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Foundation Stones of Israel's Dream

Progress Toward meeting of provisional executive committee for general Zionist affairs

The Homein Zion

ARTICLE IV

By Bernard G. Richards

Author of TA? XXscourjes of Keldanakg."

?Aterarv Editor of "The Afaccaboean Mag-'

aiine," and Executive Secretary of the

.-tmertoa* Jewish Cangrtai.

IT' WAS the day after tho capture

of Jerusalem by the British

forces, when two Jews, one an

active worker in the Zionist ranks

and the other a passive sympathizer,

met and stopped to discuss the good

news. Following upon the heels of

the English declaration in favor of a

.Jewish homeland, this historic mili?

tary victory caused much rejoicing in

all Jewish quarters; but the. rejoicing

was somewhat restrained by an in?

ability to grasp tho full significance

of the event, and not a few of the

c?l?brants betrayed a certain per?

plexity, an almost dazed attitude of

mind.

"Tell me." anxiously inquired the

passive sympathizer, "is it true, is it

really going to happen; are Wc at last

to have our own land?"

"Certainly," said the active worker.

"England has said se; the Allies are

with us; our President, the great

friend of all oppressed nationalities,

is said to be in sympathy; His Holi?

ness, the Pope of Home, has given his

sanction, and enlightened statesmen

and leaders of thought throughout the (

world havo erstwhile expressed their

approval of our ideal."

The inquirer persisted in question?

ing.

"When, how," be continued to ask,

"will we really live to see it?"

His informant endeavored to further

assure and enlighten him, and recited

many more important incidents relat?

ing to the recent political develop?

ments. He outlined some of the pre?

liminary steps which would ultimate?

ly be taken in the actual rebuilding of

the land.

The questioner, still unable to

grasp the significance of it all, con?

tinued to ask how and when it would

be done, and?though he did not say

so in so many words?how the whole

thing would become visible to his

naked eye.

TTis mentor suddenly stopped to

think. He had caught an unexpected

glimpse of the Jewish tragedy; not a

tragedy of long yearning, fruitless

waiting and failure of realization, but

the tragedy of inability to understand

the realization, of that fatal detach?

ment from reality which had benumbed

the faculty for grasping the larger

facts of life, the great changes of po?

litical significance. So long have been

the years of oppression, so complete

has been the political isolation of Jews

in the Old World, so uncertain has been

the to-morrow, so completely had they,

to escape the outward horrors, with?

drawn within their spiritual selves, that

tho march of significant events had

lost all meaning for them, and now,

when theso events have brought in their

trail changes that hold forth a new

day, many were dazed by the announce?

ment and were pitifully incapable of

comprehending the signs and tokens of

the new time.

On hearing this incident, I recalled

another day, when at the end of a long,

arduous and exhausting session of a

meeting, at which wo dealt with va?

rious practical aspects of the organiza?

tion of Zionism, a cultivated Hebrew

scholar who had witnessed the pro?

ceedings turned to me and? said: "All

this is very well - reports, pamphlets,

lists of speakers, publications, budgets,

collections, records of societies?but

what arc we doing for Zion?"

Wedding the Dream

To the Reality

Zion was of the realm of vision,

dream and prophecy to this unworldly

acholar. It was an object grand and

far off and somehow to be obtained,

but be could not associate in his mind

this iridescent hope with the common?

place activities of the day which are

required even to make the dream come

true. For two thousand years an ob?

ject of prayer, Zion had become chiefly

a matter of prayer, of yearning and

spiritual aspiration, and bad become

less and less a goal to be worked for

with one's hands. Indeed, the extreme?

ly pious had evolved the idea that only

through Providential means could the

restoration bo brought about, though

labors performed that pointed in the

direction of tho fulfilment of prophecy

were not to be scorned, and the extreme

radicals in Jewish religious thought.

abjuring Zion, had early denounced the

Zionists for placing the hopo of re?

demption in the performance of mun?

dano and material tasks. Thus did over

grown spirituality run to seed.

To bridgo the gulf between the phan?

tasmagoric Ghetto and the matter-of

fact world, to establish mental rela?

tions between tho dream and reality,

was the task of Dr. Herssl and the

faithful lieutenants who gathered

about him in response to his first call.

To accomplish this huge task, a large

and all-embracing organization had te

be founded, and, all the existing large

Jewish bodies devoting themselves tt

merely local or philanthropic purposes

the structure had to be reared from its

very foundation, the whole machinerj

had to bo created from beginning te

end?-the story of creation repeated ii

miniature, for as far as national self

help was concerned, the Jewish worlc

"was unformed and void and darkness

was upon the face of the deep," the

ocean of despair.

"Fellow delegates,'' said Dr. Herzl, a;

he mounted the platform of the Bush

Casino on that eventful August day it

1897, "as one of those who called this

congress into being, I have beei

granted the privilege of welcoming you

This I shall do briefly, for if we wisl

to serve the cause we should economi/.c

the valuable moments of the congress

There is much to be accomplish?,

within the space of three days, W<

Reading from right to left (standing), Robert D. Kesselman, Lotis Lipsky, Israel Goldberg, Henry Hurwitz, Louis Robison, Senior Abel, Dr. Horace

M. Kallen, Louis E. Kirstein and the Rev. Dr. Max Heller; (sitting) Jacob de Haas, secretary; Dr. Leo Motzkin, E. W. Lewin-Epstein, Dr.

Harry Friedenwald, Dr. Schmarya Levin, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, chairman; Mrs. Joseph Fels and Justice Louis D. Brand?is.

want to lay the cornerstone of the ?

edifice which is one day to house the ?

Jewish nation. The task is so great

that we may treat of it in none but the

simplest terms."

Thus, with the modesty and simplic- i

ity of true greatness, the founder of !

the movement formulated the task of !

the first gathering-of Jewish national- I

ists. mainly men of professional occu- j

pations, who on the initiative of a pro- I

visional organization committee, which !

had cooperated with the author of |

"The Jewish State," had assembled ?

from all parts of the dispersion to ;

deliberate as to how tho exile may be

ended.

It was, of course, a loosely, organ- :

ized gathering. The framework of an \

organization for the whole Jewish peo?

ple or those who were ready to stand

up and do battle for the Jewish people ,

had to be created. Old as were the '

Zionist aspirations, the idea of giving

concrete form to this sentiment was >

entirely new, and despite his foresight

the founder of the movement never

fully understood the magnitude of the

task. Coming from another environ?

ment, he did not understand the weak

and broken condition of the Jewish

people; he knew little about, the exact

situation within Palestine, but accord?

ing to one chronicler of the first con?

gress this very weakness was his

strength. "Not his the paralyzing

sense of Jewish humor," and the lack

of inside .Jewish knowledge saved him

from Jewish irresolution and steeled

him to bold action, which by its very

boldness carried the day.

The work had to be begun from the

beginning. To be sure, the organiza?

tion of the "Lovers of Zion" in Russia

had begun its work of colonization

in Palestine in the year 1882, and by

the time of the Chovevi Zion Confer?

ence, held at Kattowitz in 1884, there

were many groups associated with this

work in different countries, the Odessa

committee having become a formidable

influence in Russo-Jewish life. There

was also the order of the "Bene M??

glich," or "Sons of Moses," founded at

that period by the Hebrew writer

Asher Ginzberg. But these societies,

which were in part drawn upon by the

new movement, owed their existence

to other ideas and at first looked

askance at political Zionism, and they

remained irreconcilable to the new

currents of thought even for a time

after which they had become an inte?

gral part of tho new movement. A

larger and more comprehensive organ?

ization, based on national and political

lines, had to be formed, and all of 1he

as yet uncrystallized and conflicting

views, including the opinions of the

"Lovers of Zion," who were primarily

interested in practical work of coloni?

zation, had to he cast into the mould

of a synthetic programme upon which

all elements could unite.

The Task of the

First Congress

The first, congress was therefore

faced with tho uncommonly difficult

task of framing out of a complexity of

views the ideas laid down by Her/1 in

his "Jewish State," the principles of

his theoretical forerunners, the experi?

ences of the old Zionists and the opin?

ions of the new a uniform and com?

prehensive programme.

This programme to be effective had

I to embrace all essentials, besides hav

[ ing to be short, clear and decisive. How

| successfully the commission elected by

the congress to draft the programme

achieved its object, cannot better be

.demonstrated than by the fact, that the

i programme adopted by the first con

j gross is still in force to-day unaltered

after long and difficult, years in the life

I of the party. The Basle programme

I named after the place of meeting

! reads:

The aim of Zionism is to create foi

j the Jewish people a publicly, legall}

i secured home, in Palestine.

In order to attain this the congres;

adopted the following means:

1. To promote, in so far as it

! serves the above object, the settle

i ment in Palestine of Jewish agri?

culturists, handicraftsmen, laborer?

| and men following professions.

I 2. To organize Hie entire Jewish

j people by means of general institu

I tions conforming to the laws of tho

i land.

.'!. To strengthen and further Jcw

| isli sentiment and national self-con?

sciousness.

j I. To obtain the sanction of gov?

ernments necessary to carrying out

j the objects of Zionism.

The question of the organization o

a party whose adherents arc disperse!

over all lands and belong to the mos

varied grades of spiritual, commutla

land social life was the complex probler

I confronting the congress. After Dr. M

iBodenheimcr had submitted a report o

tho subject a commission was appoint

j cd, and after some difficulty it sue

I ceeded in elaborating a system of oi

gauization which although modified i

?some details in later years still retain

? its essential features.

As the underlying principle of th

organization the popular idea of th

?shekel contribution and its associatio

with, the party membership was pat

! Ocularly successful, and the congres

adopted tho following main outlines t

I the constitution :

1. The chief organ of the movement

' is the congress.

2. Every Zionist is entitled to voti

: for a delegate to congress who pay?

' for Zionist purposes an annual vol

| untary contribution of at least one

shekel, equal to one shilling, 25 cents

; in United States money.

3. Two hundred shekel payers hav?

! the right to elect a delegate to con?

gress.

This democratic system, which estai

lished the equality of men and womei

rich and poor, within the movemen

certainly contributed much to its lat<

?development. The government of l!

|organization, which by the above coi

stitution embraced all shekel payers, j

was vested by congress in the hands of l

an "actions committee," and. in view of]

the distribution of the organization all !

over the globe, a small committee with i

its seat in Vienna and a further com- j

mittee consisting of one or more repre- j

sentatives of each country. ,Dr. Theo- i

dor Herzl was elected head of the "ac?

tions committee," and he held that po-,

sition. as well as that of president of I

the congress, until his death.

Adherents Increased

Ninefold in Year

After the tremendous labor of sum?

moning the congress?many of the

workers, especially the young, had

journeyed for weeks and weeks from |

town to town and country to country ;

agitating fot tho cause-?and the great ;

efforts made during the holding of the

congress there naturally was a pause

in Zionist activity. The agitation and ;

propaganda, however, were soon again

in full swing. The splendid echo the

congress found in public opinion, and,

on the other hand, the opposition which

made itself felt with redoubled sever?

ity from certain Jewish quarters, in

face of the exceptional message the

first congress achieved, served to en?

courage the workers to renewed efforts.

The result was that within a period

of one year the number of adherents

increased ninefold. The 117 societies

grew to 913. Since then the number

of Zionists has been gradually increas?

ing, and the seventh congress was able

to register over 200,000 organized

Zionists not counting tens of thou?

sands of sympathizers, who without

being registered among organized

Zionists from time to time gave their

aid either individually or through their

own organizations.

At the first congress, in 1897. the

idea of a Jewish national fund was pro?

posed by Professor Herman ?Schapiro,

of Heidelberg. At the fourth congress,

held in 1900, the plan was accepted in

principle. The purpose of the fund was

to produce a permanent capital, which

should be the property of the Jewish

people for the exclusive purpos'e of

buying land in Palestine. It was not

to be touched until it reached the sum

of $1,000,000. This fund, incorporated

in England, has already exceeded $1>

000,000, raised from the "pennies of

j the poor" in all parts of the world. It

? is largely invested in Palestinian land,

and the unique guiding principle o?

I the fund prevents it from selling any

i of the land which may have been

I acquired. As the fund continues te

| grow more and more land passes inte

the hands of the company, which holds

it practically as the trustee of the

Jewish people.

At the inception of the Zionist move

ment it was realized that the pro

gramme necessitated the upbuilding ?>

strong financial agencies for carryini

out practical aims in Palestine. Ac

, cordingly. the Jewish Colonial Trus

i was established in London, England. 1

? now has a capital of nearly two millioi

! dollars. Most of this money has beei

| subscribed by tho poorer classes (;

?share is of the par value of $5), an<

i it is only recently that the riche

' classes in Jewry have become sufficient

i ly interested to contribute largely to th

; cause. Perhaps the best \vo?~k carrie

on by the Jewish Colonial Trust i

? the activity of its subsidiary companj

: the Anglo-Palestine Company. The hit

! ter has branches in all the importan

I centres in Palestine, including Jem

j salem, Jaffa, Haifa, etc. It has bee

! successful from the point of view o

j the profits which it has earned, at lea?

until the outbreak of the war; but it

great value to us consists in the in

| petus it has given to the Jewish de

velopment of Palestine ? by the loan

I which it has been able to offer th

? Palestinian farmers and merchants. B

encouraging agricultural and industri;

' enterprises, the Anglo-Palestine Con

! pany has been perhaps the largest fa<

' tor in the Jewish economic upbuildin

of the Land of Israel.

New Institutions

Within the Old

From the first to the eleventh coi

gress, held shortly be fon- the outbres

of the war, other institutions were cr

ated within and without Palestine, su<

as the Palestine land and loan cor

panics, the agricultural cxperlmei

\ station, the Hebrew high school

Jaffa, the Bezalel School of Arts ai

; Crafts, hospitals, agricultural schoo

' and a complete educational system, i

I of them calculated to strengthen ai

intensify Jewish life in Palestine ai

to awaken and invigorate the sympatl

; of the Jews throughout the world f

I this cause. At the time of the oi:

| break of the war a complete plan b:

1 been matured for the establishment.

| a Hebrew university in Jerusalem.

! plan which, with the Fnglish oecupati

.: of tho country, is bound before, long

[ be translated into fact. All of tr

, was built up on the background

; a network of Zionist societies and fe

orations of Zionist societies, which h

.?spread throughout all countries of 1

. world. Even the Jewish settlements

! Argentina, which the late Baron 1

I moud de Hirsch thought of substiti

. j ing for Palestine, organized their Zic

?j ist societies to herald and work I

j the return of Zion.

1 have spoken of the marvellci

! achievements which had been attain

?during the eight years in which He

! led and inspired the movement.

give an account of all the agenc

and institutions and all the organi

I lions which had been established d'

', ing those eight >ears and during 1

? subsequent period would be to wr

a history of more than one volume.

The United States alone, with

Federation of American Zion i ?

- ! the Federated Societies of tho Mid

, I West. Order of Sons of Zion. with t

.?remarkable movement of the Had

r sah. women's societies, Young .lud

'jMizrachi Federation mid Poale Z

- Organization, all havjjjig various t

numerous branches, and most of then

cooperating through the central war

emergency organization known as the

Provisional Executive Committee foi

General Zionist Affairs, now represent

a larger membership than that whicl

was recorded for the whole world at

the time of tho seventh congress

held in 1905. And this does not take

into account the membership of many

large fraternal orders, congregations

and other organizations, which, though

not directly affiliated with the Zionist

movement, nevertheless subscribe te

the Basle programme and give mora

and financial support to Zionism.

Parties arose within the movement;

the old Lovers of Zion appeared in

.the congresses in the new form of ail

voc?tes'of practical work in Palestine

as opposed to diplomatic negotiations

and during a lull in the political worV

created by temporary lack of leader

ship for a time obtained the master}

of the situation; the religionists, anx?

ious about the maintenance of orthodo?

Jewish principles, formed tho Miz

rachi; the socialist Zionists, desiring

to save the. new state from the evils ol

competition, formed the Poale Zion;

the spiritual Zionists, emphasizing tin

things of the soul, formeel the cultura!

group; but throughout the growth ant

the development of the movement Zion?

ism, though representing in organizer

form only a part of the Jewish people

in essential beliefs and views, however

responeled to the deepest yearnings ant

aspirations of the whole Jewish race

anel hence it is that the Zionist atti?

tude of mind, the Zionist opinion, has

been accepted by the world as the Jew?

ish attitude of mind and the Jewish

opinion.

Aspirations of Jews

Revealed to World

And the great achievement of the

Zionist organization lies not alone it

| having createel the chain of wonderfu

organizations throughout the world

I not alone in having raised large sum;

: of money and in having founded insti

i tutions which will abide permanently

i in Jewish history, not alone in havinf

so organized the active forces in Jewrj

and in having.so profoundly influenc?e

1 the thought, of the whole of Jewry a!

< to completely transform Jewish life ii

; less than a quarter of a century, but

, above all. in having so interpreted tin

Jew to the non-Jewish world that th?

j world knew and uneii rstooel the Jewisl

j aspirations, and, what is more, judgei

i them to be right and responded t<

j them.

It is this propaganda, this clear in

i terpretation of Jewish desires an?

j aspirations for the future, ringiiif

I more true pnd penetrating more deeply

! that has spread from one end of tin

' world to the other, and finally ha

l reached the ears of those sitting ii

j judgment and high places and in jus

? tice determining the fate of peoples.

The Zionist Organization of Europe

1 disrupted by the war, but incapabl?

i of utter destruction, continued t<

| spread the word of Zion and to pros:

I the claims of Israel as an oppresse?

| nationality. The Provisional Execu

j tive Committee for General Zionis

| Affairs formed in America in August

i 191 1, to take over the- work of the dis

! rupteel European organization and t?

i maintain th'j Palestine institutions dur

'? ing the war, supplementing the excel

lent pioneer work previously carrie?

on and the activities still being main

rained by the Federation of America!

Zionists, organized in this country ai

; early as 1897, succeedeel in drawinj

' to Zionism some of the most strikitij

! and effective personalities in Amerieai

; Jewry and in awakening interest ii

! anel securing support from circle

: hitherto remaining unapproachable am

i in bringing the case of Zionism con

: spieuously before the political world

| Then a chain of remarkable incident

occurred coincidentally in almost mi

> raculous manner.

A ? the gift of the now world. Anieric;

gives to Zionism as new leader ;

statesman whose name, like that o

' ller/.l, will be linked forever with th'

history of the Jewish restoration

Baron Edmond de Rothschild, of Paris

; in his old age journeys again to Pales

tine and witnesses the failure of hi

'? own colonization enterprises, which ha

cost him millions, and the success o

| the later settlements, which had bee:

'. built without millions and philan

' tliropie motives, but with self-relian?

! devotion of the colonists and enthusi

asm for the rehabilitation of the Jew

? ish nationality, and the great-heartee

' clear-visioned Jewish nobleman i

i truth suddenly becomes converted t

< Zionism; whereupon he at the prope

, moment sends as emissary a youn.

? Rothschild 1o interest the members o

" tho family in England. No longer doe

- a Rothschild jest about being wiilin

; j to help establish the- Jewish state pro

viding he was appointed Jewish Am

! bassador to Paris or London. Insleae

i I the head of tho Rothschild family i

'i England and virtually the leader o

; Anglo-Jewry becomes vlce-presiden

; of the English F?d?ration of Zionist

? and throws all the weight of his im

? niense influence to the Jewish nations

' , cause-.

' The King of Italy, approached by

Jewish delegation, like the Persia

kin^ of old, remembering Mordeca

-recalls the profound impression niaei

';iipe.ii him by Dr. H ens 1. A .lewis

professor pf chemistry of the Univer

; ; sit y of Manchester discovers a remar!

I l'Ile explosive and places the same c

I the disposal of the British govemmen

> i When asked as to what he would re

M quire for teward, which may hav

- : amounted to a fortune, he said simpl

- that he elesired nothing for himsel

? but that he hopes that at the prope

x *nne England would give due considei

atio,i to the claim of the Jews upo

5 their ancien! homeland. Russian autoi

.racy suddenly collapses and with i

3 the old hatred for the Jews and or

! position to Jewish aspirations.

- These and other incidents came cur

, ously together in these remarkabl

j I days previous to an?! during the grec

1 war. The rest is Jewish history.

Weather, Once

Neutral, Fights

For Germany

Upper New York State Ex?

perienced 42 Degrees Be?

low Zero?City Coldest in

48 Years

Temperature Increased De?

mand for Food and Coal,

While Snow and Ice

Blocked Supply

By S. K. Pearson

Cooperative Observer, U. S. Weather

Bureau

WHAT an unfortunate coincidence i

that the most crippling

weather conditions probably

ever experienced in the history of the

country and over the busiest manu?

facturing, coal mining and transporta?

tion section, should just occur during

a time when transportation should

; have been the greatest in volume to

| supply our allies and ourselves!

The weather has been a worse enemy !

; than Germany to the United States I

since Christmas. It has been acting |

' more like a German spy or propagan

dist, doing all in his power to cripple '

| and delay our war preparations and !

? supplies, to cause suffering among us I

by holding up the coal, food and other |

necessaries, and by considerable other j

damage by storms.

Cold weather and heavy snow, ac- !

i companied by gale winds, have been !

i the chief troubling elements; while

I cold weather increased the demand for ?

? coal and food, the snow blocked the '

i supply. The worst condition existed

; from Chicago and the Middle West to

| Pennsylvania and along the lakes to

j Northern New York, and in fact

! throughout the entire lake region.

1 Snow, in some sections deep, fell to

I the Gulf coast, with temperatures as

i low as 16 at New Orleans and 18 at

Galveston. Over the entire Ohio Val

i ley and lake region there has been al

! most continuous severe cold, and the

I snow has accumulated rapidly and re

I mained on the ground to depths of

' three to four feet in Indiana and Ohio,

| and even from twenty to thirty feet in

! drifts.

liccord of Low Temperatures

At Indianapolis a minimum tempera

I ture of L'G below ?ero was registered.

' In Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia

and the mountain districts of tho

?Southern states the snowfall was from

two to three feet, with temperatures

of 10 below zero at. Nashville, Tenu.;

14 below at Louisville. Ky.; 1 above at

I Forth Worth, Ton., and even beiow zero

?at Anniston, Ala. Northfield, Vf., re?

ported a minimum of 11 below zero on

! two days. The station at Gabriels,

j Franklin County. N. Y., reported a.tem

[ perature of 42 degrees below.

New York City and the surrounding

; country have also experienced the cold

? est weather in their history, the tem

I perature falling below the low record

by as much as 7 degrees, to 13 below

zero. This was remarkable, as the

[ I previous record of t; below zero had

j occurred on four different dates during

I the past forty-eight years: Januarv 10,

.'1875; December 31, 1880, February 17,

, I 1890, and February 11, 1899. However,

. we have been fortunate in escaping sev

, j eral heavy snowstorms which passed

! | either too far west, of us, turning the

. j snow to rain, or too far south and east

\ of us. producing only moderate or light

? snowfall. Had these storms taken a

I course with their centres south and

nearer to New York City the snowfall

' I would have been two or three feet or

'??more in accumulation. The snowfall

. i if continuing at its present rate will

; not exceed the greatest seasonal amount

5 on record here i 77.0 inches during the

[ winter of 189'2-'9:'.l. The total snowfall

to dale" this season in Jersey City up

i to January 31, is '28.8 inches, and the

minimum temperature 1 L'.'J below zero.

t j Weather and the War

e The War Department and Depart?

ement of Agriculture have arranged

-?since our entrance into the war for

-j full cooperation between the United

t : States Weather Bureau and the army,

. since all modern methods of warfare

-in Europe, such as the use of aero

e ? planes, captive and dirigible balloons,

y | powerful and highly perfected artil

', I lery, poisonous gasi-s. etc., have em

r j phasized the importance of foreknowl

-1 edge of existing weather conditions

il ! both at the earth'-; surface and tc

- thousands of feet above. The result

t is that splendid work has been accom

- pushed and many lives and much prop?

erty saved.

We may read history of wars cen

p ' turics ago where certain weather con

t ditions have turned the tide from vie

' tory to defeat or vice versa, and we

nay reallr.e what ? powerful army the

veathcr is nt times. In 1629 the Turks

vero obliged to retreat from Vienna

ihlefly duo Ao excessive rains, which

?esulted In their leaving their siege

runs behind In Hungary on account of

he mails being mad?! impassable by

nu?l und floods. Their supplies were

ibo practically cut off, due to the

lamo conditions, transportation being

mposslblc. Tho "Boxer" outbreak In

Jhina muy be attributed to the drouth

irevailing in the previous fall, which

esulted in famine, which drove the

iihabitanls to plunder and to rob for

heir oxistence.

Tho retreat of Napoleon from Mo.t

?ow was the result o? the sufferings of

lis army frOTn the cold and snow3.

During the siego of Sebastopol and

n the last Russo-Turkish War great

suffering and los? of life resulted from

icvere weather.

But cold weather may produce advan-?

,-ige.s and disadvantages in other ways |

jy its freezing bodies of water, thereby

inabling armies to proceed over them

vithout inconvenience of constructing'

jridges and allowing them to follow j

ip the enemy with greater rapidity. !

ce in 1780 permitted soldiers to cross |

'rom New Jersey to Staten Island, with

? lieir supplies, to fight I he English, who

liarchea from New York -across the ice

o attack Newark and Elizabeth.

A severe storm, worked havoc with

General Howe's plans, according to our

iwii early history. On March 4, 1770, >

Lhe Americans commenced to fortify j

Dorchester Heights. March 6 opened I

fair and mild, and the British, seeing ?

that their own position was unsafe, de- !

cided to attack the fortifications from |

the rear by sending several thousand

troops across the bay; but in the after- !

noon a furious storm drove two trans-1

ports, ashore. The storm continued j

with unabated fury on March 6 an?! pre?

vented the troops from landing on the |

shore of Dorchester. In the meantime

our troops continued to fortify their

position.

Helping the Air Fighters

The first case where an actual

change of warfare in the present war

was caused by the weather was when

fiie armies were handicapped during

the battle of the Aisne, when the rivers

were swollen and their trenches became

floodeel, driving the troops out to fight

with bayonets. Whenever sufficiently

heavy rains occurred to produce mud

there was trouble with guns, automo?

biles, etc., but now this difficulty may

have been somewhat overcome by the j

tanks. Fog or mist enabled the Ger?

mans to achieve naval events wne.n

England was bombarded by cruisers for

the first time in centuries.

The recent invasion of Italy through

the mountains was due considerably to

the open winter experienced in this re?

gion, where deep snows and low tem?

peratures were more normal for that

season.

Aircraft, of course, depend greatly

upon clear atmosphere, so they can lo?

cate the enemy's position and direct

the artillery fire, etc. When fog or

high wind exists they are practically

useless.

We have experienced in the East and

West severe and continuous cold, with

heavy snowstorms blocking traffic of

all kinds just when coal and all sup?

plies were ncedeel most, and with the

accumulation of snow in the Ohio anel

Mississippi valleys and watersheds and

the congested and frozen conditions of

the rivers severe and damaging floods

may result sooner or later upon the

arrival of heavy rains and thaws in

those localities and further down the

watersheds where all tributaries empty

into the great Mississippi.

However, ample warnings will be

given by the bureau when this time

arrives and much movable property

will be saved. The rise of great, slow

moving rivers, such as the Mississippi,

Missouri and Ohio, is usually foretold

to within the narrow margin of from

one to three inches. At New Orleans

this is done regularly, and the fore?

caster three weeks in advance will pre

elift, say, a rise of twenty feet above

low water, which he knows will result

in a rush of 1,500,000 cubic feet of

water past his location each second;

and still, with such a rushing torrent

of water to figure on, he can alway3

hit the mark within a few inches.

Checking L'p Floods

The forecaster is enabled to make

these accurate predictions by his knowl?

edge and familiarity with the area of

the catchment basin from which his

rainfall and snowfall reports are re?

ceived, the general topographic con?

dition and the state of soil. If a slowly

falling rain of considerable amount

falls on a nearly level soil in condition

for the admission of moisture it may

cause only a slight rise, while a rapidly

falling rain of the same amount over

a greater sloping surface with a satu

lated or frozen soil would produce a

, "run off" on the surface, resulting in a

! rapid concentration of water in the

? channels of the tributaries and soon

| developing into a body of water ol

i enormous force and volume in the river

? proper.

Thus it may be seen that the coun

: try will experience more difficulties due

j to "General Weather" before the sum

j mer arrives unless there is a very grad

| ual breaking up and melting withoul

| heavy rainfalls.

Another American

in Paris

By Harry Kurz

! This other American in Paris is no

! just one more, because he is in a clasi

1 by himself. He is not a soldier, no

j has he gone abroad to sell Americai

i munitions or other material. Thi

: American is aloof from the war, fo

! he is Duncan, the great Duncan whos'

i face is turned toward ancient days o

| Greek splendor and whose dress be

| trays the direction of his look.

; In a little hall in Paris containin

i about. ,'iOO breathless curiosity seeker

he held forth recently in his barefoo

philosophy. The place was severe!

decorated for the occasion; classic fig

ures of white clay strewn along th

walls; a stage curtain of mosaic effect

: a tabouret of sculptured wood the onl

: furniture on the platform and on i

| seated, in dignified drapery, Duncat

l gazing out on the biack clad seeker

: before him. He tells them the trut

in a Kreuch they find hard to undci

i stand, because it is altered by his Eng

lish accent.

His gestures produce an impressio

of plastic repose as he conjures u

vague ideas of life and death. His prii

cipal theory is a negation of all tf.eor;

"Forget all you know, be like a chil

before life. Learn anew the techniqu

'of life. Earn by your toil the brea

! you eat:. Each one of us should be

\ simple shepherd." And "Tho other lit

? is not an exact spot. It is in us, aboi

'us, everywhere." Deep facts which w

"can heartily ignore, because they ar

j neither ?ieep nor fact.

, ! And then the barefoot thinker lei

- out on the stage a lymphatic crowd c

posers who embody the spiritual ii

, significances of their master's voice.

Finally the black clad elderly Frencl

' men and their ladies file out, wonderin

what it was all about and if America

i philosophers all wear chitons. If tli

) members of the audience are fortunat

i enough to meet on the street an Ame

- ?can uniform, a real ligure superimpose

: itself on the hocus pocus they have ju:

witnessed. Perhaps they then unde

stand, as they gaze on our America

soldier, what Duncan did not mea

? when he said* "Learn anew the tccl

: | niejuc of life.",

A GENTILE friond who wishes to^ 1

remain incognito addressed the '

following letter to me: .

r'l am delighted to hear that the ?

Jewish people are on the verge of be-;'

coming once more a nation on their ,

own soil. But, as a Christian, I ar: ,

nnxious to know hov/ the Jews will be

have toward the holy Christian places

in Palestine, particularly the Holy Sep-'

ulchre, where our Saviour's mortal re?

mains found their first resting plac?.

How will the Jews, a?) masters of the

land, treat that spot which is most sa?

cred to Christianity? I am, above all,

anxious to know how the Jews feel tow?

ard Christianity as a religion. You will

admit that, the Jews love neither Christ!

nor the religion promulgated by Him.

Would not the birthplace of Christian- :

ity be a constant eyesore to the Jews?

"I and a good many of my co-relig?

ionists would be very anxious to hear;

the opinion of a Jew of your calibre on

this baffling problem."

The Problem as

Seen by Jews

To the best of my ability I shall !

try to shed light on this important

question.

I shall treat this "baffling problem"

from a Jew's point of view.

Do Jews really hate Jesus and

Christians as the Gentiles imagine?

At the inception I wish to make the

following statement:

The name of Moses is most revered

by the Jews; but had the Jews to

bear and suffer in the name of Moses j

us they did in the name of Jesus, |

they would have hated instead of idol- ;

ized the Founder of the Jewish nation.

Aye, bad the Jews to undergo ill

treatment and persecution in the

name of Jehovah, they would have

hated him.

We will now look back to the time

when Jesus appeared.

To be frank, we Jews believe that

the New Testament was rewritten and

edited by men ? who had reason to

blacken the character of the Jews j

and tickle the vanity of the Romans.

As Jews we had no reason to hate

Jesus.

Our great historian Flavius Jose

phus spoke highly both of Jesus and

of all those associated with Him.

Old Records

i Show No Malice

Our Mishnah, or the first code of

I Talmudic law written and arranged

? during the time of Jesus and at least

? two hundred years subsequent to His

I appearance, has no word of dispar

? agement against the Nazarene. Our

I Mid-rashim, which were collected and

! edited during the first three centuries

! of the Christian era, are remarkably

1 free from any blame or censure against

j Jesus.

On the other hand, we find strange

j passages in the Jewish literature of

j those days, which speak reverently of

: a mysterious personage in Judaism,

! and there is reason to believe that

: Jesus was meant.

The first, dubious remarks against

j Jesus appear both in the Babylonian

, and Jerusalemitic Talmuds, which were

begun at the end of the third century,

! or at the time when Emperor Constan

! tine embraced Christianity and Jewish

; persecution ensued.

The first book showing real animos

; ity toward Christianity appeared under

; the title of "Joseph Pandra," some

time about the fourteenth or fifteenth

i century, when Jewish suffering at the

hands of Christians became neatly un

bearable.

But this book, written by an ignoran

i man, was never received among tin

learned Hebrew scholars, and was re

! pudiated by many prominent religiou

? teachers.

' Always Responded

To Humane Dealing

.Studying Jewish history with critica

? eyes, we perceive that, whenever an

; wherever Jews were treated humanel

by the Christian nations Jesus wa

placed together with Moses, Isaiah an

Jeremiah.

We will retrace our steps to olde

times and see how the Jews migh

have regarded the Meek Teacher o

Nazareth.

It was at that critical period in th

k I life of the Jewish nation when th

| Romans invaded, crushed and doir

' l inated the Jewish land and nation, ju;

* ? as the Germans have Belgium. An

? Jew suspected of seeking freedom e

s even of showing a mark of dissatisfai

. lion with Roman tyranny was imm<

j diately seized and crucified on a liorna

?I cross. Thousands upon thousands <

f Jewish patriots so ended their nob.

. lives, after mock trial?.

Jesus of Nazareth appeared. Did '

preach sedition against. Uotnc? I>

* lie counsel an uprising against the to

s mentors of his people? Ur did 1

L simply appear to bring solace ai

heavenly comfort to those who we

' i heavily laden ?

- : We Jews have no data. We surmi

a ' that the Romans ?iul not stop to co

. j sider, but arrested the young preach

' ; and condemned him 1o death.

y\ It is also possible thatJewish officia

t appointed by the Roman governmei

seeking tu lind favo?- with the o

pressors of their country, agreed

: his execution.

i !

* Plain People

: Against Oppressors

p But the Jewish people, sufferers a

- i downtrodden, who heard the hralitif

,.i sermons of the young teacher We

d j surely against such wanton destrl

o tion of life, and when Jesus was cru

d , lied they wept, and shed tear-;.

a Yes, it was Jews who cried a

e mourned at the cross upon which

t innocent and noble son of Judah ga

o his life to satisfy tyrant.-.

o There is no reason, no thought,

: cause why Jews as a whole should i

3 j have loved and cherished the teach in

t'.??nd memory of Jesus, the Nazarei

i- who died, as thousands of other Je

? did, for their God. for their religi

- ''. and for their country.

g! The first Christian.-; were Jews, t

n.first expounders of the noble teach in

e ': of Jesus were Jews.

e This is not. the place to explain

'- | detail why all the -lews did not. th

?s identify themselves with thos:> folio

?t j era of Jesus who chose to remain ;.

?-? observers of the law of Moses, it

n I evident, however. Unit the Jews tl

n ! were no more receptive for religic

i-j reformation than are the Belgians

i day. Their one goal is and was

?berate the:?' country from the foreign

nvader.

The Jewish nation succumbed to the

attempt to wrest their land from the

enemy. When they were driven into

captivity they were met by hostile pa

inn nations and subsequently by hos?

tile Christian nations, who never

ceased persecuting them.

Do you blame: tho Jews for looking

askance at Christianity and for not re

warding favorably tho founder of a re?

ligion which hanged them, which

burned them at tne stake, which intro?

duced the Inquisition, which accused

.hem of drinking the blood of Christian

children, which instituted pogroms

?gainst them '.'

And now?

The Jew, like the rest of mankind,

tan hate when he is persecuted, and

knows also bow to b" grateful when

true friendship is shown him.

If Palestine: be restored to the Jew,

it will have been the result of the ac?

tion of noble Christian nations, whose

sons have shed their blood to recon

(|uer it from the Turks.

The sa-J past will be tpecdily forgot?

ten. Aye, it is even now forgotten.

In this great struggle for democracy

the Jew realizes that civilization ha3

at last placed him where he belongs

by reason of right and justice. Liberty

and eejuality were ever the goals of the

Jew. Now they are almost rea'.ized.

How will the Jew regard the holy

Christian places in Palestine?

The Restoration of

The Lost Treasure

Ho will obliterate the dark pages of

his history and seo looming up before

his eyes the majestic figure of his own

biood, Jesus the Nazareno, the meek

teacher of old Judea, who preached

peace and good will to all men. Now,

after so many centuries of suffering

the followers of Jesus, the Chris?

tians will have been the ones to

bring Israel back into his own.

The Christians may idolize all the

holy Christian shrines of Palestine, but

the Jew will look upon them with that

love and tenderness which is born after

a lost treasure is returned to its reg?

ular owner.

Cl

emenceau

I Notes on the French Pre- i

mier From French

Periodicals

By Harry Kurz

I _I

THE following newspaper stories

give a striking idea of the char?

acter and manner of the new

French Premier. They tell more clear?

ly about him than any lengthy personal

description.

I

M. Painlev?, former Prime Minister,

takes a last farewell look at his minis?

terial office as* he hands the keys over

to his successor, M. Clemenceau. Tbe

e.\-Premier then walks to the door, but

changes his mind when his hand

touches the cold knob. He turns, walks

taxk to Clemenceau, and says:

"Ah! I forgot, Mr. President, I

wanted to tell you that I have de?

pended very much in the work of this

office upon Mr. So and So. I have every

assurance that you would find him ex?

tremely valuable . . ."

"No use," interrupts the new Pre?

mier, "I intend to burn even the fur?

niture."

II

Under the title of "In tbe Tiger's

i Den," M. Prax writes up in "Le Petit

! Parisien" an interview with Clemec

; ceau (January 4) :

Yesterday I stole a few instants of

his time.

He was seated before a desk strewn

I with envelopes and folios. He was

' wearing a grav cap, a sort of Tam o'

j Shanter.

His manner was simple and cordial,

He said, smiling:

"Well? What do you want me to

tell you. since it is perfectly under

stooel that I cannot grant you an in

' terview? I wish a Happy New Year

? to you"

. lie stopped.

"And to myself al?o.

"My programme? War. of cours??

. . . Concentration of effort on

this war . . . And standing be?

hind our soldiers, eloin^ everything

for them -everything . . . To fight!

To win! There you are. My projects!

To win! But. must one tell in ad?

vance what one is going to do? No!

You do what it is your duty to do.

And when it is done, then you can

1 talk about it. I am very glad to have

seen you. Good day."

And a general entered.

HI

M. Clemenceau has an interesting

i oratorical twist eiuite unusual in the

j speeches of Frenchmen, where wc are

I rather likely to find % erbose and flow?

ered perorations. In more than thirty

discourses so far delivered by the un?

tamed Premier he has brought his

argument to a sudden e-nd at its dims*

; by the terse "J'ai dit" i"l have spok

!en"). His voice is always steady and

| controlled, and his sentences concise.

These he talks out like hammer strokes,

one after another. Here is ft part of ?

I : famous speech in the Chamber i Janu?

ary '?) on France's need of calling out

again the old military classes and the

' I youngett class:

"If ;.ou have any other resource?.

tell them to mo. If you do not know

any others, I shall have to face ?'?'?

. j unavoidable necessity. You have your

I responsibilities; the government a*8

its OW II.

"You tell me: France "as fighting.

' her men were falling, at the timt

j when her allies of to-da> were ttil>

unable: to bear their part'of the bur

? den. n

"How can I change that situation

"I take the facts as they come. I

; have no theories to spin.

"You ask me to wait till our allies

f have furnished their quotas.

"i haven't the time to wait.

"France, invaded for more than

, three years, needs men for her arm

fes. 'fliese men you must gi^c me. I

j i demand all ot" them the old, the

,| young, veteran-- and fledglings, a'l.

France is generous. I here is elanger.

Let us hurry; time presses, and to

, morrow it may be too late. I need

I the class of 1919, and I may call back

; the old classes. Useless to protest,

the situation demands it. I affirm it?

.; i want it. I have spoken."

IV

e As tho legendary horn of Roland, ?*

s Ronco.v. ille-, to now the call of 1? rai'f'

has sounded all over the world. In tl?

i meantime, til! great armies shall brnr

i her succor, she is jrirdmg herself f?

- ' the fray alone. Her leader summ?"

O her strength and the whole nat?o?1?

s strong and eiuick to his touch, qu??'

ii its with the memories of the '^arf,i

s ? ?lid Verdun. The whole nation *".

i fed low because a leader has conic

o ' last.