The editors reserve the right to excerpt all letters exceeding 500 words in length. All letters must bear the name and address of the writer, although not necessarily for publication.
I note that the Jewish Daily Bulletin publishes a letter by Isidore D. Morrison containing an attack on the editorial “Cowardice Could Go No Further!” appearing in the September issue of Opinion. I need hardly point out how tasteless and unethical was Mr. Morrison’s procedure in forwarding this document to another journal before Opinion, to which the letter was addressed, had the opportunity of publishing and answering it. That we would have done so is apparent, despite the vituperative nature of Mr. Morrison’s letter, from the enclosed set of galley proofs which had already been prepared by our printer. In view of the appearance of the letter in the Jewish Daily Bulletin, however, it obviously becomes impossible for us to deal with Mr. Morrison in this or any other way.
I must, however, correct one statement contained in the letter by Mr. Morrison. He writes: “I know that you are an organ of the American Jewish Congress, whose viewpoint you have been defending ever since your publication was launched.” This is not true. Opinion is not and has never been the organ, official or unofficial of any group or organization in Jewish life. It has at times shared the viewpoint of the American Jewish Congress and at other times disagreed with that viewpoint. Its columns have been open to and have been utilized by members of the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, and others. Opinion will remain what it set out to be: an independent journal of Jewish life and letters.
James Waterman Wise.
Sept. 13, 1934. New York
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.
