itTigTROtTjEWINI ARON .Y6breett '6 bli6b'6bne6b'6b'611"6-66b'6b'6716b' b'er? iii-EvErRorri AwistiefRON IC LE •■■■••■ ••• CIA V MW11.1 • Published Weekly by Th. IOU law..• Jevrtal Cbremirle Puhlishia: Co. lees JOSEPH J. CUMMINS JACOB MARGOLIS JACOB H. SCHAKNE Preslaent Editor General Manager Entered as liteocd-class matter )(mach I, MC at the Prieto:Ice at Detroit. Mich, under the Act of !larch 3. 1879. General Offices and Publication Building 525 Woodward Avenue Telephone: Cadillac 1040 Londe. Office, Cable Address: Chronicle 14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England. Subscription, in Advance a $3.00 Per Year To assure publkation. all correspondence and news matter must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week. When mailing notices. kindly an one side of the paper only. • The Detroit Jewish Chroalicle Invitee corr.pondenre on aubjects of Interest to the Jewish people, but dIsclasens responsibility for an indorsement of th e •Iews expressed by the writer. V14 February 11, 1927 Adar 9, 5687 ,.-r.vmAmmm5m z . 3tswA 7x The Capital Punishment Bill. Capital punishment is the supreme vengeance of society against the offender who commits murder. All the casuistic and fanciful reasoning in the world cannot disprove the fact that when the murderer is hanged on the gallows. that society has avenged itself upon its blotched and bungled malefactor. Many who favor it will deny that they are motivated by a desire for vengeance, but are concerned about th( protection of the community, or the ridding of society of a menace and prevention of repetition of the crime Those who approve it can point to facts which in their opinion demonstrate the soundness of capital punish- ment as a deterrent and point with particular enthusi asm to Great Britain to prove their contention, whit( the opponents to capital punishment point to Chicago Illinois, or Memphis, Tennessee, or a hundred othe r places with high murder rates, where they have capita 1 punishment, to prove that taking of life does not reduc the number of homicides. Every argument of this sort, either pro or con, is i t the last analysis superficial, for there are so many so ciological, biological, economic and juridicial aspect of the whole question of crime that one is neither hon est with himself nor with his readers if he predicate his objection to or approval of capital punishment upo such illustrations as the murder rate in Britain or Chi cago. Too often in the discussion of capital punishmen the debaters forget that murder is a crime that need to be considered as objectively and unemotionally a any other anti-social offense. Undoubtedly, murder i the gravest of all offenses against society and no on should Minimize the fact, but yet it must be considere( in relation to our life just in the same manner as w consider arson, rape, or highway robbery. Lest it b forgotten, it is not so long ago that these offenses, to gether with many lesser felonies, were punishable wit death. We have travelled some distance in our under standing of the question, but there is still an enormou distance to be covered before we can view the matte of murder with the same critical and dispassionate un derstanding as we apply to the other offenses. In this connection, a seven year study of gangs an gangland, made by Professor Thrasher of the Univer city of Chicago, is illuminating. He found that ther are 1,313 gangs in Chicago with ramification extendin into every section and class of the life of that city He found that there are 50,000 gang members an 10,000 professional criminals who prey on the commur ity. Practically all members of the gangs are men, bu women play an important part in the numerous orgie which are implicit in gang life to perhaps a greats degree than in any other group. The gangs are th schools for criminals and the breeding place of the gan is the slum. Just as in a similar study made recently at Sing Sins it was shown that the slum contributed the largest quot to crime, just so Professor Thrasher, after seven yeas of painstaking careful observation and study, finds the the slum is the crime incubator. If, after many simile studies it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of all the the slum is a potent factor, then we have at least isola ed one of the disease producing agents and can pr ceed to discover and isolate the other agents whic make for anti-social action and living. Until the subject has been adequately studied an the results determined, those communities that hat discarded capital punishment can keep its homicid members confined. To return to capital punishment Michigan would be a most unscientific act in view of tt existing data upon the problem of crime and its gen sis. As long as all the causes for crime are not asce tained, we can rid ourselves of the social irritant, U murderer, by putting him out of the way, but he w persist as long as the causes which have brought hi into being continue. A little less vengeance and mo sympathy, understanding and scientific knowledge a what is needed in this whole controversy that has aga arisen in the state of Michigan. The legislature will do well to leave it in the state quo until it knows more about it. The Revisionist Conference. At the League of Zionists Revisionists Conferen held in Paris, resolutions were adopted which at on showed a realistic attitude in matters of internal affai and a wholly fantastic and impossibilist position in mu ters touching the mandatory power. For instance the conference passed a resolution ur ing the development of Jewish insurance companies make available insurance funds for Palestine inv'et ment. This is in line with sound and sagacious busine methods followed in successful business ventures America. The formation of a world union of liebraic advocated by Jacob Kahn, the Hebrew poet, is a pr posal easily realizable and most assuredly in keepi with the fundamentals of Zionism. But when the 1 visionists touch upon political matters, reason and u derstanding seem to desert them. They deal only slogans and shibboleths. To them political facts a exchanged for inponderables and intangibles and the is such confusion of fancy with fact, with ideal f achievement that one is rather surprised that a serio group of men can solemnly pass such resolutions. One would imagine that the mandatory power h but the Jewish people to deal with in Palestine. T whole fiscal and international policy of Great Brita should allocate land for Jewish colonization ; modi is I.; "Ak 'WU d,c, b' taxation and customs; introduce a protective tariff for Palestine trade and industry ; incorporate a special Jew- ish unit for the defense forces, demand that the Pales- tine government take over the health and educational systems so as to relieve the Zionist organization of the burden. In Detroit we would hardly ask the board of educa- tion to defray the expense of the United Hebrew Schools. If they would do so, then we would expect a curriculum essentially different from the present one. If the Palestine government were to take over educa- tion, we dare say that the Zionist movement would con- sider it a misfortune. It would be tantamount to a sur- render of Zionism for it is hardly conceivable that the education would be Hebrew, as it it not the dominant language of the country. Certainly the resolution pro- vided for a special Jewish department guaranteeing the Ilebrew and national character of the schools, but who is so foolhardy as to believe that those who pay will not insist upon having something to say about it. All the other resolutions touching the matters of land allocation, customs, taxation and tariffs proceed upon, to us, wholly wrong theory of Jewish dominance of Palestine. If the Jews were a majority and had the support of the minorities, the dictatorial attitude of the revisionists would not only be commendable as showing. a spirit of conscious militant national aspiration, but would have the prospect of some measure of success. If the Premiers of Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand made demands for autonomy or for modification in taxation, customs and tariffs; it is wholly in keeping with the power and influence they represent, but when a minority group within a minority group in a mandated territory assumes such a role, then it is either play acting or is sheer visionaire stuff. We believe that at this time the mere adoption of these demanding resolutions is unfortunate. The Zion- ist movement has been subjected to severe criticism for the very things which were done by the revisionists in Paris. Their attitude is not one of friendliness but is calculated to stir up considerable bitterness because of the belligerent attitude of all the resolutions approved. As to the crisis in Palestine being due to the pres- ent Palestine administration, that is merely a cry of an opposition which is not particularly concerned about the accuracy of the charges made. We are persauded that the policy of the Zionist Organization, because of its appreciation of the actuali- ties is the correct one to pursue at the present time, and for some time to come. If conditions should change in Palestine to such an extent that the Jews are a majority, then it is time to demand changes from the mandatory power. At this critical time, Dr. Weizmann needs all the co-operation and assistance he can possibly get and should not be obstructed and harrassed by a group of men whose emotions are much stronger than their rea- son. Roumania Avenges Herself. World Jewry has been so exercised over the pogroms in Roumania that it compelled the non-Jewish world to take cognizance of the insupportable conditions pre- vailing there. The matter was brought to the notice of the League of Nations. The Christian religious bodies in America joined in the protest that resulted in a pe- tition to Secretary Kellogg. Indignation meetings were held all over the world and interpellations took place in European legislative bodies, so great was the feeling of outrage experienced by all socially minded and anti- pogromist men and women everywhere. It is true that the government denied the excesses and Mr. Cretziano, the Roumanian minister in Washington, charged the Jews with conspiring with the Bolsheviks to give his country a bad name. If we should take the advice of Rabbi Niemerower who was accepted as the Jewish religious representative in the Senate. all the magnani- mous efforts of disinterested parties should cease. The rabbi would have those Jews who do not live in Roumania discontinue their efforts to abate the po- groms and atrocities and, what is more, the excesses are greatly exaggerated. In this instance, the Jews of the world will pay little or no attention to him. He does not speak for Roumanian Jewry, even though he was accepted as the religious representative by the Senate instead of Rabbi Schor. It was, in our opinion, just be- cause he was ready to do this piece of very questionable work with exceptionally bad taste, that he was so gra- ciously received. In the recent case of Hungary, world Jewry was rather impolitely told to mind its own business. Those Hungarian leaders who thought they could liquidate their own problems were speedily disillusioned. The government used them as a cats paw. They played the government's game and burned their fingers without gaining anything for their people. Even though the Hungarian case showed a spirit of pride and responsi- bility in marked contrast to the sycophantic and apolo- getic attitude of a Niemerower, yet is accomplished nothing in the way of bettering Hungarian conditions. We cannot criticize the rabbi severely, inasmuch as the condition of Roumanian Jewry is tragically hard due to the continuous anti-Semitic propaganda of the Cuza's; the politics of the Bratiano's; and the murder- ous activities of the Morarescu's. There have been courageous rabbis in Israel who dared to oppose every oppressive measure against their people and who re- fused to temporize with the authorities or apologize for their actions. We would be much happier had Rabbi Niemerower stood up to those who pogromed his people and told them that their actions were offensive to the civilized world. The unrelieved stark tragedy of the whole affair consists in the fact that a rabbi should feel impelled to do the part of shoddy apologist. How- ever, Roumania is at the bar of public opinion and the rabbi is only a pitiful incident. Notwithstanding the assurances that all is well with Roumanian Jewry, world Jewry will continue its effort to correct the abuses and discriminations visited upon an inoffensive minority people. It is as much its obli- gation and responsibility to do this work as it is to help European Jewry in its present undertaking to solve and adjust its difficult economic, social and political prob- lems. Ghettoism is a disheartening spectacle and we would be more than happy not to witness any more acts of groveling such as indulged in by the obsequious Rabbi Niemerower. A. D.: J.i7F tilt r Wag 47k '66'6bneb'6b' b'6'66V6b"611 ' b'tre' 68'6b•eb' b'6 Jewish Humor '6b11 ir6V6Mr6be "This Unbelieving World" 1 By Leo M. Glassman By RABBI LEON FRAM (Copyright, 1927, Jewish Telegraphic Agency.) The Young Spinosa. A young man who was known to be extremely timid and particularly bashful in the company of the oppo- site sex had difficulty in securing him- self a bride. A shadchen who heard of the case undertook to solve the problem for the young man. "Look here," he said to him, "the trouble with you is that you do not know how to engage the attention of the young ladies with clever conversa- tion. I will therefore coach you, and I assure you you will be successful with the girl I will introduce you to. Now, when you call on her, talk about three subjects, love, her family and philosophy--but only a few words on each subject, just to show her your versatility." Whereupon the young man, who was not very keen of wit, accom. panies the shadchen to the house of the prospective kalleh. Arriving there they were given a very warm wel- come and a luxurious meal, follow- ing which the shadchen and all the other members of the family discreet- ly left the room in order to give the young couple an opportunity to be- come acquainted. The young man, who up to now had not uttered a word, felt that the moment had ar- rived for him to make the supreme effort. Remembering the instructions given him by the shadchen, he began thus: "I say, miss, do you like herring?" "No, not a bit." The young man was disappointed, but, having covered the subject of love, he proceeded to the next. "Well," he stammered, "does your brother like herring?" "Why, I have no brother," replied the girl. Another failure, the young man thought to himself with a pang. However, there was still one more chance, so he proceeded to the sub- ject of philosophy. "B-b-but — supposing you had a brother, to you think he would like herring?" Only Kosher Food. A lady who was watching a per- formance in a theater which did not appeal to her very much was so bored that finally she could not repress a very conspicuous and somewhat aud- ible yawn. A Gentile in the next seat remarked: "Madam, I am afraid you will swallow me." "Have no fears," the lady replied. "I am a Jewess and you know that we Jews are careful as to what we eat." Publicity. A beggar entered a restaurant and, approaching a man who appeared to be wealthy, he asked him for alms. The wealthy man resented the beg- gar's intrusion, but in order to get rid of him he picked up a very small piece of bread and handed it to him. Whereupon the beggar took the news- paper from the table and began wrapping the tiny piece of bread in it. "That is beyond the limit!" cried the wealthy diner with indignation. "It is enough I gave you the bread, how dare you take my newspaper?" "I meant no harm," the beggar apologized, "but it seemed only prop- er to me that such a noble gift should at once go into the newspapers." An Insult. "What do you know about that?" a .Jew complained to his friend. "That impudent scoundrel, Chaim, called me an 'old fool!'" "I can understand your anger," the friend replied sympathetically. "It's a mean lie—why, you're not old. You're only 35." Why the Czar Preferred His Ruble. Two batlans were having a discus. slot:. Says one: "I cannot understand why the czar demands a ruble from me for taxes. Hasn't he enough rubles? He makes the money himself, doesn't he? Then why doesn't he make as many rubles as he needs and leave me alone?" "You understand, it's this way," the other batlan explained. "The Talmud says that the kingdom of the earth is like the kingdom of the heaven, and it is well known that when a man performs a good deed, a mitzvah, God creates a new angel in the heavens. Of course you will ask why should God want you to per- form a mitzvah whereby to create an angel, when He could create as many angels as He needs? So the answer is: certainly God can create all the angels He needs, but He wants you to create one for Him just the same. Likewise with the kingdom on earth. The czar can make as many rubles as his heart desires, nevertheless he prefers to have your ruble and mine." TO CO OPERATE - The Christians of America are in- creasingly coming together in a strengthening combination of their forces to face the world with a united front to the end of spreading religion and combatting the world's moral de. linquencies. Our Christian brothers are actively engaged through this en- deavor in bringing the message and influence of their religious ideals to others. In face of this Christian movement Jews must acknowledge with shame as they contemplate the spirit of the Maccabees that they are seriously di- vided religiously and nationally into groups that are not only not co-oper- ative, but are conflicting sod antago- nistic. While the Christians are seek- ing to abandon or bridge over their sectarian differences, Jews are deep- ening the chasm in their midst by their liberalism. A persistence of this condition must, to my mind, mean a progressive deterioration fraught with what may be vital danger. Just as the Christians are coming together so should Jews, not, however, to the end of rivaling but rather to that of more successfully co-operating with them as they are now seeking to co- operate with us.—The Supplement. If you have not broken the shell you cannot eat the kernel. and which shall be as congenial to his When I entered the Hebrew Union heart as the Bible. College, Lewis Browne was already The "Outline" of course, never quite there. lie was only in the high school carried out its author's ambitious pro- department of the college with a gram. It has not been accepted as a stretch of seven or eight years between new divine revelation, and it has not him and his goal of a rabbinical di- replaced the Bible. It has turned out ploma. He was very impatient about to be no more than one of the many the long, long road ahead, yet he was good pamphlets that have been written never quite sure that he really wanted in the cause of international accord. to be a rabbi. His hobby was writing But it did achieve something which and his favorite models were the Eng- was not in its author's mind at all. It lish writers. He consumed everything became the nucleus of the new library Joseph Conrad and II. G. Wells ever of popularized science which we have wrote. Ile was a queer chap at col- seen accumulating since 1921. These lege—was Lewis Browne—his face books all have the laudable aim of looked bigger than all the rest of his making the chief results of scholary body, and his eyes looked bigger than investigation the common possession all the rest of his face. One never knew of all the race. Not long after the pub- what those straining, bulging, wistful lication of "The Outline of History," eyes signified. Those that liked him there appeared J. Arthur Thomson's said it was high aspiration. Those "The Outline of Science" in which as- that did not like him so well said that tronomy was treated as the romance it was mere ambition. Undoubtedly of the heavens, biology as the dream he was very much envied. Although of evolution, and geology as the tale only a student in the high school de- the rocks tell. Immediately following partment, he contributed copiously to this, there were published two works the college periodical, the Hebrew Un- on the Outline of Literature, one by ion College Monthly. When H. G. 31r. Drinkwater and another by Mr. Wells' two specifically religious hooks Macy. Close upon the heels of these appeared, "The Undying Fire" and came the "Outline of Art." A Detroit- "God the Invisible King", Lewis er now entered the field with a book Browne wrote a review of them for called "The Microbe Hunters," in the college monthly in which he con- which 31r. De Kruif creates out of the gratulated H. G. Wells upon his hav- esoteric of bacteriology, a series of ing seen the light and attained almost thrilling short stories. Last winter to the intellectual summit of Jewish the "Science of Psychology" was made monotheism. Ile sent the article to into a novel in Dorsey's "Why We Be- Mr. Wells. A few weeks later he re- have Like Human Beings," and only ceived a note from the great man this summer—who would have believed thanking him politely for his courtesy, it?—the most abstruse and remote of and declining graciously the compli- all human learning, philosophy, was ment that his religion was almost as re-written so that high school boys and good as Judaism. girls might revel in it. I refer to the The receipt of that note, perfunctory "Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant. and non-committal though it was, An Amazing History. proved a decisive event in the career The happy idea came to Mr. Browne of Mr. Browne. He was now in asso- that among the subjects in which peo- ciation with the great. He was carry- ple were very niuch interested for one ing on a literary correspondence. All reason or another was the Jews, and the emotional exuberance of young that the history of the Jews was quite manhood with its fertile capacity for inaccessible even to literary men. the generation of delusions now led Heinrich Greets' classic "History Of Mr. Browne to identify himself as an the Jews" is a work of five volumes, Englishman—as an aristocratic Eng- and all the shorter works either do not lishman and a writer. He cultivated cover the whole of Jewish history, or the accent of an Englishman and as- are written in an academic style, ac- sumed the dress of an Englishman. He ceptable as text books from which to affected all the eccentricities which are study with the guidance of a teacher, supposed to inhere in literary genius. but not inviting as just books to pick Even with a slight effliction of rheu- up and read. Perhaps he saw this op- matism came, he turned it into a bless- portunity for popularizing Jewish ing, for it gave him the opportunity customs because he was rather well to employ a cane in true aristocratic prepared for it. He had given the fashion. It made his identification best years of his youth to studying the with the Englishman of letters practi- Bible. His favorite professor at col- cally complete. All that remained was lege had been Dr. Gottard Deutsch, to write a book. And, so wonderful professor of post-Biblical history. He are the ways of the human mind, the had spent many hours in Dr. Deutsch's book was not long in coming; and study helping Dr. Deutsch in the class- when it came, it was modeled after ifying and filing of his notes and lis- Browne's English idol, Ii. G. Wells. tening, in moments of relaxation, to Dr. Deutsch's vitally humorous and Mr. Browne never completed his keenly searching comments on Jewish course at the Hebrew Union College. and general history. Dr. Deutsch's For reasons best known to himself he influence is visible on most pages of had ceased to love the Hebrew Union Browne's "Stranger Than Fiction," a College and the Jewish community at short story of the Jewish people. In Cincinnati. One summer while spend- setting about this task, Mr. Browne ing his vacation in New York, he start- now sensed a perplexing problem. ed upon the writing of a novel. That Practically all the other popularizers summer he also became an admirer had already made their reputation and intimate of Dr. Stephen S. Wise. through previous works. Van Loon With the help of Dr. Wise he secured was famous before he wrote the "His- what we call a free-lance rabbinical tory of Mankind." Dr. J. Arthur position at Waterbury, Connecticut. Thomson was a world-famous scien- It was while officiating as rabbi in tist before he became editor of the Waterbury, that Lewis Browne found "Outline of Science." 31r. Browne the opportunity to become acquainted was practically unknown. His liter- with literary people in the nearby me- ary works amounted altogether to one tropolis of New York. Sinclair Lewis, or two book review's which had been author of "Main Street" and "Rabbit" published in the Nation and the New was very much impressed by the man- uscript of the novel which Mr. Browne Republic. Mr. Browne decided, it seems, that he must write not merely submitted to him for criticism, and he an interesting history of the Jews, he even consented to write a preface to it. This novel, which was to have been must make it astounding, an amazing called "The Golden Ghetto," was never history, otherwise the work of an ob- published. It probably never will be scure author would receive no atten- for it was an incontinent utterance of tion. This explains the extravagance of the early chapters of "Stranger the bitterness Mr. Browne felt at the time he took his leave of Cincinnati. Than Fiction." Mr. Browne permitted Browne has since outgrown the feel- himself to describe King David, who ing that he must vilify an entire com- is known to tradition as the writer of munity with an entire profession be- the tenderest poetry ever uttered by cause a few tactless people bruised his the soul of man, as a highway robber, youthful sensitiveness. and Mr. Browne made bold to describe King Solomon, who is known to tra- Tho Influence of H. G. Well.. dition as a philosopher and peace-mak- The most fruitful literary contact er and patron of arts and letters, as Mr. Browne niade in New York was nothing other than a pirate. It was that with Ilendrik Van Loot:. It will this sort of daring, iconoclastic writing be recalled that almost simultaneously that excited popular interest in the in the year 1921, Mr. Van Loon and book. It must be conceded, however, Mr. Wells wrote brief and simple his- that once we have prevailed upon our- tories of mankind. Van Loon's book, selves to forgive these extravagances, entitled "The History of Mankind" we find the book a valuable piece of was written ostensibly for children work. What the author loses in his but is actually read only by adults. shallow treatment of David and Solo- lets G. Wells' work "The Outline of mon, he more than compensates for by History" was written for adults, but his rich interpretation of Amos and to Mr. Wells contemporary adults Jeremiah. By the cunning of Browne's were beings who needed to he taught pen, the history of the Jewish people life all over again, from the beginning becomes a magnificent drama, the con- like children. It was from Van Loon flict between the spirit of prophecy that Browne got the idea of illustrat- and the spirit of priestcraft. It is a ing his books with his own pen-and- drama replete with brilliant phrases ink sketches. Drawing was a gift of and holding the attention to the very Mr. Browne's which no one had sus- end. Mr. Browne's book has led peo- pected until his first book appeared. ple to read Jewish history who would It was from Mr. Wells that Browne otherwise never have come near it. In got the idea of popularizing the dread his review of it in the Nation, Van science of history. In Wells' "Out- Loon said that "Stranger Than Fir- line," Mr. Browne saw his opportunity • tion gave him the opportunity he had for emulating the literary giant long sought in vain—to get an inkling whose autographed letter had once of what the Talmud was like and to given him such a mighty urge toward catch a glimpse of Jewish history since writing. Bible days. Not only is it the only Undoubtedly, Mr. Wells is to be book on Jewish history than non-Jews credited with initiating one of the most will read, it is also the only book on salient movements in current book- the subject that Jewish young men making—the systematic populariza- and women will read spontaneously. tion of the vast and fascinating hoards My experience has been that if I place of modern, human knowledge which the book in the hands of one member heretofore was available only to uni- of a family, the book runs through the versity students or to voluminous, entire family. Fathers and mothers, omnivorous readers. It is not true, uncles and aunts insist upon their however, that Wells wrote his outline turn at it. When the history of the merely for the sake of making world- Jews has been made so famelneting, history easier or more convenient read- we can forget one or two error. and ing. Wells informed his work with a one or more extravagances. "tit retie- grand mission to mankind. The "Out- er Than Fiction" Is a much biter line of History" was inspired by the book than "This Believing World." tragedy of the Great War. It was The success of the first 'molt intro- Mr. Wells' conviction that the peoples duced Browne to the well of of Europe were persuaded to go into writers and gained for him his entree that savage conflict because they did into the coveted society of Greenwich not know history. If the average man were so well acquainted with the his- Browne now decided to give up the tory of mankind that he knew in the career of rabbi and devote himself al- first place that wars had always been together to writing. Having estAlb futile, as harmful to the victor as to !jailed • reputation as a popularizer, the vanquished, and knew in the sec- he began looking about for something ond place, that he and his fellows of else to popularize. Why take the cre- all nations were united by their most ative pains of writing novels when fundamental interests — economic, Wells has made history and science so scientific, and artistic—and separated profitable? Ile hit upon the science a. enemies only by silly, groundless superstitions, then, argued Mr. Wells of comparative religion, and he trav- eled to Jerusalem, the city called Holy the average man, knowing all this, by three religions, to write "This Be- simply could not be made to fight. The lieving World," a simple account of dragon of war would be slain by the the great religions of mankind. Sig- magic of • history which the average man shall read as he reads a romance (Continued on next pare.) VIMPOW1444 , 11WW,M4 Wln .Q . R. 0 fl Ct CA' cC c. 4 1