THE ARGENTINE _VERSUS_ PALESTINE
Expeditions and investigations in various countries――The
decision in favour of The Argentine――Dr. G. Löwenthal――Col.
A. E. W. Goldsmid――The “Lovers of _Zion_” and Baron _de_
Hirsch in 1891――Baron and Baroness _de_ Hirsch’s charitable
works.
BARON _de_ HIRSCH sent agents to make investigations in various
parts of America――in Brazil, Mexico, Canada and The Argentine. On the
advice of Dr. Guillaume Löwenthal, who was mainly entrusted with these
inquiries, he arrived at the conclusion that The Argentine presented
conditions most favourable for a plan of colonization. Large tracts
of land were consequently purchased in the districts of Buenos Ayres,
Santa Fé and Entre Rios. The Russian Government, which had rejected
his offer for the amelioration of the condition of the Jews in the
Empire, co-operated with him in the organization of a system of
emigration. A central committee, selected by the Baron, and various
provincial committees were formed in St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Odessa,
Kiew and other centres. He formed also a governing body in The
Argentine; and――for a short time――the personal direction of the
colonies was entrusted to Colonel A. E. W. Goldsmid, who obtained
temporary leave of absence from the British War Office for this purpose.
Baron _de_ Hirsch, who did not always find the most prudent, devoted
and trustworthy agents, had in Colonel Goldsmid, the ardent Zionist, an
inspired and enthusiastic coadjutor; but Goldsmid remained there only a
short time.
The gigantic plan of colonization met with the measure of failure
and of success to be expected by such enterprises. The work was
enormous, and, as far as finance and responsibility were concerned,
it fell almost entirely upon Hirsch’s shoulders. Hirsch created all
the necessary machinery, and sent out agent after agent to furnish
him with a correct account of the facts. He sent Mr. Arnold White
to Russia four times to negotiate with the Russian Government. A
number of influential Russian Jews, including Baron Horace Günzburg
(1833‒1909), a well-known philanthropist and a recognized leader of
Russian Jewry, as well as Poliakoff, Warschawsky, and others, devoted
their energies to the organization in Russia. David Feinberg, a
generous and devoted Russian Jew, who had considerable experience in
Jewish communal affairs in the Russian capital, and had given many
years’ service in connection with Baron Günzburg’s public activities,
was appointed general secretary.
At first the conditions in The Argentine were somewhat chaotic;
afterwards matters proceeded in an apparently satisfactory manner.
Appearances, however, were deceptive. Not that success was wanting:
far from it. Colonies were established; the Baron convinced himself
that Russian Jews could really become successful agriculturists.
But the task of transporting great masses there proved to be an
impossibility. Undoubtedly a few thousand families were helped, and
the colonies, some of which are in a flourishing condition, are a
credit to Jewish agriculture. But this was not the original object.
These colonies had really been intended to form the nucleus of one
great home, if not for millions, at least for hundreds of thousands
of Jews. This could not be achieved without popular enthusiasm. The
Jew could not be expected to love the soil of “The Argentine” as he
loves the soil of the Promised Land. He went there, as he would go
to Brazil, or to Mexico, to improve his material condition, but the
moment other possibilities were offered to him, he would give up his
trying occupation and go elsewhere. From the national point of view,
if he had to become an Argentinian Spaniard of the Jewish persuasion,
he might as easily, and perhaps more easily, become an American. If
he had to build up a centre for Judaism, he could not look forward to
any success there, being so far removed from his traditional centres.
Moreover, Zionism is an ideal which to a certain extent regenerates
even the Jew of the Diaspora, who does not go to Palestine himself,
because of its national aspect, its historic associations, its
influence on education. All this was lacking in The Argentine
undertaking. It was, therefore, bound to remain a matter of economic
improvement, if not of ordinary charity.
In 1891 the “Lovers of _Zion_” tried to persuade Hirsch to turn his
activities to Palestine. Herzl tried again in 1896, unfortunately
without success. The fact that Hirsch had met with a repulse at the
time of his earlier transactions with the _Sultan_, Abdul Hamid,
may have made the difficulty of obtaining a charter from the Ottoman
Government seem a greater obstacle to him than it would have seemed to
others. In his negotiations with the “Lovers of _Zion_” in 1891 he was
not altogether an opponent; he wavered for a while between different
countries, considering exclusively the quality of the soil, the
price, facilities and so on; but he overlooked the essential fact. The
question for him was not one of history and national desire, but of
the soil, the income, and, above all, the extension of his scheme. The
able and ingenious business man wanted to be practical. The builder
of a great railway wanted to establish a colony for millions, and
he believed in the lustre of his gem. Had he known that in “The
Argentine,” in spite of its apparently unlimited possibilities,
only some ten thousand Jews would settle, he would undoubtedly have
preferred Palestine, where even ten thousand, as true representatives
of a nation in its old country, have a far greater value. But he felt
himself called upon to accomplish great things in the economic sphere.
It was the very instinct of the man, his nature, the bent of his
genius. If we wish to understand him, we must make full allowance
for his surroundings, his education and the times in which he lived.
His idea was a long step towards Zionism, but some would not have
it for that particular reason. It is significant that his enormous
munificence remained quite isolated; he had no followers, though he
was very anxious to find some. Could anybody imagine a National Fund
for Jewish agriculture in “The Argentine”? The masses, it is true,
were interested in his scheme, but their interest was one of curiosity,
of the wish to be helped, not of self-help. And not only the masses,
but the wealthy people too held aloof. A short time before he died,
he received a few hundred pounds from two or three people for his
undertaking, and he felt very happy!
During his negotiations with the “Lovers of _Zion_” he revealed
his idea of creating a Jewish Commonwealth,¹ saying that he was
endeavouring to prepare the conditions for such a scheme. On another
occasion, discussing the difficulties of administration, _etc._, he
exclaimed:――
¹ He used the term “_Gemeinwesen_.”
“_Give me Jewish apostles, and I shall succeed!_
It dawned upon him that something was missing.
The fifth period of his activity comprises various philanthropic works.
The large number of Russian Jews who emigrated to the United States
attracted his benevolent interest; and in 1891 he was instrumental
in organizing under the laws of the state of New York the Baron
_de_ Hirsch Fund, with a capital of 2,500,000 dollars, which sum
was afterwards increased. The national Jewish character of Hirsch’s
activity lies here again in the fact that he identified himself with
his suffering brethren all over the world.
Many men of his immense wealth and distinguished position would no
doubt have used such advantages chiefly, if not exclusively, for the
promotion of causes that fill a large place in the popular estimation.
The cause of the Russian Jews would have been too remote, too
intricate, or too small to engage all their sympathies and efforts.
He made it his life-work to undertake something big on behalf of the
Russian Jews. His benevolence was not that weak sentimentalism which
too often obscures the plain behests of duty. He liked society, but he
never stooped to win a cheap popularity by an unbecoming complaisance.
There have been Jews enjoying the same high station, who have put
it to quite a different use. But to him wealth and social power were
simply one continuous challenge――a challenge to his nobler self, to
his reverence for duty. And never could his higher self stand forth
more conspicuously than when it impelled him to think and to work
for his disinherited people. His leading idea was not to combat the
persecutors of the Jews, but to emancipate the Jews themselves――to
extricate them from their mediæval life, to revitalize them with
the breath of “Western culture,” to give them a wider range
of occupations, to transform the pedlar into an artisan and the
shopkeeper into an agriculturist, in short, to render their political
emancipation a necessity by convincing their oppressors of their sound
economic worth. It was a repetition of the programme of the “Alliance
Israélite Universelle” and the Anglo-Jewish Association (Appendix
lxxvi), but it had the merit of being in the hands of a man who knew
nothing of the difficulty of collecting resources from an inert public.
As he lived the greater part of his life in Austria, it is quite
natural that the deplorable condition of the Jews in that empire
appealed strongly to him. In 1889, after consultation with Dr. Adolf
Jellinek (1821‒1893) of Vienna, he formulated a plan to aid the
Jews of Galicia by educational work, support for handicraftsmen
and agriculturists, loans to artisans, _etc._ In 1891 the Austrian
Government agreed to the plan, and Baron _de_ Hirsch thereupon placed
12,000, 000 francs at the disposal of the trustees.
The foregoing are only a few of the foundations established by Baron
_de_ Hirsch. In addition may be mentioned the Canadian Baron _de_
Hirsch Fund, and the large sum given to the London hospitals, to
which he also devoted the entire proceeds of his winnings on the turf.
He always said that his horses ran for charity. It is impossible to
form an accurate estimate of the amount of money that he devoted to
benevolent purposes. Including the large legacy of about 250,000,000
francs left to the Jewish Colonization Association, it exceeded 800,
000,000 francs, is an estimate justified by the amounts given by him
from time to time to the foundations already referred to. He died in
1896, having built for himself a monument more lasting than one of
brass or marble:――
_The Jewish Colonization Association._
The Baroness died in 1899. The amount devoted by her to benevolent
purposes exceeded fifteen million dollars,¹ and she further endowed
her various foundations by leaving them ten million dollars in her
will.
¹ Baron _de_ Hirsch Trade School in New York City; Clara _de_
Hirsch Home for Working Girls in New York; Fund for the
Officials of the Oriental Railways, _etc._
The present possessors of the shares of the Jewish Colonization
Association are: The Alliance Israélite Universelle, the Anglo-Jewish
Association, and the Jewish Communities of Brussels, Berlin and
Frankfort-on-the-Main. The administrative council now numbers
eleven members: five are appointed directly, one each by the five
corporations, each of which holds approximately one-fifth of the
capital; the other six are elected for a period of five years by a
vote of the general assembly of the stockholders, convened once a
year. Since 1900 the Association has been entrusted by Baron Edmond
_de_ Rothschild with the care of his Palestine colonization schemes,
and it is to be hoped that this great Jewish institution will turn its
attention more and more to work in Palestine.
Illustration: _THE CONGRESS PORTRAIT_
_Leopold Pilichowski_
בנימן ואב בן יעקב
(_THEODOR HERZL_)