The Denver Jewish news., 1924-09-18


Sia. What happened is n matter Of the
past and the chroniclcr of the history
pf Russian Jews and of the heroic en-
dcavor Of American Jewry at that crit
lcal time, will have to inquire and pass
Judgment on IL.
The statements of Mr.. Louis Mar
shall. President of the American Jewish
Relief committee and Col. Lehman.
chairman of the Joint Distribution
committees Reconstruction committee.
gives as complete II reply as can be
expected 50 far ms the near past is con.
ccrned What about the future?
All the millions Of dollars that were
spent by American Jews in Soviet Rus
sia until recently We're mere paliatives.
There WAS an emergency and Il was
pie were hungry and they had to he
fed; children We're homeless and they
had 10 he sheltered. The real problem
of the bulk Of Russian Jcwry was not
even touched. II is not n new prob
lem II Is as old as the policy of the
former CZarst Regime when it crowd
eel the Jewish population Of the Russian
Empire into the specially created
Pale of settlement" and it's purposeful
limitation of Jewish opportunities in
the field Of productive work and oc-
equations.
Emigration was natural outlet
which relieved to some extent the sit
untion in previous years Those. how
ever. who remained in the pale" had
willingly or wnwillingly assumed tlc,
strategically uncomfortable and nncer-
tain position Of the middleman. small
trader and agent. Already in the times
of Gar Alexander IL. even with the
assistance of the Czarist government,
attempts of colonizing the Jews on the
land We're made but to very limited
extent Those Jewish colonies. who
were started ut that time proved to he
not less Of success than other Rus
sian agricultural enterprises. Now, six
painful results for the Jewish popu-
lation are coming to the surface. The
Jewish economic situation, which was
II problem even before the war has now
assumed lis acutest form. Crowded in
the cities. deprived of their commercial
possibilities not admitted to the fac
tories on account of curtailment of
Russia's industrial life oppressed by
the general effects of the Bolshevik
Regime the Jewish population stands
ON the threshold of starvation and an
initiation.
As the situation is now, 1t seems that
the fate of Russian Jewry would he
one of the greatest catastropheS in jew
ish history The only class of Russian
citizens not affected by the results of
the varions wars and social reforms,
was the peasantry. A general move
ment from the city to the village start
ed. So far as the Jews are concerned.
it assumed a sharper form owing to the
cid situation which was acute new
kind of Jewish refugees In the mod
ern political language they are called
"Trans-immigrantS." In real fact, they
are mainly people who left their un-
productive. aimlcss and futureless life
in the city to seek refuge in the field.
The Soviet AUTHORITIES had to take
cognizance of tis fact. Hence the
Jewish 'Back,to-the-land" movement
and the various schemes talked of
recently by communists and non-com
munists.
Here is real opportunity for nm
earnest attempt to solve the Jewish
economic question in Russia, not n con
hicting with any kind OF government
this national chooses to endure or to
have II is n tremendous task and
not one allotment of S40O,000 would
cope with It effectively. Many principles
have to be investigated and clarified
before such plan is TO be realized. II
cannot be handled in the same way in
which the religious funds are disposed
Of. II could not be left to the control
Of the Jewish section of the Commun-
istic party whose intentions are not to
be taken as they are stated
If this work is to be undertaken by
American Jcwry, as the latest allot
ment would indicate. n Qualification of
conditions would be the most natural
thing to he expected.
To Mr. Jacob Fishman, editor of the
Jewish Morning Journal in addition to
tContinusd on page A.