UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SOGIAL ASPECTS OF THE JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY BY PHILIP REUBEN GOLDSTEIN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY flUje lieagne printing C0-, ,3nr. TEN WEST EIGHTEENTH STREET NEW YORK 1921 UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY BY PHILIP REUBEN GOLDSTEIN A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 9Hfe TCragm' -printing (Ho., ,3lnc- TEN WEST EIGHTEENTH STREET NEW YORK 1921 am DEDICATED to the Trustees of the Jewish Chautauqua Society in evidence of my sincere and earnest appreciation of their great interest in the welfare of the Jewish Colonies of South Jersey FOREWORD While the Ghetto life of the Jews figures in popular knowledge and in literature, little has been made of their unflinching exertions, for almost forty years, to bring to the flourishing point agricultural colonies of their own, in South America, Canada, and — in the United States — in Louisiana, the Dakotas, Colorado, and Oregon, Kansas, and New Jersey. The writer, having spent six years in one of the South Jersey colonies as Director of Cultural Activities for the Jewish Chautauqua Society, and having, therefore, intimately observed the social being, in entirety, of the Jews there, believes that a study of the beginnings, vicissitudes, and pros- pects of the quite typical South Jersey colonies should lead to insight into the social and economic potentialities of such settlements. The writer's data spring from a community survey of all the colonies to be considered hereafter, from annual reports of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, from statistics of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, and from supplementary communication with their officials and conversa- tion with pioneers in the Jewish colonization movement. The data have all been collated and set forth with a will to absolute unpartiality. May I thank by name the gentlemen just referred to : Gabriel Davidson, the general manager of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society of New York City; Mr. Maurice Fels, of Philadelphia; Mr. Louis Mounier of Vineland, New Jersey; Mr. Frank Hartman, supervising principal of the Woodbine Land and Improvement Company, as well as all those others who helped to make this thesis possible. May the writer's hopes for the advancement, no matter how slight, by this paper, of practical wisdom as applied to the Jewish problem go not unfulfilled! Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/socialaspectsofj01gold MrtP OF of South Teaser dAfD \Z\CirWTY~\S\S CONTENTS Page I The Beginnings of Jewish Colonization in America 9 1) Historic Causes of the East-European Phase. 2) Early American Enterprises. II The South Jersey Colonies: Their Founders and Promoters 13 1) Alliance Rosenhayn Carmel Garton Road Woodbine. 2) Philanthropic Cooperation III The Status of the Colonies in 1919 29 Population Table 3 Economic Conditions : The Level Table 4 The Basis 5 Transportation and Communication 6 Stores ' Industrial Conditions - 8 Public Education 9 Religious Life 10 Social Life H IV Potentialities 58 1) Deficiencies 2) Counter-measures: Cultural, Educational, Social. Bibliography. 70 CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF JEWISH COLONIZATION IN AMERICA. To follow out the beginnings of Jewish colonization in America, and in South Jersey, particularly, we must delve briefly into the history of the Jews in Russia during the Nineteenth Century. We shall find that towards the end of the Eighteenth Century, when a famine came and desolated the Jews in White Russia, the poet Derzhavin, sent there by Czar Paul, to survey their economic and social condition, proposed that the surplus population of White Russia be settled as farmers in Astrakhan and. New Russia 1 . A commission was appointed (1802) by the next Czar, Alexander I, to work out Derzhavin's idea; and at its instance, seven Jewish agri- cultural colonies were founded in 1806 in New Russia. Eighty thousand acres were allotted to them; and, for the first time, Jews were permitted to buy or lease Russian soil. Yet the want of adequate financing and appropriate governmental good-will disheartened many and drained the colonies. Similar was the history of the colonization program of Nicholas I. And yet, a sprinkling of Jewish farm colonies were in a brave state of self-maintenance, when the May-Laws of 1882 swept away what was and all it might have been. The thunderbolt was the assassination of Alexander II. Because a few Jews were implicated in the Nihilist conspiracy, the whole race was held guilty of the crime. Nation-wide massacre followed, and plunder which spared nothing. Yet this spirit of vengeance, taking no account of the loving, condoning regard the Jews had shown toward the Czar despite all the tyrannies of his officials, raged on, leading to the following decree, issued May 3, 1882, and so known as the May-Laws. "(1) As a temporary measure, and until a general revision is made of their legal status, it is decreed that the Jews be forbidden to settle anew outside of towns and boroughs, exceptions being admitted only in case of existing agricultural colonies. "(2) Temporarily forbidden is the issuing of mortgages and other deeds to Jews, as well as the registration of Jews as lessees of real property situated outside of towns and boroughs; and also the issuing to Jews of powers of attorney to manage and dispose of such real property. iNikitin, Vladimir: Yevreiskiva zemledyelcheskiya kolonii, Voskhod, St. Petersburg, 1882-1889. 10 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY "(3) Jews are forbidden to transact business on Sundays and the principal Christian holy days ; the existing regulations concerning the closing of places of business belonging to Christians on such days to apply to lews also. "(4) The measures laid down in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, shall apply only to the governments within the Pale of Jewish Settlements (that is, they shall not apply to the ten governments of Poland)." 1 Thus rendered homeless, the Jewish masses began to dream of a new home in the Land of the Free. The movement known as the "Am Olom" 2 ("The Eternal People") emerged, to influence the people to go and found agricultural colonies in America. When the migration started, difficulties were encountered which might have ended in calamity, if the "Alliance Israelite Universelle" had not been prepared to aid and defend. This now world-wide society began (I860) 3 with a group of six Parisian Jews whose determination it was, as stated in their "Appeal to the Public", not only to "defend the honor of the Jewish name" and to work "with all the moral influences at our command, for the emancipation of our brethren who still suffer under the burden of exceptional legislation", but also to sustain in their moral heritage, to educate and to train in handicrafts, the downtrodden and helpless. The age of anti-Semitic agitation, 4 of forcible baptisms had set in ; 5 and it was fortunate that far-seeing Jews in the Occident heeded the signs of the times. Immediately the pogroms broke out, the financial resources, as well as diplomatic influence, of the Alliance were at the disposal of the suffering. When the thousands of Jews were breaking away to America, the courage and power of the Alliance met their supreme trial. The fugitives who had survived dangerous and costly smuggling and other hardships of the road quite as inhuman as those of Siberian fugitives, and reached at last t he- Austrian border, found themselves there penniless, friendless, at the mercy of the Austrian government. The Alliance again was on the scene and helped 1500 men and women to come to America. Thus was inaugurated the migration en masse of East European Jews to the United States. Arrived in America, these 1500 were without means of support. A committee of Jews known as the "Mansion House Committee", animated by the mottoes of Rabbi Hillel — "Do not separate thyself from thy people" : "If I am for myself alone, what am I?" — met in England; while, in the 'The Persecutions of the Jews in Russia, issued by the Russo-Jcwish Committee, London, 1890, contains a summary of the special and restrictive laws. -Hist, of the Jews in Modern Times, Max Raisin, p. 296. sjewish Encyc. Vol. 1, pp. 413-422. •'The Persecutions of the Jews in Russia, Supra. -Ibid. THE BEGINNINGS OF JEWISH COLONIZATION IN AMERICA. 11 United States, the Emigrant Aid Society came into being to afford (as stated in the articles of incorporation) "aid and advice to emigrants of the Hebrew faith coming to the United States from countries where they have suffered by reason of oppressive laws or a hostile populace; to afford aid and advice to emigrants desiring the help of the society in settling in the United States upon lands of the society or otherwise." How sorely in need of such help even those who came after the pioneers were, may be seen from the briefest account of their privations on the way. First, there were the costly and circuitous negotiations with officials for a passport, without which one could not legally leave Russia. So arduous and hazardous was the suit for the passport, that many, as already alluded to, preferred the deft arm of smugglers who, in partnership with the border- sentries, did a thriving business of sneaking fugitives over the "Grenetz" into Austria. But the fugitives were always in danger of marauding onsets or of spiteful or unsympathetic guards. If they were lucky, they got through to a port of embarkation, where, while awaiting their ship, parasites posing as guides and advisors stripped them of the little that remained to them. In such plight, they embarked at Bremen and Hamburg for America. Once here, those who were of the "Am Olom" desired to "return to Nature", in order to recreate the free and natural life of their Palestinian forefathers. Others were repelled from the American city in the fear that the traditional Judaism so priceless to them would there be destroyed. The instinctively wise determination of both groups to engage in agriculture was far stronger than their preparation for the work and life. An old pioneer told the writer, "They did not even know if potatoes grew above' or under ground." It was obvious that they should join in colonies. Gradually, the Ameri- can Jews took sympathetic notice of their enterprise. The funds available, however, to the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society in 1882, were not sufficient to sustain the colonies already founded. The Society founded other colonies, among which were Alliance, Rosenhayn, and Carmel, in South Jersey. European organizations were not slow to cooperate; colonies arose, as stated, in the North- West, South-East, and South- West. 1 Initiated without experience, composed of men who had been mer- chants, students, and professional men in the cities and towns of Russia, unschooled in the trying labors of the farmer, if not without the courage of the pioneer, prey, in a changed environment, to sickness and death, ^'Settlements were also formed in Ziontown, N. J., in Connecticut and Delaware, and other Eastern and Middle States ; also in Canada ; but these it seems have not at- tracted many. Climatic conditions in Canada are not favorable for colonization." — The Jews of Philadelphia, Morais, Henry Samuel, p. 214. 12 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY and withal, stranded among strangers with whom they could not associate, — what wonder so many of the colonies dissolved I 1 It must not be thought that mese were the earliest attempts of the kind in the United States. The famous and versatile Major Mordecai Noah, a leading spirit in the vigorous life of his time, traveling in Europe, learned of the unfortunate circumstances of his people there and became a fervid Zionist. Perceiving, however, that a settlement was more immediately practicable in the United States than in Zion, he purchased with others, in 1825, 17,381 acres of Grand Island in the Niagara River for $76,230, and named the place, Utopia. Years of agitation induced no one to move there; only a commemorative monument, built by the founder, went up on the site; and it has since worn away. Another attempt at agricultural settlement was the colony Shalom (Peace), in Warwarsing Township, Ulster Co., New York, whither, in 1837, twelve families, inspired by Moses Cohen, came from New York. When the pioneers departed, others arrived. They farmed, or traded with neigh boring villages, or manufactured. At the end of five earnest years, the enterprise ended in failure. 2 Such were the only undertakings of the kind in the United States prior to the great tide of immigration spoken of above — which brought with it, among others, the South Jersey colonies that are the theme of the following chapters. 1 "If failure had been the deliberate object of the venture, they could not have suc- ceeded better .... They were far more sinned against than sinning . . . ." Annual message of the President of the National Farm School, 1920. 2 See "The Occident and American Jewish Advocate" [April, 1843] (ed. by Isaac Leeser), for an article pleading for an agricultural colony in the U. S. "In such a society, excellent men and worthy women might spring up who would deserve to be called an ornament to Israel and an honor to mankind." CHAPTER II. THE SOUTH JERSEY COLONIES: THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. While, then, Jewish agricultural colonization in North America appears, mainly, to have aborted, the settlements in South Jersey have endured with a confirmed vitality. Their history — the concern of this chapter — will, I hope, establish that, given a favorable location and the satisfactory educa- tional and social opportunities without which he can nowhere be happy, the Jewish farmer will produce as good a crop per acre as his Scotch or Scandinavian neighbor; that, therefore, the opinion that the Jew is unsuited to farming is entirely contrary to the actual facts. Naturally the swelling wave of East European Jewish immigration tended to pour itself into the coast cities, chiefly New York. The immediate consequences were: first, the civic and welfare problems causd by im- migrant-congestion in the large cities, and, thereupon, not only the impatience of the American Jews (mainly German) with the heavy call upon their liberality, but their concern, their fear, their marked antagonism. 1 To sprinkle the multitude over a wide area and in self-sustaining colonies be- came, then, the program of their agencies. And so far bent were they on diverting the flow of immigration from the cities that, inadvertently, they gave almost no thought to the agronomic phases of the colonization. — The sites were chosen without due regard to the values of the soil, or to the availability of markets; nor was sufficient allowance made for the utter inexpertness of the strangers and for their pennilessness. Happily, in South Jersey, the soil, while requiring more of manure and fertilizer than do many other farm areas, and the climatic conditions as well, were more favorable than were those of the majority of other like settlements. The first of the colonies, Alliance, 2 was founded in May, 1882. The pioneers were about twenty-five Jewish families, fugitive from the Russian persecutions, and their sponsors were, jointly, the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society of New York and the Alliance Israelite Universelle, from the latter Personal conferences with a number of the pioneers. 2 "I believe," Mr. Mounier writes me, "the colonization was not so much the result of a long and thoughtful preparation as it was one of dire necessity — a means to remove 'a thorn in the side' of people who saw in the congestion of the large cities a danger to the Jewish cause." 13 14 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY of which the colony, gratefully, took its name. Soon, with more families arriving, there was a total of sixty-seven — the people being, in the main, from Kief, Odessa, and Elizabetgrad. About 1100 acres, thickly overgrown with scrub oak and pine, were secured, surveyed, and divided into 15 acre plots. The work of clearing strained the flaccid muscles of the harassed children of the Pale; the mosquitoes of the swamps, and the difficulty, among still others, to obtain water led many to despond; only their idealism held them in rein, as they hewed at the dense-grown trees and bushes. During those first days, they were housed in three large buildings which, with bitter humor, they called "Castle Garden" after the famous immigrant-station in New York harbor; there was a common kitchen, Spartan fashion ; the necessaries were provided by the Emigrant Aid Society. As the ground was cleared, this society, known later as the Alliance Land Trust, built small frame houses, dug wells, furnished utensils for the household ; seeds, plants, and tools, for the farm ; as well as several monthly allowances of eight to twelve dollars. When the land was finally made ready, the pioneers planted corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and the like. At first, those who found their proceeds inadequate would with their families go miles, seeking work with the gentile farmers in the vicinity. Not much later, in that first period, a number of those in this situation were working in a cider factory which had been started by a New Yorker, named Moses W. Mendel, jn one of the large buildings aforementioned. The factory could not maintain itself and was pretty soon abandoned. Attended, then, by the inevitable severe hardships, the settlement was now in its crisis. Word was sent, perforce, to the "Association of Jewish Immi- grants" 1 in Philadelphia, which authorized its president, Alfred T. Jones, and its treasurer, Simon Muhr, to visit Alliance and report conditions. Aid followed in form of food, clothing, household utensils, and farming imple- ments. The Mansion House Committee of London, in its turn, conveyed about ten thousand dollars to the Alliance Land Trust to help the farmers pay off the mortgages, which were claiming immediate settlement. Not only did, thereby, some of the farmers secure deeds to their farms, but the colony, at large, was sustained and strengthened. So that when, in 1885, the colonists netted a little profit on their harvest, they turned to their work with new vigor; they built larger, more desirable dwellings, barns, and outhouses. In the winter, for the most part, they earned their livelihood by working at shirts, vests, or coats in the factories which came and went. There were others who did not farm at all hut worked in the factories all 'Concerning the Association of Jewish Immigrants, see The .lows of Philadelphia. Morais, Henry Samuel, pp. 133-135. THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 15 year round. In 1887 more immigrants arrived. As soon as the colonists felt at all economically established, they turned their impatiently postponed attention to their spiritual requirements. On July 29, 1888, the anniversary of their landing in America, with prominent gentlemen from New York, Philadelphia, and Washington to mark the oc- casion, they dedicated the Alliance Synagogue, which they called Eben Ha Ezer (The Rock of Salvation) ; and, two years later, another synagogue, called Tiphereth Israel (The Splendor of Israel). They furthermore en- gaged private teachers to nurture their children in the history, rites, language, and ideals of Israel. In 1887, too, as if to confirm further their hard- won secureness in this wilderness which they had converted, a post office was granted them, to be succeeded, in 1917, by the R. F. D. But these final beginnings did not mark the end of their adversities, for, financially, they were still actually insecure. When, in the early nineties, the prices for farm products were so low, the farmers fell into arrears. They borrowed money, they mortgaged their farms to certain loan associa- tions, they could not pay the interest when it fell due. Mortgages were in peril of foreclosure. The Baron de Hirsch Fund — of which, more later — took over the mortgages, allowing the farmers to discharge their debts in small installments, at a low rate of interest. Finally, in 1900, the Alliance Land Trust determined to turn over to the Baron de Hirsch Fund the future management of the colony. In the years following 1901, the farmers have had an ally in a canning factory, which, undertaken in that year by the Allivine Co. after a house- to-house canvas made in 1900-1901 in Norma, Alliance, Rosenhayn, Carmel, and Garton Road, to ascertain the usefulness and prospects of the enterprise, was built accordingly, near the C. R. R. depot in Norma. For several years, the Allivine Co., seeing that many of the farmers had not the money or the credit with which to obtain the fertilizers needed by the sandy, naturally infertile soil, furnished them, on condition that the produce was to be brought to their factory. For the farmers it was advantageous to have a local market, so as to be independent of the shippers at the local stations and of the not too reliable commission merchants in the cities. The factory has also provided work for the young people of the colonies. On the other hand, the enterprise has thrived; it was leased in 1915 to a corpora- tion which purchased it in 1919, and continues to operate it. Alliance properly includes a section known as Six Points, about two miles from Brotmanville and close to Alliance. The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society purchased the area in 1907, and divided it into farms of twenty five acres each, which were sold to Jewish settlers on moderate terms. In Norma and Brotmanville, there are a few who own farms in Alii- 16 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY ance or Six Points, but the great majority work in factories in their own localities or in Vineland. Rosenhayn, about seven miles equidistant between Vineland and Bridgeton, was colonized, in the same year as Alliance, by six Jewish families, whom, too, the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society helped settle. They too, had to clear the luxuriantly-wooded land ; their hardships were in every detail like to those of their fellows in adversity in Alliance, if not indeed worse; for when, in crying need of financial support over the critical first period they appealed to the Society, they were practically ignored. Whereat, they abandoned their holdings and the colony ceased. A little later, other families, learning of the brightening prospects of the colonists in Alliance, bought land in Rosenhayn ; some settled in the colony at once, while others remained in the city working until they had enough money to pay for their land. Outsiders never were so concerned about the colonists of Rosenhayn as they were about those of Alliance; what Rosenhayn is, is entirely the achievement of its people. As happened in Alliance, a shirt factory was after a short time smarted there, which, because it was in a large building, near the railroad station, they called "The Hotel". So that they who otherwise would have continued in the city could now make their home in the colony. They may, however, scarcely be taken account of as farmers, for their work was principally away from their farms. Carmel was the achievement of Michael Heilprin, well-known as scholar, 1 author, philanthropist, idealist. A native of what has been Russian Poland, he was well-educated both as Jew and as European. At twenty (1843), he went to Hungary to advocate Hungarian liberty, and became acquainted, meanwhile, with Kossuth who advised him to go to America. Coming in 1856, to Philadelphia, he forthwith gave himself unwaveringly to the anti-slavery cause. When, in the Eighties, the fugitive Jews began to pour into the Lmited States, he devoted his entire time and energy to those activities of the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society which we have noticed. Such colonization, he believed, was a solution of the Jewish problem. Various influential men, chief among them was the late Jacob Schiff, sympathized with his purpose, and offered to cooperate. In 1882. he secured the area. now known as Carmel, lying about five miles equidistant between Millville and Bridgeton and about three miles south of Rosenhayn; and he settled seventeen families there. To be sure, they suffered the pioneers' privations and hardships which we are already familiar with; to be sure there were those who, discouraged, abandoned their farms and departed. But their farms were soon taken over by fresh immigrant arrivals, and still others "•Jewish Encyc. Vol. VI. THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 17 came. Heartened by Heilprin's energetic guardianship, they all determined to remain. When on May Tenth, 1888, Heilprin suddenly died at Summit, New- Jersey, the people of Carmel were orphaned. They valued his cooperation, they loved him for his idealism ; no one who knew him has aught but lauded him. Their fatherlessness came home to them with particular keenness when, shortly after, their situation was again so grave as to call for im- mediate aid. Fortunately, they attracted the timely friendship of the Rabbi Sabato Morais of Philadelphia, who sent an appeal to Baron de Hirsch. The response was Five Thousand Dollars, which were distributed among the colonists according to their needs as ascertained by Moses Klein, whom the Jewish Emigrant Society of Philadelphia had sent for the purpose. With- out doubt, this little assistance, by tiding the colonists over, saved the colony Garton Road, situated about two and one half miles west of Rosenhayn, was started by an immigrant in 1888. As soon as he settled there some people from Bridgeton, a city about five miles distant, and a few from the other colonies mentioned, joined him. In 1901, the colony had thirteen families. Owing in part to the better soil on which the colony was located, and in part to the comparative lateness of its beginning, the farmers of Garton Road had not all those first adversities which were the lot of the other colonists ; they have, indeed, always seemed to be a little more suc- cessful than the others . Following is a brief statistical survey of settlements of Alliance, Norma, Rosenhayn, Carmel, and Garton Road for the year 1901 : 18 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY pq H p < o rt a o H rt < O ^""^ T3 o C c^ 1 — 1 s ,/ H-l w D u c^ . f-H 14 fe ^ «* Uh iT, > ^ H C/) < o & ^ < . Ph < £ 3 u n u £ w u £ < J h-1 < fi| o TD nj o C^ 1^ -* CO CO ■* CO "# o T-H •* rjn CO co 00 o CO OS 00 T-H o as oo co T-H "# CO CM o c o IO co T-H o 00 CO o 0<1 T-H CO CO s# «# CO u m a O i *03 113 co t^ to lO o »o oo ■>* T-H lO lO o s kC co 05 co 1—1 co o CO CO lO co o C= CO ■* T^ m ¥=> ■* • m c8 ■«* oo p« CO 1— 1 CO ■<* T-H m t> 00 c iC iO o ,C ■■Z LO ^ co CO CO co CO oa X CO CO o OJ CO CO iO a ■* CO co (N CO co U3 ^ «*= m o &r & a £ t-. o T-H lO iC c i> oc CO -tf c r^ IC IC 3 o lO "CH cr io CO t> oc iC CO c CO c T-H LO LO o r— I co CO oc co » I> «> e» CO l> LT iC m ^ se CO 03 «# < E ■J j c c u E T- t/ C c c a E c ,E a c a ! : c C 5 -, £ ! 5 a c 3 c ■j i a T- {- c b ct c (/ > I a > a l- ! .- i V \ - T ■1 3 e -? ■J . 1 E 5 t 3 T c t- [ CI 1 I 1 1 "a cc I 1 : : a " c i L t >4- c "S - •*. <4- v». - "c "c > t > t 3 C 3 *C "5 ! B 1 SI i C "c c J a 3 ; c c 3 C 3 C 3 C ■: 3 C > fc : c 7 *5 15 / . 2 : 2 : 2 '. > . 2 : t- - 2 : < . 2 X 2 > > > THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 19 We cannot well omit Woodbine, if our account of South Jersey colonies is to be complete. But, since Woodbine was the creation of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, a digression on the personality and aims of the endower can- not but explain the history of the colony. Baron Maurice de Hirsch was born in Munich, in 1831. By dint of his alert, swift mind, persevering application, and genius for large affairs, he became one of the chief captains of industry and financiers of Europe. So struck was he with the magnificent humanitarian enterprise of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, that, in 1879, he bestowed on the Alliance a million francs for more schools. When in the course of expansion, the Alliance ran into deficit, Baron de Hirsch did not fail to make the shortage good. Only one of his world-wide, unstinted benefactions, that of promoting the emigration of Jews from Russia and endowing a fund for their coloniza- tion in America, concerns us here particularly. As soon as he learned of the bitter persecution in Russia, he offered that government fifty million francs with which to improve the educational opportunities of its Jews, hoping that emigration might be largely averted by better conditions. However, the Czar's government insisted on administering the endowment contrarily to the donor's idea ; whereat, Baron de Hirsch withdrew his offer, and turned to colonization. Accordingly, with a capital of close to $10,000,000, he endowed an asso- ciation formed in England, known as the Jewish Colonization Association. Its ends he stated to be: "To assist and promote the emigration of Jews from any part of Europe or Asia — and principally from countries in which they may for the time being be subjected to any special taxes or political or other disabilities — to any parts of the world, and to form and establish colonies in various parts of North and South America and other countries, for agricultural, com- mercial, and other purposes." Writing on these aims in the "Forum", August, 1891, he said: "In the lands where Jews have been permitted to acquire landed property, where they have found opportunity to devote themselves to agriculture, they have proved themselves excellent farmers. For example, in Hungary they form a very large part of the tillers of the soil; and this fact is acknowledged to such an extent that the high Catholic clergy in Hungary almost exclusively 20 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY have Jews as tenants on mortmain properties, and almost all large land- holders give preference to the Jews on account of their industry, their recti- tude, and their dexterity. These are facts that cannot be hidden, and that have force; so that the anti-Semitic movement, which for a long time has flourished in Hungary, must expire. My own personal experience, too, has led me to recognize that the Jews have very good ability in agriculture. I have seen this personally in the Jewish agricultural colonies of Turkey; and the reports from the expedition that I have sent to the Argentine Republic plainly show the same fact. These convictions led me to my activity to better the unhappy lot of the poor, downtrodden Jews; and my efforts shall show that the Jews have not lost the agricultural qualities that their fore- fathers possessed. I shall try to make for them a new home in different lands, where, as free farmers on their own soil, they can make themselves useful to the country." In the spirit of this statement, the Baron caused investigations to be made in Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and Argentine. Deciding upon the last- named place as the most suitable for agricultural development, he delegated his agents to purchase large tracts of land there. The colonies which were established in Argentine are in existence today. In 1889, new persecutions, political and religious, again impelled the Jews to emigrate to the United States. Oscar S. Straus called the Baron's attention to the new situation, and in 1891, there was incorporated, under the laws of the State of New York, the Baron de Hirsch Fund with a capital of $2,400,000, the income from which was to be used to ameliorate the conditions of the Jewish immigrants from Russia and Roumania ; to transfer immigrants, who were willing and fit to go, to other towns in the United States, where the labor conditions were more promising, or where they had friends, or relatives to help them out until they became self- supporting ; to teach trades to certain immigrants ; to give others a training in agriculture; to teach them the English language, with a view to raising the standard of living of the Jewish immigrants in America and to making them loyal and devoted citizens of their adopted country. The original trustees to administer the Fund were: M. S. Isaacs, Presi- dent; Jacob H. Schiff, Vice-President; Jesse Seligman, Treasurer; Julius Goldman, Honorary Secretary; Henry Rice, James H. Hoffman, and Oscar S. Straus, of New York; Mayer Sulzberger and W. B. Hackenburg. of Philadelphia. To carry out the agricultural aim of the Fund, the trustees, after in- vestigating sites in various parts of the country, purchased, for $37,500, a tract of land comprising about 5,300 acres, and lying in Cape May Conn y, New fersey, fifty-six miles from Philadelphia. Here, was inaugurated on THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 21 August 28, 1891, the agricultural and industrial colony known as Woodbine. Although farming was to be the chief occupation, a certain portion of the land was reserved for the development of a town to serve as a market for the farm products, and there factories were put up to employ those who could not earn a livelihood by farming. Fifty families came; they cleared away the dense scrub oak, and built houses. When, however, they began to plow, they found the soil was so sandy and poor as to require a large quantity of fertilizer, and, therein, an outlay which the farmers were unable to meet. Here we re-encounter the now familiar combination of adverse soil, swamp mosquitoes, scant social and educational facilities, which disheartened the most optimistic, and goaded the less stubborn into returning to the city. It must, in candor, be said that, as an agricultural colony, Woodbine has, until of late, made very little progress. It has really become an in- dustrial town with a few farms around it. With part of the income from the Baron de Hirsch Fund, streets were laid out, a power-house was built, a lighting system and public works were installed. Machine shops, clothing factories, and hat factories were established. In 1892, a cloak factory was started by the firm of Meyer Jonasson & Co., affording employment to about one hundred persons, most of whom lived on farms at quite a distance from the village. In the year of nation- wide economic depression which followed, the cloak industry of Woodbine was also affected. After a brief struggle, the factory was shut down. More farmers, unable to earn a livelihood, left the colony. Of those who re- mained, some hired out to cut wood, others to remove stumps of trees; some of the younger folks went to Ocean View, near Sea Isle City, to seek employment in the tomato-canning factory, while still others picked huckle- berries. Conditions looked more favorable, when in 1894, Daniel & Blumenthal, of Philadelphia, opened a clothing factory in Woodbine. Other factories were started gradually, making the outlook still brighter. And with new Lithuanians, and immigrants from Odessa and from Roumania, the popula- tion began to increase. Following is a brief statistical account of Woodbine for 1901. More detailed data will be given in the chapters dealing with the present status of the Jewish colonies in South Jersey. 22 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY TABLE 2 WOODBINE, 1901 Total population 2500 Percentage of Jewish inhabitants 90% Number of families of Jewish farmers 52 Number of individuals comprising the 52 families 400 Average acreage of farm 15 Total number of acres owned by 52 families 785 Number of acres under cultivation 500 Value of farms $50,000.00 Number of acres of Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School 300 Number of acres under cultivation 121 Average individual income per week $7.30 $675.00 175 Average earnings, per family per annum Number of cottages Number of cottages owned by the B. de H. F 14 Average cost of construction per cottage $1000.00 Estimated total cost of all cottages $157,450.00 Amount paid in $58,200.00 In 1894, the Board of Trustees of the Fund instituted "The Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School" on a place southwest of the town of Woodbine, and about three hundred acres in extent. Started in a small way, it has been constantly enlarged as required. The large schoolhouse, which could ac- commodate about two hundred and fifty students, contained, besides class- rooms, a Synagogue, an Assembly Hall, and administrative offices. In ad- dition, there were a large dining room and kitchen, dormitories for the students, cottages for the staff of teachers and superintendent, and all the useful outhouses that go with a well-established agricultural school of that size. It had also a model poultry plant, as well as orchards, vineyards, and greenhouses. The School was the reward of the efforts of H. L. Sabsovich, a well- known student of agriculture and agricultural chemistry, who came from Russia in the summer of 1888. After serving- for a while as chemist of the THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 23 Colorado Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado, he was in 1891 ap- pointed agricultural adviser to the colony of Woodbine. He for a number of years had an intimate part in the social, economic, and political progress of the colony. The aim of the School, both of its founders and of its faculty of ex- perts, was "to raise intelligent, practical farmers." Tuition and maintenance have always been free, to any young man of the Jewish faith, who was over fourteen years of age, of good moral character, good health, and had an elementary education. In the first class, organized in October, 1894, were fifteen young men, all from Woodbine. For several years the classes remained small, attract- ing very few men from the cities. Yet, for the School to really succeed in its ideals, it was essential that more students be attracted from the congested centers of population. To this end, Mr. Sabsovich, who was superintendent of the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School for ten years, made a tour through New York City, Boston, and Baltimore, and aroused the interest of some young Jewish immigrants, who shortly left for Woodbine to enroll in the Agricultural School. The number of students fluctuated from year to year, rising at times to over one hundred, falling at other times considerably below. The two-year course of study was chiefly practical. The first year was devoted mainly to general agriculture. The second year, each student could specialize in one department : horticulture, floriculture, poultry, dairying. To secure the most desirable positions for the graduates, no amount of effort was spared. As was well pointed out by the superintendent of the School : "The School aims to guard against having their young men ex- ploited, and we only seek to fill those positions which, we feel, would be to the best advantage of the student and where his interests would be best served. In order to bring this about, the co-operation and assistance of the old students is sought. These men are urged to keep in touch with the farms that are worked by progressive methods in different sections of the coun- try where they are employed, and where the employers have a reputation of giving fair treatment to their employees." Quite a number of the graduates have made farming their vocation. By means of a United States map, on which were noted the locations, and the subsequent changes of situation, of the students, the School maintained a graphic survey of their distribution. The map shows at a glance that many of the graduates, far from remaining in the Eastern States, have made their way not only to the Middle West but even to the far West, as far as the Pacific Coast. Of those who pursued farming as a career, some own their own farms 24 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY and others are managers of farms. The School is proud to point to the significant fact that, among its graduates, one is the director of an experi- ment station and a leading agricultural expert ; a number are teachers in agricultural schools and colleges. The former editor of the "Jewish Farmer", a paper devoted to the interests of the farmers of the Jewish faith, and some of the members of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society were also graduates from the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School. For a number of years, the Baron de Hirsch Fund maintained a resident Rabbi, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, who conducted religious services every Saturday, gave religious instruction to the students during the week, and interested himself in the general welfare of the community. The importance of such comradeship has been far- reaching and invaluable. For the Jewish young men coming to the Agri- cultural School have, in accord with the moral and spiritual motives of the founders, become not merely good farmers, but good Jewish farmers, re- gardful in their daily lives, of the moral ideals of the Jewish sages. Within recent date, the School has been closed by the Trustees of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, who are contemplating an agricultural school in Peekskill, New York, a more suitable location for various reasons : the unfit- ness of Woodbine's soil for a diversity of crops from which the students could select, the mosquitoes which swarm when the men are working in the fields, the remoteness from any large market, particularly from New York, where the headquarters of the B. de H. F. are located. However wise the trustees have been in their decision to move the School to Peekskill, as the writer, for one, thinks they were, he cannot refrain from saying that the immediate moral effect of the closing of the School upon the community of Woodbine was anything but desirable. To be sure, the writer has not been unmindful of another agricultural school for Jewish young men, founded on more or less similar principles, and similarly supported with philanthropic means; namely, "The National Farm School" in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. But, since that school has no direct relation to Jewish Colonization, any account of it would take the writer afield. Wherefore, too, nothing need be said here concerning the many Jewish farmers, who are isolated and scattered over the country, beyond observing that, in certain regions of New York and Connecticut and of other states as well, the number of Jewish farmers is increasing rapidly; they may, in time, constitute settlements similar to those under consideration. But the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society deserves a fuller account, particularly of its helpfulness to the Jewish colonies in South Jersey The B. de H. F., as we have noted, had, for final end, the facilitating of the adjustment of the Jewish immigrants to their new en- THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 25 vironments; — a wide, inclusive field of service. To make its promotion of agriculture more efficient, it was deemed best to turn this phase of activity over to a distinct organization. And so, the Jewish Agricultural and In- dustrial Aid Society was inaugurated on February 19, 1900, for the purpose of taking full charge of the agricultural labors which were formerly under the supervision of the B. de H. F. It might interest the reader to note the objects of the new organization, as definitely and concisely told in its Articles of Incorporation: 1. "The encouragement and direction of agriculture among Jews, resi- dents of the United States, principally immigrants from Russia, Roumania and Galicia, the removal of such persons dwelling in the crowded sections of the cities to agricultural and industrial districts, and provision for their temporary support. 2. "The grant of loans to mechanics, artisans, and tradesmen, to en- able them to secure larger earnings and accumulate savings for the acquisi- tion of homes in suburban, agricultural, and industrial districts. 3. "The removal of industries now pursued in tenements or shops in crowded sections of the cities, by aiding manufacturers and contractors to transfer their shops and business to agricultural and industrial districts where their employees may continue to labor and acquire individual homes. 4. "The encouragement of cooperative creameries and factories and of storage houses for canning and preserving fruit and vegetables." From the Articles of Incorporation, it will be seen that it was the original purpose of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society not to limit its functions solely to agriculture. In the beginning, industrial and allied matters were dominant, but, in the course of time, they were more and more subordinated to the agricultural design. In 1901, another organ- ization was started as a branch of the Society, under the name of Industrial Removal Office, to which was assigned the removal of immigrants from the congested cities into sparsely settled industrial communities. Two years after its inception, the new society was placed under separate management under the direction of a special committee, and, in 1907, it severed entirely its relationship from the mother organization. Whereby the Jewish Agri- cultural and Industrial Aid Society was left free to look solely after the agricultural concern of the colonies, and it has since become a very power- ful influence in the development of Jewish agriculture in this country. Besides the main office in New York, the Society conducts an office in Philadelphia, which has charge of the loans made to farmers in the colonies of Alliance, Rosenhayn, Carmel, and in the adjacent territory. It supervises, also, the factories put up in the colonies by the Baron de Hirsch Fund, the Alliance Land Trust, and the Hebrew Emigrant Aid So- ciety. Largely, too, the Society renders financial assistance to individuals 26 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY who would be farmers. The financial assistance, perhaps for the purchase of the farm and the necessary equipment, is not a charity, but a loan at five per cent, interest. This Farm Loan Department of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society serves not the colonial settlements alone, but also Jewish farmers and would-be farmers in every state of the Union and in Canada. The Fed- eral Farm Loan Act, approved July 17, 1916, to assist farmers throughout the country, affects very little the work of the Society. While the national government, by that Act, furnishes loans to farmers to the extent of 50% of the value of the land which so constitute really a first mortgage on the holding, the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society will advance funds to the Jewish farmer on second and third mortgage, and on still closer margin, in case of emergency. The Society offers its loans on business principles, yet not without a philanthropic spirit. The agent delegated to collect the principal and interest due on the loans, far from being arbitrary, rather discreetly allows deferment of payment. Such a Society still meets many opportunities to serve the Jewish farmer. Furthermore, since a number of the applicants for loans, ignorant of the ways and methods of handling a farm, would, therefore, not knowing how to put the money to the best possible use, not only suffer financial loss, but also be so dis- couraged as to abandon the farm, the Society supervises loans not only for the purpose of safeguarding the investment, but also to give timely advice to the borrowers. Through its Farm Finding Bureau, the Society helps city people to locate farms, and to keep clear of fleecing agents and land sharks. The Bureau seeks to determine whether the farm best meets the need of the buyer — for, he, likely, would choose unwisely — to give him an intelligent con- ception of farm-life, of its distinctive requirements, its actualities which he may but vaguely have any true idea of — and thus, gradually, to build up a permanent, progressive Jewish farming class. The "green" notion of farm- ing as an ideal way of satisfying the craving for outdoor life, of leaving behind the hurly-burly of city life is one of the most difficult and at the same time one of the most important problems that the Society has to face, for the success or failure of a new farmer will depend in a large measure on the wise or unwise choice of the location of the farm and its environment. One of the greatest undertakings of the Society was the promotion of the educational and social morale and the Americanization of the Jewish youth of the colonies l>v the creation of the Bureau of Educational Activi- ties, and the appointment of a director who, since 1901, has been endeavor- ing to carry out these noble purposes, i- -till engaged in the work to a limited extent, and. with his wife and daughter, has introduced innovations, such THEIR FOUNDERS AND PROMOTERS. 27 as music, gardening and hygiene, highly beneficial to the colonists. This gentleman is Mr. Mounier, well-known for his liberalism and idealism. Four libraries were formed, and the boys and girls were encouraged and urged to read good literature. The need of a hall to be the center of the educational and social activities came almost immediately to the mind of the director. He suggested and then was allowed to make plans. The stipulation was that the colonists were to buy the site, at least one acre in size, in a suitable location, while the Society would do the rest. Two halls were erected: one in Rosenhayn, and the other in Carmel. He also planned, in 1902, to give musical instruction to the children, but the Society held at first that music was a luxury and so outside the scope of the Society's legitimate work. Later, it agreed to pay half the cost of the music lessons for those who were willing to take them. Gradually, as the colonists realized the value of a knowledge of music, all subsidies were withdrawn. For several years, he conducted evening schools in each colony; he delivered many lectures on topics of interest ; he arranged social gatherings for the boys and girls ; he would come from Vineland, his place of residence, over very rough roads, no matter how inclement the weather happened to be, to direct the libraries in the different colonies. He took full charge of the halls to see that they were properly cared for. He gave instruction in hygiene and agriculture ; and during the summer months he supervised the gardens that were cultivated by boys and girls of the colonies. The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society entered, in May 1908, upon the publication of the only agricultural paper in Yiddish in this country, "The Jewish Farmer." Monthly it brings to the Jewish farm- ers, who are unable to read English, expert advice in agriculture : articles tell how to prevent insects and worms from damaging the crops, how to spray the fruit trees, in what manner to rotate crops, etc. It maintains a "Question and Answer" column, to which the farmers resort for informa- tion. It brings them sympathy, and encouragement ; it keeps them in touch with their fellow-tillers of the soil. To interest the Jewish youth in the science of agriculture and to en- courage them to stay on the farm, the Society instituted, in 1908, the award, by competition, of free scholarships, which give the sons and daughters of Jewish farmers an opportunity to attend special short courses in certain agricultural colleges during the winter months, when, the farm-work being slack, the parents can easily spare them for twelve weeks. The Society has awarded on the average of fifteen scholarships a year. The boys and girls are greatly benefited by the courses they pursue, for, when they come home, they put their knowledge to practical use. The influence is felt not only in the improvement of the farms of the students themselves, but 28 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY also in the general improvement in farming conditions and farm practice in the communities in which they live. The results have fulfilled the expecta- tions and justified the expenditures of the Society. The Society also conducts field work among Jewish farmers : it sends agricultural extension specialists to the colonies as well as to other rural sections of the country. These specialists bring the Jewish farmers the latest agricultural knowledge; they visit the farms and give expert agricultural advice; they endeavor to organize farmers into groups for purposes of instruction in agriculture by means of lectures, for collective buying and selling whenever possible, and for the purpose of advancing social interests among them. The last phase of farm life is of the highest importance, for the presence of social life is a great determining factor in keeping the younger element on the farm. CHAPTER 3 THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 The material of this chapter the writer compiled from community studies he made in the colonies in 1919. The accuracy of it will appear from the circumstances that, well acquainted as he was with the colonists in whose locality he served for six years as Director of Cultural Activities, he obtained information which would by others have been unobtainable ; and that, being there himself in constant touch, he could probe his data over a year's space. We begin with the socially fundamental survey of the population (1919): TABLE 3 POPULATION, ALL COLONIES, 1919. Rosen- hayn Carmel Garton Road Norma Brot- manville Alliance Wood- bine Total No. Jewish families. . . 87 69 30 75 40 280 581 No. non-Jewish fam- ilies 78 20 24 45 21 70 258 Total No. Jewish People 388 321 140 375 185 1330 2739 No. under 5 years. . . . 36 38 16 55 25 156 326 No. from 6 to 10, inc. 52 57 15 52 20 170 366 No. from 11 to 14, inc. 39 49 15 45 15 112 275 No. from 15 to 16, inc. 21 19 8 15 11 64 138 No. 17 and over 250 158 86 208 114 798 1614 No. born in the U. S.. 190 177 66 195 118 638 1384 No. born abroad 198 144 74 180 67 692 1355 No. naturalized 146 92 51 131 46 512 978 No. declared intentions 13 11 3 6 4 48 85 No. aliens 39 41 20 43 17 132 292 No. settlers over 15 years 28 24 10 35 27 95 219 ' No. foster children. . . 3 35 2 2 3 45 29 30 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY While the non-Jewish population, the Italian element in particular, is increasing, the Jewish population is decreasing. And while the majority of the Italian young people remain at home and work hard, by the side of their parents, on the farm, most of the Jewish adolescents, caring not at all for farm-life, hankering after change, after new, different com- panions, lured by the city — go to the city at the first opportunity ; where- fore we find the average size of the Jewish family to range from 4.46 persons in Rosenhayn to 5 in Norma — a low average when the natural size of the families is considered. This vital fact as well as their lower standard of living will account in a measure for the great prosperity of a proportion of the Italians. Note (Table 3) the significant fact that very few of the first Jewish settlers have remained in any of the colonies. Either they have died, or they have moved to other farming areas, or, for the sake of better economic and cultural opportunities, to the cities. How many have, however, been in the colonies for fifteen years and over, may be seen in the same table. The "foster children" enumerated at the bottom of the table are orphans, placed by the Juvenile Aid Society of Philadelphia in homes in the colonies. A visitor, maintained by the Society, secures the best homes available, and then visits them as often as necessary, sees that they are well cared for by their foster parents, and at certain intervals escorts them to the city for a physical examination. The children attend the public and religious schools in their communities. It will be observed that 35 of these boys and girls are placed in Carmel, while only 3 are in Rosenhayn, 3 in Woodbine, two in each of the colonies of Garton Road and Alliance, and none in Norma. This is simply because more families are willing to take care of foster children in Carmel. Garton Road is entirely agricultural. With its 30 Jewish families it is a small colony, although the number of Jewish farms has more than doubled since 1901. The two colonies of Brotmanville and Alliance are combined, since it is difficult to say where one ends and the other begins. Then (a fact which will be returned to), all the children from Brotmanville attend the Alliance Public School. Indeed, both colonies combined, including farmers and non- farmers, have only 40 Jewish families. To compare the 1919 figures of Alliance and Brotmanville with those of 1901 (Table 1) is difficult, for the figures of eighteen years ago were compiled for Norma and Alli- ance jointly, and no doubt the compiler included in those figures the data for Brotmanville without even mentioning its name. In the writer's survey, the colony of Norma was studied separately, while, as noted, Alliance and Brotmanville were joined. THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 31 The largest of the colonies is Woodbine, whose Jewish population is almost as large as that of all the other colonies in toto, although, from 1901 to 1919, it diminished by about 900 persons. The relation of Woodbine's population to its essentially industrial character deserves further considera- tion. The Jewish population of the colonies has, then, grown very little, if at all, in almost two decades. Some of the settlements, on the contrary, may be said to have receded; for, while most communities in this country have increased their number considerably, by leaps and bounds even, the Jewish colonies have been practically at a standstill ; and in a dynamic world, a static condition is tantamount to recession. If the total population of the settlements did increase, it is due in a large measure to the influx of peoples of other nationalities, particularly of Italians and of Poles. Since, as Prof. Giddings has well said, the experience of getting a living has a greater influence upon the people than the teachings of uni- versities, pulpits, and schools, we may not, if we are clearly to understand the social conditions of the colonies, overlook their economic conditions. These may be illustrated by the status of three typical families — one, suc- cessful, one average, and one poor: Table IV follows on Page 32. 32 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY TABLE 4 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS— THE LEVEL. 1919 No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 Does the farmer own all of his farm? Yes Yes Yes Total no. of acres in the farm 55 30 20 No. of acres of improved land 48 25 16 Total value of the farm $7000 $3800 $2200 Value of all buildings on the farm $2000 $1300 $700 Value of implements and machinery $1100 $400 $200 Total amount of debt or encumbrance on farm . . $2000 $1800 $1500 Amount expended for feed for domestic animals and poultry $200 $100 $75 Amount expended for manure and fertilizer $1100 $700 $250 Amount expended in cash for farm labor $400 $200 $50 Estimated value of house or room rent and board furnished farm laborers in addition to cash wages reported above $175 $0 $0 No. of horses 2 1 1 Value of horses $375 $150 $100 Number of cows 5 2 1 Value of cows $550 $200 $95 No. of poultry 100 60 40 Does the farmer own a tractor? No No No Does he own an automobile? Yes No No Does he have a telephone? Yes Yes No Is water piped into his house? No No No Does the house have gas or electric light? Yes No No No No No No. of acres in hay and forage 7 5 3 Quantity harvested 12 Tons S Tons 1 Tons Quantity Sold \'i ni,' None None No. of acres in grains and seeds 10 6 3 Quantity harvested 350 bush. iso hush. 80 bush. ( Hiantitv sold None None None THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 TABLE 4— Continued 33 • No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. of acres in white potatoes 5 3 1 Quantity harvested 200 bush. 110 bush. 30 bush. Quantity sold 125 bush. 75 bush. 15 bush. No. of acres in sweet potatoes 6 4 2 Quantity harvested 275 bush. 170 bush. 75 bush. Quantity sold 250 bush. 130 bush. 65 bush. Value of all vegetables grown for home use only. $150 $100 $75 No. of acres of vegetables produced for sale 16 7 6 Quantity harvested: Green beans 240 bush. 100 bush. 40 bush. Green peas 160 bush. 55 bush. 65 bush. Tomatoes 1000 bush. 400 bush. 200 bush. Peppers 2000 bush. 800 bush. 350 bush. Total value of the four vegetables mentioned above $2900 $1300 $650 Value of all other vegetables $300 $200 $125 No. of apple trees 30 15 10 Quantity harvested 120 bush. 50 bush. 20 bush. Quantity sold 75 bush. 30 bush. None No. of peach trees 20 10 2 Quantity harvested 100 bush. 40 bush. 8 bush. Ouantity sold 50 bush. 10 bush. None No. of pear trees 6 4 Quantity harvested 15 bush. 10 bush. None Ouantitv sold None None None No. of cherry trees 6 3 1 Quantity harvested 25 crates 10 crates 2 crates Quantity sold 15 crates 5 crates None No. of acres in strawberries 7 4 2V 2 Quantity harvested 300 crates 125 crates 65 crates Value $1800 $800 $450 Total cash income from farm products $4575 $2400 $1185 Total farm expenditures $2075 $1125 $485 Net cash income $2500 $1275 $700 34 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY Under the heading "Number of acres of improved land" are included : all land regularly tilled, land in pastures that has been cleared or tilled, land lying fallow, land in gardens and orchards, and land occupied by buildings and barnyards. The total value of the farm is the amount for which the farm would sell. It includes all the buildings and improve- ments but not implements and machinery. The heading "Value of imple- ments and machinery" includes all the tools, wagons, carriages, harnesses ; all engines, automobiles and other machinery. These items are in accord- ance with the schedule of the United States Census of Agriculture. Tabic 5 follows on Page 35. THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 35 On T— I ON CO t— I CO < PQ W H W co* H H Q O u u o o u w CO o f~ CO IfJ CO lO CM rt TO tN c] CM T-H a a +3 O t^ 05 O -f r~ on CO i> CO o H CM CO i-H a a a a m 'ft'cj^'^ § -eg | & -g^43 o 3 O) O CM o CM as « S3 M43 > g H as a) cu fe £ ftftS ° g B-4343ft g to — 43 ft 10 CD *H '. S S s^cS 4h o (-< 's 43 aS o CO P- S fi 3 3 Co a, CD M 42 - -^ & to co « js a> tu fe ^ ft ft 5 03 0! CO t> CM o a Tt< -* o a S O S3 a ?1 M ■* - CM a CO a as 43 3 E • w CD 5 O CD ■"See B ft S > >43 M d Si O m oS OS g G 43 43 3 as s 1 ct) 3 ° S £ ol •C o^ o s °* •g-Jto-'S JclSf 00 w l> O O a a a t> a a "J feft o > o 3 - -r as CO e© CM as a CM as >- -a • »H C ^ S3 BO H ai CD OJ s £ ftft w |mS.S co' 1 - a co to >, T3 60 fi CP.S <* S O to Si ft 2 g S3 *J ■" iV aS O OS 43 ai o » K B "S 'C o-^ o S ft O O o c a Tt< a C co co lO r a o > o £ a 44 o 3 lO IC 3 "*" 43 43 § C OS a 0S43 O^; ojj; p, 2 as fe w to S aS id CD fe £ ftP-5 W m a? cd 3i o ,; j»ft2;s 4-< aS o K fi § "3 Pe ,_, M a t« -a •«^a S43-S-£ 1 ca CD (-, O +J '£ o-^ o s° « •^ to" -IS £ as ™

a! O 44 o 3 -f -M ■* CO a a CO «5 o CO 9S o as a CO as ™ os5 S H a) CD CD fe £ ft ft CO 3 MO ft C ft $ **-> ai o O fc° p- ■gto- m -t5 5 as i-. JJ aS . as 43 bo c 1 cd -t< cc (N 00 lO a a CO a a a B o 44 o 3 -f -r •* CM CO a -+ a m CM a 5 a 00 a! o 3 o 1 •-2 CO 1 ca s a • fe : o . 0) "p. .E 'o CD CD t-i CD B o 43 CD a S3 S3 o a o B ■d a) '3 ft CD A) U (D B E as S3 o CD ■ B : as ; c : s E c B S3 CD 2 B u as OS 43 to" - cd 42 B tfi 43 C O B cd o . 13 • BO aS a 43 3 .s CD r- ll 2 a 43 : j- 'ccj '^ > <" ft i -g £ a b a a cd a o bo +: as Sr ■b! c 6£ MO- >-- o £ ^ £ h ^ £ » < < < 2, z; < valued close to $4,000.00, it may be said that most of the Jewish fanners are economical- ly better situated than is the average workingman in the city, who may be earning a higher weekly wage, but who saves less in the year. The wealth of a farmer is measured not only by the amount of cash he keeps in the 'Til,- fewish Farmer, a periodical published monthly by the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society. THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 37 savings bank, but by the new farm machinery he purchases, by the addi- tional outhouses he constructs, and by the improvements he makes in his home. The tendency in the last few years has been to increase the size of the individual holdings. Most farmers own about thirty acres and some have more than twice that number. Since hired farm labor is very scarce (1919), and since many of the young boys and girls have gone to the city, it is practically impossible for a small family to work a large farm efficiently. The five thousand acres of Woodbine were, in the beginning, divided into fifteen acre plots. While, at first, each farmer was allowed to pur- chase fifteen acres only, there was reserved for him the adjacent plot of additional fifteen acres, which he may secure, on convincing the authori- ties that he is fully capable of handling it. Quite a number of farmers have already purchased the second plot of land. The farmers would raise more on the same amount of land, if they had a better knowledge of agriculture and more efficient tools. Only a few have realized the importance of labor-saving -machinery (if we may judge by the low figures given in Table 5, for the average value of farm implements). That the Jewish farmers generally may secure more modern tools and machinery, and learn to farm more scientifically is one of the hopes of those who have at heart their success. The average net income of the farmers in 1919 given in the above Table typifies the amount of cash left at the end of the year, after the deduction of all expenditures involved in the raising of the crops. It also excludes the value of all vegetables grown for home use. The amount quoted is at best a rough estimate, for the farmers mostly keep no ac- count of income and outgo ; nor, like others, do they readily divulge the amount of their earnings. However, it may safely be stated that their earnings today and their margin of profit, are higher than they were ever before, — their prospects, brighter. In Woodbine agriculture seemed to be almost hopeless till a little while ago, when some of the. younger men introduced scientific methods and a few began to specialize in dairying and poultry raising; then came better times. The returns increased, too, with the general rise in prices (prior to 1920), promoting which condition was the perfected state of the roads lead- ing to the seashore resorts not far from Woodbine. Farmers could take their crops by automobile truck direct to Sea Isle City, Ocean City, and Atlantic City, independently of the commission merchants. Woodbine has this great advantage over the other colonies : that all the streets and roads are lighted by electricity, while almost all the homes have not only electric light but sanitary plumbing. In the other colonies, the streets and roads are totally dark at night, and while the non- farmers 38 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY who reside in the interior of their settlement are fortunate to have their homes illumined by gas, the farmers, whose homes are situated in the outly- ing districts, resort to the antiquated use of oil lamps. So it is in Garton Road and Alliance ; since these colonies are sparsely settled, and are located at a distance from the more populous colonies, the gas company does not find it profitable to extend the gas mains to their homes. Although electric motors can be installed privately to supply the home with electricity for various uses, the installation involves so considerable an expense that the farmers with more immediate, needful improvements to make in their homes, are postponing that innovation. Two farmers have installed electric motors in their homes, primarily because they have con- verted their homes into boarding houses for the greater part of the year. It may well be said that the income from the boarders and not from the yield of the field has enabled these men to so improve their homes. "Pipeless Heaters" have been introduced in quite a few homes. The overwhelming majority of the homes, except in Woodbine, obtain their water either by hand-pump or well. Seldom anywhere is water supplied by motor power. Withal, the farmers in the South Jersey area lose heart sooner than farmers elsewhere because of the typically sandy, difficult soil. Without the constant application of manure and fertilizer, it yields comparatively little. No little expense, beyond the means of most, and more knowledge of agronomy than is common are indispensable to making the land more productive. Nor may be left out of account the discomfort caused by the far-famed South Jersey incursions of mosquitoes from environing swamps and marshes, swarming all the spring and summer. After laboring under difficulties for years, some farmers have neg- lected, if not entirely abandoned, their farming and have become boarding- house keepers. Their farms are utilized only to the extent of gardens to supply the vegetables needed for their clientele. Most of these men have succeeded financially better than they did at farming, and consequently they hesitate to return to general farming, even now that farmers are enjoying greater prosperity than ever before (1919). And it is quite impossible to apply oneself to bo.li occupations with equal energy, because the boarding and the farming seasons are more or less coincident: one must be neglected for the other. So long as this situation prevails, and so long as the Jewish public is not enthusiastic about farming but considers farm-life a drudgery and misfortune rather than an honorable and wholesome means to a livelihood, then it must be said that the outlook for Jewish farming is not very bright. Occasionally a rift in the cloud appears — a reassurring sign. Every once in a while, we meet in "The Jewish Farmer" with an account of successful THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 39 Jewish scientific farmers, who practise the furthest improved methods of agriculture. In the issue for January, 1920, we read of one who, by his own labor during the slack months, made his eight-room boarding house over into a poultry house — the cost of new material being too high. His interest in the raising of chickens had been aroused during a short course at an agricultural college. Writing enthusiastically of his own progress, he suggests that others should follow his footsteps. It may well be that his enterprise will point the way to numerous others. Many of the pioneers of the colonies have abandoned their farms and returned to the cities. While some have succeeded, others of them have failed even under the more favorable conditions of urban life. They all recall vividly still the adversities they wrestled with in the beginning, when they had to bring woodland and brush and bush under a fair state of cultivation. The pioneers who have remained and continued farming — despite the many vicissitudes and hardships which have left their indelible mark — are living denials to the wonted charge that the Jew is not fit for farming. Their noble example should serve to inspire those many thousands of Jews now huddling in the ghettoes of the cities, eking out their scanty liveli- hood as sweat shop operators or peddlers — with a right sound attitude towards farming, and the impulse to follow in their wake. TABLE 6 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION Rosen- hayn Carmel Garton Road Norma Brot- manville Alliance Wood- bine Total Is there a R. R. station? Yes No' Yes Yes No Yes What R. R. crosses colony? . . C.R.R. N.J. C.R.R. N.J. C.R.R. N.J. W. J. & Seashore R.R. Is there a trolley?. . . No No No No No No No. of Jewish fam- ilies who have tel- ephones 17 6 14 10 4 40 91 Is there a Postoffice? Yes No No Yes No Yes Is there an R. F. D. Route? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No. of Jewish fam- ilies owning auto- mobiles 9 4 8 7 8 42 78 40 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY In this Table (6) are analysed the transportation and communication facilities in the colonies. The railroad does not pass Brotmanville and Alliance; their nearest station is at Norma, about three miles distant. Nor does it cross Carmel, but a trolley line traverses what is known as the Millville Pike, about a mile and a half away, extending into Bridgeton on one side, and Millville on the other, the two cities about twelve miles apart. In the summer of 1919 for the first time an automobile bus was operated hourly on the State Road between Vineland and Bridgeton, about fourteen miles apart — a great convenience to the dwellers and to their friends who visited them from the city. In the winter, however, the Road becomes so rough and broken as to be almost impassable ; not until it will be improved, can bus service be maintained during the winter. Not only the State Road, but every side road, needs repair. The past winter (1919), most of the highways of South Jersey were quagmires. Difficulty in transportation, hindering the speedy marketing of goods and affecting the schools and the social life, must react fundamentally on the farmer's well-being. To be sure, the telephone and automobile made social intercourse far easier than they had been. Only Rosenhayn, Woodbine, and Norma have post-offices (1919). Until about two years ago, there was one in Carmel and one in Alliance. But with the remarkable development of the Rural Free Delivery Route, they were accorded its much preferred service. However, the farmers of the first three colonies who live only a short distance from their post- offices may, also have their mail delivered by the R. F. D. Certainly, among the recent social and economic improvements, the R. F. D. is not the least. It brings the colonist into closer touch with the outside world; it delivers to his door the daily paper, the farm journals, and the parcels and packages from the mail order houses. It is an invaluable boon to those who live a distance from the nearest town. TABLE 7 STORES Rosen- hayn Carmel Garton Road Norma Brot- manville Alliance Wood- bine Total No. of stores for gen- eral merchandise. . 2 2 1 1 3 9 No. of groceries 8 3 2 1 6 20 No. of butcher shops. 3 1 1 1 3 9 THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 41 There are entirely too many grocery stores in the colony of Rosenhayn. Two such stores, instead of eight, are ample to supply the entire com- munity. Since each grocer finds it financially impossible to carry a large stock of goods of superior quality, those colonists who prefer better goods purchase their supplies in the neighboring cities, instead of at their local stores. In addition to the stores listed in Table 7, there are others that may be mentioned. In Rosenhayn, there are three small stores which sell candy and cigars ; one is with a barber shop, another in a private dwelling, the third contains a pool-table. The post-office functions also as a general store, and one grocery store sells toilet articles and some patent medicines. Most of the grocery stores have candy and cigars. In Woodbine, there are two hardware stores, a fruit store, three candy and cigar stores, and two pool- rooms. TABLE 8 INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES Rosen- Carmel hayn Garton Road Norma Brot- manville Alliance Wood- bine Total No. of factories in colony 4 3 3 3 8 21 No. of factories active 2 1 2 1 6 12 Nature of factories Clothing Bricks Clothing Clothing Clothing Clothing Hats Rubber Machine Apparatus No. employed 41 25 53 25 236 380 No of dependent poor in colony. . . Many of the settlers who devoted their energy to the cultivation of the soil are now independent farmers, and have no need to labor in the fac- tories. Those who are employed in the factories to-day are, in the main, 42 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY not farmers at all. Some live in the colonies because their physical condi- tion requires it; others because the cost of living is lower there than it is in the city, and still others because they prefer rural to urban life. Certain of the factories, it will be noted, are not in use. In Rosenhayn, one of the factories has been closed for a number of years; another has reopened several times, but, after a few months' operation, closed again. Only a few months ago while it was active, the manufacturer one day de- cided to move his plant to Vineland, and so once more was the building shut. But two clothing factories are open now (1919), one employing thirty-five and the other only six people. The majority of the employees in the former plant are gentiles. Also active in Rosenhayn is a brickyard, established some time ago. After its due ups and downs, it is growing con- stantly. Of its about twenty-five employees a mere few are Jews. Carmel's industry suffered greatly when the factory owned by Mr. Henry Dix was suddenly about two years ago shut down. How valuable an element in the community it has been for the several years of its main- tenance may be seen from the circumstance that a splendid manager was in charge of the plant, and the employees were treated with great considera- tion. A large factory building, erected right in the heart of the settle- ment, has been idle for many years. Twenty-five people are now engaged in the making of housedresses in a factory operated by a Mr. Aaron. As for Norma, there are three factory buildings of which two are in use. One, manufacturing vests, employs eight people ; the other, making cloaks and suits, employs forty-five. Here, too, the situation was unstable for a long time, the larger estab- lishment opening and closing at frequent intervals. The two factories might continue in operation, if sufficient help could be secured and kept. This labor situation arises from the fact that work is more secure and wages are higher even in the small city, such as Vineland and Bridgeton, than they are in the settlements. Many of the colonists, therefore, prefer to travel each day to work in the neighboring urban centers. Garton Road and Alliance, being solely agricultural, have no factories. Brotmanville, however, has three factories but only one in operation, manu- facturing clothing and employing twenty-five people. In Woodbine, the situation is radically different ; it has been reiterated that Woodbine is industrial instead of agricultural. There are eight factory buildings, six of which are in operation. One is a clothing establishment, THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 43 employing about 150 people; another, a hat factory in which fifty people are employed; a third, a tailor shop with a staff of twenty employees; a fourth, a machine shop employing ten ; the other two buildings are operated by a rubber concern, employing six. Negotiations are going on with re- gard to another building as a hat factory. The buildings are brick struc- tures, quite well equipped and in good condition. In addition to these industries, Woodbine has two painters and paper- hangers, two barber shops, three shoemakers, one blacksmith, and two garages. In Rosenhayn, there are two plumbers, two junk dealers, two shoemakers, a carpenter, a bakery, and two blacksmith shops. In Carmel, there is one blacksmith shop, and in two homes cigars are manufactured. Norma has a bakery, a shoemaker, a blacksmith shop, a junk dealer, a chauffeur and truck driver. Certain persons in each colony earn their live- lihood by trading in cattle. While a number of families in each settlement open their homes for summer boarding, two families in Rosenhayn, one in Garton Road, two in Norma, one in Brotmanville, and one in Woodbine conduct boarding- houses or hotels for the greater part of the year. While it is true that there are no rich Jews in the colonies, it is also true that there are no Jews who might be considered impecunious to the extent of requiring charity. Each family is economically independent; if, however, an occasion should arise when temporary help is needed to tide over a bad season, the neighbors are quite willing to assist those in need. The kind of poor that we see on the East side of New York City is unknown in the colonies. If there is a widow in the community unable to earn a livelihood, her neighbors organized in a Ladies' Aid Society come to her assistance, providing her with the immediate necessities, and helping her to find suitable employment. 44 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY W ►J pq < O •— i H o o g pq t73 ^ d rt 3 4J cS CO • S u o CO CO CC cc ) 4- ,E _b rd ® .6 co gj O 1 »s" « •z C 2 ) CO O CO -^ > ,TJ Q, to CO x) cfi a 3 O 4- d i—l 1—1 - • b > o o c 4-J 00 2 O ^3 o (/ a 4- CO co ,c s CM CN iC tr. i- • & ) .c (H 03 o c 2 S5 s > ° o 2 4J « CO d 4- CO 03 ,d d CO CM l-H cc ■~ ^ b ' a CO c CT3 O 2 CO r d >, 3? J?? • CO CO u cd d ■ co ■ co 'o o CJ 03 "o O ,d o o CJ CO 4-^ d CO CO "a : 6 • o • o • 4- ^ i CO co V WJ 'o r= CT! l-H >, _C c i 3 O ,d "3 ■ b, CO ct3 d 13 d a to w e P O P o — <+h*C .£ u 8 o ■ CJ ' CO • c/ E CO s CO £ c O £ Z £ 2 £ 2 £ K I w THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 45 CD '■+J o U Id (N ^ N \M tH 00 o O r-K CN H i— i CN N " 0) u _ P-T3 r^ 1". CD p o o in V !h o o p o > m-i p 13. 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P •r d c 1 — > - dS.E 2 CO > '5) u CO u ■S-l 3 '~ ^3 a. o3^ <+H a 2 ■> oj CO d •a O d cfl co I-H CO ,d CO CO "> rH CO CO C/D O '5b rH J; M E gc v., C CO > P-.cz; rS.E ) THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 51 To begin with, it should be stated that the communities were consti- tuted of orthodox Jews. Not that the pioneers were complete observers of the minutiae of the ritual, but they were of the orthodox (East Euro- pean) side of Jewry as distinguished from the German occidentalized side known as Reform Judaism. Some of the older generation and certainly many of the second generation are, even, quite indifferent to the rites and doctrines of traditional Judaism. But no colony is without a synagogue. Three of the communities have each two places of worship, built in two instances for the convenience of even the outlying settlers and, in the third, to satisfy the ritual differences of the worshipers. The synagogues are open on the Sabbath and on holidays. Most of the time the attendance is not large, but on the Holy Days, known as Rosh Hashanah or New Year, and Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, most of the Jews do attend. The attendance on Sabbaths and holidays would be much greater, if the services were managed more esthetically and in- spiringly. The faults are not peculiar to the colonies alone, but reflect rather the state of things in most orthodox synagogues. The young people come seldom to the synagogue ; when they do, it is not of their own free will, but rather, either in obedience to a strict command on the part of a pious parent, or because the young man has to recite the mourner's benediction for the loss of father or mother. Surely many of the youths would go spontaneously if they could look forward to an inspiring sermon, based on the Sabbath Portion of the Torah, or dealing with any ethical, moral, or religious values. The Synagogue has three prin- cipal functions : spiritual, educational, and social, none of which is proper- ly fulfilled at the present time. The colonists have a splendid opportunity to perform these duties in the genuine spirit of Judaism. There are no ordained Rabbis in the colonies. The functions of the Rabbi are performed by a Shochet, whose profession is to slaughter fowl and animals of the bovine genus according to the orthodox ritual. He is usually a man well versed in Talmudic Law, and in the absence of a full- fledged Rabbi, he is consulted on all ritualistic questions. He also con- ducts religious services, reads aloud the Torah from the parchment scroll on the Sabbath and holidays, officiates at marriage ceremonies, and usually performs the rite of circumcision. Two kinds of religious instruction are available to the young people in these communities : that of the Melamed, or Hebrew instructor, and that of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. The Melamed, whose income is so small that very often he has to perform other functions to earn a simple livelihood, aims to teach the child to read the prayer book in Hebrew, and to read and write Yiddish. The religious instruction of the Chautauqua is imparted in accord with the latest pedagogical methods. The lessons are taught in the English 52 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY language, the training is more permanent, and the teaching extends to the adults and parents. The great majority of the children are enrolled in the classes and the percentage of attendance is very high. The younger ones are taught the moral and religious principles found in the Bible. The true significance of the Sabbath and holidays is explained and their observ- ance made desirable. The importance of character-building permeates the entire curriculum. Courses in Post-Biblical History, Jewish literature and Jewish problems are given for the older boys and girls and those parents who would know. Although the trustees of the organization are Reform Jews, they are broad-minded men and women who can tolerate and even value the habits and customs of the orthodox, so long as they lead to right living. The only purpose they lay down for the resident director is to teach Judaism. Woodbine, alone of the colonies, is outside the scope of this work, because it is so far from the other settlements. To maintain a separate resident director in Woodbine would be ideal, but perhaps beyond the financial means of the organization. We have noted that, prior to the closing of the Agricultural School of Woodbine, the Baron de Hirsch Fund maintained a Rabbi whose functions were in some respects similar to those of the director of the other colonies. Certainly, it ought not to be forgotten that Woodbine still has a population of about thirteen hundred Jewish souls who require authoritative guidance and religious instruction. They have a non-ordained Rabbi, but his methods of teaching and personality appeal more to the older men and women than to the younger boys and girls. Since it is these that are falling away from Judaism, their minds and hearts must, particularly, be taken into account by any vital program. In a broad sense, all the phenomena surveyed so far in this chapter are phenomena of social life. The next table analyzing the "social life of the colonies", understood in the narrow sense, takes account of the community halls, clubs, playgrounds, and the social intercourse between the city and country. THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 53 TABLE 11 SOCIAL LIFE OF THE COLONIES Rosen- hayn Carmel Garton Road Norma Brot- manville Alliance Wood- bine Total Is there a Com- munity Hall? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No. of organizations in colony 8 5 2 7 2 10 34 No. of organizations which meet in Community Hall. 4 3 2 3 1 6 19 No. of organizations which meet out- side of Commu- nity Hall 4 2 4 1 4 15 Is there a Public Playground? School Play- ground Used School Play- ground Used School Play- ground Used School Play- ground Used School Play- ground Used Yes Both Rosenhayn and Carmel have a hall built, it will be recalled from Chapter 2, by the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society for the social and educational welfare of these communities. Franklin Hall, in Ro- senhayn, is situated in the center of the village, opposite the post-office and at a stone's throw from the school building. It contains a dance hall, a library, a room used for Hebrew instruction, and a rest room. A number of clubs meet in the building. The Hall is open almost every afternoon and evening: in the afternoon, for Hebrew and religious instruction, and, in the evening, for club meetings, community assemblies, weddings, parties, and dancing. The Boy Scouts meet on Saturday evening to discuss activities, and to receive training in community service. The Civic Guards, a club of young men and women, organized for the purpose of looking after the welfare of the hall and the community, meet on Wednesday evenings. On Monday evening, the "Seeds of Zion", a group of small boys and girls that attend 54 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY the religious classes of the Jewish Chautauqua Society meet, principally, for companionship. Incidentally, stories of Jewish life are read to the members by the leader of the club. Essays on Jewish and general topics are written by some of the members, and civic talks are given at almost . every meeting. On some of the other evenings of the week, the young folks get together for the purpose of dancing. The Civic Guards responsible for the conduct of these affairs have orders to keep out any one who has shown himself undesirable before. In the same hall meets monthly the rather new "Tomato Growers' Association" for the purpose of co-operating in the sale of the tomato crop. This organization may in time develop into a wider association having for its main object the cooperation in the sale of all farm products. Besides these, there are some other organizations which do not hold their meetings in the Hall. The members of the Knights of Pythias have their own clubroom. An Independent Lodge, composed of many of the parents of Rosenhayn and Garton Road, meets on the upper floor of a private house and the women of the community, organized as a "Ladies' Aid Society", hold their meetings in a private home. If all the organiza- tions of Rosenhayn would participate in the maintenance of the Hall, it could be kept up at a high standard of efficiency, and become a real com- munity center, where all societies would meet for individual as well as mutual benefit. The same holds true of the other colonies. Columbia Hall, in Carmel, resembles Franklin Hall in scope, harboring almost all the same kinds of activity. The Home Rule Social Club and The Young Stars of Judah here, are of the same sort as the Civic Guards and The Seeds of Zion there. There are a lodge, a Ladies' Aid Society, and a farmers' association organized and working like their analogues in Rosen- hayn. No other community halls did the Jewish A. and I. Aid Society put up in the colonies. The people of Garton Road, with the assistance of a few outside sympathizers, built their own hall, known as Washington Hall. Because a number of the young men and women of this colony have gone to the city, the Hall has not been maintained at a high degree of efficiency. If the young people who remain would develop a genuine community feeling, it would be a comparatively simple matter to take care of the Hall, in such a way that, in a short time, it would be a pride to the people of their own as well as of surrounding communities. Garton Road farmers belong to a "Tomato Growers' Association", and to a society organized under the Federal Farm Loan Act. Both are organ- izations aiming to improve the economic conditions of their constituents, which, when perfected, will undoubtedly react favorably upon the social welfare of the whole community. A social and literary society of the young men and women, known as the "Young Maccabees of Garton Road", THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 55 has existed for a number of years. The young children have recently or- ganized a little club called "The Young Associates", which meets on Thurs- day afternoons, in connection with the religious and educational activities of the Jewish Chautauqua Society. When the need for a community gathering place was greatly felt in Norma, some of the young men, constituting the "Norma Athletic Asso- ciation," undertook to build a hall. A building much larger than those of Rosenhayn and Carmel was erected. The members of the Association are still striving to discharge the debt incurred in the building. There is, besides, the Fels cottage, now devoted principally to the religious and civic education of the young. It is used also as a library and a meeting room for various organizations. The Boy Scouts of Norma meet there on Saturday evenings ; the "Young Children of Israel", a club that has grown out of the religious classes conducted by the Jewish Chau- tauqua Society, meets on Wednesday afternoon to study community civics; the "Mary Antin Circle," a social and literary society composed of young men and women interested in Jewish and civic problems, meets on alternate Wednesday evenings, and the "Pittsgrove Township Tomato Growers' Asso- ciation" meets on alternate Thursday evenings to discuss general agricultural questions, besides for the purpose of cooperating in the marketing of tomatoes. Woodbine became incorporated as a borough in Cape May County in April, 1903, and accordingly, a mayor and council were chosen to look after its administration, and a board of education to attend to its educa- tional welfare. A borough hall was erected for a meeting place of the Council Chamber and Board of Education. To-day, the hall is used also for all public assemblies and meetings of a benevolent character. The lower floor of the building contains a fire department. Some of the young men of Woodbine act as volunteers in that department, and are doing ex- cellent service for the safety of the community. There are two other halls in Woodbine ; one known as Lyric Hall, which offers motion pictures to the public, and the other known as Liberty Hall, where many concerts and entertainments are held. Among the organizations that are found in Woodbine to-day are the following: a branch of the Federation of Jewish Farmers, a credit union under the Federal Farm Loan Act, Building and Loan Association ; branches of the Independent Order of Brith Abraham, the Maccabeans, and the Arbeiter Ring ; a Zionist organization, a Parents-teachers' Association, a Ladies' Aid Society, a sewing circle, a boy scout troop, and a rifle club. The organizations vary a good deal in their aims and purposes ; some are economic, some are educa.ional, others are charitable, and still others are social in their nature. 56 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY The school playgrounds are open not only to the school children, but also to all athletic clubs for their games and contests. They are open to use without cost; the only limitation imposed upon the clubs is to main- tain peace and order. Baseball is the leading outdoor and basket ball the chief indoor sport in the colonies. Other popular forms of recreation are dancing, parties, and picnics. Several noteworthy meetings are held in the colonies, some of a recrea- tional and others of an educational nature, but all of which aim to develop social intercourse. In the first place, an outdoor athletic contest is held during the first part of May, on the large playground facing the Rosen- hayn School. The pupils of all the schools of Deerfield Township, which includes the settlements of Carmel, Garton Road, and Rosenhayn, together with their teachers, County Superintendent of Schools, Boards of Educa- tion, parents and friends meet in a way that cannot but prove beneficial to all concerned. During the same month, the Woodbine School participates in the annual County athletic meet which is held at Cape May Court House. Entertainments and concerts are given in the colonies on the occasion of Jewish holidays by the boys and girls who attend the religious schools of the Jewish Chautauqua Society, and on national holidays, by the Boy Scout Troops. The most enthusiastic meeting of the year is the annual inter-colonial meeting, held in Norma the latter part of May, under the auspices of the afore-mentioned Society. More will be said of the im- portance of this meeting in the following chapter. Our account would, forsooth, not be complete without mention of that popular, if undesirable, form of recreation — the informal meeting at the post-office. Boys there are and even adults who like to hang around the place with no other object in view than to waste their time in gossip and idle talk. They belong to that careless, indifferent, and ambitionless group that have no desire for better things, and whom no amount of persuasion will influence to abandon this form of amusement. Certainly the moral, religious, and civic instruction given by the director of the Jewish Chau- tauqua Society, together with the various literary and social clubs under his supervision, has been influential in a large measure in checking the evil consequences that frequently result from such pastimes. But pres- ent conditions are still far from ideal. The community halls must be made more inviting, and the clubs and organizations more interesting, in order to attract the element that still finds amusement in devious paths. The community centers are the best agencies for bridging the gap that exists in many cases between the parents and the children. Too often we find a lack of understanding between the young and the old elements of the population, which sometimes leads to ill-feeling and intolerance. Nothing could bring the two elements together more than public meetings THE STATUS OF THE COLONIES IN 1919 57 and entertainments, held in the various halls of the colonies. These oc- casions provide perfect opportunity for better mutual understanding be- tween the parents and their children ; to impress the former with the value of modern ideas and ideals and the importance of adaptation and adjust- ment to modern conditions of life; and to inculcate in the minds and hearts of the latter an appreciation of the old traditions, habits and customs, to the end that a more harmonious relationship may be consummated between the old and the new generation. Another purpose that these community centers serve is to produce a friendlier feeling between the Jew and non-Jew. While among the gentile neighbors, of native, Italian, and other stock, no open hostility appears, there still are forces of prejudice which knowledge and enlightenment lead- ing to a better understanding of their mutual habits and customs might subdue. Not only must there be closer relationship among the inhabitants of the colonies, but there must also be wider social intercourse between the people of the country with those of the city. This will bring about a better mutual understanding and sympathy between them that will be productive of a great deal of good for both groups. Hitherto, the Jewish settlements suffered from economic want. When people work hard and are unable to make ends meet, it is of little com- fort to them to speak of social betterment of the community. The social instinct may be latent, it may become atrophied through lack of stimula- tion, but it exists in every individual. Economic independence leads to social activity. When a person's fundamental desire for food, clothing, and shelter is satisfied, his mind is then regardful of social intercourse. Now that economic conditions have improved, and every farmer is self-sustaining, it may be expected that the dormant social instinct will awaken from its lethargic state, and arouse the people to its full sense of a community spirit, of voluntary association, organization, and cooperation. The signs of such an awakening are beginning to be visible. It is the duty of every individual pervaded with that spirit to stimulate those who are more inert in their tendencies. CHAPTER 4 POTENTIALITIES It is difficult to expect men and women to work on a farm at low wages, to put up with primitive conditions, with little if any social inter- course, with comparatively little opportunity for intellectual development, at a time when superior alternatives are offered to them in the city. No matter what the trade or industry, however skilled or unskilled, wages are higher. If expenses, too, are higher in the city,— people are willing to spend more, if they earn more. Modern improvements are found in a large number of urban homes and compulsory legislation is making this condition almost universal in the city. Besides, the social and intellectual life there are far more attractive than they are in the country. These factors play a very important part in the consideration of the question : "What accounts for the large exodus from the country to the city?" Inducements on the ground of patriotism to pro- vide food for the country at large, allurements of the sanative open air of the country, attractions of communion with the beauties of nature, incentives of lower expenditure are not strong enough to counteract the physical dis- comforts and social and educational shortcomings of country life. To stem the outgoing tide from the country to the city of some of the best elements other stimuli are necessary : economic, social, and educational. It is startling, when one studies the situation, to watch the alarming pro- portions this rural exodus is assuming. According to the federal census figures for 1880, 70.5% of the population of the United States dwelt in the country, while in 1910 only 53.7% ; and although at this moment the re- port of the federal census for 1920 is still unpublished, 1 it may safely be assumed that the percentage of rural dwellers will be still less than it was ten years ago. And as for the proportion between Jewish country and city dwellers, the divergence is still more marked. No amount of effort should be spared, no expenditure of money should be stinted, greater attention than hitherto should be devoted to the needs of the farmers; a survey should be made of every rural district to discover what appropriate stimuli, what improvement in conditions in the particular locality will increase the attractiveness of agricultural life for the farmers Advanced figures published in the press tend to indicate that the percentage of rural dwellers in 1920 would range somewhere between 49 and 50 per cent. 58 POTENTIALITIES 59 of today. And, too, ample effort ought to be exerted to influence even people accustomed to a sedentary life to go and be tillers of the soil. The problem of the Jewish farmer is but a part of the larger problem embracing farming in general throughout the country. But the Jews, owing to the fact that they were debarred from owning and cultivating land for many centuries, have developed the sedentary habit of life to a larger degree than perhaps any other group on the face of the globe. That it is merely an acquired characteristic and not inherent can be verified by historic record that the Jewish people were devoted to agricultural pursuits at the time they lived in Palestine. 1 But when they were expelled from their native country and driven out on a long and weary exile, they ceased from agri- culture, because, in the first place, being unwelcome strangers in the lands of their adoption, their sojourn was temporary and uncertain, and because, in the second place, the laws of many countries that harbored Jews pro- hibited them from owning land. 2 This long exclusion from participation in the cultivation of the soil at last weaned them from their one-time love of agriculture. Although a minute study of Jewish history will discover Jewish farm- ers in different lands at various times, even while the laws prohibited their purchasing land and farming it, and although seven Jewish colonies were established in 1806 in Southern Russia and sporadic colonization continued there until the infamous May Laws of 1882, yet it is largely true that Jewish farming as an organized Jewish movement dates back to a little over one generation. Today, when we see thousands of non-Jewish farmers deserting the farms upon which they were born and raised to go to the city, it is not to be wondered at that many of the Jews who decided to pursue agriculture about a generation ago, under artificial stimuli, abandon their farms. Under favorable conditions and with the desired stimuli, the Jews might have flourished in agriculture as they did in other branches of industry and commerce. And despite the failures of the past, when the Jew of today receives the proper encouragement and guidance, he promises as well to succeed at farming. 3 Agriculture must be regarded as a profession, not as a make-shift for those who have failed in every other pursuit. Scientific farming is the slogan of today, and unless the Jewish farmer can be made to understand the importance of it, his chances for success are not very bright. Here the Jewish A. and I. Aid Society and kindred organizations have 1 History of the Jewish Nation, Rev. Alfred Edersheim, p. 259, et seq. 2 History of the Jews, H. Graetz, Vol. Ill, 107-8, 242, 592; Vol. IV, 260, 566-7, 688. 3 Reports of the Agricultural School of Woodbine and the National Farm School. 60 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY a solid base for their operation, and on it they must concentrate their energies. It is a reasonable certainty that when young men are sent to properly located agricultural schools, and given training in the science of agriculture, and then, upon graduation, are assisted in the finding of satis- factory farms, they will not abandon their holdings as readily as those who do not secure such training and assistance. 1 Propaganda should be made among the Jewish youths in the ghettoes as well as among those who dwell in the country, to discourage them from entering those trades and pro- fessions that are already overcrowded, and no longer hold out the induce- ments of former times, and to encourage them to enter the field of scientific agriculture. In the past, when farming was unprofitable, it would have been like a voice crying in the wilderness, but to-day, when Jewish farmers in general are doing quite well, and some of them are even improving their homes and saving money besides, an appeal to the Jewish youth to become scientific farmers might not fall on deaf ears. If the appeal will not be heeded by the young of the city, it may reach the younger Jews on the farm who, because they see the apparent drudgery of farm life and no very bright prospects, have little if any inclination to remain on the farms. Regard for agriculture as a profession and elimination of the wide prejudice that farm- ing is inferior to other pursuits, stimulation of progressive ideals among farmers, creation of a community spirit among them, initiation of the social and educational forces which the Jew welcomes — this program will go a great way toward encouraging the children of the Jewish farmers and others as well, to pursue agriculture as a life-vocation. Various proposals have already been made by various individuals and agencies with a view to improve the rural conditions in general. No doubt they all spring from a spirit of sincerity and a willingness to be of service. Among them, it may not be out of place to mention a resolution adopted by the National Country Life Association at its first conference held at Baltimore, January 6th and 7th, 1919. The resolution called for a com- mittee to be appointed by the Association to draft a tentative program of the most immediate needs in the line of rural reform in America, and to call a conference with the representatives of the leading agencies that are interested in rural social work on a national scale, "for the purpose of co- ordinating the reconstruction program of these various agencies in order that duplication and waste effort may be prevented." The conference met and made a good beginning, formulating the more important social needs of rural communities, and the principles and methods of organization suited for meeting them. Particular stress was laid upon the fact that, for the purpose of carrying on effective rural social work, 'Reports of Woodbine Agricultural School and National Farm School. POTENTIALITIES 61 the local community should be considered the functional unit instead of the district or county, which may be a unit for executive or administrative purposes. In the annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science for March, 1919, Prof. Simon N. Patten lays down some farm maxims which he considers essential in the development of a program of rural social reconstruction. A few of those maxims are: "The increase of production comes not from an enlarged acreage but from a better use of good land. "Gross production is limited when the price of land rises above one hundred dollars an acre. "The farming unit should not be less than that needed to employ two men at full time. "The dearer stock and tools are in the end the cheaper. "Farm prices should not be a gamble but a certainty. Stable prices are better than alternating high and low prices. "Experiments of national import shall be made in the preservation of food products from season, and when successful shall be operated on a sufficient scale to stabilize food prices. "Elevators, stock yards, and other means of marketing products shall be made common property, subject only to such fees as are needed for their maintenance. "Farm tools and improvements shall be exempted from taxation, except for schools and roads. Nor shall dairy farming be taxed for more than 60% of their value." Although Prof. Patten characterizes the above statements as maxims, the writer has not inserted them as axiomatic, but rather to stimulate thought on the part of Jews and non-Jews who have the progress of the farming communities at heart. It seems to him, however, that the actualization of these ideas calls for greater coordination of effort among the Jews at large, and for a full realization of the conditions. To begin with, there is a lack of initiative on the part of many of the people in the colonies. Very seldom do they become interested of them- selves in a forward-looking movement. Most of them are indifferent toward new and loftier ideas. They seem to fall into a groove from which they find it difficult to rise. The people in the colonies still have to learn how to work together. The organizations that exist for one purpose or another should federate for the purpose of planning and working out some improvements for the community. They must assimilate the true and genuine spirit of cooperation. To be sure, most of them are good neighbors. Yet they do not interest themselves sufficiently in the essential requirements of the community. The 62 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY side roads are deteriorating for lack of repair; trees on each side of the main streets of the colonies are conspicuous by their absence; houses are shabby looking for want of a coat of paint; the community buildings are not properly taken care of; and, with the exception of Woodbine, no lights of any kind illuminate the roads and the streets at night, giving the colonies a dreary aspect. Little do they know how many backward pupils there are in the community, how many children do not go to school, what progress the schools are making as compared with other schools, and yet it must be clear to every one who thinks about the matter that hope for progress in the Jewish settlements lies in the social development of each community as a vital phase of the agricultural life. People who lived in the colonies some twenty years ago claim, upon visiting them, that little if any improvement has been made during the interval. The assertion is true in so far as the community idea, public spirit, and cooperation are concerned. But it is unfounded to an extent from other points of view. Modern improvements, such as sanitary plumbing, steam heat, gas and electric lights have found their way into a few homes. Other families follow suit as soon as economic conditions allow. Telephones and automobiles, as the survey in the preceding chapter has shown, are in- creasingly, radically serving to consummate communal adjacency, no matter how far out the farm. The assertion is unfounded also from the standpoint of education. There, too, progress has been made. Where twenty years ago and even more recently it was the unusually bright and ambitious boy and girl that would attend High School, to-day the majority of the grammar school grad- uates from the colonies enroll in the commercial, general, or classical courses of the Bridgeton or Woodbine High Schools, and a few of them, upon graduation, continue their education in higher institutions of learning. Furthermore, some twenty years ago, the only Jewish education avail- able was the old-fashioned Cheder kind, disallowed by modern pedagogy. For the school was usually conducted by an old man, learned, but unversed in or disregardful of the psychology of youth. Nor did he heed Rabbi Akiba's principle that "the teacher should strive to make the lesson agree- able by clear reason." The pupils, unsympathetic, were hardly attentive and often delighted in tormenting him. The course of study consisted of learn- ing to read the Hebrew prayer book in a mechanical way, without an understanding of the meaning of the words, and certainly without appreciat- ing the spirit of the prayers. For the method of learning was similar to that among other oriental people. The brighter ones would learn to trans- late a few chapters of the Pentateuch without having the least conception of the ethical and moral significance of the Holy Book. And when the boy would reach the age of thirteen, his Jewish education would cease; the POTENTIALITIES 63 girl's ended at an even earlier age, for education was considered less needful for her. Withal they were happy to abandon their Jewish education at the earliest opportunity. Judaism appeared to them merely ceremonies and strange customs. They were not shown that these are only means and symbols; that their focal meaning is Micah's truth: "It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee: only to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." The old Cheder, somewhat improved, is still found. Beside it, in all the colonies except Woodbine, function the modern classes of the Jewish Chautauqua Society, instituted ten years ago. These classes filled a great need, for the building of character as the source of true virtue and true piety was their principal goal, and to it they have remained faithful. The teacher and director employed by the Society to carry out its purposes lives in Rosenhayn, which is the center of the settlements not in- cluding Woodbine. Like the itinerant town master of early eighteenth century Massachusetts, he teaches in each colony on a particular day. Be- cause the population of Brotmanville and Alliance was rapidly diminishing, the Trustees of the Society about two years ago closed their schools there, the pupils to go to the nearest community. The Society also conducts an annual intercolonial meeting in Norma on a Sunday in the latter part of May, when the Jewish farmers, indeed the entire communities, are invited to a display of the religious and educa- tional progress of their children and to listen to earnest messages from the President, Chancellor, and Vice-Chancellor. Nine such annual meetings have been held, each with more eclat than the preceding. In each case the hall was filled, in spite of the fact that the meetings were on Sunday after- noons at the busiest season of the year. 1 Certainly even this brief account of the work of the Society and allusion to the devotion of child, young man and woman, and parent establishes colonial progress in Jewish education as a fact — a fact which the writer believes admirable. While it is true that the environment of these colonies, as of any area in the Occident, is not so conducive to the preservation of all the Jewish customs and traditions as it is in Palestine or in the orient any- where, yet our South Jersey farmers may far more easily than the city dwellers observe the Sabbath as a day of stoppage from physical labor and devotion to spiritual stimulation. The beautiful Jewish holidays, too, may there be more genuinely celebrated and lived than is feasible in the cities. The importance of inculcating in the minds of the colonists the true *In June, 1920, the Jewish Chautauqua Society discontinued its educational and re- ligious program in the colonies. 64 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY meaning and conception of Americanism has been realized by the socially- minded citizen, Mr. Maurice Fels, who inaugurated in each colony, about four years ago, classes for instruction in community civics. That this work is highly beneficial and noteworthy, no one who has the barest acquaintance with it will doubt. It is already producing satisfactory results. These noble efforts on the part of one individual should pave the way for other indi- viduals or civic organizations, whether of a private or public nature, to co- operate in the extension of the work. Not only are the immediate local needs brought to the attention of the people to instill in them civic pride, to urge them to take the initiative in beautifying the community in which they live, and to make them realize that cleanliness is next to godliness, but cur- rent events, too, the national and international problems of the day, are discussed from a non-partisan point of view. In connection with this work in community civics, Boy Scout troops have been organized in two of the Jewish colonies, Rosenhayn and Norma, which promise to be of great benefit to the individual members as well as to reflect credit upon the community. As the purpose of the troops is the same as that of the Boy Scout troops with which most readers are acquainted, it is not necessary to give any detailed account of their ac- tivities. There are a number of other clubs which serve to infuse a broad social spirit into the communities. Although some of them have already been re- ferred to in the preceding chapter, it may not be out of place to add a word or two about them here. The Civic Guards is a club that was organized in Rosenhayn a few years ago by some of the larger boys and girls. The name suggests the purpose. The members have charge of the community hall ; and they in conjunction with the Scouts are supposed to be on duty when a fire breaks out in the vicinity; and in time of disorder and confusion, they must restore peace and order. In Carmel, the Home Rule Social Club and in Norma the Athletic Asso- ciation performs functions similar to those of the Civic Guards, while the Mary Antin Circle of Norma is dedicated to literary as well as to social activities. These clubs are composed chiefly of the young men and women of the age of fourteen and upward. The younger children have their own social and literary organization. The parents, too, have various organiza- tions : religious, social, and economic. Many of them are members of the synagogues ; some belong to the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order Brith Abraham or to local lodges ; others join loan associations, while some of the farmers become members of agricultural organizations, which aim to promote the interests and welfare of the individual farmer, and indirectly the community at large. The women have their Ladies' Aid Societies with charity as their chief object. POTENTIALITIES 65 The efficiency of most of these organizations suffers chiefly from the lack of a very active membership. For, each year a number of the active participants leave for the city, and it is somewhat difficult for the newly initiated to enter at once into the spirit of the older members. What one hears constantly is the deplorable fact that the colonies are becoming depopulated, that the best elements are migrating to the cities, and as some put it, "there is hardly any one left here." Some of the inhabitants them- selves predict a sad and gloomy future for the colonies as far as Jewish farming is concerned. A goodly number of the Jewish farmers today, in spite of the considerable economic advance they made during the last two or three years, are thinking of selling their farms in order to enter upon another enterprise in a different section of the country. Even if they should not succeed in finding a ready purchaser, their dissatisfaction with their present condition leads them to become utterly indifferent toward the de- velopment and. progress of the colonies. Consequently, between the group of farmers who have fallen into a groove from which they find it hard to emerge, and those who are planning to abandon their farms, the social uplift of the colonies suffers seriously. Every endeavor should be made to counteract this situation. The ac- tivities of the community centers must be extended, civic leagues should be organized, forums and public discussions should be encouraged. Effort should be concentrated mainly upon the younger element to interest them in country life, and to encourage them in every way to make agriculture their life pursuit. Skilled and scientific agriculturists should be sent more often to inform the people how to get the best yield from the land. To widen their social and intellectual horizon, and to elevate their aesthetic taste, musical and dramatic artists should be brought down on certain occasions. Prominent speakers in Yiddish and in English would also help a good deal to relieve the monotony and to make the farmers' life more interesting. Their lives would become richer and fuller; they would be raised from the low level of a mere sordid existence to a higher plane of intellectual and aesthetic aspiration for which their souls so very often crave. But great care should be taken lest the colonists be made to feel they are recipients of charity, that they are being "uplifted". They want to know that their success is the reward of their own effort and initiative rather than dependent on philanthropy. They should be made to feel rather that it. is guidance afforded by people more fortunately situated economically and socially; that justice, and not charity is offered them. Let it be reiterated that all Jews are responsible for each other, and a noble service benefits the donor as well as the beneficiary. The writer is looking ahead to the time when the proper development of the social, intellectual, and aesthetic life of all rural communities will become a matter of public and not of private 6 e JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY concern, when funds to carry out these noble purposes will be raised through taxation, equally distributed and not through private philanthropy. Mean- while, however, philanthropy is the principal agency. Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact that profitable farm- ing is a sine qua non for all community effort. The social resources of a people can be developed, only when their economic wants are satisfied; the farmer must receive sufficient compensation to make his efforts worth while. Although the figures of the 1920 Federal Census have not yet been made public, it goes without saying that the average net income of the farmer throughout the country increased steadily in the last decade, and that most of the farmers are better situated financially today than they were possibly ever before, in spite of the increasing expenditures that accompany the present income. As far as the Jewish farmers are concerned, the writer's survey presented in the preceding chapter disclosed the fact that their average net income in 1919, exclusive of farm expenditures and vegetables raised for home use, ranged from $900.00 in Carmel to $1,500.00 in Garton Road. While this should be a source of rejoicing to everyone interested in the progress of the farmer in general, and the Jewish farmer in particular, and while every effort should be made to elevate their financial condition to a still higher level, it must be remembered that the economic factor cannot control the life of the farmer exclusively. Once he attains an income suffi- cient to make him economically independent, let him beware of falling into a groove of complacent contentment which spells deterioration and decay. Let it rather stimulate him to a noble outlook, to develop in himself and help develop in others the intellectual, social, and moral qualities which make for genuine social progress. More attention should be paid to the character of the home. If the Jewish homes in the colonies we're made more attractive and the parents showed greater interest in their improvement, more of the youth might be encouraged to remain on the farm. The safest investment that a farmer can make is to install in his home whatever modern conveniences his capital will allow, to make it approach a city dwelling so far as possible, to mini- mize the contrast between a city and country home. The ever growing discontent among the women on the farm, too, would thereby be mollified. Some of the Jewish women in the colonies actually discourage their daughters from remaining on the farm and prefer to have them go to the city, because of their determination to free them from the privations which they were compelled to experience. In addition to the iso- lation and monotony of women's condition on the farm, the lack of home conveniences makes their life a burden. A woman, very well acquainted with the farm situation, made the statement that the farm kitchen is the POTENTIALITIES 67 poorest equipped workshop in the country. That condition can and must be remedied as soon as possible. Formerly when the farmer had to struggle with all his might to make ends meet, the improvement of the home was out of question. But now, since the farmer's income is increasing yearly, the home conditions can and must gradually be remedied. Furthermore, the farmer should from time to time purchase additional farm implements to make the outdoor work less burdensome, and more interesting. When the youth will find that the drudgery of farm labor is re- duced to a minimum by the introduction of agricultural machinery, when he will discover that the proceeds from farm crops are satisfactory, when the home on the farm will be as comfortable as city homes, and when, further, he will have the opportunity to develop his intellectual and social faculties, then he will not be so anxious to leave the farm as heretofore. Therein lies the key to the solution of the farm problem. The question that arises is whether or not the standards set are too high or too difficult of attainment. That depends on the amount of effort exerted in this direction. It appears to the writer that no effort is too great to bring about the realization of so noble and so necessary an end. It has been intimated above that the absence of modern conveniences in the country homes and the lack of labor saving devices on the farm are accountable in part for the drift to town. The schools, likewise, must share the responsibility to a certain degree. There is little if any correlation be- tween the school and the home. In most cases, the teachers are not resi- dents, and are not concerned about the welfare and progress of the com- munity. Their interest begins and ends in the school room. The salaries are so meagre that few of the teachers care to remain permanently in the colonies. Many of them are beginners in the profession of teaching, merely serving an apprenticeship; when they have secured a certain amount of ex- perience, and are just about ready to do efficient teaching, they leave for a different locality. Furthermore, the teaching does not express the daily life in the rural districts. The schools which train the children during the habit- formation and impressionistic period of their careers are the best agencies to implant in them an appreciation for farm life. The school curriculum should be so planned and arranged as to give the country life subjects their proper place. There must be a closer relationship between the school and the home. Every opportunity should be seized to point out to the pupils the advantages of agriculture and country life, so that when they grow up they will not look upon farming as a drudgery from which they must escape, but rather have the desire and inclination to equip themselves with a further knowledge of scientific agriculture and make farming their life work. The country people will be more willing to support better schools when they will realize that the schools are prepared to train the boys and girls satis fac- 68 JEWISH COLONIES OF SOUTH JERSEY torily for life on the farm. Before closing, a few words must be added about resident leaders. The colonies are suffering tremendously at the present time from a lack of such leadership. Jewish young men and women of efficiency, energy, and ability, possessing good training and education, refinement and culture, with an ap- preciation of the orthodox customs and traditions, with a knowledge of the Yiddish language, and imbued with a broad social spirit are needed in the colonies to help bridge the gap between the old and the young, between the Jew and non-Jew, and in general to assist the people in their effort to im- prove their lives. Every inducement and encouragement should be offered to such men and women to come to the country and remain there as permanent residents. The advantage to the country folks would be this, that while these young men would be devotedly pursuing their own vocations, they would interest themselves in the welfare of the people among whom they live. The enthusiastic efforts of these leaders would in time call forth the latent quali- ties that lie dormant in some of the farm folks, who would develop into local leaders, and together they would serve as vanguards in the advancement of the intellectual and social life of their communities. Such people as guides could unite the others for mutual improvement. The associations for social, religious, educational, and business purposes would become vitalized and energized. Personal character and community righteousness would be fostered and cherished; spiritual and moral ideals would be developed and maintained. Then farm life would be made attractive to intelligent, pro- gressive people, and there would arise a rural civilization in the Jewish settlements that would be in harmony with the best American thought and aspiration. CONCLUSION It is true that the Jews have been and, to a large degree, still are the People of the Book, from a secular as well as from a religious point of view. It is true that the Jew prefers mental pursuits. It is also true that most of the children of the Jewish farmers have not remained farmers, that they have entered the commercial and the professional world. But although this was and has been the situation, there is nothing inherent in the Jew to warrant the conclusion that it must be so. He has no instinctive aversion to farming, for history teaches that he was a tiller of the soil prior to his exile from Palestine; and from the reports of the Jewish agricultural colonies in the Holy Land to-day, one cannot help but conclude that he can be a happy, progressive farmer. It is chiefly a matter of environment, of adaptation and adjustment. Nurture is more powerful than nature. Efficient training in the proper surroundings, and subsequent encourage- ment are the basic needs. Nineteen centuries of persecution and restriction have weaned the Jew from the soil ; the twentieth century of freedom and tolerance can bring him back to his one-time love for the land. An effort has been made to show the present fundamental defects of the Jewish colonies and the reason why the people, particularly the younger element of the settlements, leave the farm and go to the city. Among the reasons were : indifference on the part of the colonists toward the develop- ment and progress of their settlements; absence of community spirit and civic pride ; inadequate education and social facilities ; inefficiency of agri- cultural methods ; want of stimuli to encourage the pursuit of scientific farm- ing ; lack of modern conveniences on the farm ; greater social advantages of urban communities ; the opportunity to earn more money in the city. Others no doubt may be added. It has been suggested also in a brief way how these conditions could be remedied. It is the duty of the colonists themselves and of those indi- viduals and organizations interested in the welfare of the Jewish people to make the settlements a suitable place to live in, socially, economically, and educationally. While it is not the intention of the writer to give any one the impression that the fulfillment of these suggestions will bring about a final and complete solution of the Jewish problem, he hopes that it will at least be a step in that direction. 69 70 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abiezer of Candia (pseudonym). The Jewish Agriculturists in South Russia. Ha-Shahar. Vol. VII. pp. 361-369, 418-428. Wien 1886. Alliance Israelite Universelle : Bulletins 1-21, Paris, 1880-1895. Alenitzin, V. D. Yevreiskoye naseleniye i zemlevladyeniye v yugozapadnykh guberniyakh yevropeiskoy Rossii, St. Petersburg, 1864. Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School. Woodbine, N. J. Report of the Superintendent, Joseph A. Rosen, Woodbine, N. J., 1915. Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School. Woodbine, N. J. 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