Digest of Public Opinion on Jewish Matters

[The purpose of the Digest is informative. Preference is given to papers not generally accessible to our readers. Quotation does not indicate approval.–Editor.]

It was chiefly the indomitable courage and determination of Charles A. Levine that prevented the Bellanca plane carrying him and Chamberlin from turning back when it had reached Cape Cod, to admit defeat and humiliation. This revelation is made in the “New York Times” of yesterday in the first of a series of exclusive stories cabled from Berlin by Chamberlin and Levine.

Relating how their earth induction compass went wrong and they were compelled to resort to an ordinary magnetic compass, the story of Chamberlin and Levine proceeds:

“This got us so far out of the course we should have taken that when we were a bit beyond Cape Cod we really did not know whether to keep on or to turn back. But our doubts only lasted a little while. One of us–Levine–said it would be better to be buried in Davy Jones’s locker than return and face the criticism and hee haws of the people. Plenty of them we knew would be only too glad of an opportunity to jump on us–especially some of the newspapers.

“That decided us. We continued.”

President Coolidge “should have been given better advice,” before he decided to ignore Charles Levine, who flew with Chamberlin to Berlin, declares the N. Y. “Evening Post” of Wednesday. The paper also subjects Postmaster General New to criticism for making his “charges” against Levine.

“We regret,” the “Post” writes, “that Mr. Levine has been criticized by Posmaster General New and that his name was omitted from President Coolidge’s first cablegram of congratulation.

“The last incident was a small one. The White House explains that the President took it for granted that the actual work of the flight was on the pilot’s shoulders and that the main glory was his. A better understanding brought Levine’s heroism into the picture and the second message followed. It is unthinkable, as the Jewish newspaper, ‘The Day’, suggests, that Mr. Coolidge deliberately slighted the passenger because ‘his name was Levine.’ Nevertheless, the President should have been given better advice.

“Postmaster New is technically right, of course, in objecting to the postal cancellation of stamps on letters carried by Mr. Levine, but the act did no great harm and seems innocently enough intended. The main fault was the postmaster’s, anyway. Mr. New might well have refrained from dragging the affair into the very hour of Mr. Levine’s triumph.”

Postmaster General New’s “charges” against Levine smack of the spirit of Ku Kluxism, says J. Magidov in the “Jewish Morning Journal” of yesterday. The writer declares that while the omission of Levine’s name from the congratulatory message sent by the President might be construed as an insult to be ignored, Postmaster General New’s “charges” are an insult that cannot be ignored. Analyzing New’s charges, he concludes that they are baseless and points out the discrepancy between the statement of the Postmaster General that the cancelled stamps which Levine took are worth $1,000 each and the opinion of stamp collectors that the stamps are not worth more than a few dollars each.

“Postmaster General New,” Mr. Magidov writes, “might have a complaint against the Postmaster of Hempstead for cancelling the stamps without his knowledge. The Postmaster of Hempstead declares that he inquired of an inspector who told him that the stamps could be cancelled. Perhaps the routine of the department was broken, but in such exceptional cases it is permissable. The State Department, for instance, dispatched agents to the wives of the two aviators with passports so that they might proceed at once for Berlin. This is not done for everyone, it was an exceptional step, and if an exception was made for the wives of the aviators then it surely was permissable to make an exception for the aviators themselves. At any rate, it is a small matter and it shows smallness of spirit to make a fuss over it. It smacks of the Ku Klux spirit of Indiana, whence the Postmaster General hails.”

Regarding the ignoring of Levine by Coolidge the writer observes: “The chief significance of the flight of Lindbergh and Chamberlin and Levine consists of the fact that they have brought closer the nations of the world. They are called the greatest ambassadors. Now comes Washington and takes the position which is calculated to divide the citizens of this country. A fine and noble thing has been dragged into the mud.”

The “Jewish Daily News.” writing on the same subject, has this to say: “It is said that Levine’s business tactics are not liked in Washington, Persons with ‘purely American’ names were shown recently in Washington to have employed very questionable business methods, yet Washington was tolerant toward them. But their names are not ‘Levine’ and that accounts for it. People don’t bother about the methods of ‘pure Americans’, but a ‘Levine’ is questioned and suspected.”

The “Christian Science Monitor” of June 8. discussing the significance of the Chamberlin-Levine flight, observes in part:

“In so nearly completing their objective, Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Levine have established beyond contravention that passenger service between the United States and Europe is only a matter of a short time. The somewhat unexpected manner in which Mr. Levine embarked upon his trip gives him unquestioned place as the first transatlantic airplane passenger. Clothed, as he was, in an ordinary business suit, he becomes the pioneer of transatlantic air travel surrounded by the comforts of the ordinary train or vessel.”