edent of 1878_

THE hope of the peace conference resulting in great achievements for
the Jewish people, moreover, can evoke an historical precedent. The
Berlin Congress of 1878 which brought the Russo-Turkish war to an end,
created the Bulgarian state, raised Roumania to the rank of an
independent kingdom, and gave Bosnia and Herzegovina to
Austria-Hungary, found time to occupy itself with a Jewish matter and
to introduce into the treaty condensing its decisions the well known
article obliging the new kingdom of Roumania to bestow on her Jews
equality of civil franchises. It is not the fault of the Berlin
Congress that this article has remained to this day a dead letter. The
case, at any rate, is of a nature to encourage Jewish optimism against
those sceptics who sneer: "A diplomatic conference distributes no
presents; complacency and liberality play no part there; there are
only such interests enforced which are backed by a victorious army or
at least by an army which still inspires some fears." Well, in 1878,
too, the Jewish people had no country, no army, no government, no
accredited ambassador, and yet two of the most influential members of
the Berlin Congress, the representative of Great Britain, Earl
Beaconsfield, and that of France, Waddington, were ready to step
forward as advocates of the Jewish cause, and the president of the
Congress, Prince Bismarck, evidently favored their action.

_But We Ignore a Valuable Lesson_

I HAVE produced everything capable of justifying the expectations with
which many Jews look forward to the future peace congress. But I do
not notice that the Jewish people keep in view the lessons taught by
the historic example of 1878. Beaconsfield and Waddington did not
plead for the Roumanian Jews at the Berlin Congress from impulses of
their own or in consequence of a sudden inspiration from on high. The
Paris Alliance Israelite Universelle, the London Anglo-Jewish
Association, the Berlin Verband der deutschen Juden, had done serious
and efficient preparatory work, memorialized their several
governments, informed them of the facts, solicited their intervention.
It was due to their efforts that the position of the Roumanian Jews
came up for consideration at the Berlin Congress. They showed the way
the Jewish people must follow if they wish to obtain anything of
governments in congress. What are the Jewish people waiting for in
order to act now as their fathers acted thirty-seven years a