111111:PRZ, PIE iii,TROft irbrIS/I ORONICIA l r atttWa rAW.V3Vg= ziztagazdA V %Vr i.yt= i?, , x. ZO M V &etezin .8 7,::%;.: yalyigaw=juAlziginyindytutor:Nize: OVizt ieVziy_V;I Pa) ETROITI LEWISII ORM ICLE Published Weekly by The Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., President Secretary and Treasurer JOSEPH J. CUMMINS JACOB H. SCHAKNE Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Postoffice at Detroit. Mich.. under the Act of March 3, 1679. General Offices and Publication Building 525 Woodward Avenue Telephone: Cadillac 1040 Cable Address: Chronicle London Office. 14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England. Subscription, in Advance $3.00 Per Year To Insure publication, all correspondence and news matter must reach thie that the greater the material achievements, the greater will be the political successes." Which brings us back home to the more important, if less pretentious, labor of money-raising. Congresses may meet, factions may wrangle, leaders and Execu- tives may come and go, but the slow, drudging work of pledging and paying must go on without a moment's pause. Let us remember that it was only as the colonies of the British Empire developed economically that they succeeded in gaining their present political autonomy. Palestine can be no exception to the rule. "Money talks"—and with more convincing eloquence than the Revisionist orators. office by Tuesday evening of each week. When mailing notices, kindly use one side of the paper only. The Detroit Jewish Chronicle Invites correspondence on subjects of Interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims responsibility for an indorsement of the •Iews eau eeeee d by the writer.. September 16, 1927 Ellul 20, 5687 Revision Without Revisionism. If the convention of the Zionist Organization of America in Atlantic City last June was, as we charac- terized it at the time, the battle of Mishmash, the fif- teenth Zionist congress in Basle was the battle of Arma- geddon. But, like the American convention, it was a Pyrrhic victory for the administration. Weizmann won the battle but he lost the issue. It will be clear to anyone who reads carefully the text of the resolution of confidence printed on this page, that it expresses confidence, not in what the Weizmann administration has done in the past, but in what the Weizmann administration is instructed to do in the fature. It is not an endorsement of the past. It is an expression of hope in the future. When we say that Weizmann won the battle but lost the issue, we must remember that Weizmann's issue was not so much a defense of his past policies as a promise of future policies—some of them quite dif- ferent from those he has pursued in the past. He was not seeking the endorsement of the congress on the basis of his record but on the basis of his future plans, Point by point he yielded to the arguments of the opo- sition—yielded only so much as was necessary to dis- arm them of their most logical contentions and thus absorb their power over the congress. In doing so he proved himself a political tactician whose equal is to be found only at the green baize tables of Geneva or The Hague. It was a masterly piece of political gen- eralship that should win him the respect of even his most unmerciful foes. So far as the endorsement of the Jewish Agency is concerned, the action of the congress was a foregone conclusion from the beginning. Even the opposition confined its hostility to the Agency to a demand that non-Zionists should have a voice only in the economic and not in the political policies of the organization. To its basic principle they offered only a luke-warm loy- alty, it is true, but they were not disposed to take a futile stand against it. In the case of the other great issue involved, the participation of the mandatory power in the upbuild- ing of the National Homeland, the administration yielded to the criticisms of the opposition. It will be recalled that in the general debate on this issue the opposition was not alone in demanding a more vigor- ous attitude towards the British government. Friends as well as foes of the administration urged upon Weiz- mann the necessity for such a policy. On this point it can not be said that Weizmann yielded. The Pales- tine mandate has not given us all that we desire and which we are entitled to expect," but political suc- cesses must be preceded by material achievements. That was all that Weizmann was willing to concede on that point. But, reading the resolution of confidence, we note that the congress was willing to grant the oppo- sition somewhat more in this connection than Weiz- mann was willing to grant. The resolution of confidence begins by agreeing with Weizmann that, That Steuer Sensation. When people who are placed in responsible posi- tions are faced with the necessity of choosing between two courses of action—one commendable but fool- hardy and the other inevitable—we can hardly blame them for choosing the inevitable course. That was the situation in Poland as the J. D. C. found it in the early days of its foreign relief work. How this situation was brought about and what made its course of action—its methods of distribution—inevi- table is fully explained in the statement given out this week by the J. D. C., the full text of which appears in this issue of The Chronicle. It is all very well for Deputy Gruenbaum to pull Mr. Steuer's sleeve in the lobby of a Zurich hotel and pour into his ears the after-thoughts of I-told-you-so criticism. But it is quite another matter when the same Mr. Steuer, returning to New York, repeats this lobby gossip to the press. Granted that the inevitable thing is not always the most desirable thing to do. It seldom is. But to repre- sent the inevitable course as the deliberate choice of the J. D. C. officials is to distort the facts. The alter- native in this case meant the certain death of thousands of famished and destitute families in eastern Europe. Would Deputy Gruenbaum, or, for that matter, Mr. Steuer, have preferred this alternative? Nothing is easier than to criticize people for doing what they were forced to do, even against their wishes. But it is nothing short of ingratitude to imply that their action was the result of stupidity or inefficiency. As the statement of the J. D. C. declares. the men in charge of the distribution of the funds adopted the methods criticized by Gruenbaum "with their eyes open." They saw the possible consequences from the beginning but they also saw the inevitability of their course. It might have been the part of wisdom for some newspapers, especially the Anglo-Jewish newspapers who ought to know better, to withhold Mr. Steuer's charges from publication until the reply of the J. D. C. was forthcoming. The Detroit Jewish Chronicle adopted such an attitude towards the "Steuer sensa- tion" and it has no reason now to reproach itself on being "scooped" by its contemporaries. The mandatory power during this commencement period has restricted itself to establishing order and a working administration. safeguarding security and thereby creating two fundamental conditions for the sound de- velopment of Palestine. But it does not stop with the comfortable assurance that "a new period of greater political work will ensue" only after "the situation will be consolidated." Having granted so much to Weizmann it goes on to say that, The fifteenth Zionist Congress in session assembled at Basle regards it, nevertheless, as necessary to emphasize that the I'alestine administration's passive attitude toward Palestine Jewry and the achievements of the Jewish people is in accordance .neither with the spirit nor with the letter of the mandate. . . . The mandatory power has not given sufficient aid either to the settlement work or to the cul- tural work of the Jews. While the resolution recognizes "with apprecia- tion" the Palestine government's recently increased interest in Jewish colonization, it sees "with regret" that there have been cases recently where "the admin- istration violated the basic interests and even the respect of Palestine Jewry." Then follow ten demands, notably "to speedily carry out the provisions of . Article , 6 of the Mandate concerning the granting of state lands for Jewish colonization," "proper appropriations to be made from public funds for the medical and sanitary requirements in the districts inhabited by Jews," anti certain tax exemptions. In expressing its confidence in the Executive, the congress "urges it to present these demands anti to defend our vital interests and our guaranteed rights." It will be clear to any impartial observer that the opposition played a bigger role in the congress than that of a minority group. The hand of Weizmann is visible in the resolution of confidence but its voice is the voice of Jabotinsky. There is no doubt but that the ten demands made by the congress would, if they were granted by the Pal- estine government, materially improve the situation. It is also reasonably certain that so much of the policy of Revisionism as found its way into the resolution will also redound to the advantage of Zionism. Yet, with all that, we cherish the conviction that wisdom was with Weizmann when he laid clown, as the bed-rock foundation of his policy, the view that "the political success of the work of the Zionist Executive will be pro- portionate with the Zionist achievement in Palestine," ;4 Resolution of Confidence In Weizmann's Leadership I am too busy just now to loaf around a court room to defend myself against a libel suit, so I must be excused from giving details concerning the rabbi in one of the cities of the Northwest who "plays golf on Saturday, dances on Friday night and eats 'chaser.' " My cor- respondent, who invites me to discuss this "treifa" rabbi, has undoubtedly the best intentions, but he can easily understand what I am likely to let myself in for if I accepted his invitation. I imagine that the situation con very easily be corrected locally. Well, I see that my friend Walter hurt is still conse- crating himself to the job of trying to make this old world of ours a decent place to live in. It's a man's sized job all right. Especially when we have so many theologians and so many creeds to real with. his newest venture in the direction of trying to influence men to live together like civilized beings instead of like bar- barians is the launching of a magazine to be known as "The Gladiator," a journal of civilization. It will be devoted to promoting goodwill and a better understand- ing of the social relationships. It will deal with a wide range of subjects. One will appreciate just how diversi- fied its contents when it is announced that George Ber- nard Shaw, II. G. Wells, Clarence Darrow and Random 'thoughts will be found in the same issue. I consider it a privilege to be found in such illustrious company and to be able to contribute something to break down racial and religious barriers that divide the human family. Mr. Ilurt deserves well from the Jewish people of this coun- try and I do hope that his new magazine will be gener- ously supported by Jewish readers. That is the least American Jewry can do to repay one who has devoted his life to championing its cause from the Gentile side. If Mr. Hurt will advise me of the subscription price of the magazine and where subscriptions may be sent, I ant sure he will receive the fullest co-operation of the entire Jewish press of the country. Zionism In Russia. When the Conference on Minority Rights convened in Zurich one of the first things it did was to pass a resolution of protest directed against "the persecution of Zionists and Zionism in Russia," When the fifteenth Zionist congress convened in Basle one of the first things that came up for discus- sion before its actions committee was a demand for a resolution of protest against "the persecution of Zion- ism and the Hebrew language in Russia." What is the purport of these resolutions of protest and what are the facts of the case? We have taken pains to inform ourselves by corre- spondence with the most reliably informed authority on the subject, a man who knows more about the facts of the case than any other man, having lately returned from a long stay in Russia where he filled a position of great authority. From this authority we learn that the Zionists who were arrested there were not arrested for the reason that they were Zionists but because they were, in one way or another, connected with the Menshevik and Social Revolutionary parties, which are considered counter-revolutionary. This, it seems to us, is an important distinction. We have a corollary in certain arrests and subsequent deportations that were made in this country during the war. Some of the men who were deported were Jews anti, at the time, there was a hue anti a cry in some Jew ish circles, that these men deserved the intercession of the Jewish community — that they were being deported because they were Jews anti therefore unde- sirable aliens. The fact was that they were being deported, not because they were Jews, but because they were, in the opinion of the department of justice, revolutionaries against the state, evaders of the draft and obstructors of the war. We cannot sympathize with the Soviet Union for its imprisonment of political dissenters. but neither can we share the view of the Zionists that the Soviet Union is singling out Zionists for persecution. A similar statement of the facts can also be made with reference to the alleged persecution of the Hebrew 110I. IR I StltIllt1 WS a lalli,tlagt Vol 6. a language. means of religious instruction, says our informant. Religious instruction is against the law of the country anti affects Jews as well as other groups. As a matter of fact. however, our informant points out, this prohi- bition has not been strictly enforced—an old failing of legal prohibitions whether of the mind or the body. A number of books have been published, such as the Sidur and Churnish, and were legally printed by some of the congregations. The contention of the Soviet government is that the real language of the Jewish peo- ple is Yiddish and not Hebrew and there is absolutely no discrimination against Yiddish. In the Jewish dis- tricts the courts and official government business are conducted in Yiddish. In one district in the Caucasus, where the Jewish people do not speak Yiddish, there is a Jewish school where instruction is carried on in Hebrew. In view of the fact that the Soviet Union of Russia has been friendly anti helpful to Jewish colonization more than any other government in the world, it ill becomes any Jewish body to direct protests against it charging persecution without first making sure of the justice of its complaint. rag.A mulge z.- aatTs.14:,',1 ,' 6 1- • A`2 I am glad that an outstanding Christian occasionally relieves me of the burden of answering fool-statements regarding, the Jews. In this instance, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Parkes Cadman, one of the world's most influential lead- ers of Christian thought, is the person to whom I am in- debted. Along conies this question: "Do you think that the Jew is largely respon- sible for dirty politics, dirty business practices, dirty plays and dirty novels? I admire your long suffering, but in this case confession is good for the soul." I do net very much care for the business of the pot calling the kettle black. But your ques- tion almost necessitates it. True, the Jew pro- duces his quota of foul minded and unscrupulous persons, in which undesirable respect his Gentile rival is a formidable competitor. Yet, so far as I recollect, the Jew did not fig- ure very largely in the recent oil scandals nor in the conscienceless robberies of the war veterans' hospital supplies and funds. Certainly he did not write all the most salacious and contaminating plays and novels we hove to endure or the ma- jority of them. The tabloid press, which supplies Demos, are not his. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ilosea and Amos and the gospels and epistles of the New Testament. Every one of these was the product of a Jew; and while lastingly superior, they are by no means solitary. Study them and all else worthy which is trace- able to our Hebrew brethren from Moses to Spinoza anti from Miriam to Mendelssohn. They may adjust your ill-balanced outlook anti rein- force your justice and charity. Max Steuer certainly threw a bombshell into Eu- ropean Jewish relief. Steuer is one of the best criminal lawyers in New York and is considered an excellent judge between a sheep and a goat. Mr. Steuer says that he received information that only 60 per cent of the money sent abroad prior to 1925 was distributed. The remaining 40 per cent disappeared through some financial hocus-pocus into Polish bankers' pockets. But worse than that is the statement that even the 60 per cent did very little good. It looks very much as if an investiga- tion is in order and it should be ordered one-two-three. Unless this situation is cleared up, Jewish relief will have a hard road to travel for sonic years to come. And in- dignation with Mr. Steuer because of his remarks is just a waste of time. What's needed is to look the worst in the face and see if it's as bad as it's represented, to be. That is a great honor which has been accorded Judge Benjamin Cardoso, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of New York state. President Coolidge has invited him to become one of the American members of the Interna- tional Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, commonly known as The Ilague Tribunal. Oscar Straus was a member of this tribunal until his death a year ago. In appointing Judge Cardozo, the President will make no mistake, as Cardozo is undoubtedly head and shoulders above any judge now sitting in New York state. He has a remarkable legal mind. Ile is also a man of unusual character and is indeed a credit to the Jews of the United States. (c) TO release the new settl•- The resolution submitted by the ments during the first year from io political committee and adopted by he payment of the osher (tithe). the fifteenth Zionist Congress read t as follows: (d) To replace the tithe by a definite annual payment until the ttici• The upbuilding work done in Palestine under Zionist auspices I and tax system is reformed, for decades, especially since the is- (e) To exempt the new factories 4'. suance of the Balfour declaration, from the occupation tax for 10 to ` 4 :=1 .. has created the foundation for the 15 years. Jewish national home and thereby (0 To speedily carry out the the mandatory power as well as provisions of article 6 of the man- 14 public opinion of the world have date concerning the granting of been shown that the Jewish people state lands for Jewish colonization. are capable. of performing the task In cases where the border litres be- and are determined to justify the tween state and private Komi t y grave responsibility imposed upon are doubtful, those parts of state it by the mandate. lands which are beyond dispute should he allocated anti the re- The mandatory power during mainder held over for later deci- this commencement period has re- sion. stricted itself to establishing order (g) More active suppOrt by the and a working administration, government for trade and industry, safeguarding security and thereby especially through the creation of creating two fundamental condi- better opportunities to develop new tions for the sound development of industrial undertakings. Palestine. ( h) To effect labor l eg i sl a ti on i n The fifteenth Zionist Congress in order that the rights of the workers session assembled at Bashi regards be legally secured, especially a it, nevertheless, as necessary to em- standard of wages, an right-hour phasize that the Palestine admin- day, and the protection of women istration's passive attitude toward and children workers. The govern- the Yishub (Palestine Jewry) and ment should also participate in the the achievements of the Jewish peo- costs of 1111 approved method of so- ple is in accordance :wither with cial insurance in favor of the eco- the spirit nor with the letter of nomically weaker sections of the the mandate. The great value of population. L the Jewish uphuilding work in Pal- (i) A more proportionate en- estine, which is serving the whole gagement of Jewish workers at the country economically and culturally proper wage rates on government is no wise sufiiciently acted up to undertakings, including the rail. by this attitude. The mandatory ways and government public power has not given sufficient aid works. A fair wage clause should either to the settlement work or to be made a part of all government the cultural work of the Jews. The contracts. elementary citizenship require- (j) ('roper appropriations to be ments in the fields of education, made from public funds for the health, etc., of Palestine Jewry medical and sanitary requirements have not been satisfied by the Pal- in the districts inhabited by Jews. estine administration to the same The fifteenth Zionist Congress extent as it has been for the other expresses its confidence in the exec- parts of the population. utive and urges it to present these With appreciation the fifteenth demands and to defend our vital 'Zionist Congress declares that the interests and our guaranteed Palestine government has lately rights. The executive is further in- been interesting itself more strong- structed to demand that the gov- ly in the affairs of the Yishub. It ernment, in effecting current pro- gave assistance in more eases re- a. grams for public works, take into cently. The congress, nevertheless, consideration the state of the labor finds itself compelled to establish market and give the Zionist Organ- regretfully that no basic change in ization every support in securing the mandatory's system is yet ob- credits for upbuilding purposes, es- servable regarding active assist- pecially for amelioration works in ance in the upbuilding of the Jew- the undeveloped agricultural areas. ish national home. This is shown The congress recognizes the value by various measures and ordi- for public opinion in the executive's nances lately promulgated which information a n d enlightenment are designed to hinder the develop- work done in the circles of the ment of the Jewish settlement. League of Nations and through the With deep regret the fifteenth establishment of pro-Palestine com- Zionist Congress points to cases mittees in various countries. The where the recent practice of the fifteenth Zionist Congress hopes administration violated the basic that the executive will continue and rights and the vital interests and extend this work in Europe and even the respect for the Yishub, America and in the Arab and Mos- such as the question of the frontier lem world. defence force, and the attitude of The fifteenth Zionist Congress the mandatory power toward the regrets that the Palestine govern- Jewish holy places. ment has formed a frontier force The development of the Jewish without taking into account the people's uphuilding work in Pales- urgent representations and just de- tine demands active support and mands made by the Jewish settle- the participation of the Palestine ment, thereby violating the rights government in the spirit of the of the Yishub. The congress de- mandate by creating special condi- mands that the Jewish Yishub be tions and facilities for the settlers represented according to its just de- during the early period of their mands and requirements for the work. The economic development of safe-guarding of its national and the Yishub (Jewish settlement) de- religious interests. The congress mands especially the follow re- demands the participation of Jews forms: according to their strength in all (a) A reduction of the werko, the police, security and defense forma- occupation tax payable by the pur- tions in the country. chaser. Palestine citizenship is a funda- (b) A reduction of the costs of mental national duty and the con- the kushans (land deeds) and that gress demands that every Jew liv- this should not be based on the pur- ing in l'alestine accept this duty. chase price. Some of my readers won't even let me select a com- panion for a vacation without uttering a protest. Some weeks ago I said that I would like to loaf with Lewis Browne, the author, at the McDowell Colony, in Peter- boro, N. Now comes a friendly critic from Newark, N. J., who asks: Allow me to ask you, who is a great admirer of Lewis Browne, how as a faithful and loyal Jew in Israel, and holding the admiration of your fel- low Jews, you could be so anxious to be in com- pany of one who calls King David a "Robber Chieftan" and King Solomon a "fool." There are a great many persons who hold correct opinions of many subjects, including those of religion, in whose company I wouldn't spend a minute's time. There are other factors in choosing a companion for a vacation jaunt than historical accuracy. Even Democrats and Republicans have been known to enjoy each other's society. Lewis Browne is a very, very interesting per- sonality, and while I by no means agree with all he says, he is wonderful company. However, I am always in- terested in knowing that my readers keep a watchful eye on my movements. • Only after being appointed an honorary member of the Committee of the International Press Exhibition did I discover just how ninny Jewish publications there are in existence. There are about 4,000 newspapers and periodicals published in 30 different languages. About 650 in Hebrew, 1,500 in Yiddish, 500 in German, 500 in English, 100 in French, 200 in Russian, 100 in Judi, Spanish, 50 in Polish, 50 in Hungarian, 51) in Dutch, 30 . In Roumanian. 30 in Arabic and 30 in Italian. I - - Throughout the Jewish communities of the country there is a marked increase in the sale of Lincoln cars. which indicates that our co-religionists in a spirit of Christian forgiveness are holding out the olive branch to Mr. Ford. For many years it was painful to witness the bravery of many of our fellow Jews in courageously re- sisting the temptation to purchase a Ford car, and now it must be a great relief to them that their period of sacrifice is ended. • The Zionists must really show a little more forbear- ance toward each other. I do not know. of course. all the details of the trouble that took place at Basle, which resulted in Dr. Stephen Wise walking nut of the confer- ence and going to Paris. He probably felt perfectly jus- tified in his course. But, unfortunately, these bitter con- troversies create an unfavorable impression upon Jewry at large. Dr. Weizmann seems to have been the storm center throughout the entire congress, yet he always im- pressed me as being a man of good sense and not difficult to work with. It is interesting to observe the extension of Jewish influence in the field of athletics. Prize fighting and foot- ball seem to be the only fields in which the Jew has ob- tained any degree of prestige. In golf the Jews have contributed no great player, but there have been some great track athletes. However, the two little Zitenfield girls, who attempted to swim the English channel, will sooner or later add to the glory of the Jewish name in the world of sports. Cy G fly C [ Jewish Press Unanimously Condemns "Steuer Sensation" Jewish Daily News. The Yiddish press is unanimous in its criticism of the accusation and later modification of his charge by Max D. Steuer with regard to Jewish relief funds sent to Europe prior to 1925. An Irresponsible Sensation. Mr. Steuer is a great criminal lawyer. Ile is learned and knows how to differentiate between facts and talk. Ile knows the principle of evidence. He knows that evi- dence from third-hand cannot be accepted and even at first-hand an able lawyer must look for the mo- tive of the witness. Now, Mr. Stotler, the lawyer, did not take all this into consideration. Ile had heard something and Made a sen- sation of it. Ile forgot that Gruen- haunt was here not long ago and had he really had a case he could have made it public when he was here. Sir. Naundierir is a man who often writes short stories which may be good and which are some- times n ot so good, but his author- ity as a social worker and cham- pion of truth is not yet established. Mr. Steuer should have been the last man to take hotel lobby and cafe talk and ((tier it as facts. However, there was, as Shakes- peare said, a method in his mad- ness. There was a reason fur Sir. Steuer to make this sensation. . Steuer was a delegate to the con- ference on Jewish rights held in Zurich. All the great Jewish or- ganizations, rightly or wrongly, re- fused to participate in it. The con- ference was greatly excited over this and it was necessary to hit back. Mr. Steuer has simply excludel himself from the role of a Jewish communal leader. Such accusations are not made by a man of respon- sibility without the slightest evi- rlence but only on the basis of what he heard from Gruenbaum and Naumberg. The Jewish public will know in what light to take suet, wild assertions. Jewish Morning Journal. A Good Lawyer's Bad Cue.. The ever dissatisfied and always revolting Deputy Isaac Gruenbaum of Warsaw has had a talk with our well-known Max D. Steuer in Zu- rich. Gruenbaum pumped into Steuer the old and 100 times re- peated assertion concerning the losses suffered by American relief work through the changing rates of exchange of the Polish currency. At home, Mr. Steuer is too busy with his professional and other du- ties to he informed concerning everything which was done and which is being done in the large and wide-flung relief work. However, in the mild climate of Switzerland where a rest could be easily taken from the "fight for minority rights" on a battlefield where the enemy was absent, the old story was told the American jurist as something new. The American inrict cominv home Iyave out the story as good currency. It is. therefore, natural that Mr. Steuer should have to apologize fur the had case which Gruenbaum gave him. The Day. Irresponsibility. Mr. Marshall is absolutely right in his attitude. Mr. Steuer makes himself only ridiculous and to a high degree irresponsible when he attempts to place anybody under suspicion for that unfortunate time. On the other hand, Mr. Steuer prates that he knows very little concerning Jewish affairs and Jew- ish relief work in particular. Be- ing anxious to get out of the great mistake he made, he tells a story that certain Polish Jewish repre- sentatives in Zurich have talked with him concerning a plan to col- onize Polish needy Jew's on the land. That plan may perhaps be all right and we have nothing in principle against it, but it has no connection with the questien. What remains to he hoped is that Mr. Steuer's irresponsibility will not cause any harm to Jesiish re- lief work in any form. Knowledge without sense is two- fold fully. Fear is the alarm clock of seep- ing memory. There's always a floating piece of wood to help a blind tortoise. Jealousy knows no loyalty. lie who anticipates his good fortune risks it by his presump- tion. `,V=4214444,14444A .... ...................... ....