Mr. Blaine to Mr. Smith.
Washington, February 18, 1891.
Sir: On the 20th of August last the House of Representatives adopted a resolution requesting the President to communicate to that body any information in his possession concerning the enforcement of prescriptive editcs against the Jews in Russia. To this resolution the [Page 738] President responded on the 1st of October, and accompanying his response there was a report in which, with reference to the rumors that new measures of repression were about to be put in force, I said:
Such a step, if in reality contemplated, would not only wound the universal and innate sentiment of humanity, but would suggest the difficult problem of affording an immediate aslyum to a million or more of exiles without seriously deranging the conditions of labor and of social organization in other communities.
The correspondence communicated to the House of Representatives included your reassuring dispatch No. 44, of the 25th of September last; and this dispatch, together with assurances received in conversations with the diplomatic representative of Russia at this capital, tended to allay the apprehension necessarily aroused by the prospect either of the adoption of new measures or of the harsh enforcement of the old.
Up to the present time the Department has not been advised that any new edicts affecting the Jews have been promulgated. The cases of distress that have been brought to our notice are the result, in some instances, of the new interpretation, and, in others, of the strict enforcement of regulations which have for some years been in existence, but of which the severity was not generally understood because they were not rigorously applied.
The Department is informed that for many years the Jews in Russia have, as a race, been compelled to live within a certain area denominated the pale of settlement. Under the laws of May, 1882, it is understood that their places of residence within this area have been restricted by forbidding them to live in villages and to force them into the towns. The effect of the recent and summary enforcement of this measure in certain districts has been to deprive many of their means of livelihood. It is also understood that under the laws for many years in existence Jewish artisans have been permitted to reside outside of the pale of settlement. The Department is informed that by a new interpretation of the law many classes of workers formerly regarded as artisans are now denied that privilege, and being suddenly forced to quit their homes and to swell the number of their race in the overcrowded towns within the pale of settlement, find themselves unable to gain a subsistence by the pursuit of their respective occupations.
Other measures, such as the withdrawal of the privilege of pursuing many occupations, the denial of admission to the schools, and the actual expulsion as “alien vagrants” of persons long domiciled in Russia, contribute to swell the emigration. I forbear to enumerate the edicts peculiarly applicable to the family, by which the ties of relationship are rent and a premium put upon their severance. I do not dwell on these things, not only because it is not my purpose to indulge in a general criticism of the anti-Jewish laws, but also because those that I have explicitly referred to in the main account for the cases that have been brought to my notice.
That numbers of Jews have been and are daily being compelled to quit their homes in Russia by the enforcement of these oppressive measures, is amply shown by the present immigration of destitute Russian Jews, into the United States. Heretofore this immigration, although large, being mainly made up of persons who were in some measure prepared for the change, has not overtaxed the resources of the various benevolent associations which are so generously maintained and admirably administered by the Jews of the United States. I am told on excellent authority that within ten years some 200,000 Jews of Russian origin have been received into this country, have been furnished, when necessary, with occupation and homes, and have become speedily assimilated [Page 739] into the body politic, of which they form an orderly, thrifty, and law-abiding element.
The gravest fears are expressed lest this resource should fail if taxed with a great influx of Russian Jews, who, by reason of their sudden expulsion from their homes and their uniamiliarity with the language and ways of life in this country, would stand in need of immediate, and in many cases of long-continued, assistance and care.
You are aware that the problem of efficiently controlling immigration has been before the national legislature for some years. Measures have already been adopted for its regulation, and several schemes of further legislation are now pending before Congress. These measures, however, have not been due to an inhospitable disposition. The policy of this Government in respect to the admission of aliens to its shores has been most liberal. It has afforded to many thousands a home and already entrance into its political and social life, and it still offers to spontaneous, self-helpful, and independent immigration a cordial welcome.
If measures of restriction have been adopted, it is only because it has been found necessary to avert the injection into the population of elements not assimilable and the bringing or sending hither of the indigent and helpless to become a charge upon the community. In no instance has any measure of expulsion or of oppression been adopted in respect to those who are already here, all of whom stand under the equal protection of the laws.
But the hospitality of a nation should not be turned into a burden. And, however much we may sympathize with wanderers forced by untoward circumstances to quit their homes, and however ready the disposition to relieve the deplorable condition into which they may be cast by the application of the laws of their native country, the Government and people of the United States can not avoid a feeling of concern at the enforcement of measures which threaten to frustrate their efforts to minister to the wants and improve the condition of those who are driven to seek a livelihood within their borders.
We are not forgetful of the ties of good relationship that have long subsisted between the United States and Russia, and of the friendly acts of Russia towards our country in the past. The Government and people of the United States are fully animated with a desire to preserve this cordiality of feeling, and for this reason they the more strongly deprecate the enforcement in Russia, in respect to a portion of her people, of measures which not only arouse a general feeling of disappointment, but which also operate to impose a tax upon the charitable and humane in this country.
The Government of the United States does not assume to dictate the internal policy of other nations, or to make suggestions as to what their municipal laws should be or as to the manner in which they should be administered. Nevertheless, the mutual duties of nations require that each should use its power with a due regard for the results which its exercise produces on the rest of the world. It is in this respect that the condition of the Jews in Russia is now brought to the attention of the United States, upon whose shores are cast daily evidences of the suffering and destitution wrought by the enforcement of the edicts against this unhappy people. I am persuaded that His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia and his councilors can feel no sympathy with measures which are forced upon other nations by such deplorable consequences.
You will read this instruction to the minister of foreign affairs and give him a copy if he desires it.
I am, etc.,