3°' 1940
August 30,

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

p urely Commentary

David A. Croll of Windsor

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broadcasts from London recently
Short wave
brought to American listeners several addresses
delivered by former Mayor David A. Croll of
wmdsor who resigned from his office to volunteer
with His Majesty's forces
gain service overseas
for
ast German y.
lilr. Croll 's devotion to his country may well
. treachery of another mayor
be compared with the
Quebec who was arrested
the largest city
in
as a Fifth Columnist.
The former Windsor Mayor has long been
known as a daring person who adheres to his con-
victions and who is master of his own desires. Ile
gave an important post, in order to fight for
a great cause.
His numerous friends—and they are many
throughout Canada and the United States--wish
him and his family well. Let us hope that he will
very soon return to this continent with the other
Canadians who have volunteered for service, tri-
u mphant in a fight for liberty and against tyranny.
•

To George and Anne: Congratulations

Old Timer George Washington Stark (our first
City Editor in our major newspaper jobs) and
An ne Campbell Stark just celebrated their silver
wedding anniversary. This column would be a bit
incomplete without a word of greeting to them
on this occasion.
George has been in a pivotal position in Detroit
during three decades of constructive effort, in
which Jews have played an important role in this
great city. He has watched the progress of the
c ommunity and its citizens, and to an impartial
man like George W. Stark they were just men
and women whose faith or national background
was of no significance. If they were good citizens
he was for them; if bad, he was against them.
Always, to this day, George was, and is, a news-
paperman without prejudice. It is, of course, just
what we expect of an American; but it is also
something we boast about in our Americanism in
this age of bigotry and tyranny that ravage coun-
tries outside the shores of this land.
Anne has shared this great American ideal with
her husband. It is reflected and echoed in her
poetry. It was evidenced on many occasions when
she eagerly and with a desire to render service
accepted out invitations to write poetic appeals for
Allied Jewish Campaigns. She gave thought to the
plight of the refugee as well as to the waif in
our own neighborhood. She has helped to give
color to life and aspired to be a factor in elevat-
ing the standards of the less fortunate in our
midst.
Here is a couple whose activities are sympto-
matic of the genius called America. We greet
them with an affection that must come from those
who are proud to call them colleagues, and who
at the same time appreciate the consistency with
which they pursue their work in a spirit of fair
play.
•

Wanted: A Career System in Public Work

Important changes have been effected in the
staff of the Zionist Organization of America. The
new administration has dismissed employees
who were with the organization for a number of
years, and has substituted for them others who
were in the thick of the campaign for the present
officers prior to the Pittsburgh convention.
While this is a natural result in all political
efforts, it is nevertheless a pity that a "spoils
system" must dominate Jewish national move-
ments. Looked at from a long range point of view,
the existing system is weak and regrettable. We do
not consider it merely from the viewpoint of the
men who have been deprived of their livelihood.
We are concerned with the efficiency of the move-
ments involved.
What we need is not a "spoils system" but a
career method of carrying on activities in behalf
of sacred causes. The Zionist movement, Federa-
tions, relief causes, will need able men and wom -
en to guide their activities for many years to
come. It is the duty of the leaders of these move-
ments to draw in the best available forces to de-
vote themselves to the best interests of these
causes. There is justification, therefore, for creat-
ing what we choose to call a career system in
order not only to build the best possible staffs
and directors, but also in order to be able to
hold them to their jobs.
A political system of spoils and patronage
creates fear in the hearts of employees and forces
them into a state of constant worry lest they be
fired from their jobs. It would have been more
gracious on the part of the new Zionist leaders
if they had eliminated politics from the inner
circles of the movement. Instead, they forced out
employees. some of whom have been tried and
tested and found capable and devoted to the
cause they served.
What is there to stop the injection of fear in
the heart s o f the employees who now represent
a new administration? Is there certainty tha'
there will never again be changes i n th e political
set-up Zionist
o f th e movement? What is therf.
to
Prevent other administrative changes after
every annual convention? Therefore, why perpet-
uate f en ,. and worry over the security of the
employee s
This Commentator is disturbed. .A new group
in Lioni m , from whom a great deal was expected,
started tAT on the wrong foot. Instead of creating
an efficit nt system based on merit and on a desire
on the part of employed workers to give the best
they possess to the movement employing them,
they h
fol-
• Nv
pernetuated a policy of ieIrding
lowers with
'Ith jobs. To say the least, the new occur-
rences
the ranks of Zionist leadership are dis-
inting. They should not have happened'.
, r the sake of avoiding injustice to loyal em-
ployee
w h o
part of a system subject to politi-
cal Whims of are
propose to national Jew-
leaders, we Pro
tah
•
•
of o a
zatmns
the establishment
1 "t". Would that the new Zionist leadership
had thought about
out such a plan before it began

V°

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Luncheon of Molly Segal Aug. 27, and made plans for
the home cooked luncheon which
Auxiliary of J. C. R. S.
will be held in Fyfe's Auditor-
On Sept. 17

to displace old employees by giving them several
Molly Siegal Auxiliary of J. ium on September 17, at 12:30
months' compensation in order to make room for C. R. S. of Denver, Colo. met noon.
those chosen for rewards. A bit of sympathetic
consideration might have avoided disappointment
to the opposition and unfair treatment to those
thrown out of their jobs.
HOME COOKED MEALS IN PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS

•

The Assassination of Leon Trotzky

Alexander Kerensky's comment on the assas-
sination of Leon Trotzky was: "He was the most
merciless of all Bolshevist terrorists and died by
the same means he brought into being."
This is, in a sense, a paraphrase of the admoni-
tion in Psalms: "He dug a ditch for others and
fell therein."
In the early days of the Russian Revolution
Trotzky wits quoted as having told a Jewish dele-
gation, when it complained to him against the
tailless massacres of tens of thousands of middle
class and one-time wealthy Jews, that the machin-
ery for the revolution will have to be oiled with
the blood of Jews.
Ile was a great genius, a master publicist, a
brilliant speaker. He was one of the men who
were responsible for the overthrow of Tzarism.
But he sought to accomplished his end in a bloody
way. He paid for its with his blood.
•

The Late Max D. Steuer

Max D. Steuer was conceded to be the most bril-
liant lawyer in New York. He was a liberal con-
tributo• to important causes, and was ready to
be of service to Jewish movements. But he was
too much of an individualist to become firmly
rooted in any one cause and assume the burdens
of leadership.
But in recent years there was evidence of a
desire on his part to become a factor in Jewish
life. He displayed concern over the plight of Jew-
ish students, announced his readiness to finance
a medical college for Jews and showed keen in-
terest in the work of the ORT. The collapse of
his idea for a Jewish medical college must have
been a great disappointment for him. It is un-
forunate that he began to think in terms of such
service so late in life; else great good might
have resulted under the leadership of a very bril-
hunt man. Because he did not come closer to his
people, the sum total of his efforts may be said
to have been in the realm of the legal profession
and in recent expressions which indicated that
he was willing to render service to Jewry even
though he failed to accomplish his aims.
•

Irving Berlin and His Song

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"God Bless America," Irving Berlin's great
song, is called "a song in which voices are raised
'in solemn prayer,'" in an article in the New
York Times by S. J. Wolf, who reports an inter-
view with the famous song writer.
Berlin told his interviewer that he wrote "God
Bless America" in 1917 for the finale of his
comedy "Yip Pip Yaphank," when he was a draft
recruit at Camp Upton.

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"But I did not use it in the show," Irving
Berlin said, "because every one was emotion-
ally stirred and realized whit we were up
against. It seemed like carrying coals to New-
castle to have a bunch of soldiers come out
and sin:: it.
"Two years ago I was in Europe. It was
the time of the Munich conference. Democ-
racies were kowtowing to dictators, and one
wondered when grasping hands would be
stretched farther. When I got back, Kate
Smith wanted a song that would sort of wake
up America. I sat down and tried to write
one. I made several efforts, but everything
I wrote was too definite. I had been too close
to what had happened, and concrete events
are not what I wanted to sing about. Sud-
denly I remembered the song I had laid
aside 20 years before. I got it out and went
over it and made a few changes and found it
hit the nail on the head. It's not a patriotic
song, but rather an expression of gratitude
for what this country has done for its citizens,
of what home really means."

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This is a most appropriate expression of senti-
ment from the man who wrote the song that mil-
lions are singing today:
God Bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God Bless America,
My home, sweet home.

What made "God Bless America" such a huge
success almost over night? Irving Berlin explains
it : "The reason 'God Bless America' caught on, is
that it happens to have a universal appeal. Any
song that has that is bound to be success; and
let me tell you right here that while song-plugging
may help a good song, it never put over a poor
one.. The mob is always right. It seems to be able
to sense instinctively what is good, and I believe
that there are darned few good songs which have
not been whistled or sung by the crowd."
Here the sentimentalist expresses more than
sentiment. He speaks in terms of faith in the
American people. He describes the instinctive re-
action of Americans to a loyalty in time of world
crisis. There is reason to believe that this loyalty
will be translated in the form of rejection of the
evil which emanates from Europe and the reten-
tion of the good that is in America.
•

An Interesting Irving Berlin Story

In his introduction to the interview with Irving
Berlin, the New York Times man S. J. Wolf re-

(Continued on Page 12)

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