Russell's
letter in Zion's Watchtower for December 1891, as mentioned by Vienne
above, is in a section entitled 'A New Government for Palestine Proposed', copied below.
"Copy of a
letter of suggestion written by the Editor while in Palestine, to the two
leading Hebrews of the World, Barons Rothschild and Hirsch."
Jerusalem, August l8th, 1891.
To the Honorable BARON HIRSCH.
RESPECTED SIR:-
I, a Christian, but a lover of the seed of Jacob, especially because
of the promises of God yet remaining to them and the Holy Land, address you
upon a subject which I know lies close to your heart.
That you may know of my
interest in your people, I will cause to be sent to you a copy of each of two
volumes of my own writings, in which the promises of God to your nation are
cited and commented upon.
At present, accompanied by my
wife, I am in Palestine, taking a hasty view of the land of promise and its
people, and considering the prospects of the soon fulfilment of the predictions
of the prophets. As you will see from my books, we find the testimony of the
prophets to be, that your nation will be greatly blessed and returned to divine
favor between now and the year 1915, A. D.
The present persecutions in
Russia we believe to be a mark of divine favor rather than the reverse. The
Lord declares that he will drive them out of all lands whither he has scattered
them. We believe that so far from this persecution abating, the near future may
see it greatly increased among the various nations of Europe in the
midst of which Jews reside.
We believe that the Lord’s
Word teaches that the people are to be in great part gathered into the land of
Palestine, and the fact that all entrance thither has recently been barred
inclines us to think that the time has come for opening the door thither yet
wider than ever before. This seems to be indicated in the words of the prophet.
– See Jer. 32:37-44; 33:6-22.
As I do not own an inch of
ground in this land, I cannot be accused of having any selfish reasons for
offering the following the following suggestions of what appears to me to be
the only immediate solution of the difficulty. My suggestion is as follows, and
refers to all Syria :-
The revenues derived from Palestine
by the Government amount to about £l00,000 per annum. This sum, however, is absorbed by the local government of
Palestine, and it is doubtful whether Turkey ever receives one piaster of it - except
in the way of bonuses paid bv those who obtain official positions in the land.
I have been unable to obtain any reliable figures respecting the taxes of Syria as a whole, but it is safe to assume
that the results to Turkey are no more profitable than those from Palestine.
My suggestion is that the
wealthy Hebrews purchase from Turkey, at a fair valuation, all of her propertv
interests in these lands; i. e., all the Government lands (lands not held
by private owners), under the provision that Syria and Palestine shall be
constituted a FREE STATE, the government of which shall be in the hands
of a board of thirteen Directors, appointed as
follows: One Director to be chosen by each of the following Governments:- Great
Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Greece,
and the United
States of America, should they approve the scheme; and the remainder of the
thirteen to be elected by the suffrages of the people of Syria, none being
eligible to said election who has not lived in the land for three consecutive years.
Religious
liberty should be fully guaranteed to all the inhabitants. Each Director should
be a resident of the Iand during the tenure of office, and should receive £1,000
sterling per annum, and no other fees, emoluments or bribes, under penalty of
disgrace and banishment. Those Directors
appointed by the various governments should also be the Ministers Plenipotentiary
of those Governments without additional fees therefor.
Each of the nations invited to
join representatively in the government should he required to contribute a sum
of money, say £10,000, for the carrying out of the project and as a test of
its interest in the welfare of the land and its people. Just at present all
nations are interested in providing a home for the Russian exiles; and the
poverty of Turkey would facilitate the purchase of her estate in Syria at
reasonable figures. This I conceive to be a feasible plan, because all of the
above nations are interested in Palestine, having directly or indirectly expended
large sums of money there. The plan of making it a free state, under the
control of all, I believe would be pleasing to all; whereas, to put the land under
the control of any of them exclusively, would be strenuously opposed by the
others. The land should, however, be free from all other nations, except
through their appointed representative Directors.
A liberal Constitution should
be drawn up, alterable only by the consent of at least nine of the thirteen
Directors. In all other matters the majority should rule - under the limitations
of said Constitution. The new blood and new ideas thus introduced into the
government would soon show upon the people and the land, and they would rapidly
advance to civilized conditions in every particular.
You are no doubt well aware
that, notwithstanding the large sums of money sent here by Hebrews and others,
many of the people here are far from comfortable; and all will agree that the
two things most needful to this land are a wise, just and good government and
plenty of water.
The water is indispensable to
health. The stench is dreadful as one passes through the city, especially in
the Jewish quarter. I can only account for the absence of some plague
by the extreme purity of the mountain air. In almost every other climate such
filth and drouth would surely bring pestilence. In one more month, I am told,
water will be selling at two or three piasters a skin.
The present government and
laws, although said to be a great improvement on those of the past, all will
admit are very far from good. The poor peasants or fellah are robbed of
almost all they can earn - first, by the money-lender, who exacts from 10 to 50
per cent interest, paid in advance, and secondly, by the tax-collector, who
extorts all he can possibly squeeze of the balance. Many of the Jews coming from
Russia are poor, and many are wealthy. Seemingly, the latter consider it their
business to grind profits out of their brethren and neighbors instead of
helping them, while the former, following the example of Romanists and Greeks,
think it their duty to spend all their time in prayer and ceremonies, while they
are supported by the donations of friends in Europe and America. Your charities
and those of Baron Rothschild and Sir Moses Montefiore have been productive of
great good and are still beneficial (except, perhaps, the payment of so many
francs per head for support of some of the colonists, which is leading some to multiply
their children and grandchildren as rapidly as possible, to increase their income).
What is needed here,
therefore, next to water and cleanliness, is a good government which
will protect the poor from the ravenous and wealthy.
Banking institutions on sound
bases, and doing business honorablv, are also greatly needed. The poor, I am
told, hide whatever money they can save in holes in the earth, where it is ultimately lost to
themselves and the world. These, no doubt. would deposit in banks of whose
standing they would have no doubt.
I suggest further that as Jerusalem
is so full of items of deep interest to the civilized world, as well as to the Jews, it would meet with
general favor to introduce into the Constitution provisions guaranteeing that
Jerusalem shall remain practically as it is at present - except that it be
cleaned up - that all shops and business be prohibited inside the Walls; that
sanitary regulations be strictly enforced; that the city be sewered thoroughly
- a very practical matter and one of but moderate expense if “Solomon’s
Quarries,” underlying a great portion of the city, be utilized for the laying of
the larger sewer pipes.
Outside the city the minimum
width of the streets and the minimum size of building lots should be subjects
of law, as the people have narrow ideas as to what “will do.”
Under such an arrangement as
above referred to, much money would be provided by lovers of the Holy Land for water,
aqueducts, artesian wells, etc., etc., and soon the barren places would become
a paradise.
I believe that now is the
Lord’s time for the long promised deliverance of Israel (and my reasons for so
believing you will observe in my two works mailed to you and above referred to);
and that it will be accomplished by some such concerted project among the
nations is, I believe, indicated by the prophet Isaiah:
“And they shall bring all your
brethren out of all nations as an offering unto the Lord, upon horses and in
chariots and in litters and upon mules and upon swift beasts, to my holv
mountain. Jerusalem. saith the Lord. . . . . For as the new heavens and the new
earth (the Kingdom of God) which I will make shall have permanence before me,
saith the Lord, so shall exist permanently your seed and your name.” - Isa. 66:20,
22.
See also Jeremiah 32 :43, 44 :-
“And the fields shall yet be bought in this land
whereof ye say, It is desolate, without man or beast . . . . Men shall buy
fields for money and write it in deeds and seal it and certify it bv witnesses
in the land of Benjamin. and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the lowlands,
and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to return, saith
the Lord.”
May the God of Jacob direct
you, my dear Sir, and all interested with you in the deliverance and prosperity
of Israel, and blessed will they be who, to any extent, yield themselves as his
servants in fulfilling his will as predicted.
But please note, my dear Sir,
that the sacred Scriptures predict the return to Palestine, and not a
further wandering to the ends of the earth - to America or elsewhere. And, therefore,
it is my humble opinion that Israel will find no rest for the sole of his foot
until he finds it in the land of promise; and I pray you therefore, not to
waste your efforts in assisting emigration elsewhere, but concentrate them in
the direction where God has indicated success. God bless you.
Yours
in the Faith of the Sacred Scriptures.
C. T. RUSSELL.
P. 8. A copy
of this letter has also been sent to your compatriot, Baron Rothschild.
