News Brief

In forty-five minutes, Aaron Sapiro, who was charged by Henry Ford’s “Dearborn Independent” as having been a tool of an “international Jewish conspiracy” to exploit American farmers, to gain control of the world’s wheat and to inject Communism and Bolshevism into the homes of American farmers, unfolded before Judge and jury the story of his life and how he became interested in the cooperative marketing movement.

Sapiro took the witness stand at 3:45 yesterday afternoon, following two decisions in his favor by Judge Fred M. Raymond.

The former No. 58 of the San Francisco Jewish Orphan Asylum moved rapidly through his autobiography. It raced through several schools, including the Hebrew Union College, the University of Cincinnati and the University of California, from which Sapiro had been graduated. He was calm, but alert, his face extremely Mobile in registration of the thoughts that seemed to be tumbling one after another back of his high, square forehead.

Sapiro narrated his age, his birthplace, San Francisco, his residence with his parents until his father’s death in 1892, when he was taken to the Hebrew orphan asylum. He was there six and one-half years.

Through the Grove Street public school, through the Lowell High School and then to the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, in 1900–Sapiro told of his progress. While at Union, he also graduated from Cincinnati University, later becoming student assistant and later instructor in history. Thence he returned to the Pacific Coast, graduating from Hastings Law School of the University of California in 1911.

He first heard of cooperative marketing from Colonel Harris Weinstock, in 1908. Sapiro’s first professional connection with agricultural groups as an organizer was with poultry raisers of California in 1916.

In 1917 Sapiro tried to enter an officers’ training camp at Camp Taylor, Ky. He was rejected because of his color blindness. He tried again and was rejected. Then he enlisted as a private with the field artillery at Tacoma, Wash. The regiment sent him to the training camp and he was there when the armistice was declared.

Senator Reed objected to the bringing out of Sapiro’s record during the war.

Mr. Gallagher declared his client’s patriotism had been attacked in the “Independent’s” articles, and that he consequently was entitled to show he had a good war record.

Sapiro said he had organized the cotton growers in Mississippi, Oklahoma, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Texas; the tobacco growers in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, and potato growers in Maine, Minnesota and Idaho.

The eight years of organizing, he concluded, came to a stop early in 1924, and though he still was retained as counsel by many of the organizations, there had been no activity among new ones.

Formation of a permanent San Francisco Council for Jewish Religious Education and institution of steps toward the amalgation of the two major Jewish organizations in the city interested in the education of Jewish youth were effected following a conference at the Hotel St. Francis.

Isidore M. Golden will head the new council as chairman, while A. S. Glikbarg, attorney, will be its secretary. In the council’s membership will be representatives of every Jewish organization in the city.

The amalgamation of the Talmud Torah and the Jewish Educational Society, the two major organizations in San Francisco sponsoring Jewish religious education, will be brought out through the appointment of a committee of nine Jewish leaders, three to be appointed from the community at large and three each to be named by the two organizations.