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JUNE, 1903 SIVAN, 5663
VOL. IV
No. 6
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The riaccabfiean
Vol. IV
June, 1903
No. 6
CONTENTS
PRONTISPIECB : Moses on Mount Sinai. By A. Wolfson.
A Soldier of Liberty. By John Cournos 299
A New Poet. Soi^omon Bi^oomgar-
DEN 303
Rehoboth. a story of a Palestinean Colony. By E. W. Lewin-Epstein . 305
Oi,DNEWLAND. A Romance. By Dr.
Theodor Herzl. Book IV, V.. . . 309 Four Corners of the Earth . . . 324 Dr. Gustav GoTTheii,. A Tribute by
L. Lipsky 331
KiSHiNEFF. A Poem 332
KiSHiNEFF. Relief Fund 333
ED1TORIAI.S : The Convention ; Pan- American Jewish Congress Horror ; The Winds of Misery ; The Shame of It ; Official Programme of Sixth Convention 339
Official Information 341
Official Programme of Sixth Conven- tion 342
Nationai, Fund Collection .... 345
News from the Societies 347
Thk Maccab.«an is a magazine published under the supervision of the Federation of American Zionists. It will be issued on the first of every month. All articles, translations, etc., have been specially contributed to The Maccab^an, and are copy- righted and may not be reproduced without permission.
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The Business Manager, J. GOODMAN. THE MACCAB>EAN, 320 BROADWAY. NEW YORK CITY.
Copyright, 1901, by The MACCAB^eAN.
JUST OUT
ANTISEMITISM
ITS HISTORY AND CAUSES
By BERNARD LAZARE
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
This book, which was widely noticed in France, is a scholarly, and at the same time an attractive, presentation of the status of Israel among nations, from the beginning of the Christian era down to our own days. The author does not allow the bias of one attached by blood to the per- secuted race to creep into his treatment of the subject, which he considers throughout as a problem in sociology.
An Elegant Volume of 385 Pages, Cloth, Qilt Top. Price $a.oo
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MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI By A. Wolfson (aged i8).
Vol. IV.
Sivan 5663
No. 6
A Soldier of Liberty*
Bv John Cournos.
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, How shall you flee away and be at rest:
The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, Mankind their country — Israel but the grave!
Byron.
THE fact that he was approaching his twenty-first year preyed heavily upon Ephraim Levi. Day by day he grew more somber, taciturn and unhappy. To be sure there is no cause for unhappiness when one becomes of age — a man — and there is much cause for rejoicing. But for poor Ephraim the event was not a matter for rejoicing ; for a few months hence he knew that he would be obliged to leave the paternal roof and shoulder the musket in the Roumanian army; and there was nothing that he dreaded more. Yet, Ephraim was far from being a coward.
" Say, Ephraim," yelled at him one day one of his Christian neighbors, a certain Stephen Kurza.
Ephraim, who was crossing one of the thoroughfares, stopped for a moment, and, seeing Kurza, only quickened his footsteps.
Kurza was a man who always took delight in tormenting the Jews, and especially Ephraim. He held the position of medical inspector in the army and examined new recruits.
" Say, Ephraim," yelled he again, louder, " I want to ask you something."
This time Ephraim paused, and looked questioningly at the Jew-baiter.
" Ephraim," says Kurza, " is it true that you don't like soldiering in our army? I wouldn't believe it when they told me that, and I thought I'd ask you
300 THE MACCABiEAN. [June, 1903.
myself." And in uttering these words he could not resist a malicious grin, though it could be seen that he made an effort to look serious.
Ephraim grew red in the face, and did not reply at once. Kurza seemed to enjoy his discomforture.
" Look here, Kurza; you need not jeer at us Jews, and you know well why we don't like to serve. Judaism is a crime in your eyes and all Jews are born criminals, and must therefore suffer for their terrbile crime which they have inherited through generations and generations. When we enter the army we are treated like dogs ; we cannot become officers, no matter how bravely we fight. We are beaten, spat upon, not only in the army, but among the people. Why should we love to serve in the army ? "
Kurza's eyes glistened during this recital. " You are treated so, because you are not patriots; you are strangers in this country."
" Not patriots ! strangers ! " exclaimed Ephraim, bitterly. " Do you know, Kurza, that we settled here almost after the destruction of Jerusalem, even before you people. But we were always weak, and molested; we ,too, can love our country if you only treat us like men. But how can a mouse love a cat, or how can the oppressed love his oppressor? If we are not patriots it is because we are not permitted to be patriots."
Saying these words, Ephraim walked quickly away, but the scornful laugh of Kurza, which he had heard behind his back pursued him until he reached home and even after he had entered his room.
" So we are strangers in this modern Egypt," muttered Ephraim, and his thoughts at once reverted to the disagreeable prospect in the army. Soldiers had often passed through the little place in which he resided ; he had often wit- nessed the cruel punishment his co-religionists had to undergo, and his blood boiled in him as in Moses, who slew the Egyptian that had molested the Jew. He had witnessed the heatrending partings of the poor boys from their homes — they all knew their fate, the fate of Israel to be the lamb and suffer. He began to think, to devise something by which he could escape service. He cared not so much for himself, but he had often seen his mother weeping. " Why do you weep, mother ? " he would ask, caressing her careworn face. " Oh, nothing, my son." He knew ; one of her sons — a weakling — had already died in the army. " God's ways are best," thought this poor old woman.
But one day the sun shone bright on Ephraim's future. A letter had arrived from America. It contained a passage to America, that new land of milk and honey. It was his father who had sent it, and Ephraim's joy knew no bounds. He was free. He had often thought of America. He had heard from someone that it was the land of opportunity. No forced soldiering for him ! no beatings ! no more oppression !
Ephraim's dreams had assumed great proportions, but these were sweet dreams, for man in his imagination oft lives and enjoys life, even amidst the most sordid surroundings. To get out of modern Egypt, however, was no easy matter. Not only would not the Pharaos give the Jews straw to make bricks with, but they would also not permit them to depart,
Ephraim undertook to cross the frontier by night.
June, 1903.] THE MACCABiEAN. 301
Aided by his co-religionists living on the border he succeeded in crossing safely, and once on the other side he breathed easier.
Here he met many like himself — all. with their faces to the west; but when they said their prayers, their faces, accustomed as they were for centuries, turned toward the East : " Will the Lord cast off forever ? and will he be favorable no more ? Is his mercy gone clean forever ? doth his promise fail forevermore ? "
Whole families there were of wandering Jews. The tots kept up a dis- cordant din, while the mothers, who gave the infants suck, gave vent to their feel- ings: " Oh, weh is mir; oh, weh is mir." (" Oh, woe to me; oh, woe to me.") Fphraim pitied them from the bottom of his heart. In Hamburg as he stepped aboard ship his heart gave a joyful bound and when the ship started his heart gave another bound. His thoughts reverted to the times when the jews were drvien from Spain. On August 2, 1492, eighty thousand Jews, leaving all their goods in the land of their birth, started on their new exile. On August 3, of the same year, Christopher Columbus set out, with the aid of Jewish money, and several Jewish sailors among his crew, to discover a new land — destined to be come a refuge of all oppressed. A peculiar coincidence of history. And for who, if not for the Jews, did Columbus discover America? thought Ephraim; yes, even as the Talmud says : " God provides the remedy before the plague." Yes, and he was going there! Blessed be Columbus!
As the ship tossed from side to side, Ephraim felt miserabable in his berth. Tt seemed to him that the vessel was going over, and he would curse his fate and murmur: "Oh God, why did I leave? To find a watery grave? Why wasn't I willing to die like my brethren ? " Later he would repent of his words and deeds : " What a sinner am I. Here I am going toward freedom, and yet I blaspheme the Lord's name in vain ! May the All-powerful One forgive me ! "
The ship arrived in New York at night. Ephraim could observe the torch of the Liberty statue flickering brightly. He had heard of this remarkable statue, and now as he saw it, it seemed to have a special significance to him. What did he not see in it ! Liberty, happiness ! It seemed to beckon to him to come. The fired imagination of Ephraim saw in it the torch of God himself. " Yes, Liberty," he kept on murmuring, while still keeping his eyes on the light, " to-morrow I'll be with you, one of your soldiers," and his thoughts once more reverted to the Roumanian army.
There was happiness in his soul. What had he not escaped! To-morrow! Would it never come? Most of the passengers slept on board ship that night; but there was no sleep for Ephraim ! How could one enjoy happiness when asleep ? The whole night he sat there watching the light of the Liberty statue. It held him in fascination and as his eyes were riveted on the one spot he seemed a statue himself. Yet he could not take his eyes oflf, " Liberty ! Liberty ! " he kept on murmuring. As it neared toward morning the light went out. With it went out the heart of Ephraim. He felt a curious foreboding of evil ; why, he himself could not explain.
In the morning all the passengers were landed on Ellis Island. Here things were in a chaos. The inspectors were rushing to and fro examining baggage. Physicians were examining the immigrants. Finally it came to the turn of Eph-
302
THE MACCAB^AN.
[June, 1903
raim. " Sound body! '' said the doctor, as he proceeded to examine the eyes, and Ephraim felt that the ordeal was over. " You have to go back ! " exclaimed the doctor, the next moment. " You have trachoma in your eyes." And even as the doctor uttered the words Ephraim felt a darkness in his eyes, a bitterness in his soul and a weakness in every organ. When a man anticipates happiness, when he has it within his grasp, and when some sudden blow shatters his hopes into so many infinitesimal fragments — it is only that man who can describe the feelings of Ephraim ! Poor Ephraim ! From a distance he could still observe the statue of Liberty ; was it only a piece of stone after all ?
Ephraim was sent into the deportation department. An idea came into his mind. He asked to see the doctor. The doctor appeared. Ephraim explained through an interpreter that he wanted a note from the doctor in which the latter should state the bad condition of his (Ephraim's) eyes. The doctor complied with this strange demand. " Well," thought Ephraim, as he received the note, " I have failed to become a soldier of Liberty, but this will at least, when shown to a medical inspector in the Roumanian army, exempt me from service there. They don't take people with physical defects in the army."
Ephraim was home again. The time came to report at the recruiting office. Ephraim and many other recruits waited for the appearance of the inspector. As Ephraim expectantly waited he placed his hand in his pocket. The precious note was still there. The inspector appeared. It was Kurza. Finally came the turn of Ephraim. The latter undressed. " Sound ! " pronounced Kurza in severe tones, after a short examination.
" But this note ! " exclaimed Ephraim, handing Kurza the document given him by the American doctor.
Kurza rapidly glanced over the note and threw it into the waste basket.
" That's all it is worth ; this is Roumania," yelled he with vehemence.
* * *
Outdoors, the wind moaned piteously, and in its ftiry swept everything in its path; but the wind's terrible moaning was not as piteous as the moaning of the children of Israel in the land, and its fury was not as terrible as the wrath which God sent against his people.
June, 1903.]
THE MACCAB^AN.
303
A New Poet* — Solomon Bloomgardcn
^ ^ ^ ^ introduce to our readers a new Jewish poet, the first Russo-PoHsh
I / 7 Jew, a born Jargonist, who has found the EngHsh language as facile
VrW ^ medium for expression as his native Yiddish. Mr. Solomon
Bloomgarden, who is known to readers of Yiddish literature by the nam de plume
" Jehoash," was born in Wirballen, a Lith- uanian town on the Russo-Prussian frontier, on the direct route used by travelers, cross- ing from Germany into Russia.
Our poet saw the light in 1871 ; his par- ents were strictly orthodox, and he is descended from Talmudic scholars. He was educated for the rabbinate, but in his youth started, with the aid of dictionaries, to read Heine and Byron in the vernacular of these poets. They are still his favorites, and they exerted a remarkable influence upon his trend of thought.
Later he met J. L. Peretz, who described him as the " Jewish Byron," and pub- lished Bloomgarden's poems in his " Jue- dische Bibliotheca." He thus gained a . reputation as a rare singer, who could turn Yiddish into sweetness and power. He settled in New York about ten years ago, spending seven years in New York and Brooklyn, forsaking the muse and plunging into business. In 1899, he broke down under the strain of a pulmonary affection and left for Colorado, where he now resides. In this naturally despondent mood, he met with Jacob Marinoflf, a Jargon poet whose first English effort appeared in the Maccabean, and who aroused Bloomgarden from his torpor and urged him to return to his pen.
Since then, Bloomgarden has written some score of poems, mostly of a legendary type, of which meter he is an undoubted master, both in English and in Yiddish. His Yiddish poems are much prized by the New York Jewish journals, for which he writes. His attitude is practically distinct from his Yiddish broth- ers of the pen. He is a singer of personal sorrow and as will be seen uses the simplest and easiest methods of expression as against the venate strophe and an- te-strophe which makes the descriptive power of most Yiddish verse.
The following are Bloomgarden's first poems in English. It will be noticed that his poems are not specifically Jewish; yet the whole current of thought is Jewish, tinged with the sorrow and suffering of the Jew, striking a despondent note which has been current among Jewish writers for some years, lit up with that bitterness, sarcasm or waywardness which we owe to Heine, who himself owed his gift to the weltschmerz and the Judenelend. To those who understand
SOLOMON BLOOMGARDEN
304 THE MACCAByEAN. [June, X903.
the difficulty of mastering a foreign tongue, the hquid character of our poet's English will come as a surprise. And as a testimony of what the Russian immi- grant who so often appears before our eyes, visually and mentally, as a beggar clothed in rags, neither a farmer nor a laborer, poor in muscle but big in brain, can achieve. These verses and others that will be published in The Maccab.ean may well stand as a tribute.
THE PHANTOM OF DEATH.
But meager comfort will afford
To me thy philosophic lore, The reasoning mind believes each word,
But still the aching heart is sore.
You tried a soothing balm to give.
By telling me that " nothing dies," But what is life, when I don't live.
What matters light to glassy eyes?
And can I ever self forsake,
My inmost consciousness disown? And in Creation's shoreless lake,
My own minute existence drown?
My soul is but a helpless thing
That cowers 'neath the gaze of Death, And like the drowning man will cling
To waning life with lingering breath.
AT QUARANTINE.
The night is cold; through grayish clouds * The stars are sadly peeping ;
The sea-wind howls and sends the waves In foaming anger leaping.
There, far from shore or bay removed,
Where waves are wildest flocking, With yellow flag and ghastly lights,
A lonely ship is rocking.
No living voice on deck is heard
The baleful silence breaking, Her smokeless funnels, spectre-like,
Their mournful heads are shaking.
She has on board the angel grim
Of dire disease, commanding, A stricken ship at quarantine —
An outcast kept from landing.
June, 1903.]
THE MACCAByEAN.
305
Rehoboth
The Story of a Palcstincan Colony
By E. W. LEWIN-EPSTEIN
?N 1890 a number of prominent and well-to-do Jews in Warsaw, adherents of the Chovevi Zion, formed an association, " M'nucho W'nachlah " (Rest and Home), with the ob- ject of establishing an independent model colony in Palestine. Being determined not to seek outside assistance, the would-be colonizers decided that no settlement of the mem- bers should be made until the tract of land to be purchased was properly cultivated, the necessary buildings erected and the income of each allotment sufficient to support the pros- pective settlers. When this condition was arrived at, fifty members were to take up active ownership of their property.
To put this scheme into practice, Mr. Jacob Braudo and the writer, both of Warsaw, visited Palestine and acquired the land of Duran, a tract of 10,000 dulums (one dulum is equal to 900 square meters) situated about the center of the Judean colonies. A surplus of 4,000 dulums was taken up by independent individuals desiring to settle in Palestine as
LABORERS OF REHOBOTH
agriculturists. The entire area being purchased, it was named Rehoboth (Extension). The deeds were obtained in the names of the individuals interested, and the private settlers, who were described as Yechidim, took immediate possession of their lots.
The organization having agreed upon a constitution for the colony, the writer was unanimously elected administrator and an assistant was appointed. On his return to Pales- tine he employed an experienced gardener, and at the same time obtained permission from the Turkish Government for the erection of the necessary buildings. The management of the colony was placed in the hands of a board of five, two to represent the Yechidim and three
3o6
THE MACCAByEAN.
[June, 1903.
the general organization, with the administrator as president; and the M'nucho W'nachlah undertook further to pay a full share of even such expenditures as were of no immediate benefit to the association, as the pumping of water, the maintenance of teachers, a shochet, etc. All claims and disputes, it was decided, should be submitted to the Board, whose de- cision, through the president, was to be final.
.SrwpMcSenr-iSe .irrro
PLAN OF THE COLONY OF REHOBOTH.
Then the work began. An area of over 800 dulums was selected and divided into four streets, two of them over 900 meters and the others 514 meters long, and all of them 30 meters wide. Acacia and mulberry were planted, and the center of the colony was left open for the planting of a boulevard. A planters' society was organized from young men, with the object of cultivating various plants and supplying the colonists with them at a small cost.
An eating house was erected for the hired laborers, where good, substantial meals were sold at a small charge, and this, together with all the utensils, was subsequently made over to the laborers' association. This association established a fine drug store and handed it over
June, 1903.]
THE MACCAB^AN.
307
to the Board of Management, and, with special donations, built a commodious bath house for the use of the colonists.
In 1895 the Ezra Society of Berlin, upon a proposition of the writer, bought 50 dulums of land in the vicinity, divided it into five equal lots, and presented them to the five most de- serving families of Poelim (workers) after providing each lot with a brick dwelling and stable. This new street was named Ezra.
At the time that the colony was founded. Baron Edmund de Rothschild had started the building of his now famous wine cellars at Rishon-le-Zion. The craze for viniculture was then at fever heat, so that during the first two years of its existence Rehoboth was pretty well covered with vineyards, but when the vines yielded their fruit, it became evident that the colonists did not possess the necessary means for the building of an adequate wine cellar. On representation. Baron Edmund de Rothschild agreed to accept the Rehoboth grape in his Rishon-le-Zion cellars, but the administration stopped the further development of this cul- ture, and instead began planting a large number of almond trees. The Yechidim, however, continued to plant the grape, and the unwisdom of this policy was shown in 1895 when Baron de Rothschild reported that the sale of the wine was very slow, and that he could no longer accept grapes from colonies not under his protection.
The situation was, therefore, critical. The writer proceeded to Warsaw, held a meeting of the M'nucho W'nachlah, and they determined that their own colony should not fail; and, spurred by the necessity of making a strong effort in order to save the entire Palestinean colonization movement, it was decided, with the help of other prominent members of the Chovevi Zion, to establish a national company for the sale of the wine. In this wise, the now well known Carmel Wine Company was started, and the products of the colonies spread over Europe. The colonists, however, mistaking the enterprise, began over-producing. Con- sequently Baron de Rothschild had to reduce the price of the grape. The owners of Reho- both, being still resident in Europe, were not much affected by this sudden change, but the Yechidim were left without means. The Russian Chovevi Zion came to the rescue of several, and the Jewish Colonization Association advanced loans to twenty-three families.
THE COLONY OF REHOBOTH
3o8
THE MACCAB^AN.
[June, 1903.
The future of the colony, as of many others, depends upon the finding of adequate mar- kets for their products. Rehoboth has now a population of three hundred souls. It has 39 brick and 6 wooden dwellings, 26 brick and 10 wooden stables, a synagogue built of wood, a school building, a mill and a bath house. About 3,000 dulums are covered with nearly one million vines of the finest description. About 30,000 almond trees are planted over an area of 700 dulums, and another 300 dulums are covered with olives. Each family owns cows, horses, mules and all the necessary agricultural implements. The climate is excellent, and convalescents from Jaffa and the surrounding colonies are sent there to recuperate.
In founding the colony, the colonizers had in mind the moral as well as the material in- dependence of the colonists. This was necessary in order to disprove a view then prevailing in certain quarters that the presence of a French-bred administration and teaching person- nel! in each colony was a vital necessity. The Jewish day laborers received their first train- ing in Rehoboth, and from there spread all over the colonies. They organized circles for the study of the Bible, Jewish history and for other educational purposes. A kindergarten was also established and Hebrew made the medium of instruction.
In 1900 the Carmel Wine Co. presented the colony with a brick school building at a cost of five thousand francs, and anually contributes two thousand francs toward its main- tenance. A library and reading room have been added, with an excellent selection of books for children. The general moral and intellectual standing of the colony may be in- ferred from the fact that it now maintains a free loan society with a capital of three thousand francs, a sick-visiting society, a Chevra Kadisha, a Chevra Schas, where Talmud is studied one hour daily in the library and public school.
The school curriculum covers a seven hours' course in Hebrew and grammar, Bible catechism, Jewish history, universal history, arithmetic, geography, physics and Arabic. The bo3rs of the two highest classes devote two hours daily to gardening under the super- vision of a special instructor, who explains everything in Hebrew. The school numbers about sixty boys and girls.
Wolj Gluakia
ALLOTTING THE LAND
Eleazar Caplan E.W. Lewin Epstein
Mattathias Cohen
June, 1903.] THE MACCABiEAN.
309
Oldnewland*
By Dr. THEODOR HERZL
Book IV
THE PASSOVER
CHAPTER V.
Al^ FTER a brief interval, David returned and he asked the company whether Y%\ they desired to continue the phonographic address, and as they agreed, he 1^ I set the machine in motion again. The unseen Joe Levy continued :
"I set about a new scheme. My actions were at first regarded as sport and we were much criticised. What I did was to equip the Ship of Wisdom. I would let the returning Jews see this vessel, and its appearance in the Mediter- ranean should denote the new age. It presented no great difficulty. I asked the representative of a big tourist agency in England to arrange the details; and in less than a fortnight all the estimates were laid before me. I hired from an Italian company the magnificent boat ' Futuro ' which plied between Naples and Alexandria. The ship should be at my disposal on the 15th of March, in Genoa. It was leased for six weeks. The conductor of the trip arranged for rooms for five hundred passengers, in the best hotels in Italian, Egyptian, Levan- tine and Greek towns. The voyagers would meet the vessel in Genoa or in Naples. Their tickets were good for all Italian railways and for all first class hotels. Out- wardly, the expedition took the form of the usual summer trip to the Orient but it was much more than that.
" The ladies and gentlemen whom we invited for this six weeks' trip to the morning lands were our guests, and they were the nobility of idealism in the culture world. A committee of writers and artists had drawn up the list of these guests. The best were invited, without question of nationality or religion. The best were called and they came readily, not because they were promised a pleasant tour, but because they had a remarkable opportunity of meeting their equals.
"On the 'Futuro' poets, philosophers, inventors and explorers, artists of all crafts, statesmen, economists, politicians and journalists met. The chief officer provided all the luxuries of the age, so that the guests on the * Futuro ' should for six weeks enjoy the happiness of a cloudless day ; and from the orchestra which played to the guests at dinner to the ship's journal prepared every day, nothing was forgotten. The vessel touched at many coasts, and in every harbor the latest news awaited the vessel; and so the telegrams appeared in the ship's journal. But a far more valuable part of this publication was the literary portion, for the life on board was described by the most brilliant pens of the period. The table talk was reduced in print and later on was known as the New Platonic Dialogue. The great thinkers on board this vessel discussed every human issue.
♦ Copyright tijoa by the Federation of American Zionists, for Dr. Theodor Herzl. All rights reserved. Published
October 15, iqoa.
310 THE MACCAB^AN. [June, 1903.
They spoke of creating a real world, community educated through art, they dis- cussed the reform of property laws, the organization of philanthropy, the rela- tions of capital to labor, the part of woman in the civilized world, and spoke of mechanical development in theory and practice. The table talk of the ' Future ' has long since become one of the most valuable contributions to literature. I only know it through its publication, for Lhad no opportunity of joining the party on the vessel. I had no time to join in an excursion. I was in Haifa even before the ' Futuro ' anchored in Genoa, but I have read this ' table talk ' with much attention and many thanks. I am not a philosopher, and devoted even less atten- tion to abstract thought then than now. Whatever seemed practical to me in the table talk of the ' Futuro,' I endeavored to utilize, for it seemed to me that from the ' Futuro ' there spoke a spirit of humanity to the Jewish people as it was about to create for itself a new existence. And the value of the ideas expounded on the ship increased when the tourists reached Palestine.
" The Ship of Wisdom touched the coasts and the tourists were allowed to land at their free will, making small groups and indulging in expeditions. Every- thing had been prepared to meet this. The geologists did not want to see what the electrical engineer wished to inspect. The botanists sought other paths than the architect. The sculptor devoted himself to other interests than the political economist. They went out, and they came back to the ' Futuro ' as they wished. In some cases, the social spirit which was created, kept the guests aboard the ship for the larger part of the journey. Some, indeed, saw nothing of land but the coast line between Genoa and Jaffa, and the land from Jaffa to Jerusalem.
" One deep thinking writer, I am told (I do not know whether it is true), did not leave the vessel one moment of the journey. He is supposed to have said that ' this ship is Zion.' He, however, published a very full description of the land and its people. He could get the material from the very best sources, since those who did leave the vessel brought back a superabundance of material gathered by scientific and artistic eyes.
" So it came about that the table talk took the form of wonderful dialogues as to what could be done in Palestine. I have read that portion very often ; in fact, I could repeat it by rote. The deepest impression made upon me was the advice given by the artists, because I am not one myself. In practice, only simple com- mon sense would be required to transport what existed to other conditions. I have to thank the artists for the thought that our beautiful country was allowed to develop its natural beauties. It should be beautiful everywhere, beautiful for all, for beauty always rejoices the heart of mankind.
" One of my most remarkable experiences was that I never saw the ' Futuro.' I prepared its journey, and thought out the welfare of its guests. I was always thinking about it and followed the words of the wise but I did not see it ; at any rate, not clearly. It happened thus. When the ' Futuro ' arrived on the coast, I was in the interior. Fischer, Steineck and Alladino received the ship's company in the name of the New Community. I wanted to introduce myself to our guests as soon as I could get clear of some of my work, but it was a time when I had to work day and night, and journey from one center of activity to another. I even
June, 1903.] THE MACCAB^AN. 311
slept in my motor car as it took me from place to place. Of the traveling comforts that we now possess there was, of course, no talk at