[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]
That the noted Du Pont family is of Jewish origin is the belief expressed by the “Jewish Morning Journal” in the course of an editorial (Mar. 8) on the subject of the relations between England and Poland.
Voicing the opinion that Poland would become economically more stable and politically more liberal if England’s influence in that country rose as against that of France, the paper remarks:
“It is told that a noted Frenchman, Samuel Du Pont, once cautioned a friend of his, a political economist, to beware of the British because they lack a true conception of a ‘fatherland,’ possessing only a ‘country,’ a land. Later, the son of this Du Pont, a family which, it is believed, originates from Jews, settled in the United States, which is more a ‘country’ like England than a ‘patric’ like France, and his grandchildren are now among the wealthiest people of the country, being also prominent in politics and socially. The patriotism of the English-speaking people is sound and unselfish, no worse than that of the French, but the love which is aware more of a ‘country’ than a ‘fatherland’ is suitable for the hospitable lands where the population was originally a mixed one and where the various elements are being melted into a political nation consisting of the descendants of various races.
“The Poland of today, with its White Russians, Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Jews, is likewise more of a ‘country’ than a ‘fatherland.’ And the practice of the later Du Ponts is more suitable to it than the theories of the originators of the family. That is why we feel that Poland would gain if it came under the influence of England, the ‘country’ of liberal ideas in politics and the gift for understanding among the different parts of the population to be observed in the Anglo-Saxon countries.”
JEWISH FOLLOWERS OF “CHRISTIAN SCIENCE” AND “HEBREW THEOSOPHISTS”
The recent report of the establishment of an American branch of the “Hebrew Theosophists”, founded a year ago at Adyar, India, is commented on by the “Jewish Ledger” of New Orleans. The paper observes:
“In the style of Koheleth it may truly be said: ‘To the founding of new and absurd cults there is no end!’ Christian Science is still making inroads into Jewish ranks by converting some abnormal minds to the absurd belief that one can be a good Jew and a Christian Scientist at one and the same time.
“A new and equally absurd cult was organized a year ago at Adyar, India, under the name of ‘Hebrew Theosophy’, and there is now an American branch of this abnormality, whose sponsors claim to be actuated by a desire to foster the mystical teachings of old Jewish scholars and writers. These sponsors evidently do not know or do not care to remember that the Jewish mystics of olden times were, despite their mysticism, strict adherents of the Jewish faith and unquestionable believers in the Unity of God. That this is, however, not the case with the ‘Hebrew Theosophists’ may be seen from an address which Mrs. Annie Besant delivered to the adherents of the new cult.
“It will indeed be interesting to watch the progress of the ‘Hebrew Theosophists,’ if for no other reason than to gauge the extent of folly which captivates and deludes some of our people.”
ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDA OF “CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS” CONDEMNED
The propaganda against Jews and Catholics conducted through radio and mail by a wing of the Christian Science movement, headed by Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, who urges that the Jews and Catholics be expelled from America, is the subject of comment in the Jewish press.
The “Jewish Daily News” (Mar. 8) wonders what those Jews who have aligned themselves with the Christian Science movement will now think of their “teacher,” Mrs. Stetson, and her teaching.
“Of course,” the paper adds, “Mrs. Stetson is cautious and says that there are good Jews too, the good ones being her followers. But this does not alter the nature of her campaign against Jews. It is an ancient stunt of anti-Semites to say that there are some good Jews.
“The most ridiculous thing about this business is that the Jews who have abandoned Judaism believe that Christian Science is a religion to which all can belong, Christians and non-Christians. Recently it was stated that one hundred thousand Jews in New York are members of the Christian Science movement. This figure is greatly exaggerated but there are Jews who belong to Christian Science churches. It would be interesting to know what the followers of this apostacy think of Mrs. Stetson’s statements.”
The “Day” asserts that the anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic propaganda of Mrs. Stetson is a publicity stunt.
The paper points out that the leaders of the Christian Science church have always had a friendly attitude to the Jews and “hence it is not to be wondered at that Mrs. Stetson seceded from the official church.” Her ambition, the paper thinks, was to inherit the position of chief prophetess held by the founder of the movement, Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. Not succeeding in that, we are told, “she resorted to a more direct and effective method to secure publicity and that is, the sure method of anti-Semitism. She has the radio station which is constantly broadcasting malignant attacks on Jews, Catholics and Negroes. Mrs. Stetson has donned the gown of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Thirty-eight Jewish students are among the 94 named on the honor roll of the College of Arts and Pure Science at New York University, it was announced by Dr. Albert ## Borgman. Associate Professor of English and Chairman of the Scholarship Committee.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
