THE CAUSES OF WORLD UNREST.*
WE have drawn attention in our leading columns to the Morning Poet's diagnosis of the disease of social and political unrest from which the world is now unquestionably suffering. The diagnosis of the Morning Post is—a criminal conspiracy led by members of the Jewish race and religion. Readers will find what the Morning Post believes to be ample justification for its view in the volume before us. Even if they are not convinced they will
certainly be interested, for the book is full of strange and curious things.
Upon that muoh vexed subject the authenticity of the pamphlet entitled "The Jewish Peril" we shall not enter, except to say that if the document is a forgery, as alleged, then it is one of the most remarkable in the history of literature. It should be noted, however, that to prove it is not a forgery is not to show It portrays a real world-wide conspiracy or, again, that the Jews are impli- cated therein. A fanatic without a following might very well have written it Our contention is concerned with the internal
evidence. This suggests that the Protocols of the Elder of Zion were composed by a man who believed in his task, and not by a police-agentemxious to bring" a piece of fat" to his superiors. Mr. Gwynne, the editor of the Morning Pod, contributes a
preface which is worthy of careful perusal. In the course of this preface Mr. Gwynne states very clearly his own position in
regard to that portion of the Morning Poet's allegations which concern the Jews. He shows that his position is much more
reasonable and much less fanatical than it has been declared to be by many of his opponents :—
" I have said that this secret revolutionary movement seems to have been engineered chiefly by Jews. It is about time that somebody spoke out frankly on this subject. I myself have several Jew friends. One of them I shall always remember with gratitude, for he would give me no peace in the years before the war until he had convinced me of the German danger. At his own expense he de.spatched a man to visit the various dockyards of Germany, and the information thus obtained was found extremely useful. Now, this man is as good a patriot as I am, but when I say that there are many bad Jews who have conspired, and are conspiring, against stable government, when I say that over 95 per cent, of the present Bolshevik Government are Jews, that the Bolshevik movement outside Russia is chiefly directed by Jews, when I cast doubt upon the political integrity, of any Jew, or even when I disagree with his policy—when I do these things I am dubbed an anti-Semite. In this way is anti-Semitism created and fostered by the Jews themselves, as I will proceed to show."
In another part of the preface Mr. Gwynne writes as follows :—
" The question which every reader of this book will want to have aswered is whether there is a Jewish Peril and, if so, what are its ramifications. That there is a Jewish Peril I have no sort of doubt, but we must guard ourselves against generalisations. It is easy to prove that a certain section of the Jews in the world are engaged in a mighty attempt to destroy the established rule in many countries and to bring this world into communistic brotherhood. The thing is taking place before our eyes. But it Would be downright wicked to ascribe to Jewry as a whole this mad and dangerous policy. In that direction lies the danger, the hideous danger of a violent and indiscriminate anti-Semitism. It must be averted by the Jews themselves. The honest, fttrietie Jews must come forward and denounce, and no longer aelsod, the revolutionaries of their race. They should refuse to approve of any policy which tends to undermine the pillars of civilized society, for the time has come when there can be • The Crum of World Unrest. London Grant Sleharde. 110e. ed. net.] no sitting on the fence ; those who are not with us are against us."
Another interesting point in Mr. Gwynne's preface is the follow. log quotation from The Call, an English communist paper, which requires no comment, but only careful attention :— "If such elements (Bolsheviks and Spartmista) increase in numbers and strength, everything may get changed. At that it is necessary : (1) The centre of gravity of the struggle must be outside of Parliaments (strikes, revolts, insurrections, deo.) I (2) the struggle inside the Parliaments must be closely connected with the struggle outside ; (3) the representatives must take part in general organization work ; (4) the representatives must act by directions of the Central Committee ; (5) they must not conform to the Parliamentary manners and customs. . . We have to state again that the most vital part of the struggle must be outside of Parliament—on the street. It is clear that the most effective weapons of the workers against Capitalism are : The strike, the revolt, armed insurrection. Comrades have to keep in mind the following : Organization of the Party, instalment of the Party groups in the Trade Unions, leadership of the masses, itc. Parliamentary activities and participation in elections must be used only as a secondary measure, no more." —(The Call, April 22, 1920.)
We will conclude this necessarily incomplete account of "The World Unrest" by the final paragraph of Mr. Gwynne's preface :—
" This is the Jewish Peril, that a great munber of Jews, owning various nationalities, and in some eases rising to great political power, are working for the rights of the Jewish nation. If there should come occasions to such a Jew when the safety, honour, and welfare of the country of which he is a national are opposed to the safety, honour, and welfare of the Jewish nation, on which side will he throw the weight of his influence and power ? That uncertainty is not lessened by the spectacle of a Jew Bolshevik Government or by the remembrance of Jewish national activity in Paris and elsewhere. If for giving expression to this policy of alarm and suspicion that is felt by many of my fellow-citizens I am to be dubbed anti-Semite by the Jewish Press, then I suppose I must lout up with the epithet. But as long as I see a possibility of the ix-demote of this country and Empire being diked by uncertain allegiance, so long will I continue to denounce it,"
For ourselves, we should put the matter somewhat more prosaically. As long as the Jews maintain themselves as a nation within a nation they cannot expect the sympathy of the full members of the community—that is, of those who have but a single allegiance, one and indivisible. The Jew's lack of solidarity with the rest of us in not an excuse for ill-treating him,
or for failing to protect him, but it is good ground for not allowing him the complete privileges of political comradeship till he has proved himself a verse eociue, not merely a man on probation.
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