[The purpose of the Digest is informative: Preference is given to paper not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.-Editor.]
Dr. William McDougall of Harvard is advised by the “Jewish Morning Journal” (March 2) to read Jewish news from Roumania, Poland, Hungary and other Central and East-European countries, to find a refutation of his idea, expressed last Sunday in Philadelphia, that the mingling of many races, with a consequent clash of ideals and the smothering of a single ideal, is largely responsible for crime in the United States.
“A much worse ‘crime wave’ than that in New York,” writes the paper, “is now going on in Roumania where the educational system in the universities has been shaken by ‘patriotic’ students who are making pogroms against the Jews. The race bigotry there is clear to everyone, it is not necessary to ‘philosophize’ it out of ancient history or to ‘philosophize’ it into a racial mingling which the ‘hold up’ man does not understand.
“Poland came nearer to a caste system (which Dr. McDougall thinks saved India’s ancient civilization) than any other European country, yet neither her past nor her present can serve as an encouragement for others to follow her example.”
While the “Jewish Morning Journal” points to the situation in Eastern Europe, the New York “World” (March 2) cites examples in this country proper and refers to Australia and Canada to prove that Dr. McDougall is wrong.
Those sections of the world where many races mingle are not necessarily sections most strongly marked by crime. the “World” explains. “In our own country, for example, there is the case of West Virginia. Here, perhaps, survive the purest American strains now extant; here is a relatively small proportion of foreign-born population-and yet, under certain conditions, West Virginia can be the most lawless of our States. Again, comparing Chicago and New York, one finds the foreign-born population of Chicago proportionately much less than that of New York, yet Chicago is notoriously the most lawless of our large cities. Again, going abroad for our data, Australia is a stamping-ground for many races, and is, in addition, a much newer country than our own. Yet Australia is more law-abiding than we a.e. And finally, having a look at Canada, where two hostile races manage to get along in comparative peace, we see that this clash of racial ideals cannot be a primary cause of crime.”
HAKOAH SEEN AS PIONEER IN INTERNATIONAL SPORT
The forthcoming visit here of the Hakoah, the all Jewish soccer football team of Vienna, is seen as “the forerunner of some international competition of a decidedly interesting nature,” by W. O. “McGeehan, sports editor of the New York “Herald-Tribune,” who writes about the Hakoah in that paper of March 2.
Pointing out the virtues of soccer football and emphasizing its growing popularity in Europe, Mr. McGeehan remarks:
“This game of soccer or association football, is well adapted for an international sport. It is played all over Europe and in South America. It is one of the events at the Olympic Games. But the opportunities in this game seem to be sadly neglected. It has remained for the Hakoah Sport Club, of Vienna, to do some real sport pioneering.
“The supporters of the plan hope that this visit will result in an interchange of visits between the Hakoah club and soccer teams from the United States. Certainly, it is good and promising pioneering in the field of international sport.”
The “Citizen” of Brooklyn, commenting on the Hakoah, observes that “while comparatively unknown in America, the Hakoah Club has won European championships in the last two years in soccer, hockey, wrestling and swimming.”
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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.
