iSliei ZanEWhi
the question Is asked, That makes him
the centre of the Jewish stage nearly
n month after his arrival in New York,
n fortnight nfter his famous Carnegie
Hall speech before the Jewish Con-
gress? What Is there nbOut this man
that will not let people forget he Is
In our midst? New York. an adept mt
receiving. welcoming and honOring dis
iinguished foreigners seems unable ia
get over" him. That he was noticed
on arrival was only to lie expected.
No sca-vOyager who Is prominent
enough to be listed by the press agents
of the steamship companies hut he Is
noted by the vigilant city-etlitors and
in consequence put thru the third de-
gree by the jadeh sea-fnring ship-news
reporters who 20 ont on the tiny cut
ters to meet the Quarantinetl palaces
of the sen. But the ritual Cf interview
ing performed. and the celebrity shunt-
cd to his hotel, he is usually forgotten
the next day together with the stick
fur or so of publicity his reputation
or his exploits earned for hinR I'm
less he bc French pharmacist with
n mirncle-working phrase on his lips
about getting better and better Or an
English author come TO show Ameri-
cans how to communicate with the
spirit world. Or viencsc bone-sctter
daily performing clinical wOnders up
on the lame the blind and the halting.
Next to these cOnjurcrs md heniers are
the cx-oiftciO statesmen. especially Al
lied wartime Premicrs and generals be-
hind whom there II believed lin the
.'city voOnis'D tn be a violent public
s~ptszncn, unqunliaetlly ss,poersl to re-
moving tire '.stOries" Of the wnr-herOcs'
movements and speeches from Page
One. But noted authors who merely
write good hooks, like Vincente 1banex,
the Spaniard. or Rebecca West, the
British novelist and feminist receive
cordial hut brief enough notices on ar
rival and the scnntiest mention on de-
parturc. Even when they create fur
ore, II IL silenced the day following
because. notoriously. authors and scicn-
tiss and their like. while perfectly
capable OF producing occasional sensa-
tions are utterly unable to sustain
them, and K Is left to the publishers
to cntch the readers by means Of honey
cd or acidy blurbs.
And here in this writer Zangwill.
author Of more hooks than most peo-
pie even know off although he Is not
mentioned in connection with the Melt
ing Pot" which endenrcsl him to Amer
leans, the "Drcamers of the Ghetto
which made him the idol Of hundreds
Of thousands of Jews, Jimmy the. Car
ricr," which must have made him very
popular with his neighbors in Sussex
or his translation of the poems of Ibn
GabirOl. the latest of his published ef-
forts, which confirms his reputation rs
n poet as well as a scholar-here is
Zangwill. apparently forgetful of his
books, who explodes bOmbshells where
ever he turns, providing copy for the
newspapers because of what he says
and means to say and more copy
later on from people who disagree with
what he says.
For the nOnce it seems rs II New
York were infected with Zangwilliitis'
He moves about town spreading the
germ of discomfort generating sparks
of irritability, rousing cnlm people out
of thein sObriety or resignation. criticiz-
ing without, however, scOlding. anaiyz'
ing without preaching. And to the ex.
will himself becomes exposed to- the
virus of Americanitis. His appetite for
reproving, and improving. America
seems to grow with the more he secs
of it, And Just as rnvenOusly as
America (if the Press is an expires
Sion of America) has taken to Zang
will, Zangwill has taken to America
A bare recapituatiOn of the fields
farrowed by Zangwill during the month
in America. under their chapter head
ings. would make n most imposing ar
ray: Zangwill and the Jewish Con
gress Zone must suppress the desire
to write: Zangwill, the Jewish Con
gress) Zangwill and the Christian
Science Monitor; Zangwill and Louis
Marshall; Zangwill and Lloyd George
zangwill and Religion; Zangwill nnt
the Theatre;
All those believing the "Zangwill ant