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Show THE RABBI AND THE EDITOR. Kditor Intel-mountain Catholic: My attention wus accidentally drawn to an editorial edito-rial contained in your issue of the ISth inst., entitled, en-titled, "An Oyster Bay Blunder," and indited in criticism crit-icism of- President Roosevelt's recent attitude in the matter of the Jewish petition to the ezar. It needs but little effort on the part of the most ordinary of readers to discover the hidden sting o anti-seniitism which permeates the article from beginning- to end. Though very carefully concealed in the ample folds of a velvety rhetoric and diluted on the way by a naive assumption of facts which never existed, this hatred to a race that has never done any harm to you and yours is too patent to be silently passed over. - ' You say:- "Not long ago in Kishineff, a city intone of the "provincea of the caar, a Russian boy was killed by a Jew. There may have been provocation for the crime, but that does not count the hated Jew had taken the life of a Russian boy." Now, as the editor and publisher of a paper, you ought to know that there is" not a particle of truth in this malicious and venomous lie; that no Jew in "Kishineff ever attempted at-tempted or carried out the killing of a Christian boy; that not one of the great daily papers of the country ever claimed or substantiated the perpetration- of your imaginary "crime." Knowing this to be the ease, how can you, a profesBed follower of One who teaches you to love your enemies, mislead your readers' read-ers' and co-religiohists into believing this cruel fabrication fab-rication -to have been an actual and accomplished fact? However, not satisfied with adding this false and mischievous story to the great pile of cruel and unjustified lies about the Jew, you must next calumniate calum-niate and insult -the fine character and unquestioned integrity of our president by ascribing low and mercenary mer-cenary motives to the noble attitude he has taken in the. matter of the Jewish petition to the czar. Fortunately, For-tunately, his high-mindedness, heroic courage, strong manhood and fervid patriotism are too well known to suffer 'anything at the hand of this malicious and wholly unjustified attack. The strenuous man, who etood throughout the entire length of His public career ca-reer for all that is great and noble in national and municipal life, will not suffer in the estimation of his . admiring- countrymen" for refusing,. to be an anti-semite; anti-semite; The. mere idea of the president expecting to succeed suc-ceed himself by the aid of the Jewish vote--of New York!' Nothing but' ignorance or malice could advance ad-vance such an absurd proposition! The Jewish vote in New York City is hardly big enough to influence the municipal, to say nothing of the national, course of events.. It did not seem strong enough for the Jews of New-York to obtain justice at the hands of the city authorities when they were publicly insulted by a morgler-mob as well as the police during-the funeral of the late Chief Rabbi Joseph. Even if it were true, as you state,, that there are. 500,000 Jews in New York, it is still to be remembered that a very great portion- of them are not voters by reason of too recent arrival and therefore lack of citizenship: that another not inconsiderable portion are ardent Democrats, Demo-crats, some Socialists pledged to support their party, besides a great number of them must be women and children. Or do you mean to say that there are 500,-000 500,-000 qualified Jewish voters in the city of New York and that all of them are Renublicans? Fortunately for , President Roosevelt, his chances for re-elecion J do not depend upon the Jewish vote of New York City.. . Your attempt to establish a parallel between negro J lynching 'iii this country and the Russian atrocjties in Russia, hoping thereby to create the inference of our unfitness to protest against the same, is, to say the least, very lame. While condemning with my whole heart and soul the tendency to take the law in one's, own hand, yefcommon sense compels me to admit that even the worst of our lynchings is not at all comparable to the Jewish riots in- Russia. Not one case of- lynching in the United States was encouraged en-couraged or connived at by the authorities. Many an officer of the law lost his life and limb in fighting the mob until overcome by overwhelming numbers. The individual negroes that were lynched were perpetrators perpetra-tors of revolting and heinous crimes. Even the fiercest fierc-est mob did not think of visiting an Individual sin ifpon the innocent of their race. You can find no instance in-stance in any of the .states where, without the least provocation," negro men ' were tortured, their women mutilated or their habitations reduced to ashes and ruin, while our officers were passively looking on! Besides, we have no large standing army, no regiments regi-ments of soldiers stationed in every town and city-bound city-bound to respond to the call of the police or state authorities.. ... Taken altogether, the writing of your article could have been inspired by nothing else but a feeling of unpardonable and unjustified prejudice. . Hoping you will try to rectify the fault by publishing publish-ing this letter, I remain, yours respectfully. RABBI LOUIS G. REYNOLDS. ; . 905 East Fifth South. Although Kabbi Reynolds' protest could be made stronger and just as effective were it couched in dispassionate language, we willingly give it space, for; two very good reasons. One is to set ourselves aright before our Jewish fellow citizens, such as did not read the article provoking the good rabbi's condemnation. The other is to set Kabbi Reynolds aright. In the first place, as to the fact which conspired con-spired to bring about the horrible slaughter of Jews at Kishineff, in Russia. To the best of our recollection, which assumes almost positive belief the oftenerwe recall it, the Chicago Tribune is responsible re-sponsible for the story that the wholesale assassination assas-sination of the' Jews, at Kishineff began after the homicide of a Russian boy by a Jew. Again, to the best of our recollection, the subject matter was treated by a correspondent of that paper who writes over the nom de plume of "Marquis de Fontenoy." So much for the good rabbi's charge that the editor concocted a "venomous lie" to conceal the "hidden sting of anti-Semitism." There may. be no truth in the story; it'may be the venomous lie that "the Yabbi' indignantly insists it is; yet will he avow" i that ho has better mean.-, or ;inv ,,,.. by.lt Lake enjoys better mean. t bt;ii,,;n, 13 rat4inf5r7nation from Ku -si a than ii1;lt l'"'i' by the Chicago Tribune t ' : ' i Allowing The incipient can.-.- i v, j - . slaughter to stand as it is printcl. tj,0 .' "" claims any intention to -ivo otfVit,,. , . ' hip si tence which the rabbi separate, fi-..m ,ju in order to convict, the editor. Tho f-liT.,rj j"?1 question began by reciting that "th. .r,. :. ' , 11 - ? ' "' In- Tost betweeen a Russian and a J; r." plain fact, plainly stated t j,,.,,,,, , "r fense is visible in the scnicn.-c j . i ( , ( ' ' friend, the rabbi: "Then- may !liiV(. ...,, " tion tor the crime, but that (!.., ,10t vn bated -Jew had tak-u tlx- life ,,f n KiN,; 'iiit h'iv In the construction .f ronipo-iti..i, ;., . r i I 1 111 "'I'piov. ment ot language, what Ik-m- u ;tni ,,- , ' of the words "hated Jew"? u !,.,,,, ; hated by the Cossack, by the e'lii.,r. r,r )V ; Dy hth, according to Kabl.i II. ;. ;,..!, j,; 3, out this sentence, the good raid .i un.,uU,;jv agines it is ample to clinch hi- -!iin.,r tl editor is prejudiced, and that tin- ariid,. jn paper criticising President U.m. .1i Wu v -J in advance by -a foelimr of hatred t-.M.-ar,j ' ish race. So Tar from such bein tj1(. !ar. tor, in disclaiming, is willing t., l,vV to ,i cisiou of any competent jury ..;' !i;1Turv ""' Jews or Christians the evidence j., i;, (.u (i , the article on "An Oy.-ter Day I ! m tii r," ;u,i i, in this paper July Is. If there is one charge which c.,u;,i pruvok. writer more than another, it i- thai an AmiTir and a Catholic could be a Jew haiu-r an ami. Semitic fanatic. There i no r...m fr,r this country. There rdiould he u mm fr anywhere. The charge is borne Je,, ja t ir-nt;-.- a the writer recalls his service upon the priSi, Montana during the Drey his trial, when hi, s pathics went oui.to the unhappy, per-ivutrfi pr;.. oner of Devil's Island. Oh. good Kabbi Fiyn4', you fell gravely into error. Concerning that mass meeting at New York's protest against the inhuman butchery of Kishineff, it would bp strange if anybody (.(,u;,: fiud fault with either the spirit ?f the resoliirin or the design to p,ut them in force through PHi intervention. This paper did not call thi .n,. down. It called the president down for a?umi;;; that he could do something impossible n diplnr-i- acy, and encouraging Jewish citizens to frumci endeavor, ending as it did in the curt refusal by th; czar to even receive the petition. That Rabbi Reynolds does not perceive the vote hunter in person upon whom he bestows so much aklatiin,i, one good reason why he is a rabbi and ;:ot a p!;-- tician. V do not know if Mr. Jesse Seliginan, the eminent emi-nent banker, were present, at the nia- mn-tinj Most likely he was there, because his heart soul are bound up in the destirfy of his jHp!e. Now, if Mr. Scligman were present, and ho aw to say something germaine to the object, he riuili if he chose, put it in these 'word-: "My friends-, I agree with you in protwirr against the inhuman butchery of our people i: . Russia; the most atrocious crime of a trutar,. Your protest, should arouse the world, and perhaps per-haps it maj-shamc the czar into putting au eml; Jewish persecution. If it does, something is gainei But is anything to be gained by urging the president presi-dent to do something the diplomatic iittcitj oi .the government forbid? Nothing resulted f the Hay note to the powers regarding the Jmj persecutions in Roumania i Dare we expect anything any-thing better to result through interference byPrs-'ident byPrs-'ident Roosevelt Avith the" internal affairs of Ea-sia Ea-sia "Let me tell you, my friend.-, of an incite that happened in Rome some years aeo, after 'i? Russian government had issued an edict exp'Hi'f the Jews. from ccrtaiu sections of that country, it was found' impossible for many of the victim? t' obey without suffering great loss, and they a? pealed for more time to settle their affairs, (li?P of their propeTty and make preparations forafr parture from their former home. This was vtf&' and notice was given that the edict would be r.? idly enforced; "It so.' happened that Archbishop Ireland stopping at my hotel. -Meeting him there, in course of conversation, we talked of tho Ku-:-edict and the sufferings of the Jews in that aspire. as-pire. Addressing the archbishop, I inquired wnoW-it wnoW-it would be possible, and if so, whether it would proper, for the pope to 'exercise his influence m -half of Israel. After some discussion Archoi-" Ireland resolved to make inquiries at the The next morning he called upon the carding retary of state, who received him very kindly a5: offered to submit the question to the pope. . he did with his usual promptness. Ihe nf1 " I was invited to the Vatican and climbed long stairs to the apartments of Leo XlU- J; top story of the enormous building the H"l' er. listened-with great attention and syia?" my explanation of the case ami prorated that the Roman .Catholic church had any i" whatever With the Russian government, it w'.'"1 immediately exercised in behalf of the Jew?. "By his instructions the Russian diplomat! rcsentative at the Vatican wa sent for, a"' views of the Holy Sec were fully exi'k'"cd 10 He was requested to appeal to his govcrninC' . -behalf of its Jewish citizens, and to say jt -sympathy of the pope had been very gW cited, and he would regard it as a gf(iat , favor to himself as well as a service to ity If the time of their banishment were &A in order that they might settle their affair not know, how the message went to . burg, nor what occurred there, but the e ..u pulsion was immediately modified as reqr . -"Now. my friends, I believe if we subjn protest to Pope Leo, rather than t" . Roosevelt, and let the old pontiff u"nagc -t fair in his own way, we are ti'kmg not wisest, but the only course left open with a of successful result." , e 30' Our Jewish friends did not take this cou do we claim that Mr. Scligman so . a C-tre'';' They chose rather to pin their faith -f hc,fori ous president.". The vesult turned out ' j expressed it "much talk but no wool. Teeling that Rabbi Reynolds fouw fied with this courteous reply to his . protest,, wc need only append the worib Washington after the snub -given ai burg: "The incident is now closed. - ' |