justice done the Jew. Mr. Behar explains that in furtherance of his mission he began his work among the Jews of the East side of New York. Is it the opinion of the New York Ghetto he is trying to arouse? Does he think that there is any other opinion but one among our brethren in New York as to the treatment of the Jews by Russia? Does he think he can intensify that opinion?
Mr. Behar's closing statement (see "Jewish Exponent") is truly remarkable. He says : "Then
Russia, like this country, will no more need loans; then the great and sympathetic Slavic nation will be on the same level of progress and enlightenment as America.” What, pray, has the Alliance Universelle Israelite, which Mr. Behar represents, to do with Russian loans? Surely that great organization does not intend to concern itself with the finances of the Russian Empire ! And what in the name of common sense have we American Jews to do with the progress and enlightenment of the ‘‘ Great and sympathetic Slavic nation ?’’
The Propaganda
Russians on Zionism
Maxim Gorky, the novelist, whose advent has been marked with unusual applause, speaks thus of Zionism : “I am too little familiar with the Zionist movment to assume the right to give my opinion of it. I feel the deepest sympathy for the sufferings of the great Jewish people. I bow before the strength of its martyred soul which for centuries was so awfully wronged, that power which when once relieved always felt warm and keen for liberty. One tells me that Zionism is a Utopia. I do not know ; perhaps. But inasmuch as I see in this Utopia an unconquerable thirst for freedom, one for which the people will suffer ;—it is for me a reality. With all my heart I pray that the Jewish people — like the rest of humanity — may be given spiritual strength to labor for its dream, to establish it in flesh and blood, to wage battle for it untiringly, and to overcome all unrighteousness, meanness, and roughness.”
Professor Tugan Baranowsky, a noted Russian economist, thus gives his opinion of Zionism: "I sympathize from the bottom of my heart with the Zionist propaganda as a protest against the universal opinion in which the Jew is held not only in Russia but in West Europe. The Zionist movement rouses my sympathy because I see in it a manifestation of a lofty idealism. It is true that no state in history has been established on the plan which Zionists would re-establish the ancient Jewish home; but the past is no law for the future. The Jewish state was the first state organism which was build upon the will of the people. I see no reason why the Zionist idea cannot be realized; all things must be realized by overcoming difficulties.
I am, however, too little acquainted with the Zionist propaganda, her declared meaning, to be able to say whether it will reach its goal or not. One thing I may say : with my whole heart I wish for its realization.”
Zionist Literature
The German Zionist organizations are entitled to our gratitude for their exceptional activity and ability in the direction of reviving the folk songs and ancient things of beauty in which branch of our history very little research has been made, and evidences of which German-Jewish literature every day brings us fresh proof. In addition recently there have been organized a number of societies for the artistic publication of works of art of a distinctively Jewish kind. We have referred to the establishment of a number of publishing houses for the fostering of Jewish art and literature. We may mention a Jewish Book and Art Publishinghouse established at Bruenn. This company is organized to give a wider circulation to works of Jewish national interest which have been deprived of a general reading public because of lack of funds on the part of authors with which to make their work known. The Bruenn company will soon publish the following works: Max Nordau's “Zionism,” a new work; Theodor Herzl's “Judenstaat,” new edition; Dr. N. Birnbaum's “Juedische Moderne,” a new edition, and his “Cyclus von Vortraegen ueber den Zionismus,” a new work; a new edition of Leon Pinsker's “Autoemancipation,” and a new edition of Dr. Birnbaum's “Nationale Wiedergeburt.” In preparation are a popular calendar and a volume of statistics. The publishing com-