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in the last five years made the time opportune for such doctrines as anti-Semitism to gain a foothold on American soil, he said.
Emphasizing that the Anti-Defamation League, in its fight against anti-Semitism in America, has steadfastly adhered to the policy of avoiding general publicity in its work and frowning on individuals seeking personal glory thereby. Mr. Livingston bitterly attacked Jewish leaders who are putting self-glorification above the Jewish interests.
SCORES PUBLICITY SEEKERS
“There is an insatiable desire among a great many men for personal publicity,” he said. “They seek the same at all times and invent opportunities for this specific purpose. It is deeply regretted that there are some Jews found in public life who indulge offensively in this regard. The injury that these men cause, perhaps unwittingly, to the great body of Jewry cannot be overemphasized. And, particularly, is this true of one who is regarded by the public as a leader of Jewish affairs or the spokesman for Jewry.
“One who assumes leadership in Jewry in any of its endeavors should also assume the penalty incident thereto of surrendering personal ambition,” Mr. Livingston continued. “Such a one should be guided by the same principles followed by dignified judiciary of not expressing for publicity personal ideas on any controversial issue except when necessary to the cause at trial.”
HITS APOLOGISTS
Mr. Livingston severely criticized those Jews who believe that it would be better for Jews, no matter what their ability or their fitness, to refrain from holding political office so as not to give excuse to those who would stir up antagonism.
“The fallacy of such thought or course of action is quite evident,” he said. “It is the duty of the Jew as an American citizen to contribute the very best within him in the service of our government.”
Analyzing the anti-Semitic movement in America, Mr. Livingston reported that various groups conducting anti-Jewish propaganda vary in intelligence, intellectual and moral honesty and personal interests.
CONFLICTING CHARGES
Each of the groups fostering class hatred are motivated by entirely different causes, Mr. Livingston explained. What may motivate hatred in one class might be directly conflicting with that which motivates another class, he said.
“It is for this reason,” Mr. Livingston reported, “that we are astounded to find the prime accusation in one group, that the Jew is responsible for Communism when the prime cause of the antagonism of another group is that the Jew is responsible for the capitalistic system. The paradox of charging the Jew with being the advocate of destruction of the capitalistic system, and also to charge him with being the mainstay of the capitalistic system, is glaring. It must, however, be remembered that the one accusation is made by the enemies of the capitalistic system and the other is made by the protagonists of the capitalistic system. If there were sane social intelligence, this conflict could not exist.”
Mr. Livingston recommended to the convention the following measures to combat the anti-Jewish propaganda in America:
1. Every avenue of enlightenment must be utilized and no slander or libel must be permitted to remain unchallenged.
2. The books of childhood must be revised and every character portraying the Jew as a monster must be obliterated.
MUST REVISE BOOKS
3. In the books utilized in grade schools and high schools the characters of Jews known in classic literature produced when the authors thereof were swayed by religious fanaticism or despotic dictatorship must be replaced by characters truly portraying the Jew.
4. The mysticism and ignorance concerning the Jew, his ethics, his contributions to the world, his philosophy of life, his religious faith, must be clarified to all the public.
CORRECT OLD FICTION
5. Every popular fiction as to the Jew should be corrected by the truth. When Wall street bankers are referred to as Jewish bankers, when as a matter of fact, the Jewish bankers form only a minority of this group, the truth must be shown. When the loyalty of the Jew to his country or his patriotism is traduced, answer with the governmental records! When his morals and ethics in business are questioned, show the truth by a proper and accurate comparison.
6. When malefactors are pointed to as Jews, produce the comparative of the penal institutions of this country.
PRODUCE FACTS, NOT DENIALS
7. Every accusation must be answered by facts and not merely by denials.
8. A fair distribution of Jews in vocations and avocations must be attempted.
9. Every large city should have a local committee composed of men possessing proper qualifications to deal with unjust discrimination. The plan of operation should never be militant.
10. The efforts for the prevention of defamation upon the stage, screen, radio and print must continue with unabated vigilance.
ON THE BANKERS
Referring to the frequently heard phrase “the Jewish international bankers,” Mr. Livingston said that there are men who are willing to attribute the economic ills of our country to Jewish bankers particularly when they attempt to criticize the foreign loans made after the war.
“The purpose of so describing the bankers,” he said, “is evident, for many believe, without ever investigating the truth, that the principal offenders were Jews. Statistics show that of all the foreign loans between the year 1925 and 1928, the non-Jewish bankers floated a total of $7,360,500,000 of these foreign loans in this country. That all of the Jewish bankers combined floated a total of $1,133,100,000. In the total of loans by the non-Jewish bankers are not even included those by J. P. Morgan. The amount of outstanding foreign loans as of March 1, 1935, financed by J. P. Morgan and Company alone, was $1,514,000,000. The foreign loans outstanding on March 1, 1935 totaled $7,621,100,000. Of this amount 7:15 per cent of the total was floated by Jewish bankers.
CITES PRESS FIGURES
Mr. Livingston also replied to the charges advanced by anti-Semitic propagandists that Jews control the press in America.
“There is not a single magazine of national distribution owned or controlled by Jews,” he said. “There is not a single large chain of newspapers such as the Hearst chain and Scripps-Howard chain, edited or controlled by Jews. In my own state of Illinois, there is not a single secular newspaper owned, edited or controlled by Jews. There are some newspapers in some of the large Eastern cities owned or controlled by Jews, and these, it is safe to say, have earned the esteem in which they are held by the American public.”
Referring to the allegation that Jews control the moving picture industry, Mr. Livingston disclosed that very recently a careful survey was made by a disinterested non-Jew, and it was found that out of the 1,000 highest paid officials in the moving picture industry, 769 were non-Jews.
If you’ve got something to sell, an excellent way of selling it is through the columns of the Jewish Daily Bulletin. Call AShland 4-3093 for rates.
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.
