Jewish Immigration to the United States from 1881 to 1910 Part 2

This difference of occupational grouping makes itself felt in the partic.i.p.ation of the Jews in the princ.i.p.al occupational groups. Of the total Russian population gainfully employed, the Jews were 5 per cent.

They const.i.tuted, however, 11 per cent of all engaged in industry, and 36 per cent of all engaged in commerce.[12] Thus, in the Russian Empire the Jews formed a considerable proportion of the commercial cla.s.ses and a large proportion of those engaged in industrial pursuits.

Properly to gauge the economic function of the Jews in Russia, comparison should be made not with the population of the Russian Empire but rather with that of the Pale of Settlement, where nearly 95 per cent of the Jews live. There the contrast was even stronger. Of the Jews, 70 per cent were employed in industry and commerce as compared with 13 per cent on the part of the non-Jews. Though the Jews are only 12 per cent of the total working population of the Pale, they formed 32 per cent of all engaged in industry and 77 per cent of all engaged in commerce.[13] This clearly shows that the Jews const.i.tuted the commercial cla.s.ses and a significant part of the industrial cla.s.ses of the Pale. In other words, what is true of the place of the Jews in the occupational distribution of all Russia is still more true of the Pale. The Jews are preponderatingly industrial and commercial, in striking contrast to the rest of the population, which is preponderatingly agricultural.

What is the nature of their activities and their function in the industrial and commercial life of Russia? The great majority of Jews engaged in manufacturing and mechanical pursuits are artisans. In the present relatively backward stage of Russian industrial development these are chiefly handicraftsmen, who mainly supply the needs of local consumers. These artisans, who number more than half a million,[14]

support nearly one-third of the Jewish population.

The most important industry is the manufacture of clothing and wearing apparel, which employed more than one-third of the Jewish working population and supported more than one-seventh of the total Jewish population. It is in effect a Jewish industry: practically all the tailors and shoemakers in the Pale are Jews. They predominate as well in the preparation of food products, in the building trades, in the metal, wood and tobacco industries.[15] Hampered by legal restrictions, lack of technical education, and lack of capital, they nevertheless have become an essential part of the economic life of the Pale, supplying the needs for industrial products not only of the Jews but of the entire Pale, and, especially of the peasants.

In the development of large-scale industry, the Jews have taken a smaller part than the Germans or foreigners, owing to the conditions above referred to. Yet, in 1898, in the fifteen provinces of the Pale, more than one-third of the factories were in Jewish hands.[16] Jewish factory workers were estimated at one-fifth of all the factory workers in the Pale.[17]

Trade and commerce engage Jews chiefly, supporting nearly two-thirds of the total Jewish population.[18]

As Russia is essentially an agricultural country, trade in agricultural products, such as grain, cattle, furs and hides, _etc._, is of prime importance. Nearly half of the Jewish merchants in the Pale were dealers in these products. Of the dealers in the princ.i.p.al grain products, Jews formed an overwhelming majority. Relatively twenty-six times as many Jews as Russians, in the Pale, were grain dealers.[19] Four-fifths of all the dealers in furs and hides, three-fourths of all the dealers in cattle were Jews.[20] The Jewish traders are agents in the movement of the crops, in the various stages from the direct purchase of the grain from the peasant to its export for the world markets. In view of the lack of development in Russia of modern methods for marketing the agricultural produce, and in view of the fact that the Russian peasant is ignorant of the most elementary principles of trade, the Jewish merchants, with their knowledge of the market and their skillful use of credit, play a vital part in the organization of the Russian grain trade, and control this trade in the Pale and on the Black Sea.

In other branches of commerce, the Jews are almost as strongly represented. As sellers to the village and city populations, they carry on the largest part of the retail trade of the Pale. The great majority of the merchants, however, are petty traders or store-keepers. The wholesale merchants enrolled in the guilds, on the other hand, const.i.tute a large proportion of all the guild merchants.

Thus, through their activity as petty artisans, traders and merchants, the Jews preponderate in the industrial and commercial life of the Pale. As manufacturers and wholesale merchants they play a less important but nevertheless significant part in all Russia.

In general the Jewish merchants are quite strongly distinguished from the Russian merchants in their employment of the compet.i.tive principles and methods common to the commercial operations of Western Europe and the United States. Their principle of a quick turnover with a small profit, and their use of credit, are not in vogue among the Russian merchants who operate on the basis of customary prices and long credits.

In their social characteristics as well, the Jews are strongly set off from the rest of the population. The Jews are essentially urban, the non-Jews are overwhelmingly rural. In all Russia, 51 per cent of the Jews lived in incorporated towns, as against only 12 per cent of the non-Jews. Though the Jews const.i.tuted 4 per cent of the total population, they const.i.tuted 16 per cent of the town population.[21]

In the Pale, where they const.i.tuted 12 per cent of the total population, they comprised 38 per cent of the urban population.[22]

Their concentration in the cities of the Pale is striking. In nine out of the fifteen provinces of the Pale, they const.i.tuted a majority of the urban population. In twenty-four towns, they were from two-fifths to seven-tenths of the population. In the important cities of Warsaw and Odessa they were one-third of the population.[23]

The urban and occupational distribution of the Jews places them higher than the great majority of the non-Jews among the social cla.s.ses into which the Russian people are legally divided. Townsmen are of a higher rank than peasants. Nearly 95 per cent of the Jews belong to this category and only 7 per cent of the Russians. The vast majority of the Russians--86 per cent--are peasants. Only 4 per cent of the Jews are of this cla.s.s. Again, 2 per cent of the Jews are merchants, as against only .2 per cent of the Russians. Thus in these two cla.s.ses of townsmen and merchants there were twelve times as many Jews, relatively, as Russians.[24]

The higher cultural standing of the Jews may be partly measured by the relative literacy of the Jews and of the total population. According to the census of 1897, in the Jewish population ten years of age or over there were relatively one and a half times as many literates as in the total population of the corresponding group. In each of the age-groups there were relatively more literates among the Jews than among the total population. In the highest age-group, that of sixty years of age and over, the Jews had relatively more literates than any of the age-groups of the total population, indicating that the educational standing of the Jews half a century ago was higher than that of the Russian population of to-day.[25]

The fact that the Jews dwell chiefly in towns has considerably to do with their higher educational standing. If the statistics of relative literacy of the Jewish and the non-Jewish population in the towns were obtainable, the chances are strong that they would not show a much higher rate of literacy on the part of the Jews. At the same time the difficulties that are put in the way of Jewish attendance in the elementary schools must be regarded as a considerable factor in explaining this possibility.[26]

The partic.i.p.ation of the Jews in the liberal professions, which implies the possession of a higher education, is also very large, even with the great obstacles that have been placed in the way of the entrance of the Jews into the universities, into the liberal professions and the state service. Relatively seven times as many Jews as Russians are found in the liberal professions.[27]

II. ROUMANIA

The economic activities of the Jews in Roumanian industry and commerce closely resemble those of their Russian brethren.[28] The large part taken by the Jews in Roumanian commerce may be gathered from the fact that, in 1904, one-fifth of those who paid the merchant-license tax were Jews. Equally great is their partic.i.p.ation in large-scale industry, where, as an inquiry in 1901-2 shows, nearly one-fifth of the large industries were conducted by Jewish entrepreneurs. In some of the most important ones--the gla.s.s industry, the clothing industry, the wood and furniture industry and the textile industry--from one-fourth to one-half of the total number of entrepreneurs were Jews.

As in the case of Russia, it is in _Klein-industrie_ or handicraft, which is more nearly characteristic of the present form of Roumanian industrial economy, that the Jews are mostly concentrated and where they partic.i.p.ate so largely as to const.i.tute "the backbone of the young Roumanian industry".

The latest inquiry--that of 1908--shows that the Jews were one-fifth of all inscribed in the corporations as artisans. They formed more than one-fourth of the master-workmen and nearly one-sixth of the laborers. In the five princ.i.p.al industries Jewish master-workmen formed from nearly one-tenth to nearly one-half. In the following trades Jews formed between one-fourth and nearly two-thirds of the entire workers: watchmakers, tinners, modistes, tailors, glazers, housepainters, coopers and bookbinders. In all the garment industries nearly one-third of the workers were Jews. The princ.i.p.al trades of the Jews, in which two-thirds of the Jewish industrial workers were found, were, in order: tailors, shoemakers, tinners, joiners and planers, and bakers.[29] The Jews in Roumania were thus more strongly concentrated in industry and less in commerce than their Russian brethren.

As masters and workmen they play a part in Roumanian large-scale and small-scale industry nearly four and a half times as large as their proportion in the total population. Their partic.i.p.ation in commerce is equally large.

The Jews in Roumania present the same social characteristics, relatively to the surrounding population, as the Jews in Russia. The Jews were overwhelmingly concentrated in the towns. 80 per cent of the Jews dwelt in the towns; 84 per cent of the non-Jews dwelt in the villages. Of the population in the department-capitals the Jews const.i.tuted one-fifth. Of the population of the other towns they const.i.tuted more than one-tenth. In some of the department-capitals, notably Ja.s.si, the Jews were a majority of the total population. In six other department-capitals they const.i.tuted from one-fourth to one-half of the population.

That the Jews are of a higher educational standing than the Roumanians is seen in the fact that they possessed a higher rate of literacy, having relatively twice as many literates among the males and nearly twice as many among the females. Confining this comparison to the cities, however, we find that the Jews had a higher literacy only in the age-groups above fifteen. The Roumanian urban population between the ages of seven and fifteen showed a higher literacy than the corresponding group among the Jews, indicating the influence of the special restrictions on Jewish education which will later be discussed.

While the higher literacy of the Jews in Russia and Roumania is due partly to residence in towns, the restrictions on the Jewish partic.i.p.ation in the educational facilities afforded by the Russian and Roumanian governments have been so great as to make the higher educational standing of the Jews practically a product of their own efforts.

III. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

The economic position of the Jews in Austria-Hungary presents a close parallel to that in Russia. The largest proportion of the Jews--44 per cent--were engaged in commerce and in trade, and 29 per cent were engaged in industry.[30] A significantly large proportion were engaged in public service and in the liberal professions. A surprisingly large proportion--11 per cent--were engaged in agriculture and allied occupations. Thus, a little over seven-tenths of the Jews were concentrated in commerce and trade, and industry.

The contrast between the Jewish and the non-Jewish population is most striking in the relative proportions of those engaged in agriculture, and commerce and trade. 54 per cent of the non-Jews were engaged in agriculture, or five times as many, relatively, as Jews. On the other hand, only 8 per cent were engaged in commerce and trade, or relatively one-fifth as many as Jews.

Of the total population engaged in commerce and trade the Jews const.i.tuted 21 per cent. They const.i.tuted, on the other hand, 5 per cent of all engaged in industry. Thus, the Jews in Austria-Hungary were concentrated in commerce and trade to a much larger extent than in all other occupations, const.i.tuting an important part of all engaged in this branch.

It is in Galicia, however, where conditions in general most resemble those in Russia, that the Jews are seen to occupy relatively the same position as their brethren in Russia. In Galicia, 29 per cent of the Jews were engaged in commerce and trade, and 26 per cent in industry.

Together the Jews engaged in these two branches const.i.tuted more than half of the total Jewish working population.

By far the largest part of the non-Jewish population--86 per cent--were engaged in agriculture. In industry only 4 per cent of the non-Jews were engaged and in commerce only 1 per cent. Thus the Jews were largely concentrated in commerce and industry, the non-Jews preponderatingly concentrated in agriculture.

As compared with the Jews in Russia and Roumania the Galician Jews engaged in agriculture show a surprising proportion--18 per cent being so engaged--a larger proportion than in any other country.

The Jews in East Galicia were 13 per cent of the total population.[31] Of all the "independents" engaged in commerce in East Galicia 92 per cent were Jews; of all the "independents" engaged in industry 48 per cent were Jews. The Jews in West Galicia were 8 per cent of the total population. Of all "independents" engaged in commerce they const.i.tuted 82 per cent; of all "independents" engaged in industry they const.i.tuted 33 per cent. This gives the crux of the economic position of the Jews in Galicia. They play an overwhelming part in its commercial life, practically monopolizing it. In industry their partic.i.p.ation is very significant.

Socially the Jews in Austria-Hungary and especially in Galicia, present characteristics similar to those in Russia and Roumania. In the forty cities in Galicia with a population above five thousand there dwelt 34 per cent of the total Jewish population. Only 7 per cent of the non-Jewish population lived in these cities. Thus, relatively five times as many Jews as non-Jews were urban. Though the Jews in Galicia were 11 per cent of the total population, they const.i.tuted 37 per cent of the population in these cities, thus being represented in the cities by more than three times their proportion in the total population. In nine of these towns they formed a majority of the population. They were more than one-third in twelve, and more than one-fourth in eleven other towns. In the two chief cities in Galicia--Lemberg and Cracow--they const.i.tuted a third of the total population.

The figures regarding literacy are not available for Austria-Hungary or Galicia, but there is every reason to believe that essentially the same situation exists as in Russia and Roumania. In the liberal professions in Austria-Hungary there were 16 per cent of the Jews so engaged as compared with 11 per cent of the non-Jews. In Galicia the contrast is much sharper. Relatively ten times as many Jews as non-Jews were represented in the liberal professions.[32]

IV. SUMMARY

A review of the occupations, economic function and social characteristics of the Jews in the countries of Eastern Europe reveals them in an important and essentially similar rle in each country.

Pursuing mainly industrial and commercial occupations, the Jews const.i.tute by far the largest part of the middle cla.s.ses of each country. The historical position which they held in the ancient kingdom of Poland as the middle cla.s.s has been practically maintained to this day.

By virtue of their occupations, the Jews are possessed of liquid wealth to a greater extent than the n.o.bility or the peasantry, and in the lack of proper credit facilities still serve as bankers and money-lenders. The Jews have also been conspicuous in Eastern Europe as stewards or administrators of the estates of the n.o.bility, who are, as a rule, absentee landlords, distinguished as a cla.s.s by their serious lack of interest or ability in the management of their estates. The Jewish _Hofjuden_, as they were known, were particularly useful in the utilization of the products of the soil, through distilleries, mills, trade with agricultural products and exploitation of the forests.[33] In this way, however, Jews often acted as intermediaries in the oppression of the peasantry by the n.o.bles. They were often keepers or lessees of the taverns, the ownership of which was formerly vested in the n.o.bles as one of their feudal privileges.

It is, however, as artisans, industrial laborers and merchants, retail and wholesale, that Jews chiefly obtain their living. Their monopoly of industry and commerce has given them an influence far above their numerical proportions.

In each of these countries, again, the Jews are essentially town dwellers in the midst of preponderatingly rural populations. That the degree of the contrast is due to the artificial workings of restrictive laws is unquestioned. The chief reason for this, however, is occupational. The Jews as an industrial and commercial people const.i.tute one of the main elements out of which the town populations are recruited. Towns are ordinarily the foci of all the cultural forces and the movement and enterprise of a country. In Eastern Europe, where the number of towns is so few, this is much more the case than in Western Europe. The fact that the Jews are so largely concentrated in these comparatively few towns serves to give them a cultural position and influence far out of proportion to their numbers. Their economic activities and their relatively large partic.i.p.ation in the liberal professions strengthens this position considerably.

Amidst populations preponderatingly devoted to agricultural occupations and dwelling in villages, the Jews represent an industrial and commercial people, strongly concentrated in towns. This economic and social position of the Jews is of the greatest significance, especially in the present period of transition in these countries.

Possessed of the characteristics of a modern people in their economic and social life and in their mentality, they present a sharp contrast with the peoples among whom they dwell and whose economic and social life are only now taking on modern forms. It is this that makes the Jews personify in a large degree the forces of economic enterprise and of social progress in these countries.

On the other hand, the exceptional economic and social position held by the Jews among the East-European peoples has made them peculiarly susceptible to the changes that have been taking place, as their inferior legal status and sharp differentiation from the ma.s.s of the people have made them favorable objects of attack in the politico-economic struggles that have largely accompanied the transition.

A consideration of the legal status of the Jews in each of the countries of Eastern Europe and of the chief forces that have ruled their history for more than a third of a century will enable us to see some of the dynamic aspects of the recent history of the East-European Jews and the underlying causes of their recent emigration.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] Rubinow, _Economic Condition of the Jews in Russia_ (Washington, 1907), p. 500.

[12] _Cf._ table IA, p. 158.

[13] _Cf._ table IB, p. 158.