There are more mistaken notions abroad concerning Jews than concerning
any other people. And we have become so depressed and discouraged by
our historic sufferings that we ourselves repeat and believe these
mistakes. One of these is that we have an immoderate love of business.
Now it is well known that wherever we are permitted to take part in
the rising of classes, we give up our business as soon as possible.
The great majority of Jewish business men give their sons a superior
education. Hence, the so-called "Judaizing" of all intellectual
professions. But even in economically feebler grades of society, our
love of trade is not so predominant as is generally supposed. In the
Eastern countries of Europe there are great numbers of Jews who are
not traders, and who are not afraid of hard work either. The Society
of Jews will be in a position to prepare scientifically accurate
statistics of our human forces. The new tasks and prospects that await
our people in the new country will satisfy our present handicraftsmen,
and will transform many present small traders into manual workers.
A peddler who travels about the country with a heavy pack on his back
is not so contented as his persecutors imagine. The seven-hour day
will convert all of his kind into workmen. They are good,
misunderstood people, who now suffer perhaps more severely than any
others. The Society of Jews will, moreover, busy itself from the
outset with their training as artisans. Their love of gain will be
encouraged in a healthy manner. Jews are of a thrifty and adaptable
disposition, and are qualified for any means of earning a living, and
it will therefore suffice to make small trading unremunerative, to
cause even present peddlers to give it up altogether. This could be
brought about, for example, by encouraging large department stores
which provide all necessaries of life. These general stores are
already crushing small trading in large cities. In a land of new
civilization they will absolutely prevent its existence. The
establishment of these stores is further advantageous, because it
makes the country immediately habitable for people who require more
refined necessaries of life.