THE JEWS IN RUSSIA. u - NLESS the Times has been grievously
misinformed, the Russian Government is about to perpetrate a crime for which it is impossible to find a parallel in recent history. The terrible programme of statutory persecution, supplied by a correspondent in Wednesday's issue, reads more like a record of the Middle Ages than a résumé of acts contemplated by a civilised Government in the nine- teenth century. Henceforth the Jews throughout Russia, and, be it remembered, these number some four millions, are to be forbidden to reside anywhere except in the towns, and from the list of these cities of refuge are to be excluded those smaller centres of population which partake of a semi- rural character. No Jew, too, will be permitted in the future to own land or even to hold a farm, and thus all Jewish landowners, farmers, and agricultural labourers, and thousands of other persons resident in the towns specially excluded by the edict, will be expelled from their homes, and unless they may happen to have savings in money, will be reduced to absolute beggary. The laws under which action is being taken were origin- ally promulgated in 1882, but up till now they have not been put in force, but have been allowed to remain a dead letter. Hitherto the authorities have nominally allowed residence to Jews in only sixteen of the Gubernia into which Russia is divided; but in practice, merchants professing the Hebrew faith have been " tolerated " in many impor- tant commercial cities outside these provinces, such as Riga, Libau, and Rostoff. The rule, however, is now to be strictly enforced, and by a recent Ministerial order thousands of families who relied on an official circular, permitting Jews already established in places outside the sixteen Gubernia to remain unmolested, will find themselves obliged to break up their homes and business establishments, and take refuge elsewhere.
The persons affected by this change are not merely a few rich merchants. Thousands of artisans have been tacitly permitted to follow their callings in provinces nominally for- bidden to Jewish residents, and these men will suffer the same fate as the rich traders of Riga. Another "Jewish dis- ability" is also added to the long list which already exists in Russia. Certain trades and callings have always been reserved to Christians, and to these is now added that of mining and mine-owning. No Jew is any longer to be allowed to have anything to do with mines or mining industries, nor even to hold shares in a mine. These physical acts of persecution, though bad enough, are, however, outdone by the intellectual degradation which it is now sought to impose upon the members of the Semitic race. At present, Jews are allowed to attend the schools, gymnasia, and Universities, provided that their number does not exceed 5 per cent. of the whole in any one establishment. In future they are to be reduced to a still smaller proportion, and from many of the higher educational institutions they are to be excluded altogether. Again, the legal profession, in which the Jews have achieved great success, is to be closed to them. A law has been passed requiring the sanc- tion of the Minister of the Interior before a Jew can practise, and since it has come into operation, no sanc- tion has been given, and it is understood that this refusal is to be made universal. Henceforth, too, the Jews are to be prohibited from following the professions of engineer or Army doctor, or from holding any Government post, however subordinate. If it had always been the policy of the Russian Government to act thus, it would have been bad enough. Since, however, an enormous number of Jews, in accordance with the more liberal regulations of the Emperor Nicholas, have become skilled artisans, agriculturists, and professional men of great distinction, the new departure is ten times more abominable. It means that in future the Jews are, against their will, to be forced back into a position in which they can be exposed to the taunt that they are always mere hucksters and money-lenders, and never pro- ducers. What course will be open to the unfortunate creatures who are now to be forced into the great towns, but to starve or to adopt the profession of usury, the keeping of liquor-shops, or some other form of petty trading, as a means of livelihood ? It is estimated that the total number of persons who will be expelled from their homes under the new laws will be close upon a million. The fate of these wretched fugitives it is impos- sible to contemplate without a feeling of horror and indignation. The very virtues of the Jews will make their sufferings all the keener. They are an intensely domestic people, devoted to their homes, to their wives and their children, and the amount of shame and misery which must fall upon them when forced into cities where no extra provision will be made for their accommo- dation, cannot be over-estimated. Imagine the situa- tion in which a poor Jewish family now living in one of the prohibited towns finds itself. Forced to give up the occupation by which they have lived, they will be obliged to remove to a strange and distant place, and there attempt to begin life again with everything against them, and in competition with thousands of families as unfortunate, as poor, and as desperate as themselves. If the immediate neighbours of Russia were inclined to welcome the outcasts, they might hope to end their miseries by crossing the frontier. Unfortunately for them, no exit into Austria or Germany is permitted,—a cordon being drawn round the Galician and East Prussian borders for the very purpose of forcing back the Jewish refugees. Except for • those rich enough to take passages to England, France, or America, the persecuted Jews of Russia will be shut up with their tormentors, unable either to protect themselves or to fly. The expulsion of the Moors by Philip, or of the Huguenots by Louis XIV., was, if not in intention, in practice a far less cruel act. The 'persecuted of those times either died quickly or escaped. Those of to-day can see no end, either for themselves or their children, to the cruelty and wrong which they have to endure.
If the knowledge that the oppressors would some day be rewarded after their kind, could afford any relief to the sufferings of the oppressed, the Russian Jews might rejoice even in their agony. Nothing can be more certain than that the Russian Government, by its ill-usage of the Jews, is bringing the day of revolution nearer, and that if society in Russia is ever overwhelmed by a deluge of blood and licentiousness, it will be due in no small measure to the wicked and anarchical policy which is now apparently accepted by the Czar. Such crimes as those contemplated by the Russians cannot be perpetrated without an amount of national demoralisation which renders a country ripe for revolution. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the Dragonnades, and the persecutions in the Cevennes, paved the way for the French Revolution ; and though not perhaps immediately, the Russian governing classes will find some day that they have been preparing for themselves a retri- bution similar to that which overtook the monarchy and aristocracy of France. Immediate acts of injustice seldom produce revolution. That is rather a slow growth from the seeds of past misgovernment. The Russian Jews who ten years ago were given up to the fury of a, brutal and ignorant mob, and are now to be harried by the Government, will not be improved, we may be sure, by the double process. The endurance of cruelty, suffering, and intolerable injustice does not make men better, but worse ; and as the result of the new persecution, if it is put in practice, will arise a population apt to ruin the State the first moment the fabric of government is imperilled. The Jews might have afforded the much- needed conservative force in Russia. If we mistake not, they will be converted into the most dangerous portion of the population.
What can be done to save the Russian Jews from the fate that overhangs them ? Diplomatic representations are, we fear, of little avail, for Russia knows that Europe will not attempt to enforce her remonstrances. The great Jewish financial houses might, however, do something to put pressure upon Russia, and we trust that they will endeavour to find means for inducing her to give up the notion of wholesale persecution. If the Jews of the Old and the New World would make a solemn league and covenant to leave no means untried for injuring Russian trade and Russian Government finance until her present policy were reversed, we believe that Russia would have before long to reconsider her position. The threat that in the event of war every European Bourse would be actively employed against her, could not but have its effect.
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