The capital required for establishing the Company was previously put
at what seemed an absurdly high figure. The amount actually necessary
will be fixed by financiers, and will in any case be a very
considerable sum. There are three ways of raising this sum, all of
which the Society will take under consideration. This Society, the
great "Gestor" of the Jews, will be formed by our best and most
upright men, who must not derive any material advantage from their
membership. Although the Society cannot at the outset possess any but
moral authority, this authority will suffice to establish the credit
of the Jewish Company in the nation's eyes. The Jewish Company will be
unable to succeed in its enterprise unless it has received the
Society's sanction; it will thus not be formed of any mere
indiscriminate group of financiers. For the Society will weigh, select
and decide, and will not give its approbation till it is sure of the
existence of a sound basis for the conscientious carrying out of the
scheme. It will not permit experiments with insufficient means, for
this undertaking must succeed at the first attempt. Any initial
failure would compromise the whole idea for many decades to come, or
might even make its realization permanently impossible.
The three methods of raising capital are: (1) Through big banks; (2)
Through small and private banks; (3) Through public subscription.
The first method of raising capital is: Through big banks. The
required sum could then be raised in the shortest possible time among
the large financial groups, after they had discussed the advisability
of the course. The great advantage of this method would be that it
would avoid the necessity of paying in the thousand millions (to keep
to the original figure), immediately in its entirety. A further
advantage would be that the credit of these powerful financiers would
also be of service to the enterprise. Many latent political forces lie
in our financial power, that power which our enemies assert to be so
effective. It might be so, but actually it is not. Poor Jews feel only
the hatred which this financial power provokes; its use in
alleviating their lot as a body, they have not yet felt. The credit of
our great Jewish financiers would have to be placed at the service of
the National Idea. But should these gentlemen, who are quite satisfied
with their lot, feel indisposed to do anything for their fellow-Jews
who are unjustly held responsible for the large possessions of certain
individuals, then the realization of this plan will afford an
opportunity for drawing a clear line of distinction between them and
the rest of Jewry.
The great financiers, moreover, will certainly not be asked to raise
an amount so enormous out of pure philanthropic motives; that would be
expecting too much. The promoters and stock holders of the Jewish
Company are, on the contrary, expected to do a good piece of business,
and they will be able to calculate beforehand what their chances of
success are likely to be. For the Society of Jews will be in
possession of all documents and references which may serve to define
the prospects of the Jewish Company. The Society will in particular
have investigated with exactitude the extent of the new Jewish
movement, so as to provide the Company promoters with thoroughly
reliable information on the amount of support they may expect. The
Society will also supply the Jewish Company with comprehensive modern
Jewish statistics, thus doing the work of what is called in France a
"societe d'etudes," which undertakes all preliminary research previous
to the financing of a great undertaking. Even so, the enterprise may
not receive the valuable assistance of our moneyed magnates. These
might, perhaps, even try to oppose the Jewish movement by means of
their secret agents. Such opposition we shall meet with relentless
determination.
Supposing that these magnates are content simply to turn this scheme
down with a smile:
Is it, therefore, done for?
No.
For then the money will be raised in another way--by an appeal to
moderately rich Jews. The smaller Jewish banks would have to be united
in the name of the National Idea against the big banks till they were
gathered into a second and formidable financial force. But,
unfortunately, this would require a great deal of financing at
first--for the L50,000,000 would have to be subscribed in full before
starting work; and, as this sum could only be raised very slowly, all
sorts of banking business would have to be done and loans made during
the first few years. It might even occur that, in the course of all
these transactions, their original object would be forgotten; the
moderately rich Jews would have created a new and large business, and
Jewish emigration would be forgotten.
The notion of raising money in this way is not by any means
impracticable. The experiment of collecting Christian money to form an
opposing force to the big banks has already been tried; that one could
also oppose them with Jewish money has not been thought of until now.
But these financial conflicts would bring about all sorts of crises;
the countries in which they occurred would suffer, and Anti-Semitism
would become rampant.
This method is therefore not to be recommended. I have merely
suggested it, because it comes up in the course of the logical
development of the idea.
I also do not know whether smaller private banks would be willing to
adopt it.
In any case, even the refusal of moderately rich Jews would not put an
end to the scheme. On the contrary, it would then have to be taken up
in real earnest.
The Society of Jews, whose members are not business men, might try to
found the Company on a national subscription.
The Company's capital might be raised, without the intermediary of a
syndicate, by means of direct subscription on the part of the public.
Not only poor Jews, but also Christians who wanted to get rid of them,
would subscribe a small amount to this fund. A new and peculiar form
of the plebiscite would thus be established, whereby each man who
voted for this solution of the Jewish Question would express his
opinion by subscribing a stipulated amount. This stipulation would
produce security. The funds subscribed would only be paid in if their
sum total reached the required amount, otherwise the initial payments
would be returned.
But if the whole of the required sum is raised by popular
subscription, then each little amount would be secured by the great
numbers of other small amounts.
All this would, of course, need the express and definite assistance of
interested Governments.