Rep. Samuel Dickstein (Dem., N.Y.) today introduced a resolution calling for appointment of a seven-man House committee to investigate charges of anti-Semites that Jews were attempting to push the United States into war, as a challenge to the authors of these accusations to produce proof.
In his resolution Dickstein said: “Statements were made on the floor of this House that little groups of ‘internationel Jewish brethren are attempting to harass the President and the Congress of the United States into plunging us into the European war unprepared,’ and it is in the interest of the people of the United States to determine the truth or the falsity of such charges. Such charges should be substantiated by competent legal proof and evidence.”
In an interview later, Dickstein said his challenge was particularly levelled at Senator Burton K. Wheeler and Rep. John A. Rankin. Last Wednesday Rankin made an attack on Jews on the House floor which provoked a reply from Rep. M. Michael Edelstein that was followed by the latter’s death of a heart attack.
Intropducing his resolution, Dickstein declared on the House floor: “In the last several years charges have been made on the floor of congress by members–and outside of Congress by certain groups–charging that People of the Jewish faith are warmongers, seeking to bring this country into war. Similar charges were made in Congress, in which it was charged that Jewish bankers or ‘international Jewish brethren are attempting to harass the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States into entering the European war.’
“Others on the floor have made similar charges, to the effect that certain Jewish international bankers are responsible for present conditions. These charges, in my opinion, are of a serious, nature, not only from the standpoint of condemning a race of people of American birth, but also affecting the interest of our country in this particular time when we are trying to strive as a unit for the protection and defense of the United States.
“If these facts are not true and certain groups are using the Jewish minority as a scapegoat by accusing certain racial groups in this country, the country and the American people should know, if it wishes to continue unity and tolerance in this country.”
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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.
