Europe and America. In Paris, Berlin, London, and the cities of the United States, meetings were called and resolutions passed vigorously denouncing the assailants, and expressions of sympathy and commiseration sent to their unhappy victims. But the case called for more effective action. The Alliance helped with large donations; it organized bureaus for relief and methodically directed emigration toward the United States. This emigration, which commenced in 1881, was attended with good results. The Jews of the United States accepted the charge thus laid upon their shoulders with most commendable generosity. The Board of Delegates, the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society, the United Hebrew Charities of New York, and the various committees of Philadelphia, Boston, and many other places, applied themselves to the formidable task with a self-sacrifice and devotion which have never been exceeded, See Agricultural Colonies in the United States.
Twenty thousand poor Russian Jews were massed together on the Austrian frontier. Two members of the Central Committee journeyed thither, worked for several months, sending back those who could not support themselves in America, forwarding young and robust men to the United States, and settling in different parts of Europe those who could not be so conveyed, and who for one reason or another could not be returned to Russia. It was a colossal enterprise requiring much effort; but the Alliance was actively seconded by the committees in London, Vienna, and Berlin. It was especially due to the extraordinary munificence of the American Jews that it was able to suceed in this overwhelming task. The work accomplished in 1882 was also the starting point for that spontaneous emigration from Russia to the United States which has already carried thither, according to statistics of entry at New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore a population of over 600,000 Souls (see "American Jewish Year Book," under "Statistics," 1899). In the interior of Russia the Alliance has always exerted itself in behalf of those Jewish communities that are subjected to misery or persecution; helping victims of expulsion, aiding families ruined by fire, relieving famine-stricken farming colonies, and rendering assistance to schools and poor students-efforts all unfortunately insufficient.
In Christian countries the inferior status of the Jews is almost always the result of exceptional In Mohammedan Countries. legistation, of disabilities decreed by the law or by the will of the sovereign. In Mohammedan countries it is due to economic conditions, to the customs or to the fanaticism of the inhabitants, and to the greed of officials and governmental tyranny. It must he noted that if the Jews there are generally held in small esteem, the Christians are equally contemned, so that it is necessary for these latter to appeal to the Christian powers to prevent their ill-treatment or expulsion. But it is frequently the case that in Mohammedan countries the Christians are most hostile to the Jews. The incident of Father Thomas at Damascus, in 1810, with the tortures inflicted on innocent Jews, and hundreds of less important occurrences, show that the Christians of the Orthodox Greek Church, which predominates in Mohammedan countries, are possessed of a violent antipathy in the Jews. While the Turkey. Turkish government accords fair treatment to its dews as such, the country is still in such a semibarbarous condition that uses frequently occur of outrage, of individual or collective violence, of private revenge or brigandage, as well as of spoliation by greedy or cruel functionaries.
Each time that an event of this kind has been brought to the knowledge of the Alliance, that organization has appealed to the Turkish government, and in every instance its representations have been favorably received.
The Jews of Turkey have always been a considerable burden upon the resources of the Alliance. As will be shown further on, there are numerous schools founded and supported by the Alliance throughout Turkey. The Alliance, properly considered, is not strictly a benevolent society; but when any disaster threatens a whole population or at least a large community, it can not remain indifferent, entrenching itself behind the strict letter of its by-laws—even when a body of Jews are not suffering in their quality of Jews." Appeals made by it in cases of disaster overtaking a district or an important community have been numerous, but have always met with generous responses. In Turkey, such action on the part of the Alliance has been frequently called for: famine in Asia Minor in 1880; conflagrations at Constantinople in 1874 and again in 1883; and the earthquake at Chio in 1881. In 1877, after the Russo-Turkish War, a large subscription was opened which afforded opportunities to give substantial aid to those Turkish Jews who had fled before the Russian invasion and who had become successively the victims of marauding Russian, Bulgarian, and Turkish soldiers.
In Egypt the Jews have no need of assistance from the Alliance. In Abyssinia there exists a Jewish Abyssinia. population, called Falashas. They are scattered among tribes who follow agriculture and other forms of manual labor. Their number is reckoned at about 50,000, although some travelers set the estimate as high as 200,000. In 1867, the Alliance sent a learned Orientalist, Joseph Halévy, to visit them, and his reports. were published in the Alliance "Bulletin" for the first half of 1869. The Alliance also published a Fulasha prayer book in Ethiopic, and in 1900 prepared a new expedition to Abyssinia, to reopen relations with these African brethren.
In Tunis, which is now a protectorate of France, the Jews, numbering about 60,000, live in absolute Tunis. security. They labor under no legal disqualifications or social inequalities. But for many years the Alliance had to combat the arbitrary and cruel conduct of the bey. and sometimes even governmental anarchy, as shown in the abduction of young girls and in unpunished murders of Jews upon the highways and even in cities. By means of complaints and appeals, the Alliance has usually succeeded in obtaining the energetic intervention of the consuls of the great powers and in putting an end to these crimes. See also Tunis.
In Morocco and in Persia, conditions are still very precarious. In both these Mohammedan countries Morocco. the power of the government is feeble, ill-directed, and scantily obeyed. The Bulletins of the Alliance are filled with narratives of murder committed upon Moroccan Israelites, of cruel exactions imposed by irresponsible officials, and of acts of violence perpetrated by an ignorant and fanatical populace. The intervention of the Alliance has become an almost daily occurrence in these countries; and if it has not been able altogether to modify the existing conditions which are responsible for such barbarous crimes, it has at least secured, according to its means, greater protection for the Jews. Upon its representations the powers of Europe and the United States have repentedly compelled the Moroccan government to inflict
