Genreralization Serious Mistake Which Will Not be Repeate, United Presbyterian Writer ssures
Rev. H. H. Marlin, editorial writer of the “United Presbyterian,” a religious weekly published in Pittsburgh, who was recently criticised in the Anglo-Jewish press for unfriendly comment made in the “United Presbyterian” of August 2, 1928, in connection with the publication by the Department of Commerce of the results of its census of Jewish religious bodies, indicating the number of the Jewish population, expressed his regrets at the statements he had made, in a communication to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Replying to an inquiry directed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency informing him of the criticism his remarks had called forth in varfous quarters, the Rev. Marlin vitually withdrew his statements and gave the assurance that the generalization in which he indulged was a serious mistake which will not be repeated.
“I am sorry I wrote that editorial,” Rev. Marlin stated in his letter. “It was written in the spirit of sincerity and without any feeling of animosity to the Jewish race. The “United Presbyterian” is not unfriendly to your people. Quite the contrary. In the two pages which I have edited for many years in “United Presbyterian” I have spoken in the highest terms at various times concerning the great outstanding characters of the Jewish people. The editorial of which you complain is partly complimentary, but there are some statements there which are wounding to the Jewish heart and we very much regret them. I attempted a brief characterization of the Jew as he is generally viewed by Gentile eyes. It is not wise nor just to indulge in that sort of generalization. It was a serious mistake and a mistake which will not be made a second time. I am certainly not an enemy of the Jew. To no other race do I owe so profound a debt as I owe to the Jewish race.”
Rev. Marlin enclosed in this letter the comment made by him in his column on the death of Joseph Barondess in which, after speaking highly of the life and work of the late Jewish labor leader, Zionist and welfare worker, he declares that “Surely God has written the name of this Jew, Joseph Barondess, in His book of remembrance.”
This was typical, he said, of many editorials he has written in admiration of great modern Jews.
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.
