12

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

NEWS AT A GLANCE FROM
ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD

AMERICA: Congressman Adolph J. Sabath, dean of the
House, subjected to violent anti-Semitic attack by Rep. E. E. Cox
of Georgia in a scene reminiscent of the outburst against the late
Rep. M. Michael Edelstein in June . . . Anti-Jewish attitude of
Congressmen prevents effective aid to European refugees, declares
Kenneth Crawford, writing in PM, New York daily . . . U. S. 0.
agencies competing with each other like "honky-tonks" for soldiers'
souls, making mockery of "unity" in fund-raising campaign, is
charge of Nation article by Jonathan Daniels . . . Last German
consul ordered to leave Cuba as country tightens up restrictions
on Axis agents . . . University of Michigan excuses Jewish students
for Rosh Hashonah, asking only written certificate from rabbi
affirming presence in synagogue . . . Annual Williamstown Institute
to begin Aug. 24 under auspices of National Conference of Chris-
tians and Jews, to discuss post-wa• problems . .. Life correspond-
ent asserts, "It will be difficult to eradicate all trace of anti-
Semitism" among Germans, no matter who wins he war . . . Robert
F. Wagner, Jr., hits at discrimination against American citizens of
German origin . . . Harry Content, fabulous Wall Street pioneer,
dies at 80 . . . Washington ponders validity of Nazi charge that
95 per cent of Chilean army officers are pro-German . . Chilean
regime considers measure to outlaw all Nazi activity . . . British
official bulletin highly praises "ten thousand warriors of Judah"
fighting in Near East.

PALESTINE: Two refugee ships, long beached on Tel Aviv
shore, to be demolished. Ships served as targets for Axis air raids,
authorities fear . . . Jewish National Fund has purchased 29,770
dunams, or about 7,500 acres since October, 1940 . . . Australian
soldiers spend leaves in Judean colonies . . . Palestine grain yield
may be reduced because of hot winds . .. Shakespeare and Ibsen
performed in Hebrew . . . Extension of Jewish fishing industry
planned by Jewish Agency . . . Ohel Theater to present two new
Hebrew plays . . . High Commissioner MacMichael visited Cairo
to attend a special preview of the Palestine Industrial Exhibition
. . . The Palestine Government issued an immigration schedule for
three-month period ending Sept. 30, providing for the admission
of 2,000 refugees . . . The Jewish Agency for Palestine increased
its grant for educational institutions by £5,000 . . . Night work
for women was authorized to help speed the Jewish homeland's
war effort . . . A new health center is to be established near
Jerusalem . . . Shamai Pinski, noted author, and Captain Leopold
Harris, prominent electrical engineer, died in Palestine.

OVERSEAS: David ben Gurion, chairman of Jewish Agency
Executive, arrives in London for conferences after two-week air
trip from Palestine . . . British Zionists to meet early in Sep-
tember, to discuss wartime and post-war problems of Palestine
. . . Jewish children being fed at special Jewish soup kitchens in
Belgrade and Sarajevo. Similar kitchen denied Jewish community
in Zagreb, which is to be a "German" city free of Jews . . .
Hitler plans new "Jewish reservation" in Balkans patterned along
original lines of Lublin ghetto, Turks hear . . . Bulgarian Govern-
ment takes over all Jewish valuables "for safe-keeping" . . . Poles
in England send money, medicines to freed compatriots in Russia
. . . All able-bodied Rumanian Jews to be drafted for forced labor
. . . Russian emigre Nazi paper in Berlin asks that Jews be
forced to rebuild churches destroyed in Russia . . . Polish Minister
Strassburger denies having said 1,000,000 Jews must emigrate
from post-wa• Poland . . Cardinal Seredi, highest Catholic dig-
nitary in Hungary, lashes out at anti-Jewish laws adopted by
Hungarian Nazi regime . . . New Rumanian exchange basis legally
robs Jews in occupied Russian territory of 90 per cent of their
money . . . Croatian puppet regime practically wipes out Jewish
community of Zagreb .. . General Shmushkevitch, Jewish head of
Russian Air Force, undertakes to co-ordinate British, Russian bomb-
ing of Germany . .. Seven mobile kitchens sent by Mexican Jews
win English gratitude . . . Forced labor ordered for Jews in
Norway. Like decree feared in Belgium . . . German Jews to be
beheaded for "race defilement" . . . Remaining Jews of Luxem-
bourg to be sent to Lublin . . . Hungary systematically carried
out its expulsion order against Galician Jews, extending the scope
of the decree to 120,000 men, women and children instead of the
45,000 previously affected . . . The removal of 100,000 Jews from
the Warsaw ghetto gave the Nazis an excuse to reduce the size
of the area by one-fourth . . . The Vichy regime announced that
the full force of the anti-Semitic decrees announced in June would
be felt on Sept. 15 . . . Forty-five Jewish refugee children reached
Lisbon on their way to New York . . . Appealing to the conscience
of the world, the Polish Government-in-Exile issued an official pro-
test detailing the crimes of the Nazis against the Poles and Jews
in Poland . . . The new Nazi Commissar in Lithuania marked his
accession to power by staging a public bonfire of the books in the
Kovno Yiddish Library, with medieval ceremony . . . The Nazi
aviators tried bombing Moscow with anti-Jewish leaflets, but the
Russians only laughed.

BREVITIES: Samuel Isseks, 41-year-old lawyer, has been
placed in charge of the New York anti-trust division of the office
of the Attorney General. An energetic worker, he "relaxes" by
reading statistics . . . Hank Greenberg is an unqualified success
in the Army . . . He has been advanced from the rank of private
to corporal . . . The third annual convention of the Agudath Israel
of America is taking place in Baltimore. Sessions begin Aug. 21
and continue through Aug. 25. Rabbi Eliezer Silver of Cincinnati,
national president, is scheduled to welcome the delegates .. . Eddie
Cantor returns to the air on NBC Sept. 3, assuring his audience
that he will follow the comic formula which he used last season
in reaching top rating in popularity polls . . . Haiti has joined
the American nations which have summarily rejected German pro-
tests over the imposition by the United States of a blacklist of
Axis firms .. . A realty development in Yaphank, L. I., known as
German Gardens, has dropped the names of Hitler, Goering and
Goebbels which adorned its streets. From now on they will be
called Herkimer, Linden and Steuben . . . The Budapest police
have raided the Jewish district of the Hungarian capital, arresting
350 Jews on the charge of being "pro-Russian" . . . The Nazi
press in Norway reports that all Jewish businesses in the country
have now been Aryanized. The larger stores went to Germans.
Norwegian Quislings had to be content with small shops . . . Louis
J. Borinstein, Indianapolis Jewish communal leader, was appointed
as administrator of the scrap iron and steel division of the Office
of Production Management in Washington, D. C. Mr. Borinstein
is national president of the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel.
(Copyright JPS).

PEGLER

(Continued from Page 1)

than for the oddity of its locale.

A Mood of Hatred

But Mr. Pegler as a symbol is
important. He says: "I may be
unconstitutional, and believe I
am, in suggesting that a native
American citizen should rank
before a naturalized immigrant";
and, "True, that would create a
class B of citizenship"; and "If
citizenship were restricted to
the native citizen, then in time
we should at least be able to
conduct an American country
by and for Americans only. The
guest status of the alien would
be established and there would
be no possibility of his interfer-
ing in American poltcs."
When Mr. Pegler makes these
statements in two columns a
fortnight apart we do not get a
clear picture of his intentions.
But we do feel that the mood
behind the proposals is repre-
sentative of a rather widespread
and undiscriminating foreigner-
hatred which is not conducive to
constructive civic action.
The picture is not clear be-
cause the disqualification are not
defined. "Alien" is made synony-
mous with "naturalized foreign-
er". The "alien" must have 113
possibility "of interfering in
American politics". Presumably
he must not be permitted to ac-
quire the vote. But the vote
is only one instrument of politi-
cal action. Speech is another.
Writing is a third. Since I am a
"naturalized foreigner" myself,
Mr. Pegler would deprive me of
the right to publish these remarkF
or any other remarks that he, in
his quality of Class A Citizen,
would dislike. Above all, it is
outrageous for a Class B Citizen
to presume to criticize the atti-
tude or intellectual or moral
equipment of a Class A Citizen.
Not even my two year volun-
tary service in the American
Army. 1917-1919, 18 months of
them in France, would be of any
avail. It is very instructive to
note how Mr. Pegler handles
that question, and with what
effortless fidelity he reproduces
the tone, manner and argu-
mentative confusion of the low-
est mental strata of our popula-
tion.
"As to the foreign born who
have borne arms for the United
States," says Mr. Pegler, "there
seems to be undue emphasis. For,
recognizing fully the devotion to
the U. S. A. and the sacrifices
made in war by Americans who
were born abroad, the fact re-
mains that the American forces
have always been mainly corn-
posed of native Americans. They
have never been, as might be in-
ferred from this argument, a
foreign legion of the U. S. A."

Pegler's Assumption

If the above means anything
at all (which is doubtful) it is,
that foreign - born Americans
should outnumber native-born
Americans in the army before
they have any argument. But
foreign-born Americans have
never implied that they outnum-
bered native-born Americans in
the service. They could only
achieve this extraordinary dis-
tinction if native-born Americans
were deprived of the right to
bear arms. And what does Mr.
Pegler mean by this concession:
"Recognizing the devotion to the
U. S. A. and the sacrifices made
in war by Americans who were
born abroad . . . ?" He does
not add that they should be ex-
empted from his re-classification
of citizens. He adds nothing, in
fact. He only implies that he
is willing to recognize their sac-
rifices. And probably this calls
for a considerable effort on his
part. Nevertheless we ask: Is
Mr. Pegler's recognition, purely
verbal in character, and carry-
ing with it no civic concession,
really worth dying for?
Mr. Pegler's entire thesis, or
whatever one chooses to call it,
is based on assumption and anal-
ogy. The assumption is that
"there seems to be no country
on earth, since the fall of
France, as hospitable as this one
to the kick-outs, renegades, mal-
contents and spies of other
powers." The analogy is the fall
of France, which in Mr. Pegler's
opinion must be laid at the door
of the foreign element which in-
flicted her shores; while the re-
sponsibility for the said foreign
element rests with "those among
the native French who, in the
name of democracy, would in-
sist that alien devotees of this
or that ism or faction in other
nations, must be allowed to en-
ter and, in the course of time,

August 22, 1941

Listen in on
"WHILE AMERICA SLEEPS"

Significant Dramatization of This Country's
Fight for Democracy

Friday Evenings at 9:30 O'clock
on Station WJR

Presented by Station WJR as a Public Service

Samuel A. Rivkind Is En-
dorsed for War Veterans
Commander

Osborn Decries
Jew-Baiting, Lauds
Jewish Chronicle

Samuel A. Rivkind of Boston
has been unanimously endorsed
In an article in a recent issue
by Massachusetts and many other of the Evening News of Sault
states as their candidate for Na- Ste. Marie, Mich., former Gov-
tional Commander of the Jewish ernor Chase S. Osborn decries
anti - Semitism, condemns those
who charge Jews with war-mon-
gering and incidentally lauds
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle.
In the course of his article,
former Governor Osborn state:;:
"Let us take the rich robber:
of the world today. Not one of
them is a Jew. Nearer home, let
us examine the character of our
own Jews. In Sault Ste. Marie
there are many that belong to
that race that are just as fine peo-
ple as we have in our town.
The same situation exists in De-
troit and every town of Michigan
as well as America. As I think
these lines I am particularly re-
minded of the stateliness and
character of The Jewish Chron-
icle published as an organ of
that people."
SAMUEL A. RIVKIND

War Veterans. Mr. Rivkind car-
ries with him the endorsement
of many national figures, includ-
ing government leaders and Jew-
ish Welfare Board heads.
Mr. Rivkind is especially quali-
fied for the position because of
his conscientious and self-sacrific-
ing work in War Veterans mat-
ters and his leadership in the
goodwill moement.

take a full part in the affairs of
France."
Let us begin with the analogy.
"We know, of course, that the
disaster of France was due in
no small part to her indiscrimi-
nate hospitality which encour-
aged abuse of asylum and en-
abled the creation within her
political body of poisonous
growths which sapped her
strength." What are the facts?
The poisonous growth within the
French political body — those
which undermined the French
will to fight for freedom—have
no foreign tinge. The Petains,
Lavals, Darlans, Bonnets who
were the original Fifth Column
in France were native-born, re-
snectable, and foreigner-hating.
The Vichy administration, which
resists England's efforts to re-
store France's liberties, is
French pur sang (pure-blooded),
and its loathing of the foreign-
born citizen should warm the
cockles of Mr. Pegler's heart.
There's an example to follow.
So much for the analogy.
What of the assumption? Is it
true that this country is ex-
cessively hospitable to "the kick-
outs, renegades, malcontents and
spies of other powers?" Mr.
Pegler's love of hard words leads
him astray. The "renegades" of
foreign countries do not come
here to serve as spies for the
said countries; nor do the mal-
contents and kick-outs. If a man
revolted against the Nazi regime,
or was kicked out by it, he is
likely to make good American
material. Is it not commendable
in a man to have incurred the
displeasure of the Nazis? On
his own count, Mr. Pegler pre-
sents us with three types of de-
sirable foreigner, and lumps
them with a fourth, obviously
not desirable. He invalidates
three-quarters of his own argu-
ment. And the fourth does not
stand up by itself, because the
way to deal with spies is not by
by the indiscriminate disqualifi-
cation of all foreigners.
Spies do not need citizenship,
though it is a helpful instrument
for them. What they do need in
order to carry out, let us say
Hitler's work in this country, is
a public mood of blind, unre-
fleeting distaste for foreign-born

citizens, such as Mr. Pegler rep-
resents in these columns. They
need a spirit of division based
not on investigation of indvidual
merit and demerit in Americans,
native- or foreign-born, but on
the feeling of organic superior-
ity. Mr. Pegler both represents
that, and tries to spread it.
But when we scrutinize this
spirit more closely, we see that
it has to do not with Class A
and Class B Citizens, but with
Class A and Class B human be-
ings. Were there any moral and
civic purpose in Mr. Pegler's pro-
posal, he would have to present
proof of the implication that the
percentage of good Americans
among the foreign-born is lower
than that among the native-born.
No such proof is offered. What
we get, on the contrary, is the
clear statement that in a foreign-
born American devotion-unto-
death, proved on the battlefield,
rates, as far as Mr. Pegler is
concerned, a kind word, but not
equality in citizenship.
I remember with dismay two
squads of men whom it was my
duty to help train in the old
307th Infantry, at Camp Upton.
They came from the East Side
of New York, had their first
papers, but had been in the
country only some two years.
Their English was very poor.
I was detailed to drill them in
the English commands, while giv-
ing the detailed instructions in
Yiddish. The division in which
we served was composed, to a
considerable extent, of foreigo-
born boys; and one of our regi-
ments contained the famous
Whitney Battalion — "the Lost
Battalion", It must be gratifying
to the survivors to feel that
while they can under no circum-
stances qualify for a degree of
citizenship which Mr. Pegler
claims for himself on the ground
of the accident of birth, they can
always be certain of his cautious
recognition.
Mr. Pegler, I have said,
more important as a symbol than
as a force. But it is the symbol
of a disturbing trend in this
country, boding no good for her
future. It is not easy to deter-
mine what should be done about
it. Argument is more or less fu-
tile, since we have here one of
those basic, instinctual assump-
tions which are in their nature
hostile to reasonable approach.
We will do what we can, and for
the rest have faith: "His quoque
dei finem dabunt" — "to these
things also the gods will give an
end"—if Mr. Pegler will excuse
me for quoting a dirty foreigner
by the name of Virgil. He has
been dead for 2,000 years.

(copyright 1911 by independent Jpwisli

Prexs ServIcr,

