Legation of
the United States,
St.
Petersburg, May 13, 1874.
(Received June 9.)
No. 73.]
The treatment of the Jews by this government is so different from that of our
own as to be the cause of no little trouble at this legation, and everything
which appears in print bearing upon the subject of the relation of the
United States to the Hebrew race is read with interest and commented upon in
official circles; and while this letter from Bucharest does not in any way
affect this legation, I send it to you as part of the current history of the
day at this capital.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
[From the St. Petersburg Zeitung, No. 110, May 10,
1874.]
The situation of tlje Israelites in Roumania, on whom the attention of
Europe had been again drawn lately, on account of the law concerning
spirituous liquors, has grown rather worse instead of getting improved,
for the circumstance that the “liberals” of the land, always Imstile to
them, are opposing every humanitarian attempt of the Roumanian
government by rendering it suspected of yielding to a foreign
pressure.
Now again, as before, the agitator in behalf of the Israelites, Mr.
Peiceotto, American consul-general, has imprudently furnished the best
weapons to the “liberals” by giving notice, in a demonstrative manner,
through the consular secretary, of discontinuing his subscription to the
paper La Romanie, which, in a series of articles, attempted to prove the
impossibility of equal rights for the Israelites so long as they
[Page [837]]
continue to be not only a
religious but also politically separate community—in fact, a nation
among nations.
The Romanie has the following remarks on the subject: “We regret that
such decision had been taken, since Mr. Peiceotto had been himself the
mover of the diplomatic complaints raised against Roumania with
reference to the Hebrew question; and it seemed but just to us that he
should know our disintereste and impartial (?) views in the way of our
defense to the end, and the practical conclusions we intend to establish
therefrom, excusing us if an expression did not sometimes quite convey
our thought. Should a lively word have possibly escaped from our quick
pen that might hurt his religious opinions, we respectfully beg to
apologize for it.”
