Jews Are Beaver Type, Secretary Davis States

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

A reply to the criticism voiced against the Secretary of Labor James J. Davis, because of an expression contained in one of his articles which was construed as anti-Semitic, was made by the Secretary of Labor in a communication addressed to David Alter, publisher of the “Jewish Criterion,” a weekly paper here.

“The Jews are the beaver type. They build up rather than destroy,” is the statement made by the Secretary of Labor Davis in his letter to Mr. Alter.

An article of the Secretary of Labor in a recently published book, “The Iron Puddler,” contained the following statement:

“Some men are by nature beavers, and some are rats; yet they all belong to the human race. The people that came to this country in the early days were of the beaver type and they built up America because it was in their nature to build. Then the rat-people began coming here, to house under the roof that others built. And they try to undermine and ruin it because it is in their nature to destroy. They call themselves anarchists.”

In his letter to Mr. Alter, Mr. Davis declared:

“Some Jewish people have said that this paragraph refers to the Jews, but you will note, if you will read not only the paragraph, but any other portion of the book, that there is no disparaging statement about, any race or religion Under these circumstances, when one states that ‘rats’ in the paragraph quoted refers to Jews, they classify the Jewish people as anarchists, for in direct language it states that reference is made only to anarchists, and does not limit the denunciation to any race to which they may belong.

“My experience among the Jewish people is that they are as a people precisely the opposite to anarchists. They are law-abiding citizens and believe in law enforcement, not the destruction of property and government. In fact, the anarchists are enemies of the Hebrew race as much as of any other people.

“Apparently this reference is being used in a political way. So far as I personally am concerned, it cannot do me any harm, because when the statement is read it speaks for itself, but when the statement is said to be an attack upon the Jew it creates a semblance of prejudice because the American people, Jews included, are bitter against any form of anarchism or communism. I have many acquaintances, friends and associates among Jewish people, and I feel that if this is made a political matter all the Jewish people will suffer to some extent thereby. They ought to be spared this embarrassment.”