The voice of america on Kishineff

Introduction

On February 16, 1903, a youth named Michael Ribalenko was murdered at Dubossary, a village in the Government of Kherson, Southwestern Russia, not far from the Bessarabian town of Kishineff. Ribalenko was prospective heir to a fortune. The murderer turned out later to be, not a Jew, but a relative of the victim. He was actuated by the desire to secure a part of the fortune, upon which he had a claim after the lad’s death. The corpse was found on February 22. Immediately the rumor arose that the Jews had committed the deed to obtain Christian blood for the Passover bread, and the accusation was kept alive by inflammatory articles in an anti-Semitic paper, The Bessarabetz, published at Kishineff by one Krushevan. This journal occupied a favorable position for shaping and controlling the humors of the populace. Not only was it licensed by the Government, but governmental authorization had for some years been denied every other journalistic venture in the district, although several applications had been made for the avowed purpose of counteracting the anti-Semitic propaganda systematically carried on by Krushevan in his two papers, published at Kishineff and St. Petersburg.

The agitation against the Jews was fomented throughout the month of March and during April, until it culminated, at the Easter holidays, April 19- 21, in a three days’ riot directed against the Jews of Kishineff. During this period of agitation, secret sox INTRODUCTION cieties were formed whose object was the extermination or the harassing of the Jews, and hordes of Moldavian, Albanian, and Macedonian ruffans were hired in outlying villages to come to the town at the time designated for the attack upon the Jewish quarters.

That the onslaught upon the Jews was not due to an overmastering impulse of the moment, but had been carefully planned, was obvious from the events of the first day. There was not one mob, but several mobs, operating at the same time in different localities. The police was inactive, and the military was not summoned, although representatives of the Jewish community had called upon the Governor before the riots began, and had warned him of the dangers of the situation. Citizens belonging to the upper classes of society permitted it to appear that their sympathies were with the rioters, and on the part of the authorities nothing was done until the second day of the outrages was well advanced.

The official report (June 7) of the Central Relief Committee at Kishineff makes the following statement of the depredations committed by the mob:

The number of families affected by the outrages is 2,750, of whom 2,538 reported to the Committee damages amounting to 2,332,890 roubles (about $1,190,- 000.00). The number of victims killed on the spot and dying in consequence of injuries was 47; the number of severely injured, 92; slightly injured, 345 (not including those treated by physicians outside of the hospitals). The 47 victims left widows and 123 orphans. These figures do not take into account the temporarily or permanently disabled, nor can statistical inquiry reach those whose business, trade, or po-

INTRODUCTION xT sition has been affected, more or less seriously, by the industrial and economic crisis that has ensued.

The above is an outline statement of the occurrences at Kishineff as they have been described and analyzed by official and private investigators, by the consuls of several Governments at Odessa, by journalists, and by eye-witnesses, and sufferers. It does not touch upon the alleged complicity of the Russian Govern: ment through Minister von Plehve’s secret circular of much earlier date; nor does it attempt to depict the horrors enacted during the three days of the massacre. Only so much of Kishineff history has been set down here as was needed to lead up to the action taken by the citizens of the United States, which it is sought to preserve in the present publication.

About ten days after the outrages, at the very end of April, meager dispatches describing what had happened reached the United States despite the vigilance of the Russian press censor. On April 29, the following dispatch was sent by our Department of State:

McCormick, Ambassador, St. Petersburg.

It is persistently reported, upon what appears to be adequate authority, that there is great want and suffering among Jews in Kischinew. Friends in this country desire to know if financial aid and supplies would be permitted to reach the sufferers.

Please ascertain this without discussing political phase of the situation. HAY.

The reply came ten days later: PETERSBURG, May 9, 1903.

Received 9.46 a. m.

Sec. State

Washn.

Authoritatively denied that there is any want or suffering among Jews in Southwestern Russia and aid of any kind is

XII INTRODUCTION unnecessary. While offer appreciated in spirit made it is gratefully declined.

McCORMICK.

On May 18, Count Cassini, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, issued a statement to The Associated Press. It was at once made the text of numerous addresses and editorial articles. The widespread attention it aroused was due doubtless to the supposition that Count Cassini was representing his Government in his explanation and his defense—an explanation and a defense which many orators characterized as having added insult to injury. It is reproduced here for two reasons: because without it many allusions in the body of the book are unintelligible, and because it presumably presents the case of Russia as Russia wishes it to be presented officially, since it has neither been disavowed nor supplemented by other statements :

There is in Russia, as in Germany and Austria, a feeling against certain of the Jews. The reason for this unfriendly attitude is found in the fact that the Jews will not work in the field or engage in agriculture. They prefer to be money lenders. Give a Jew a couple of dollars and he becomes a banker and money broker. In this capacity he takes advantage of the Russian peasant, whom he soon has in his power and ultimately destroys. It is when the patience of the peasant is exhausted that a conflict between peasants and Jews occurs. Ordinarily the Russian is a patient person, but it is only natural that he should entertain a feeling of resentment for the one who has wrought his ruin.

Emperor Nicholas I. sought to help the Jew by ordering the establishment of agricultural colonies in Southern Russia, hoping to induce the Jews to engage in agricultural pursuits instead of money lending, but the effort was not successful;

nor have other projects establishing Jewish states been successful.

INTRODUCTION XIli

The situation in Russia so far as the Jews are concerned is just this: It is the peasant against the money lender and not the Russians against the Jews. There is no feeling against the Jew in Russia because of religion. It is as I have said— the Jews ruin the peasants, with the result that conflicts occur when the latter have lost all their worldly possessions and have nothing to live upon.

There are many good Jews in Russia, and they are respected. Jewish genius is appreciated in Russia, and the Jewish artist is honored. Jews also appear in the financial world in Russia.

The Russian Government affords the same protection to the Jews that it does to any other of its citizens, and when a riot occurs and Jews are attacked, the officials immediately take steps to apprehend those who began the riot and visit severe punishment upon them. In the past Russians have been punished severely for attacks upon Jews. But, notwithstanding these conflicts, the Jews continue to do the very things which have been responsible for the troubles which involve them.

The Russian readily assimilates with the people of all other races, and if he cannot assimilate with the Jew, it is apparent that the fault must be with the Jew and not with the Russian.

The Ambassador’s attention was called to the statement contained in press dispatches from St. Petersburg to-day to the effect that a ministerial decree had been issued forbidding the Jews arming themselves for their own protection.

“T have received no information regarding the nature of the decree,” he said, “but I know when the facts are made known it will appear differently and it will be shown that the decree does not discriminate against the Jews. The fact that Lieutenant-General Raaben, the Governor of Bessarabia, has been called to St. Petersburg shows conclusively that the Imperial authorities are seriously regarding the recent occurrences at Kishineff and are taking prompt measures to punish the guilty and to prevent repetitions of these disturbances.”

The earliest public manifestation of sympathy was made in New York on May 2. Day by day almost, for

XV INTRODUCTION two months thereafter, the people of the United States created opportunities for expressing their indignation. Mass meetings were convened for the purpose, sermons were delivered by ministers of all creeds, editorial articles appeared in the foremost papers, and resolutions were adopted by various bodies, religious, legal, and political, conveying sympathy to the survivors and appealing to the Government of the United States to urge upon Russia the necessity of taking steps to ameliorate the condition of her Jews.

While the agitation calling upon the Government of the United States to make suitable representations to the Russian Government was at its height, the fifteenth annual meeting of THE JEwisH PUBLICATION Society oF AMERICA took place, May 24, 1903, in Philadelphia, Pa., at which the following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved, That we deplore the brutal massacre of our co-religionists at Kishineff and extend our sympathy to those who have been maimed and ruined.

Resolved, That we respectfully ask the President of the United States to use his good offices in the name of humanity to prevent a recurrence of similar events.

Resolved, That we respectfully ask of the Congress and the Administration the taking of such steps as will accord equal rights to all American citizens, without distinction of creed, in all treaties hereafter entered into with foreign powers, and the denunciation of all existing treaties in conflict with this principle.

Resolved, That we denounce the heartless attempt made by the Russian ambassador to spread among the American people by means of the public press misleading and calumnious statements as to the character of the Jews of Russia and other countries.

Resolved, That a copy of this minute, signed by the officers

INTRODUCTION XV of the society, be forwarded to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and, upon the assembling of Congress, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

After the adoption of these resolutions, and as the outcome of the discussion upon them, the following motion was passed:

“That the Publication Committee be requested to prepare from time to time, and the Board of Trustees to publish and distribute, in such manner and in such quantity as may be most effectual, information bearing upon the condition of the Jews in Russia.”

As the regular income of the Society was inadequate to meet the extraordinary situation, the Board of Trustees proceeded at once to collect funds for the proposed series of Kishineff publications, and the Publication Committee made arrangements to gather the material. The first publication was issued and distributed in November, “‘ Within the Pale, the True Story of Anti-Semitic Persecution in Russia,” by Michael Davitt, who had been sent to Kishineff, by the proprietor of The New York American and The Evening Journal, to make a report of what he could find out on the spot. His investigations have enabled him to present a graphic description of almost unparalleled horrors, with the superadded value of documentary evidence, all but first-hand, to which the future historian may resort when the time arrives for a philosophic and psychologic analysis of the condition of the Jews in the Russia of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."

*For German readers the heartrending tale of Kishineff has been written by Told, Die Judenmassacres in Kishinew. Ji-

XVI INTRODUCTION

The present is the second publication issued under the terms of the above motion instructing the Committees of THe JEwisH PuBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Its purpose is to give a notion of the feeling engendered in the United States by the report of atrocities committed upon Jews in a far-off town. The pamphlet it was first designed to devote to this phase of the event grew into a book, which, in spite of its fair dimensions and crowded pages, does not give an exhaustive account of the action taken and the words spoken in all parts of the United States.

The omissions and curtailments, which the most casual reader will discover for himself, are partly intentional and partly due to the limitations imposed by circumstances. The town meetings held in the principal cities, representing as they did the largest bodies of citizens, are reported in detail. A list of sermons preached by Rabbis is not included. Such a list would have been tantamount to a list containing the name of every Jewish preacher in the United States, for the whole Jewish pulpit rang with sympathy and denunciation. The limitations of space will explain the omission of all letters addressed to the press, many of which vie in cogency of argument with the editorial articles of the professional journalist and the addresses of polished orators. The same reason operated in the decision to rule out the mention of towns in which the only public demonstration, direct and to the point though it was, was the collection of funds. No more could be done than sum up the praiseworthy discher Verlag, 1903; and for French readers, by Henri Dagan, Les massacres de Kichinef et la situation des prolétaires juifs en Russie. Paris, Cahiers de la Quinzaine.

INTRODUCTION XVII result of such demonstration in the general statement made in Part Third of the book (pp. 467-468). Also the less ephemeral forms of literary demonstration, the pamphlets, the magazine articles, the poems, whose theme was Kishineff, by reason of their length, had to be disregarded.’

In part omissions were unintentional. In following up a contemporaneous occurrence through the newspapers, some of its protean manifestations are bound to elude the inquirer, and it was deemed advisable to omit the mention of all places in which correspondents with control over the facts could not be reached, and brief, unauthenticated press items were the only source of information. On the other hand, the completeness of the book, in so far as it is complete, is due primarily to the generosity of those who, when the appeal for material was made, parted with their collections of clippings, or went to the trouble of searching back files of newspapers. The persons who aided in the compilation of the book in this way are too many to be mentioned by name, but their help is acknowledged gratefully.

So much for the omissions. As to what has been included, an analysis of the material here gathered together shows the following to be the contents:

77 public meetings of protest were held in 50 towns situated in 27 States (including the District of Columbia). At these meetings

1 Besides Mr. Davitt’s, there is another book among the Kishineff publications, “ Out of Kishineff, The Duty of the American People to the Russian Jews,” by W. C. Stiles, B. D.

XVII INTRODUCTION

29 17 14 24

16 12 80 40 29 151 addresses were delivered; among them 1 by an ex-President of the United States; 2 by United States Senators; 9 by Members of Congress; 15 by members of the judiciary; 3 by governors of States; 3 by members of State legislatures; 29 by mayors of cities and towns; 3 by college presidents; 5 by college professors; 3 by editors; 8 by attorneys; 55 by clergymen; 56 by rabbis.

letters expressing sympathy with their purpose were read at these public meetings, among them 1 from an ex- President of the United States; 5 from United States Senators; 4 from Members of Congress; 6 from governors of States; 1 from a United States ambassador; 4 from members of the judiciary; 1 from a cardinal; 3 from archbishops; 4 from bishops; 20 from clergymen; and 2 from college presidents.

sermons were preached in

towns, situated in

States.

organizations—clubs, churches, and associations—in meeting assembled for the purpose or for other purposes adopted resolutions condemning the massacre. These organizatons met in

towns, situated in

States (including the District of Columbia).

newspapers published in

towns, situated in

States (including the District of Columbia) printed

editorial articles on subjects connected with the massacre.

An American Kishineff diary would read as follows:

April 29—Dispatch inquiring into the rumors of massacres sent by the Department of State to Ambassador Mc- Cormick at St. Petersburg.

May 2—Meeting in New York City.

3—Meetings at Milwaukee, Wis.; New York City; Philadelphia, Pa.—Editorial article in The Commercial Gazette, Pittsburg, Pa.

8—Meeting in New York City.

INTRODUCTION XIX

May 9 —Dispatch denying the existence of want or suffering among Jews in Southwestern Russia from Ambassador McCormick at St. Petersburg to the Department of State——Editorial articles in The American, and The News, Baltimore, Md.

10—Meetings at Brooklyn, N. Y.; Cleveland, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wis.; and (3) Philadelphia, Pa.

11—Meetings at Atlantic City, N. J.; Newark, N. J.; and New York City.—Resolutions adopted by the Hebrew Veterans of the War with Spain, New York City.

12—Editorial articles in The American and Journal, New York City, and The Public Ledger and Philadelphia Times.

13—Meeting at Texarkana, Tex.—Editorial articles in The American and Journal, and The Evening Journal, New York City.

14—Editorial articles in The American, Baltimore, Md., and The News, Milwaukee, Wis.

15—Editorials in The News, Baltimore, Md.; The Age- Herald, Birmingham, Ala.; The Evening Post, Chicago, Ill.; The American and Journal, and The Evening Journal, New York City.

16—Editorials in The Sun, Baltimore, Md.; The Evening Post, and The Record-Herald, Chicago, IIl.; The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, La.; The Sun, New York City; and The Times, Washington, D. C.

17—Meetings at Baltimore, Md.; Boston Mass.; (2) Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Tex.; Hartford, Conn.; and (2) Philadelphia, Pa.—Editorial articles in The Sun, Baltimore, Md.; The Chronicle, Chicago, Ill.; and The Times, New York City.

18—The Associated Press publishes a statement by Count Cassini, the Russian Ambassador.—Meetings at Buffalo, N. Y.; Chicago, Ill.; and Cincinnati, Ohio.—Resolutions adopted by the City Council of Chicago, Ill.—Editorial articles in The News, Baltimore, Md.; The Evening Post, Chicago, Ill.; The State, Columbia, S. C.; The Times, and The Tribune, New York City; The World-

XX INTRODUCTION

Herald, Omaha, Neb.; The Chronicle Telegraph, Pittsburg, Pa.; and The Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Mo.

May 1t9—Meetings at San Francisco, Cal., and Yonkers, N. Y.—Resolutions adopted by the Boards of Aldermen of Jersey City, N. J., and New York City.—Editorial articles in The Courier, Buffalo, N. Y.; The Chronicle, and the Inter Ocean, Chicago, Ill.; The Evening Journal, Minneapolis, Minn.; The American and Journal, New York City; and The Eagle, Wichita, Kan.

20—Editorial articles in The Citizen, Asheville, N. C.; The News, Baltimore, Md.; The Commercial, Buffalo, N. Y.; The News, Chattanooga, Tenn. ; The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio; The Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo.; The Evening News, Lincoln, Neb.; The Times, New York City; The Press, Philadelphia, Pa.; and The Public Ledger and Philadelphia Times.

21—Meetings at Fort Smith, Ark., and Sioux City, Ia.— Resolutions adopted by the Seventeenth Triennial Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church,. Chicago, Ill.—Editorial articles in the Evening Transcript, Boston, Mass.; The Leader, La Crosse, Wis.; The Independent, The Press, The Sun, and The Times, New York City.

22—Meeting at San Francisco, Cal.——Editorial articles in The News, Birmingham, Ala.; The Evening Post, and Hearst’s Chicago American, Chicago, Iil.; The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, O.; The Evening Journal, New York City; The Commercial Gazette, Pittsburg, Pa.; and the Record-Union, Sacramento, Cal.

23—Action taken by the American Baptist Missionary Union, Buffalo, N. Y., and the City Council of Detroit, Mich.—Editorial articles in The Journal, Atlanta, Ga.; The Examiner, Chicago, Ill.; The Outlook, The Sun, and The Times, New York City.

24—Meetings at Denver, Colo.; Des Moines, Ia.; Elmira, N. Y.; Jersey City, N. J.; La Crosse, Wis.; New

INTRODUCTION XXI

York City; St. Louis, Mo.; and Wheeling, W. Va.—Sermons preached (2) at Denver, Colo.; (2) New York City; Omaha, Neb.; and Philadelphia, Pa.—Action taken by Congregation Emanu-El, Birmingham, Ala.; Calvary Baptist Church, Omaha, Neb.; and The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, Pa.—Editorial articles in The Record-Herald, Chicago, Ill.; The World-Herald, Omaha, Neb.; The News, Wheeling, W. Va.

May 25—Meetings at Buffalo, N. Y., and Newport, R. I.— Editorial articles in The American, Baltimore, Md.; The Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho; The Evening News, Lincoln, Neb.; The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, New York City.

26—Meetings at New York City and Norfolk, Va.—Editorial articles in The Tribune, N. Y.; The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.; The Globe-Democrat, St. Louis, Mo.; and The Gazette, Terre Haute, Ind.

27—Meetings at Bayonne, N. J., and New York City.— Editorial articles in The Evening Sun, New York City, and The Herald, Topeka, Kan.

28—Resolutions adopted by Temple Israel, Terre Haute, Ind.—Editorial articles in The Globe, Boston, Mass.; The News, Des Moines, Ia.; The American and Journal, The Evening Sun, The Sun, and The Times, New York City.

29—Meetings at Chicago, Ill.; Jersey City, N. J.; and La Crosse, Wis.—Editorial articles in The Evening Post, and The Record-Herald, Chicago, IIl.; The Gazette, Janesville, Wis.; The American and Journal, New York City; and The Evening Telegram, West Superior, Wis.

30—Meeting at Salt Lake City, Utah.—Editorial articles in The American, Baltimore, Md.; The News and Courier, Charleston, S. C.; and The Outlook, New York City.

31—Meetings at Boston, Mass., and Richmond, Va.—An address at Minneapolis, Minn.—Sermons (2) at

XXII

June

INTRODUCTION

Boston, Mass., and (1) at Philadelphia, Pa.— Resolutions adopted by the Chambers-Wylie Memorial Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa.— Editorial articles in The Item, New Orleans, La., and The Bee, Omaha, Neb.

1—Meetings at Birmingham, Ala.; Syracuse, N. Y.; and Wilmington, Del—An address at New York City—Resolutions adopted by the Jefferson Club, New York City, and the Union Republican Committee of New Castle County, N. J.—Editorial articles in The Times, Altoona, Pa.; The Ledger, Birmingham, Ala.; and The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.

2—Meeting at Trenton, N. J.—Resolutions adopted by the Negro Members of the Louisville, Ky., bar, and by the Common Council of Trenton, N. J.— Editorial articles in The Advertiser, Newark, N. J., and The American and Journal, New York City.

3—Meetings at Philadelphia, Pa., and Worcester, Mass. —An editorial article in The Evening Star, Peotiaye lll:

4—Meeting at Atlanta, Ga.—Resolutions adopted by the Seneca Club, New York City.—Editorial articles in Leslie’s Ilustrated Weekly, New York City; The Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, Pa.; and The Capital, Topeka, Kan.

5—Meeting at Washington, D. C.—Editorial articles in The American and Journal, New York City; The Inquirer, and The North American, Philadelphia, Pa.; and The Ledger, Tacoma, Wash.

6—Editorial articles in The American, and The Morning Herald, Baltimore, Md.; The Evening Sun, and The Times, New York City.

7—Meetings at Baltimore, Md.; (3) New York City; and Pittsburg, Pa—Addresses at Wilmington, Del.—Sermons at Albany, N. Y.; (2) Baltimore, Md.; and New York City——Editorial articles in The Sun, and The Times, New York City; and The Times, Toledo, Ohio.

June

July

INTRODUCTION XXIII

8—Resolutions adopted by the City Council of Columbus, Ohio.—An editorial article in The American and Journal, New York City. 10—Editorial articles in The Sun, Baltimore, Md.; The American and Journal, and The Times, New York City. 12—Editorial articles in The American, Baltimore, Md., The Times, New York City; and The Call, San Francisco, Cal. 13—Meeting at New Orleans, La.—Editorial articles in The Picayune, New Orleans, La., and The Times, New York City. 14—Meeting at Petersburg, Va.—Sermon in New York City. 15—The Executive Committee of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith waits upon the President of the United States, and presents a memorandum and the draft of a petition addressed to the Emperor of Russia. 16—An editorial article in The Evening Journal, Minneapolis, Minn. 17—An editorial article in The Press, New York City. 18—Resolutions adopted by the National Anti-Mob and Lynch Law Association, Springfield, O.—An editorial article in The American, Baltimore, Md. 22—Sermons (2) at Kansas City, Mo.—An editorial article in The News, New York City. 2s—An editorial article in The Mail and Express, New York City. 26—Fditorial articles in The Commercial Advertiser,. and The Tribune, New York City. 27—Editorial articles in The Times, and The Tribune, New York City, and The Bee, Omaha, Neb. 28—An editorial article in The Times, New York City. 1—An editorial article in The Times, New York City. 4—An editorial article in The Times, New York City. s—An editorial article in The Press, Philadelphia, Pat 7—An editorial article in The Globe, Boston, Mass. 11—Address before the Chautauqua Assembly.

XXIV INTRODUCTION

July 12—Meeting at Atlantic City.

14—The petition to the Emperor of Russia, framed by the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith transmitted, in obedience to the instructions of the President of the United States, to the American Chargé d’Affaires at St. Petersburg, with directions to present a communication embodying the petition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and inquire whether the petition would be received by him to be submitted to the Emperor of Russia. Not received.

15—An editorial article in The Times, New York City.

17—Editorial articles in The American and Journal, New York City, and The Evening Star, Washingtom Dae:

18—An editorial article in The Times, New York City.

21—An editorial article in The Evening Post, Louisville, Ky.

Oct. 31—The petition of the Independent Order of B’nai

B'rith, with 12,544 signatures appended, placed in the archives of the United States.

In Part First the various sorts of protest, whether in the form of meetings, resolutions, or sermons, have been grouped in chronological order under the towns in which the action was taken, and the towns are arranged alphabetically. In Part Second the alphabetical order of towns is retained, and under each town name the newspapers follow each other in the alphabetical order of their names, and the articles quoted from each in chronological order.

In reading the addresses and articles in the book, the reader must bear in mind that they form a contemporaneous record, in which contradictory statements could hardly fail to find lodgment. They are day by day utterances, which successive dispatches and reports were bound to modify and correct. Hence arise the in-

INTRODUCTION XXV consistencies in facts and figures between address and address, and article and article. The sketch of the course of events as they are now known to have happened given in this Introduction, is an attempt to bring together the final results as they appear in the most authentic accounts available.

The plan of THE JEwisH PusricaTion Society or AMERICA was to issue a series of publications on Russian Jewish relations, and there is sufficient material on hand for works on the condition of the Jews in Russia, on aspects of the passport question, and on documents in the archives of the United States bearing upon these matters. Whether the plan will be fully executed, will depend upon circumstances, chief among them the collection of a fund large enough to enable the Society to bear the expense of printing, publication, and distribution.

NovEMBER 26, 1903.

In view of the length of time that has elapsed since the above Introduction was written, the Editor is prompted to address a word to the members of the JewisH PuBLIcATION SociETY OF AMERICA, in explanation of the causes of the delay in the appearance of the present book. When the galley proofs were about to be put into pages, a fire broke out, on December 6, 1903, in the printing office of The Friedenwald Company at Baltimore, by whom the book had been set up. Scarcely had work been ‘resumed, after an interruption of nearly seven weeks, when the disastrous fire of February 7, though it fortunately did not reach the above printing establishment, impeded the progress of the

XXVI INTRODUCTION book again, by temporarily putting a stop to all activity in Baltimore.

Meanwhile reports of the trial of the rioters at Kishineff, held in November-December, 1903, and, in part, of the trial held in February-March, 1904, have been received in America. The significant circumstances attending and brought out by the two trials may be summed up briefly thus:

At the first trial, out of four hundred prisoners, one was sentenced to seven years’ and one to five years’ penal servitude; and twenty-three to periods of imprisonment ranging up to a maximum of two years. At the second trial (up to the present date) two were sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and one to twenty years; fifteen to one year’s imprisonment, and three to four months.

The Court refused to allow the necessary witnesses to be put in the witness box.

All the Counsel (except two out of as retained for the prosecution threw up their briefs, because the judges interfered with the freedom of the barristers in questioning the witnesses. Subsequently one of these advocates was banished to Siberia.

All civil actions for damages, which naturally were brought by Jews, were non-suited.

Baron Levendal, colonel of gendarmery, came to Kishineff three months before Easter with a detachment of secret police, and emissaries of his accompanied bands of the rioters urging them to attack the Jews.