JEWISH LOYALTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11540, 27 November 1900, Page 7

JEWISH LOYALTY.

TO THE EDITOR. tir,Some months since letter; appeared in your columns from a Mr. Johnson, casting reflections on the Jewish people on the grounds that they failed to aid the cause of the Empire as soldiers and volunteers. I replied with proofs statistic that the charge wae untrue, giving details. It appears some discussion of a similar character has of late appeared in the Amorican press, which has drawn forth an article from tho well-known writer, Mark Twain, which is both instructive and amusing, and most completely rofuted any such allegations. I should be glad if you would find room for it in your valuable columns, and greatly oblige a very eld correspondent.—l am, etc., P. A. Philips. Woollahra. Sydney, New South Wales. Novembei 20, 1900. Among the miscellaneous contents of Mark Twain's latest volume, "The Man that Corrupted Hndleyburg, and Other Stories and Essays,"-• ir 'his paper "Concerning the.

•Jew?," _ which attracted go' ; much attention on its first appearance in Harper's Monthly, in the book, this 'striking paDer has a postscript on "The Jews in War,'.' which we quote here in full— When I , published the above article irk Harper a Monthly I was ignorant the rest of the Christian world—of the fact that the Jew had a record as a soldier. I have since seeh the official statistics, and .1- find that he furnished soldiers and high officers to the Revolution, the war of 1812, and the Mexican War. In the Civil War he was represented in the armies and navies of both the North and the South by 10 per Cent, of his numerical' strength—the same percentage- that was furnished by the Christian populations of the two sections. : This large fact means more than it seems to mean, for it means that the Jew's patriotism was not merely level with the Christian's, but overpassed it. When the Christian volunteer arrived in camp ho got a welcome and applause, but, as a rule, the Jew got a snub. His company _ was not desired, and he was made to feel it. That he, nevertheless, conquered his wounded pride and sacrificed both that and his blood for- hio flag raises the average and quality of his patriotism above the Christian's. His record for capacity, : for fidelity, and for gallant soldiership in the field is as good as anyone's. This' is true of the Jewish private soldiers and the Jewish generals alike. Major-General 0. 0. Howard speaks of one of his Jewish staff officers as being 'of the bravest and best;' of another killed at Chancellorsville—as being 'a true friend and a brave officer;' he highly praises two of his brigadier-generals; finally, he uses these strong words : ' Intrinsically, there aro no more patriotic men to be found in the country than those who claim to be of Hebrew descent and who served with me in parallel commands or more directly under my instructions.' "In the above article I was not able to endorse the common reproach that the Jew is willing to feed upon a country, but not to fight for it, because I did not know whether it was true or false. I supposed it to bo true, but it is not allowable to endorse wandering maxims upon supposition, except when one is tvying to make out a case. The slur upon the Jew cannot hold up its head in the presence of the figures of the War Department. It has done its work, and has done it long and faithfully and with high approval; it ought to be pensioned off now and retired from active service." |