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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
application of the Literacy Test will not tend to keep out from our
country these undesirables, but rather that it will in effect put up the
barriers against certain classes of the sturdy peasantry of Europe
Issued Every Friday by the Jewish Chronicle Publishing Company.
whom we need to carry on the hard labor which native Americans are
Michigan's Only Jewish Publication.
unfitted or unwilling to do. The building of roads, the construction
of railroads and other similar hard labor has been made possible in the
Editor last few years largely through the coming to this country of large
Samuel J. Rhodes,
Manager numbers of immigrants, a majority of whom a Literacy Test would
Anton Kaufman,
$1.50 per year have excluded from our borders.
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On the other hand, the Literacy Test does not exclude the crim-
inal
classes, the majority of whom are literate. Indeed, it is a well
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known fact that by far the greatest number of crimes committed in
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this country are not done by those who have had no educational ad-
The Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on subjects of inter- vantages, but rather by those whose educational training has made
est to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorse- for cleverness and shrewdness and astuteness. The non-application
of the Literacy Test to those seeking refuge here from religious perse-
ment of views expressed by the writers.
cution and ,political inequality, which distinguishes the present bill
All correspondence and society notes to insure publication must from that presented to former congresses, in some measure affects the
be sent in so as to reach this office Wednesday morning of each week. Jew to his advantage, since most of those of our co-religionists who
come here are refugees from religious persecution. ,
Entered as second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post Office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of
March 3, 1879
But even though every Jew were admitted, it could not change
our attitude on this important issue. The application of the Literacy
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1916.
Test, and, in general, the wholesale agitation for the limitation of
immigration, is un-American, and contrary to the traditions of this
land, whose greatness has been made possible by the admixture of
Detroit Jewry Honors Itself
its blood with that of every race and nation on the earth.
In the outpouring of sympathy and generosity-toward our stricken
It is purely, then, on the grounds of true Americanism that we enter
co-religionists in the war zone, which characterized the great Mass our protest against the passage of this bill. Should it be passed by
Meeting at Arcadia Hall last Tuesday night; the Jews of Detroit the Senate,. as it has been passed by the House we have faith that
.highly honored themselves. The words that were spoken will indeed President Wilson will exercise his prerogative of veto.
carry a message of cheer to the broken hearts of our brethren beyond
the waters. The magnificent gifts that were bestowed will carry their
quota of food to the starving and of healing to the sick and wounded. The Jewish Congress as Seen by a Non-Jew
But however beneficent the influence of this gathering will be upon
those who suffer over yonder, infinitely greater will be the good which
The proposal to hold a Jewish Congress has occasioned great
it will work upon those who have so nobly given of themselves and of diversity of opinion and a feeling of considerable bitterness among
their means to the great cause. Detroit Jews are, through this gather- American Jews. It is interesting, therefore to read what a non-Jew
ing, lifted in their own esteem as never before. To those who have thinks on the subject. The following is an excerpt from an editorial
held that the Jews of this city are lax in their duty and that they do published recently in the Detroit Journal, under the title "In Behalf
not rise to great occasions, this meeting has effectively given the lie. of the Jewish People":
While the selfishness and the sordidness of some individuals here and
"The Jews in the present war have suffered as no other people
there is to be deplored, the community in general has risen splendidly have suffered. In Posen, in Russian Poland, in Cjalacia and in the
.to its great opportunity and has responded nobly to the call of our Balkans they have been ground between the upper and nether mill-
suffering brethren. This gathering, we believe, has also tended to stone, compelled now to fight the battles of others, and now to fight (
cement the bonds of unity among the various elements in our Jewish against their own people.
community. It emphasized the fact that however We may differ in
"Their lack of a central government and of an organization which
our interpretation of Judaism's message, we stand united in the con-
shall be protective of their racial interests leaves them the prey of
viction that when our co-religionists suffer anywhere, the Jews of the
each warring nation. And at th , e--pface, who shall say whether their
world as brother men must come to their help. The gathering brought interests shall be taken care of in the intense national rivalry which
forward also some notable examples of generosity and good fellow-
will dominate those peace councils?
ship on the part of our non-Jewish friends. To those who by word
"Quite unnecessary is the hesitancy with which The Warheit, the
and by work assisted in making the meeting a success, our grateful
Jewish daily newspaper of New York, approaches the subject. of a
appreciation is due.
To be sure, the work that lies before the Jews of this community Jewish congress in this country. These misgivings it expresses in
is not yet done. Perhaps it has only begun. But the splendid begin- uuestion form, thus:
" 'What will be the attitude- of this country toward a congress,
ning that has been made augurs well for the future. It attests that
to willing hands and ready hearts nothing is impossible. The Jews the sole aim of which is to secure equal rights for the Jews in all
of Detroit stand ready henceforward to face their duty and to do it. lands?
They have greatly honored themselves in the eyes of the community,
" 'Will the American people encourage our governmertt to sup-
port the demands for such rights when they will be presented to the
and exalted themselves in their own esteem.
tribunal of the nations by emissaries of this Jewish congress?
" 'Will a congress of this character be regarded by the American
In the campaign that has been so splendidly waged in behalf of
the Jewish War Sufferers, none but Jews were appealed to for funds. people as an expression of separatistic tendencies in American Jewry?'
Nonetheless, a great many non-Jews have voluntarily given to the
"The American people lend their sympathies to any movement
great cause. The fine spirit that prompted their generosity is deeply for the protection of racial rights, and for securing equal rights for all
appreciated. It is gratifying evidence besides that there are those peoples throughout the world.
who appreciate that the Jew may always be counted upon to support
"It is not so easy to say what any particular administration at
every worthy cause in the knowledge that hunger knows no creed and Washington would do by way of formal presentation of Jewish claims
nakedness no denomination—and that obligation in matters of this in the peace councils of Europe, but no American government should
hesitate to press such claims, for the mere absence of a formal Jewish
kind is reciprocal.
government in Europe to protect Jewish rights only makes it the
more incumbent upon the participants in the peace council to insist
The Literacy Test Again
upon the rights of the denationalized Jews.
"As for the fear that a Jewish congress in this country might be
On Thursday of last week the Burnett Immigration Bill, carrying
regarded
as indicating separatist tendencies, and might incur for the
with it the Literacy Test, again pasSed the House, and there is no
question but thatit will also pass the Senate when it comes before that American Jews the opprobrium of the hyphenate insult, it is only
body. That it will again be vetoed, as it should be, by President Wil- those who themselves arc disloyal at heart and who themselves are
son, there can be little doubt. While there can be no question on the hyphenate in spirit who discover disloyalty in cosmopolitanism and
part of any thinking man that the gates of this country should not be internationalism.
"No man can profess to be a true American whose sympathies do
thrown open to the human refuse of other lands, and while none would
contend that the halt and the lame and the insane and the criminal not go openly to the cause of truth, justice, freedom and equal rights
'should be received here, the opinion is very wide spread that the for all people of all climes."
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE