There are charges of dic-
President Thomas Jefferson
was a defender of religious tatorial trends in Jefferson,
and the great defender of
liberties par excellence. There
religious freedom emerges in
were no deviations in his per-
a bad light in the Burr case,
sistent efforts to assure free-
in the embargo controversy.
dom of worship and to set up
Thus, when he was through
the separation of church and
with the Presidency, and he
state policies. But in other lib-
wrote that there was a relief
ertarian efforts he was incon-
sistent, he played a political in "shaking off the shackles
of power," Prof. Levy adds:
role of favoritism for his friends
and was often "The nation was equally re-
unscrupulous lieved."
In relation to the press—
in his tactics.
These are and Jefferson has been quoted
some of the very widely in defense of free
conclusions of expression in newspapers—we
Prof. Leonard are told that "Jefferson dis-
W. Levy of trusted the press; and his dis-
Brandeis Uni- trust soon ripened into choler."
versity, in his Prof. Levy states that Jefferson
challenging "lacked a realistic understand-
study, "Jeffer-
son and Civil
Liberties: The
Jefferson Darker Side,"
published b y Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 79 Garden St.,
Cambridge 38, Mass., as a pub-
lication of the Harvard Center
for the Study of the History of
Liberty in America.
In a foreword to this volume,
Prof. Oscar Handlin, noted
American historian, evaluates
the i n a c cur ate assumptions
about the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights. He states that
an understanding of the rights
delineated and what they in-
volved "developed only slowly
and piecemeal as the Americans
gained experience with self-
government." This fact, he adds,
"emerges with startling clarity
from Prof. Levy's examination
of Jefferson's attitudes." He
points to Jefferson's having
groped, sometimes unsuccess-
fully, for an understanding of
what liberty meant under pres-
sure from exigencies of prac-
tical decisions.
Prof. Levy's study indicates
that Jefferson "was human
and held great power," that
"his mistaken judgements
were many, his failings plen-
tiful . . . He was, to be sure,
a libertarian, and American
civil liberties were deeply in
his debt. But he was scarcely
the constantly faithful lib-
ertarian and rarely, if ever,
the courageous one."
Prof. Levy asserts: "Only in
the area of religious liberty
did he (Jefferson) have a well-
developed philosophy, replete
with a usable and rationalized
test for application to specific
case. There his contribution was
pre - eminent, even if derived
from English sources."
But he pictures Jefferson as
"a philosopher of freedom with-
out a philosophy of freedom,"
that: "Insatiably curious, he
knew a • little about nearly
everything under the sun a
great deal more about law and
politics than any man of his
time. But in all his writings,
over a period of 50 years of
high productivity, there is not
a single sustained analysis of
liberty. He was pithy, felicious,
repetitive, and ever absorbed
by the subject, but never wrote
a book or even a tract on the
meaning of liberty, its dimen-
sions, limitations and history."

ing of partisan politics" in his
diagnosis of the ills of the press.
Nevertheless, his testament on
freedom of the press eventually
emerged as "a reflex of the
best Englightment theory."
But with all his faults, Prof.
Levy concedes that "Jefferson
more than any was responsible
for the public sensitivity to
libertarian considerations." The
author of this study states:
"That Jefferson's libertari-
anism was considerably less
than perfect or that his prac-
tice flagged behind his faith
does not one whit diminish
the achievements by which he
is best remembered and
should be."
Prof. Levy concluded the
study in which he gives Jeffer-

son so much credit for con-
sistent defense of religious
freedom:
"That he did not always ad-
here to his liberatarian prin-
ciples does not erode their en-
during rightness. It proves only
that Jefferson often set the
highest standard of freedom for
himself and posterity to be
measured against. His legacy
was the idea that as an indis-
pensable condition for the de-
velopment of free men in a
free society, the state must be
bitted and bridled by a Bill of
Rights which should be con-
strued in the most generous
terms, its protections not to be
the playthings of momentary
majorities or of those in
power.

NY Israel Bond Sales
Hit. $14 Million in '63

NEW YORK (JTA)—A total
of $14 million in Israel Bonds
sales was recorded in the New
York metropolitan area in 1963.
William Goldfine, Greater New
York Israel Bonds campaign
chairman, made the announce-
ment to a capacity audience of
18,000 attending the third and
final performance at Madison
Square Garden of the Hanukah
Festival for Israel. The 1962
figure was $11,714,250.

7az

1)

•

Warn Orthodoxy Not
to Compromise on
Kashruth for Liner

A firm warning to Orthodox
groups "not to be pressured
into a compromise settlement"
r e gar ding the non-kosher
kitchen of the new Zim Line
ship "Shalom" was issued by
Agudath Israel of America.
The organization declared that
since the Zim Line will probably
withdraw its severely criticized
"hechsher" arrangement with an
unknown "rabbinical body," the
danger has arisen that certain
religious leaders will "bow to
pressure" exerted by Israeli
government officials to settle
the controversy by negotiating a
compromise solution.

ols 666

s

'

TO THE
1,185,000 FAMILIES

DETROIT
EDISON

SERVES

r--

Detroit Edison and the individual men and women who make up the
company participate in a wide variety of educational, social and civic affairs.
It is a common practice for Edison employes to serve during business
hours, and in what would otherwise be their leisure time. They are on boards of
education, act as special instructors and visiting lecturers in many schools,
accept appointive and elective offices. They are active in churchwork and
charities.
Many of our engineers, staff and management people serve at state,
national and international levels—in the development, for example, of electric
power facilities and systems overseas.
Our company has a broad program of educational assistance. There are
grants to Michigan schools of higher learning; scholarships-44 of them
currently—for deserving students; the support of science fairs; the sending of
student delegates and teachers to conferences on peaceful atomic development.
In the belief that good government depends upon the willingness of all
to accept the responsibilities of citizenship, the company also has a non-
partisan program of political education for interested employes.
The taxes Edison pays help build and maintain essential community
services, schools and colleges. During 1962, for example, the company paid
$67-million in taxes to federal, state and more than 400 local governments. In
many areas of southeastern Michigan, Edison is the largest single taxpayer.
We like to give our support in these many ways, by engaging in and
encouraging others to participate in community work for the good of everyone.

Sincerely,

.•<

WALKER L. CISLER, PRESIDENT

THE DETROIT EDISON COMPANY

31 -THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS—Friday, Janu ary 10, 1964

`Darker Side' of Thomas JeffersonRevealed in Prof. Levy's Research