Jews.
The
Jewish citizenship of the
United States is one of the most substantial of all foreign constituents of our complex population.
The Jews are an exceedingly law-abiding people, and in their charities are unsurpassed by any race among us. Their homes, asylums, hospitals, and educational establishments are among the best endowed and most progressive institutions in the country, and the benevolent acts of prosperous Hebrew men towards objects and institutions other than those of their own people have received a high and a deserved recognition.
At the fifteenth annual meeting of the Association of Jewish Immigrants, in
Philadelphia, in 1899,
President Levy's report treated especially of the general increase in immigration.
Of the 312,000
[
145]
immigrants to this country, representing an increase of 36 per cent. over the figures of the preceding year, the Jewish contingent was 37,000, an increase of 32.1 per cent. A large proportion of the Jewish immigrants came from
Russia, where, however, the persecutions to which the Jews were subjected were being less rigorously enforced than formerly.
The ferment infused into the
European social body by the Dreyfus affair appeared to have had a clarifying effect, even the Procurator of the
Russian Holy Synod having in a recent interview disavowed anti-Semitic sentiments.
The actual storm centre of Slavic anti-Semitism had moved over the border from
Russia to
Austria and
Rumania, and in Bohemia the condition of affairs was described as gravely foreboding.
In
Vienna the fever of anti-Semitism had passed its critical stage.
This had been, in part, due to the disclosure of colossal frauds in the administration of the city finances by numerous leaders of the anti-Semite majority.
In
Germany and
France the conditions were still more favorable.
Turning to the subject of
Jewish colonization,
President Levy said that the movement to colonize Jews in
Palestine had been stemmed by the interference of the Turkish government.
Jewish colonies had been established in
Cyprus, and the
De Hirsch colonies in
Argentine were showing unmistakable signs of progress.
Of the
New Jersey colonies, the one at
Woodbine, under the fostering care of the
American De Hirsch Fund trustees, was growing in importance, and left no doubt as to its ultimately successful establishment.
The other colonies at
Alliance, Norma,
Carmel, and Rosenhayn had passed the problematic stage and gave promise of success.
In the
American-Jewish Year-book for 1899-1900 (Hebrew year, 5660),
Cyrus Adler, the editor, considering the number of Jews in the
United States, said:
As the census of the United States has, in accordance with the spirit of American institutions, taken no heed of the religious convictions of American citizens, whether native-born or naturalized, all statements concerning the number of Jews living in this country are based upon estimate, though several of the estimates have been most conscientiously made.
In 1818 Mordecai M. Noah estimated the Jewish population at 3,000.
In 1826 Isaac C. Harby placed the figures at 6,000, and in 1840 these were further increased by the estimate published in the American almanac to 15,000.
In 1848 M. A. Berk made their number 50,000.
In 1880 William B. Hackenburg put the figures at 230,257; in 1888 Isaac Markens put them at 400,000, and in 1897 David Sulzberger estimated the total at 937,800.
The following figures are then given:
Jewish immigration into the
United States, 1885-99.
| Year. | New York. | Philadelphia. | Baltimore. |
| 1885 | 18,535 | 1,076 |
| 1886 | 27,348 | 2,310 |
| 1887 | 25,788 | 1,680 |
| 1888 | 29,602 | 1,761 |
| 1889 | 22,674 | 1,288 |
| 1890 | 32,321 | 1,982 |
| 1891 | 62,574 | 4,984 | 1,581 |
| 1892 | 52,134 | 3,039 | 5,152 |
| 1893 | 25,678 | 5,324 | 1,941 |
| 1894 | 16,381 | 3,825 | 1,902 |
| 1895 | 27,065 | 2,791 | 2,221 |
| 1896 | 23,802 | 2,499 | 1,817 |
| 1897 | 17,278 | 1,752 | 1,654 |
| 1898 | 22,921 | 2,079 | 2,409 |
| To July, 1899 | 12,909 | 1,463 |
| ——— | ——— | ——— | ——— |
| Total | 417,010 | 36,390 | 20,140 |
| Immigration for 1881-84 | 74,310 |
| New York, 1885-99 | 417,010 |
| Philadelphia, 1885-99 | 36,390 |
| Baltimore, 1885-99 | 20,140 |
| ——— |
| Total | 547,850 |
“If we add this immigration to the estimate of
Mr. Hackenburg made in 1880,” says
Mr. Adler, “we can secure a total of 778,107, without making any allowance for the natural increase in twenty years, nor for the immigration through
Canada and other ports of the
United States than New York,
Philadelphia, and
Baltimore.”
The following tentative estimate by States is given, being based, with a few modifications, on the table of
David Sulzberger:
| Alabama | 6,000 |
| Arizona | 2,000 |
| Arkansas | 4,000 |
| California | 35,000 |
| Colorado | 10,500 |
| Connecticut | 6,000 |
| North and South Dakota | 3,500 |
| Delaware | 3,000 |
| District of Columbia | 3,500 |
| Florida | 2,500 |
[
146]
（
Continued from preceding page.)
| Georgia | 7,000 |
| Idaho | 2,000 |
| Illinois | 95,000 |
| Indiana | 25,000 |
| Iowa | 5,000 |
| Kansas | 3,500 |
| Kentucky | 12,000 |
| Louisiana | 20,000 |
| Maine | 5,000 |
| Maryland | 35,000 |
| Massachusetts | 20,000 |
| Michigan | 9,000 |
| Mississippi | 5,000 |
| Missouri | 35,000 |
| Montana | 2,500 |
| Nebraska | 2,000 |
| Nevada | 2,500 |
| New Hampshire | 1,000 |
| New Jersey | 25,000 |
| New Mexico | 2,000 |
| New York | 400,000 |
| North Carolina | 12,000 |
| Ohio | 50,000 |
| Oregon | 6,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 95,000 |
| Rhode Island | 3,500 |
| South Carolina | 8,000 |
| Tennessee | 5,000 |
| Texas | 15,000 |
| Utah | 5,000 |
| Vermont | 1,000 |
| Virginia | 18,000 |
| Washington | 2,800 |
| West Virginia | 6,000 |
| Wisconsin | 10,000 |
| Wyoming | 1,000 |
| ——–—— |
| Total | 1,043,800 |
Jews and Judaism
