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January 30, 1930 - Image 4

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle, 1930-01-30

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

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Published Weekly by The Jewish Chi onule Publishing Cm, Inc.

Entered as Serond.elass matter M•reb 3, 1916, at the Potts
office at Detroit. /Lich.. kind. the At of March 11, 1619.

General Offices and Publication Building
525 Woodward Avenue

Telephone: Cadillac 1040

L

Cable Adair., Chronicle

onJon ()Hue

14 Stratford Place, London, W. 1, England

Subscription, in Advance

$3.00 Per Year

To insure publication,all correspondence and news matter
must re..eh this office by Tor.Dy evening of each week.
When marling notices, kindly use one side of the paper only.

The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invitee correspondence on sub.
Mots of interest to the Jewish people. but disclaims responsi-
bility for an indorsement of the views "pressed by the writers

Sabbath Readings of the Torah.
Pentateuchal portion--Ex. 6:2-9:35.
Prophetical portion—Ezek. 28:25.29-21.

January 31, 1930

Shvat 2, 5690

The Chimerical Spanish Proposal.

When the plan was sensationally pro-
claimed two weeks ago for the settlement
of Eastern European Jews in Spain, we ex-
pressed doubt as to the possibility of arous-
ing enthusiasm among Jews over making
peace with the soil which was cursed by
the Inquisition, in spite of the fact that
Jews never think of the land in terms of
revenge. We expressed the belief, at the
same time, that such a plan may meet with
the opposition of the church in Spain. And
it is the church, after all, which must make
amends for the sufferings imposed upon the
Jews by the Inquisition.
In proof of our second contention, we
are now able to quote the Madrid corres-
pondent of the Christian Science Monitor
who states that the news of the proposal
for settling Jews in Spain met with
"amused surprise." This writer states that
"it is most doubtful if present negotiations
will lead to any immediate result despite
the broadmindedness of the Dictator (Gen-
eral Primo de Rivera, who just resigned)
who indeed would find Jewish sympathies
and finanical help useful in the present
crisis but would hardly dare antagonize the
Ecclesiastical Party by officially encourag-
ing establishment of Jewish colonies."
But this correspondent suggests another
obstacle in the way of such Jewish coloni-
zation when he states that "the immigra-
tion question is certain to provoke difficul-
ties if officially raised, for encouragement
of employment of Jewish labor would give
rise to widespread protests."
Another nail in the coffin of the pro-
posal for Jewish settlement in Spain is the
statement of Carlos Prast, president of the
Madrid Chamber of Commerce, who not
only spoke unfavorably of the entire pro-
ject but said he did not want binding assur-
ances amounting to special privileges for
the Jew. Furthermore, he saw no reason
for bringing more laborers into Spain. He
is to he commended for the frankness, no
matter how unpleasant, of this additional
statement: "Spain would do well to avoid
the Jewish troubles of other nations. If
American Jews want to help Eastern Euro-
pean Jews they should prevail upon Amer-
ica to admit more."
Everything in this new chimerical pro-
posal points to irresponsibility with which
its protagonists attempt to plunge Jews
into fantastic ventures and thereby arouse
false hopes in the hearts of oppressed Jews.
Two important colonization ventures are
now being sponsored by Jews—in Russia
and in Palestine—and to attempt other,
much more difficult, schemes would only
hurt the causes now in process of realiza-
tion.

The so-called symposium on the Pales-
tine situation staged last Tuesday evening
at the Detroit Institute of Arts demonstrat-
ed that Jews should be careful in the future
not to debate with men who are unin-
formed on the entire problem. The Brit-
ish M. P. who spoke here so completely
failed to give anything other than a resume
of the Magnes proposal—anti that has been
rehashed in the Jewish press for weeks—
that his appearance here in the guise of an
authority on the Near East merely gave an
opportunity to two warring factions to
shout their sentiments without either reas-
oning or differentiating on facts.
Jews will do well to emulate the settlers
in Palestine, where Arabs and Jews work
side by side, without thought of animosity,
—the Arabs having in many instances apol-
ogized for the recent outbreaks and the
Jews having forgiven. Only in this coun-
try agitators are fanning the flames of hat-
red. For the sake of peace, let us ignore
these agitators and instead unselfishly up-
hold the hands of the builders of Zion.

Is theoU.

're

I

k,

Scanning the
Horizon

0

'

I

,

ti.i,-;;M511.: 14,VAytUtzt Aina_*ginit

'6 11'

a Christian Nation?

The United States is a Christian nation, and

such Sunday laws and observance thereof as

exist in this and other Christian nations simply

bespeak of the religious interests and beliefs of
the great majority. It is obviously impossible

to legislate to suit the religious convictions of

all sects, otherwise the atheist or others might
require that the seven-day week and observ-
ance of all Sabbaths be abolished.

Accordingly, under a fixed calendar, no laws

would prohibit u Sabbatarian or a Jew from

voting, should election day happen to coincide
with the day he chooses to call his Sabbath. The

' '

1

ties are not civil abridgements of his rights,
but are altogether inconveniences he must
experience simply because of his particular
religious creed and convictions.

The Jews and Sabbatarians already suffer
economic hardship through the exercise of
religious convictions which require them to
refrain from business pursuits on Saturdays.
They are free to exercise their religion in this
way, but neither the Constitution nor the laws
protect them from the economic consequences.

In spite of Rabbi Schwefel's statement
that "this is the first time that such a decla-
ration has been made in all the discussions
which I have read and heard concerning
calendar reform," Dr. Marvin's was not
the first declaration of the type. Others
before him have labeled this a Christian
nation, and the millions of Christians who
form the vast Ina.kiritT01- 4he population
appear to accept this designation as a fact.
All of which• not only places the minori-
ties on the defensive in matters affecting
their religious practices, but burdens them
with the grave responsibility of constantly
battling for those rights of religious free-
dom, and for the separation of church and
state, which are guaranteed by the Consti-
tution of the United States.
Unfortunately the guarantees of the Con-
stitution are from time to time abused, and
the holiest principles of early American-
ism thereby besmirched. Certainly the
founders of this Republic never intended
to press hardships upon Sabbattarians who
"already suffer e c o n o m i c hardships
through the exercise of religious convic-
tions which require them to refrain from
business pursuits on Saturdays." Thomas
Jefferson must have turned in his grave for
shame when the statement of Dr. Marvin
was uttered.

Palestine Jewry's Courage.

The courage that is being displayed by
the Jewish settlers in Palestine is most
heartening. In contrast with the panicky
attitude of Jews in this country, the settlers
in the Jewish Homeland, immediately fol-
lowing the unfortunate August riots, pro-
ceeded with practical effort for the upbuild-
ing of the land.
Thus, the Jews of Ekron went to Hulda
to plow the land after the original settlers
had been dispersed as a result of the de-
struction of the colony by Arabs. The Jew-
ish National Fund colonies report unprece-
dented activities. The present settlers are
not only determined to go on with their
work, but they continually call for addi-
tional Chalutzim to settle in Palestine.
The builders of Zion seem determined to
leave politics to Diaspora Jewry. They are
too busy building to be concerned with
petty squabbles. There is a healthy lesson
for all Jews in this attitude.

There was much talk at the Palestine
meeting about "equity," "justice," "rights,"
etc., etc.. but if Fenner Brockway, M. P.,
fails to pay a royalty to Dr. Judah L.
Magnes for the use of his ideas in his ad-
dresses in this country, it will be the gross-
est injustice.

"Aroisgevorfen finf-un-ziebtzig cent,"
was heard on all sides at the Palestine
meeting last Tuesday.

THE

, •

Aka

By BERNARD POSTAL

4.: .0

editor of the Menorah Journal, in which he severely
criticized an article appearing in that publication.
In reply, I received the following letter from the
author of the offending article which I publish
without comment:

- 4--

MARKET AND THE
SYNAGOGUE

The recent debacle on the stock
exchange recalls the famous North-
ern Pacific panic, which is gener-
ally regarded as one of the worst
in American history. Strange to
say, the Jewish synagogue figured
in that panic.
If Jacob Schiff had not been in
the synagogue that Saturday, per-
haps there would have been a dif-
ferent ending to that great clash
between Ilarriman and Hill, which
eventuated in the great panic. A
very good account of that financial
"battle is given, by the way, in
Mark Sullivan's "Our Times."
It seems from that account that
Harriman telephoned the banking
firm of Schiff to buy 40,000 more
shares of stock in the Northern
Pacific. Schiff had already in his
possession many hundred thousand
shares and figured that enough.
Ilarriman thought differently and
tried to get in touch with Schiff,
but Schiff was "davening" in the
synagogue as Jewish bankers used
to tin in those days.
At any rate, the fight resulted
in a deadlock between the Harri-
man interests, supported by Schiff,
and the Hill interests, financed by
Morgan.

My Dear Mr. Joseph:

As the author of the story "Old Man Re-
shinsky," which so much offended Rabbi Leo
Franklin, may I ask leave to answer him in
your columns. My concern is not with de-
fending myself (for I have examined my con-
science and found it clear). But I am seri-
ously concerned lest the criticism prompted by
my story react unfavorably upon the good-
will which the public owes to the Menorah
Journal, whose general virtues, until it printed
my story, Dr. Franklin seemed willing to
acknowledge.
Dr. Franklin writes that niy story "fairly
reeks with vile suggestion as to the character
of the Jew." The story—let sic correct him
—is about a Jew. Dr. Franklin is either care-
less about his use of the definite article, or
else purposely misrepresents the nature of my
story. Nowhere have I suggested that my
character is typical of the Jew. That vile
suggestion comes from Dr. Franklin. Since I
am myself most belligerently a Jew, Dr. Frank-
lin is simply being nasty when he suggests that
my purpose in writing the story was anti-
Semitic.
What I did in my story, as simply as I am
telling it now, was to write of a Jewish charac-
ter who happened to be a most thorough-going
and rather humorous—I thought—old scoun-
drel. Does Dr. Franklin mean to deny that
such a character can exist among Jews as well
as among other people, or does he question my
right as a writer to depict any Jew in any but
a most favorable light? Does Dr. Franklin
Is he afraid
fearowhat the goyim may think?
of a pogrom? Let him withdraw his original
statement, which is unfair and malicious in its
implications, and I shall be glad to argue with
him, soberly and civilly, as to the wisdom of
my course in writing freely about all Jewish
characters, good or bad.
But after all, what Dr. Franklin misses is
that my story is really a very moral story, and
in a sense rather more flattering to the Jews
than not. Doesn't it prove what we are most
anxious to prove—that the Jews take care of
their own?
Sincerely,
LOUIS BERG.

I

AM IN receipt of an inquiry from one of my
readers asking me whether literature on Jewish
science is available. I know that there is a publica-
tion issued in the interest of Jewish science and
that leaders of the movement hold regular meetings
in New York. But I cannot at the moment place
my hands on any literature, so I would ask that
some one who is interested in the movement, to
please advise me where such literature is obtain-
able so that I may convey the information to my
inquiring correspondent. Jewish science has gradu-
ally added to its numbers of followers, despite the
fact that it has been attacked by several of our
leaders. I'ersonally, I am not sufficiently acquaint-
ed with its teachings to appreciate whether it has
any merit or not. At any rate I imagine that those
Jews who look with favor on Christian Science may
find it more comforting to their conscience to take
up a science that at least has the name Jewish
attached to it,

DID YOU KNOW—

That a young Jewish financier,
in his 30's, is contemplating soon
the erection of a building of 100
stories, which will outdo by some
20 flights the mammoth building
being erected under the supervi-
sion of Al Smith?
That 80 per cent of the builders
of New York City are Jewish?
That the Yeshivah has no regu-
lar graduating classes or time, and
the would-he rabbis there must
wait until Dr. Revel decided that
they are qualified to assume the
post of rabbis?
That it is whispered that one of
the reasons for Dr. Louis I. New-
man's coming to New York is his
hope of pushing the movement for
a Jewish university to a successful
consummation?
That you have to search with a
microscope for a Jewish member
of the faculty of New York Uni-
versity, although the two largest
gifts to the institution last year
were made by Jews?
That in order to obtain a ;tosi-
lion on the faculty of the secular
division of the Yeshivah college
one must be either a 100 per cent
observing Jew or a Christian? No
un-Orthodox Jews are allowed.
That Meyer Levin, Chicago
newspapermai, who authored "Re-
porter,' is now in Palestine.
That a descendant of La Ponte,
the famous Jewish Case-axons,
about whom recently a volume was
issued, is a la wyer in Seattle?

SHE IS DISAPPOINTED
Maybe you a don't know who
Doris Fleischman is. Well, she is
a counsellor of public relations,
which is a glorified way of saying
"press agent." And she is a good
one. Moreover, she is the author
of a book, "Careers for Women."
And moreover again, she is the
wife of Edward L. Betnays, who is
regarded as one of the monarchs
of publicity and Bernays inci-
dentally is a relation of Sigmund
Freud.
But what I was going to tell you
is that Miss Fleischman has just
written an article in which she de-
clares that women. despite all the
feminist emancipation, do not
amount to much in the world at
large. In the business world, she •
declares. women have succeeded
only in rare and outstanding in-
stances. And Miss Fleischman is
very much disturbed at this. Wo-
men seem to develop into what are
known as "the right hand man of
the boss," but they seldom become
partners in the business or the

bosliv
s;e are not so worried. We
hope if we ever have a wife that
she will be the daughter of the

(Turn to Next Page)

JEWS IN THE NEWS

week I received a copy of a letter written
L AST
by Rabbi Leo Franklin of Detroit, sent to the

By DAVID SCHWARTZ

IT LOOKED BLACK FOR
WHITE
A couple of decades ago, a man
who indulged in gags to excess
was looked upon askance. He was
a loafer. No good would come of
him. Today, he is an expert, and
can dictate his own terms. The
loafer has at last cone into his
own in many ways. There is
George White, f H. instance, George
is a Jewish boy, who was not only
looked upon as a loafer, but was
regarded as being a candidate for
the loafer championship. His uni-
versity was the pool room. Ile
went through all the classes there,
graduating cum laude.
Everybody predicted that George
would spend the major part of his
adult life in jail. Instead, George
being a psychologist decided that a
lot of people are loafers indeed,
that most of us want to be loafers.
So he launched "The Scandals."
Today George White's "Scandals"
are as much a part of New York as
Ziegfeld's follies. George thinks
he is still loafing. lie is, but it is
paying him heavy dividends.

alleged economic hardships and civil disabili-

.td.,

iF
1 1 1 40Atai laGlidtt

eCharles If. Joseph

WANTED—MORE LAUGHS
The "gag" business which
such a staple of the modern e , i-
umnist's trade is in bad straits. I:
is all due to excessive prosperit ∎ .
The columnist who can deliver a
column full of gags per day coa
command in New York a mini-
mum of half a thousand a week.
The result has been a keen compe-
tition in digging up the laugh ma-
terial. Old gags are dusted off,
polished up and put forth as new
and even Walter Winchell, gener-
ally recognized as supreme in the
gag line has been forced to resort
to telegrams to keep his supply re-
plenished.
Winchell has been
sending out telegrams of late re-
questing gags.
And Al Jolson, it is said, has a
man in New York, whose sole busi-
ness is to wire him, no matter
where Jolson may be, any good
nifty that has been sprung.

In the course of a debate on the question
of the proposed reform of the calendar,
which took place at Washington recently
between Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel and Dr.
Charles F. Marvin, Chief of the United
States Weather Bureau, the latter Made the
following statement:

Confusion Worse Confounded •
In London, Lucien Wolf, secretary of the
Joint Foreign Committee of the Board of
Deputies and the Anglo-Jewish Associa-
tion, declared that "Jews of Eastern Europe
are in better condition today because the
Minorities Treaties are on the whole work-
ing •well." Ile warned against believing
that the Jews of Eastern Europe are in a
worse plight now than they were before
the World War.
But in New York, Dr. Leon Bramson,
president of the International Ort, describ-
ed nearly two million Jews in Eastern Eu-
rope as being on the verge of ruin, declar-
ing that "the Jewish economic situation is
getting worse" and that their only hope lies
in industrialization. without which these
millions "are sentenced to gradual death
through starvation."
Thus confusion rules in the ranks of our
people, opinions varying geographically,
depending in many instances on the money
values of respective communities. This
condition almost suggests the applicability
of the lines from Milton:
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confusion worse confounded.
After all the efforts to co-ordinate Jew-
ish relief efforts in one centralized body. it
is to be regretted that such unity has not
yet been attained, not even in agreement
over the conditions of European Jewry.
This is especially to be regretted in view of
the evident importance of movements like
the Ort, whose cause may be seriously hurt
by denials of the true seriousness of the

European situation.

S.

J• '

rn retv.-"mar.

The Palestine Symposium.

E VET ROITJEWISil 61 RON ICLE

... R J ri
imw
ICU

I

HAVE another request that I wish some reader
would comply with. Mrs. Louis Spiegel of 3629
Oakland avenue, Minneapolis, Minn., writes me:
Saturday, Jan, 18, I tuned in on KSTP,
transmitted from New York, and overheard a
discussion by Jacob Dellaas., Mr. Rosenberg
and an Arab, Mn, Nahaan, concerning Pales-
tine. I tuned in on the last few minutes and it
was so interesting that I am anxious to hear
all of it. Can you possibly find sonic one who
overheard the Zionist meeting and please pub-
lish same in American Jewish World of Minne-
apolis so that everyone interested may read it?
It rests with the editor of the American Jewish
World if they desire to publish the discussion. At
any rate if the speeches are available, they may be
sent to Mrs. Spiegel, who in turn can turn them
I would like to
over to the Minneapolis paper.
read them myself as I imagine they must have been
very interesting and informative.
I am sure that
if my good friend Jacob Dellaas sees this para-
graph he will accommodate me.

I

WAS always under the impression that the Gratz
family of Philadelphia, the one whose daughter
Rebecca was immortalized by Scott in "Ivanhoe,"
was of Portuguese descent. But a young lady in
Pittsburgh who has gathered a great deal of statis-
tical information concerning the Jews of Pennsyl-
vania, tells me that they came from Upper Silesia.
And another interesting fact I learned was that
they were Indian traders, coming to Pittsburgh,
which at that time was Fort Pitt. It has often
been said that the Portuguese Jews of Philadelphia
in those early days preferred to marry Christians
than German Jews, adopting the same superior atti-
tude toward German Jews as the German Jews later
adopted toward the Jews of Eastern and Southern
Europe.

I

• •

AM a little slow but eventually I get around to
seeing things. The other night I saw Arliss in
the talking picture "Disraeli." It was a relief to
see genuine acting. But what impressed sic was
that the author of the play, Louis Parker, was not
under any disillusionment concerning Disraeli as a
Jew. lie indicated throughout the action of the
play that the English public looked upon Disraeli as
a Jew regardless of how much Christian holy water
he sprinkled on himself. When a controversy oc-
curred no one minced matters when it came to
injecting the Jew into the controversy. Of course
the picture is not historically accurate, nevertheless
I haven't the slightest doubt but that Disraeli was
considered a Jew and that when reference was made
to him, especially by one in disagreement, it was
never forgotten that he was a Jew, an alien. The
picture is a splendid one, though of course it is
melodrama. It is amusing to see how Disraeli has
been made a sort of Sherlock Holmes endowed with
uncanny insight into the machinations of the evil-
minded enemies of England and how with all the
skill of Holmes, he outwits his enemies,

what are we going to do about it. Mrs.
W ELL,
Estelle Sternberger, the very alert national

secretary of the Council of Jewish Women, says
that there are ten thousand Jewish young men and
women in New York and eight thousand in Chicago,
who are unable to obtain employment just because
they are Jews. There has been a lot of talk about
this problem for a number of years, but no one has
made a definite effort to solve it. Of course. Mrs.
Sternberger must know that a number of Jewish
employers will not employ Jewish help. Rather
ironic to say the least. But it's a fact and I have
the information. A year ago I wrote on this sub-
ject and received letters from Jews who frankly
admitted, that they preferred non-Jewish help. And
they had all sorts of reasons, one of them being
that Jewish girls have marriage on their mind and
that a job is a sort of a half-way station on the
road to matrimony. Therefore, their social active.
ties are stressed over the 'phone and through call-
ers during business hours. But this does not seem
to me to be a valid objection because Jewish girls
are not much different than any others in this re-
spect. But whatever the cause, the fact remains
that Jewish girls are discriminated against in office
employment. And Jewish young men likewise.
Perhaps an organized effort can be made through
some agency to extend the field of employment for
our co-religionists. It is becoming ■ very serious
menace to economic advancement.

9.9A 0

I.ike father or son may or rimy
not he a truism with little truth
but one can hardly say that Sam
A. Lewisohn, who has just been
named chairman of Governor
Roosevelt's commission to make a
preliminary investigation and sug-
gest necessary legislation for the
Governor's lay parole court, is liv-
ing on the reputation of his father,
Adolph Lewisohn. The younger
Lewisohn has for many years bee i i
one of the outstanding advocates if
prison reform. Ile is now a me n-
ber of the state correction •com is-
sion. Long an active civic work-
er he has been an able and staunch
proponent of non-partisan politics
in New York. But his greatest
claim to fame is his championship
of democracy in industry. One
might almost say he is the daddy of
modern industrial democracy. Sam
Lewisohn fought long and hard to
make American big business men
and employers see the error of their
old-fashioned and harsh methods of
dealing with labor. Much of the
new attitude on the part of em-
ployers towards employees can to
traced to the social-minded endeav-
ors of Sum A. Lewisohn.

j

The old-fashioned political boss
is fast dying out but in Cleveland
Maurice Maschke still runs the
town in his peculiarly effective
way. For more than u generation
his word has been law in political
circles of Cleveland. When Cleve-
land finally turned to a city mana-
ger government the reformers
thought Maschke had come to his
political end. But only recently
the city manager was ousted as the
result of a political feud. Many
political soothsayers profess to see
the hand of Maschke in the oust-
ing. And the hand that has made
and unmade sit many politicians
and statesmen may well have had
something to its with it Maschke
has long been a factor in national
Republican circles. An adequate
income from his law practice and
the realization that there is more
fun in being the boss than the boss-
ed has kept him from accepting
any public office other than Ohio's
member of the Republican national
committee and a regular delegate's
job to all Republican national con-
ventions. His political machine in
Cleveland still lives and as long as
it functions well Maschke is a
power and gets into the headlines.

Muses leading the Jews out of
the wilderness had nothing on Rob-
ert Moses who is leading the park
system of New York State out of

C

chaos in which it has for so long
been allowed to remain. This for
mer secretary of state in the ad-
ministration of Alfred E. Smith
and a member of Smith's famous
kitchen cabinet which included Mrs.
Henry Moskowitz and Judge Pros-
kauer has just been re-elected
chairman of the State Council of
Parks. For many years Moses has
fought to prevent the hoggish pro-
perty owners on Long Island from
keeping the state from buying up
prospective land. The vastly im-
portant reorganization of the state
departments carried out under the
administration of Governor Smith
was proceeded by an investigation
of a commission headed by Moses.
Always active in politics he has
been one of the leathers of the in-
dependent faction in New York
which has led in the various fusion
mot ements.

ki

A

Canadian Jews are all expectant
at the thought that a Jew is to be
appointed to the Canadian Senate.
In the dominion, senators are ap-
pointed and for life. The HMI
most often mentioned as likely to
be the first Jew to sit in the Canad-
ian Senate is A. J. Freiman of Ot-
tawa. Freiman has three distinct
claims to fame. In the first place
he is one of the wealthiest Jews in
the Dominion and his department
store in the country's capitol is
known throughout the Dominion.
Then he is the best known Zionist
in Canada. He has just been re-
elected for the tenth time to ,the
presidency of the Canadian Zion-
ist Organization. His political
connections, too, are of the best.
It is said that he is one of the most
intimate friends of Prime Minister
Mackenzie King. As a frequent
and generous contributor to phila-
thropies of all kinds he has become
known to many sections of the Ca-
nadian populace.

In appointing Abraham Pinanski
of Bruokline,, Mass., to the vacancy
created in the Massachusetts su-
perior court by the death of Judge
Lourie, Governor Allen surprised
no one except the appointee. As one
of the ablest trial lawyers in the
state, as an active civic and social
worker, as a prominent figure in
state Republican circles and as the
secretary of the Federated Jewish
Charities for almost a generation,
Judge Pinanski's appointment has
been unanimously applauded. Al-
though he has long been prominent
in public affairs in Massachusetts
this is Judge Pinanski's first pub-
lic office.

Copy Hight, VI 30, J. T. A.)

Books and Authors

The Simplicity of a Great
Work.

UP TO NOW.—An autobiography.
By Alfred E. Smith. Published
by the Viking Press, 18 East
Forty-eighth street, New York

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in "Lit•
cry Ethics," said that "nothing is
more simple than greatness; in-
deed, to be simple is to be great."
It is such simplicity that makes
former Governor Smith's autobiog-
raphy stand out as a great work.
The unaffected manner -in which
the defeated Democratic candidate
for the presidency in the 1928
campaign tells the story of his life
at once stamps his rise in public
work as one of the most romantic
episodes in American politics. Sim-
plicity and greatness thus become
synonymous in this story.

Beginning with the very first
lines in Mr. Smith's autobiography,
tho reader feels as if the author
were sitting opposite him and re-
lating his experiences. In reality
it was told in just such fashion, the
story having been dictated by Mr.
Smith to his stenographer, much in
the same fashion as he would dic-
tate a state paper or a message to
the assembly in his position as gov-
ernor of New York.

Mr. Smith's autobiography is
valuable not only as a great docu.
ment of a poor boy's rise from ex-

treme poverty to the highest posi-
tion in his state, but also because
it gives such a fine and simple de-
scription of the expansion of Great-
er New York during the past half-
century. It is also in fact the his-
tory of the politics of New York of
the past quarter century.

Because of his close association
throughout his political career with
Jewish leaders in New York, "Up
to Now" abounds with names of
prominent Jews. Mrs. Henry
(Belle) Moskowitz, who was one
of Mr. Smith's advisors in the
presidential campaign, is men-
tioned several times. The names
of Ilenry Niorgenthau and Abram
I. Elkus, former ambassadors to
Turkey, figure prominently. Dr.
Henry Moskowitz is another promi-
nent name in the book, and the late
Sophie Irene Loeb comes in for
praise in connection with her child
welfare work.

6

The late Samuel Gompers, presi-
dent of the American Federation
of Labor; the late Louis Marshall,
Samuel Untermyer, Judge Benja-
min N.Cardozo, Judge Joseph 51.
l'roskauer and many others share
in the praise of Mr. Smith for the
unselfish way in which they were
ready to co-operate with him in his
efforts for the good of the people
of his state. Another Jew close to
Mr. Smith was Joseph L. Cohn,
who acted as the governor's per-
sonal press representative in the
national campaign.

VIEWS OF LEADING JEWS

PROF. ALBERT EINSTEIN: "I am convinced that demonstra
tive references to armaments are but a weapon in the hands of the
factors interested in their production or in the maintenance and develop
ment of a military system for financial or political-egotistic reasons."

DR. A. Z. IDELSOHN, Professor of Jewish Music at Hebrew Union
College in Cincinnati: "There is a distinct type of Jewish music, a
definite Jewish song—specific in its melodic lines, in its expression, in
its choice of scales, and in its forms. It is the innermost expression of
the Jewish soul. It has existed as long as Jews have been, and as long
as this peculiar people will remain, the soul of the Jew will speak in
peculiar musical accents."




CONGRESSMAN SAMUEL DICKSTEIN of New York: "America
has a large stake in Palestine. American capital has been coming into
the country for the last 10 yers. American Jews have contributed
money lavishly for the upbuilding of Palestine. Although several
months have elapsed since the tragic occurrence giving rise to the
indignation of the world on the subject of the Jewish problem in Pal- o
estine, the time has come when it is the duty of the American Congress
to take a decided stand in determining our position in this matter."

DR. LEON BRAMSON, President of the International Ort: "The
increasing desire of European Jews to enter productive occupations
causes the Ort movement to be rapidly pushed ahead by life itself. In
the last three years. the number of those who have besieged the doors
of our vocational schools has increased 50 per cent."




DR. STEPIIEN S. WISE: "If I were a Jew. Christians might well
say. I should be firm in allegiance to that great racial, religious, cultural
tradition which has laid the heaviest burdens upon the Jew but given
him the distinction of being at his best a pioneer in the onward march
of man, daring to dream dreams of justice, beholding visions of truth
and fronting • world of foes and perils in order to be true to the divine
call."




MRS. LEON GOODMAN of Louisville. Ky., Chairman, Committee
on Religion of National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods: "There is
no more appealing scene than to have the family gathered around the
Sabbath table, light the Sabbath lights and repeat the Kiddush service.
Even the youngest child distinguishes Friday night from all others of
the week and anticipates this ceremony."

Q9.01,94

'4*

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