p. 18 | Applying the Principle

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 7, 1912

Applying the Principle

Some Protestants seem to understand that a separation of the church from the state means a separation of the Roman Catholic Church from the state, while permitting Protestantism to be united with the state. Such an attitude is utterly inconsistent, and denies the real principle at issue.

It is just as un-American for the Protestant or the Jew to appeal for political support on religious grounds as for the Roman Catholic to do the same thing, and we are glad to find that some Jews recognize the soundness of this principle, and are acting upon it.

An attempt to rally the Jewish vote for the Progressive party by using Hon. Oscar S. Straus, candidate for the governorship of New York, as a campaign orator, and bestowing an empty honor upon some leading Jews, called out the following protest from Tobias Schanfarber, which was printed in the Chicago Israelite of October 19:—

“Evidently the leaders of the Progressive party of the State of Illinois do not know the Hon. Oscar S. Straus’s attitude in the matter of an appeal to a distinctly Jewish vote. Had they known of the letter that he sent to Mr. Goldman, of Buffalo, on this subject, they never would have sent out the letter which they did to certain prominent citizens of the Jewish faith, asking them to serve as vice-presidents of a meeting or meetings to be addressed by Mr. Straus in the very near future. In fact, Mr. Straus would not have sanctioned the sending out of such a letter. The letter sent out by the Progressive party of Illinois, and signed by Mr. Medill McCormick as its vice-president, reads as follows:—

“‘No doubt information has reached you that the Hon. Oscar S. Straus is coming to Chicago in the near future. While it is true that he is coming here for the purpose of addressing political meetings, nevertheless we feel that the Jewish element in Chicago should grasp this opportunity and make his stay an eventful occasion. The committee in charge of the meeting to be held on the West Side, where Mr. Straus is scheduled to address the Jewish voters, desire to know if you feel inclined to serve as vice-president. Therefore let us know if you can serve,’ etc.

“‘We have been informed by a number of prominent Jews to whom this letter has been sent that they have declined to serve as vice-president, not because they do not highly honor and respect Mr. Straus, but because of the appeal that is made to the Jewish vote. Those who declined knew Mr. Straus’s own stand in the matter. They had read of the letter he had sent to Mr. Goldman, of Buffalo, in which he said that politics should be divorced from religion, and in which he asks that only such men vote for him as believe that he will represent them best in case he should be elected governor of New York. Some of us know, too, that an attempt was made by certain Jews to hold a meeting in his honor on the South Side, and he advised them not to call such a meeting, as he was averse to a distinctly Jewish meeting.

“It is about time men in politics were beginning to understand that they do the Jews an injustice when they group them together as a unit when it comes to the matter of voting. Mr. Straus repudiated mixing religion with politics. He has expressed the hope that no one would vote for him just because he is a Jew, and that no one would vote against him simply because he is a Jew. He wants to stand upon his own merits as a statesman for whatever favors the people show him, and his unequivocal stand in this matter stamps him as the true man and the true statesman.

“The National Progressive party of Illinois has made a great mistake in sending out the letter asking certain Jews to act as vice-president of the Straus meeting. Mr. Straus will respect the stand that these Jews have taken in refusing to serve in that capacity. They have not done this because they do not honor and respect the man. They have done it for the same reason that Mr. Straus gave to Mr. Goldman, of the Buffalo organization.”