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Show JEWISH TREATMENT OF JEWISH WRITERS. A recent appeal in behair of Morris Rosenfeld, tho stricken Yiddish poet, supplies Tho Chronicler, a Jewish weekly newspaper of New York, with tho text for an Interesting exposition of tho prevailing dlfTerenco mantrest-ed mantrest-ed by tho Jewish public towards tho works or Jewish authors. "Tho people peo-ple or tho book," exclaims The Chronicler, Chron-icler, "are living on a reputation somehow some-how mado in the rar-ofT past, and are taking credit under false pretenses," since "tho writer of today who belongs to tho people or the book finds that his book Is without a people." Jews talk about their writers constantly, we are assured, but nevertheless it was found necessary to organize "a society in this country to force Jes to buy Jewish books, and tho Jewish Publication Publica-tion Society has been fighting an up-hill up-hill battle all tho time." Good books or bad books, asserts this critic, "tho Jews do not want to pay for them." Tho case of Rosenfeld, "who has presented his people with, a spiritual treasure beyond tho compensation of anything earthly," leads tho .writer In Tho Chronicler to enunitratc other cases. Ho says: "Mendelo Mocher Sphorlm (A. J. Abramovitz), the father of modern Yiddish literature, and one of the greatest writers of the time In any language, the man whose books wil. remain ns a precious heritage of his people, is at the age ot seventy compelled com-pelled to work Tor a living day by day, and not only have his countless admirers kept him in poverty, biu publishers In America have pirated liU works right and lett, havo taken the bread out or his mouth, as he says himself, and no one has uttered even a murmur of protest. "ihe brilliant productions of J. U Peretz could for many years find no better presentation to the public than through paltry and cheap pamphlets, and through occasional magazines and year-books published by trie nuthoi' himself. It was only through the munificence of a small band of iuU mirers and friends that Peretz's complete com-plete works were put betwee.i decent covers. "instance piles itself upon instance, and when you come to look Into it you find that Jews have merely been talking about their talented writer and taking prldo for which they have not paid, and delivering euloglei which are a hollow mockery, 'aholem Alei-chem,' Alei-chem,' Spector, DInensohn, and all the best Yiddish writers have been sndl neglected and Ignored by the Jewish public. Poverty has been tho rewara of our best literary workers, and whai is true of tho Yiddish is also true ot tho -Hebrew writers, most or whom havo been reduced to peddling their own books." Fortunately, he adds, the English-Jewish English-Jewish writer has recourse to tho Gentile Gen-tile public; "he can help himseir by writing Tor the golm." , Thus "tho man who has given us the best Jewish stories in the English language must still entertain the golm to gain any practical results ot his labors. Books like "The Dreamers ot the Ghetto go a-begging for readers." Nor doe3 this close the Indictment. The writer continues: "Most ot the Gentile publishers who have brought out Jewish-English books with a view ot reaching 'the large, in telllgent and prosperous Jewish pub lie' or the country have been sadly dlsappalnted, and here Is a hint thai might be ot service to some budding author: It you have a book on a Jewish Jew-ish thomo for publication, It will be safer for you to take It to some publisher pub-lisher who has never as yet published a Jewish work. The publishers who have been successful in handling Jewish Jew-ish books are few nhd f.ir between, an J those who have failed and are now perhaps well on the way toward anti-Semitism anti-Semitism are by far In the majority. Gentiles, on the whole, buy a very few Jewish books, and Jews buy fewer.' Literary Digest. |