THE ROUMANIAN JEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVIII, Issue 12986, 29 November 1902, Page 6

THE ROUMANIAN JEWS.

The persecution of the Roumanian Jews, and the intervention of America on their behalf, is altogether a curious incident in i/iternational politics. In America, in Britain and in all British colonies, the Jew is a fellow-subject, and in these days no one of our race understands how it is possibly to revile him for;his descent or religion. As for raiding his house or driving him out of the country, we should as soon think of reviving the feud between Anglo-Saxons and Normans. We are slowly absorbing the Hebraic element, and in the course of a few more generations it may be hardly recognisable. But in nearly all European countries the Jew is an alien, a member' of a foreign caste, with his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him. Jews would be more than human if they did not retaliate, and so give some excuse for the hatred and suspicion with which they are regarded. Persecution makes Shylocks of them. The worse they are treated the. more obstinately they keep apart from their enemies, and cling to their own traditions. They learn to regard their fellow-countrymen, whether French or Russian or Roumanian, as their prey, and they use their sharper wits to get into their power the ignorant peasants and artisans. They are unable to retaliate by force, but some of them can, and do, ruin hundreds by \xsury. The result is simply to increase tenfold the fanatical hatred against all of them. The backward nations of Europe have not wisdom and humanity enough to follow the example of Britain, and put an end to' the trouble by placing them in the position of citizens. Perhaps no Government could really emancipate them while the mass of the people regard them as deadly enemies. In France to-day they suffer from the mob, and not from the laws of the country. But at least, Governments could refrain from assisting in the persecution. In Roumania, the Jews have for some time been excluded from the professions, the schools, and various trades. They were forced to turn to handicrafts, and now, by the new laws, it has become impossible for them to practise the last means left of earning a'livelihood. In addition to this, all Jews, even though natives of Roumania, are treated aS aliens under the law. The object of this legislation plainly was to drive them all out of the country, and, naturally, much sympathy has been roused abroad. In France, M. Leroy - Beaulieu has described the laws as-, bar--barous and hypocritical. If Roumania had been an absolutely independent kingdom it would not have been possible to do anything except protest. But it is one of the Balkan States which have always been regarded as under the control of the Great Powers, and is subject to tlie Treaty of Berlin. One clause of this great charter of liberty for the 'Near East expressly stipulates that “ in Roumania the difference of religious creeds and confessions shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil and political rights, admission to public employments, functions and honours, or to the exercise of the various professions and industries in any locality whatsoever.” The Powers who signed that clause would certainly be justified in intervening against its violation, but, unfortunately, they are not at all inclined to act together. The Czar, in whose country the “Judenhetzo” rages fiercest, could hardly even pretend to coerce Roumania into treating the Jews well, and, as one of the French journals plainly'points out, France is too anxious about securing the goodwill of her Russian ally to act without her. Prussia, again, dreads lest any oblique reflections should be cast on her own treatment of the Poles. In short, none of the signatory Powers feel inclined to trouble themselves about the Treaty of Berlin, and, as a matter of fact, it has been systematically broken, in one clause after another, every year since it was signed. However, an attempt at intervention came from quite an unexpected quarter. The United States had nothing to do with the Treaty of .Berlin, and it has long been an American maxim never to interfere in European politics. Yet President Roosevelt sent a note of appeal to all the signatory Powers, urging them to intervene, on the general grounds of humanity and justice. The motives given for this act are quite in accordance with President Roosevelt’s character, but at the same time, America has also some material interests at stake, because, as we showed a few days ago, there is a continuous stream of poor immigrants to New York from Southern and Eastern Europe. And even people who might become profitable citizens in their native land, if fairly treated there, are often most undesirable emigrants when they are driven to a new place, and are degraded and made destitute by persecution. The European Powers have not resppnded to America’s appeal, for Great Britain alone came forward and endorsed it. This joint action is a new and striking instance of the sympathy between the two great Anglo-Saxon nations. As far as the unfortunate victims are concerned, the appeal has so far simply had the effect of stopping their flight. Roumania promptly issued a proclamation, forbidding the emigration of Jews, and there, for fhe present, the matter rests.