Celebrating 80 years ...

1931 JWB masthead

The Jewish Independent/Jewish Western Bulletin has always been concerned with international affairs. On this date, Jan. 15, 79 years ago, the JWB mourned the death of Nathan Straus (whose name was misspelled in the first editorial), “the great philanthropist and Zionist.” He was heralded as “the best beloved Prince of Israel,” who “remembered in his generosity and philanthropy, not only the unfortunate of his own race and creed, but the underprivileged and the helpless of all nationalities, in many parts of the world.”

Among other ventures, Straus (1848-1931) and his older brother owned Macy’s department store. Straus retired from business, however, and focused his life on public service and philanthropy after his brother and sister-in-law died on the Titanic.

Two of Straus’ main concerns were the poor quality of milk at the time, which was blamed for the deaths of thousands of American children, mainly by spreading tuberculosis. He and his wife, Lina, funded a pasteurized milk laboratory and distribution centre and opened the Tuberculosis Preventorium for Children. They “are said to have saved the lives of over a million infants.”

Another main recipient of Straus’ benevolence was Zionism and the promotion of Jewish life in the United States. According to the JWB, the “Zionist Executive, upon hearing of his death ... issued a statement eulogizing him as the heart of American Jewry.”

The Jan. 15, 1931, editorial also referred to the death of Straus’ “friend and fellow Zionist,” Lord Melchett (1868-1930). Two weeks prior, on Jan. 1, the JWB remarked on the passing of Melchett, “the former Sir Alfred Mond,” who “was one of England’s richest men and has devoted millions of dollars, and untold energy and time, on behalf of Zionism, and his name will go down in Jewish history for his accomplishments. At the time the Balfour Declaration was pending, it was largely through Lord Melchett’s influence that it was so satisfactorily arranged.

“As a splendid experiment, Lord Melchett purchased huge tracts of land in Palestine, which have been transformed by chalutzim into beautiful orange groves, and these have proven to be not only a boon to the upbuilding of the Holy Land, but also financially successful investments.”

The Jan. 1 write-up went on to talk about how Lord Melchett acted as an aide to Chaim Weizmann at the 16th Zionist Congress in Zurich, “in his negotiations with Felix Warburg and the late Louis Marshall to establish the Jewish Agency, and the success of that venture is a credit to this tireless and energetic leader.” It concludes with the statement that, Melchett’s “name will live long in the hearts of our people.”

Another JWB editorial about Straus (Feb. 21, 1931) lauded the way in which he led his life and concluded: “Only few have the distinction of having left the world a richer and better place than when they came into it. Nathan Straus is one of those immortals.”

How many of us remember Straus or Melchett?

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