instrument through which their will may be ascertained, and when ascertained may be carried out. In order that their will may be ascertained truly the Congress must be democratically representative. In order that their will may be carried into effect, the decision of their delegates must be supported by Jewish public opinion, intelligent, widespread, and expressive of deep conviction. In order that there may be a definite public opinion to be so expressed, the Congress must be preceded by public discussion. In order that the decision may be the wisest possible, the Congress should be preceded by general public discussion of the measures proposed. The decision must embody the wisdom, not of the few, however able and public-spirited, but the thought and judgment of the whole people. The support must be active; it must be financial as well as moral.- It must be the support of the million, not of a few generous, philanthropic millionaires. In order that the support may be adequate, the Congress must also be preceded by such organization of the Jews of America as will ensure their co-operation in carrying out such measures as shall be decided upon. The Congress is not to be an exalted mass-meeting. It is to be the effective instrument of organized Jewry of America.
It cannot be effective if its functions are limited to the passing of resolutions, however carefully framed. Those whom the Congress authorized to act for the Jewish people must have the actual support of the Jews of America. They must not only be prepared to act, but must be supplied with the means to do so.
Such being the necessary function of a Congress, it must be clear that there can be no substitute for it. The meeting of the organization presidents for an exchange of views called by Mr. Kraus of the Bnai Brith to be held October 3rd is a proper beginning of the discussion of the grave problems involved.
There should from time to time be many such gatherings not only of those whose official positions place upon them special responsibilities for Jewish interests, but also of many others whose special study of the questions involved enable them to make valuable contributions to the thought on this subject and whose intense interest will aid in the great task of effective organization. On the other hand, the conference which the American Jewish Committee proposed should be held on October 24th, would be not only futile but dangerous. It would be futile because the conference would purport to be an assembly authorized to express the will of the Jewish people, whereas it would
in fact have no such mandate and would lack the necessary support of the Jews of America without which its action would be ineffective.
Such a conference would be positively dangerous to Jewish interests; first, because its deliberations would be secret, and the fact of secrecy would lead necessarily to suspicion and misrepresentation of Jewish purposes and deprive us of non-Jewish support. We seek action in the open so that there shall be no misunderstanding either among our own people or among our fellow-citizens, as to our aims and methods. We need to avoid any real or seeming secrecy of action and of aim which might cause mistrust and which might breed prejudice. The ends which the Jewish people seek are so simple and their difficulties are so well known that no one has yet been able to state an adequate reason for holding a Jewish conference in secret.
Secondly, such a conference would be dangerous because it would discourage activity on the part of the Jews of America who would assume that the conference had relieved them of the necessity of doing their part.
In the third place, such a conference, in secret, would inevitably prevent Jewish unity, because a large part of the Jews of America have definitely declared against it. Of the organizations originally invited, organizations to which more than two-thirds of all the delegates arranged for have been assigned and which together have a membership of more than 400,000 persons, have already refused to participate in the Conference.
Let us bear in mind the statement made by Earl Derby in 1876 to the memorial which Baron Worms presented in the hope of securing a removal of the Roumanian disabilities: "I cannot advise you better than to appeal constantly and on all fitting occasions to that which you will find stronger support than that which any government can give you, namely, the support of general public opinion." The demand for democracy in the consideration of Jewish problems is not a matter of form. It is of the essence. "Democracy is not a mere form of government; it does not depend on ballot boxes of franchise laws or any constitutional machinery. These are but its trappings. Democracy is a spirit, and an atmosphere, and its essence is trust in the moral instinct of the people." This is a matter which every true American, and particularly every true American Jew, should take to heart.
A LULLABY IN JERUSALEM
Sleep, darling; ne'er awaken! Sleep the sleep that knows no end. Thou, forgotten and forsaken, Death alone is now thy friend. How thy mouth for bread was whining, How thy waving hands in vain Waving, waving, daily pining, Palsied grew with baby pain! Sleep my baby my Messiah! Such I dreamed my son might be. Sleep;—the voice of Jeremiah Wails in useless dirge for thee. Sleep;—thy mother, too, is weeping With a wound that knows no balm.
Sleep;—for thou alone art sleeping, Silent, limp, and sweet and calm.
While the nations, drunk with battle, Murder, torture, howl and hate, And thy kin like starving cattle Sink in droves at Zion's gate—
While the hope in human bosom Dares to rise to conquer death— Sleep, my joy, my broken blossom, Sleep, my hope, my shattered faith.
Sleep, my darling; ne'er awaken. He whose mercy eased thy pain Will not leave his flock forsaken, Will not break my heart in vain.