Apparently he could make use of it all. The lady of the house, delighted with the prospect of unloading her wardrobe in this way of unnecessary ballast, continued to fetch more clothing.
[Page 29] The Hebrew chose out most of this as well, and laid it in a great heap together. The only article, which did not find approval in the eyes of the Hebrew, was a fashionably cut, light summer-suit, which the master of the house had only worn once, and had then laid aside, as it did not take his fancy. The Jew threw this on one side with the remark:
“this is out of fashion, and nobody will buy it”. When he had laid all the remaining articles of clothing together, and had offered quite a reasonable price for the same, the old lady asked him again to take the summer-suit; she wanted to see the last of it as the sight of it annoyed her husband. Finally the Hebrew agreed to take the suit for 5 marks. The lady accepted this offer, because of all the other clothing, she had been able to dispose of. The entire sale amounted to about 200 marks.
“ I have not got so much money with me”, said the Jew, politely, “because I was not prepared to buy so many things. I will, however, have the clothing fetched away shortly, and will send the money at the same time. I will leave a deposit of 5 marks, and may as well take the summer-suit with me so that I do not make the journey empty-handed”.
With this the Hebrew took his departure, and, up to the present moment, has not returned.
The worthy lady related the episode to me herself, and was quite at a loss for an explanation. The Jew must have been taken ill, or something unforeseen must have happened, as otherwise he would have returned, “for he made such a favourable impression”. I am afraid that I hurt the lady’s feelings, for I had to laugh in her face, before I proceeded to explain the incident to her as follows:
“ the summer-suit was the only object of any value to the Jew, and consequently the only thing, which he was willing to buy. The other articles of clothing he had never intended to buy; only, in order to gain your confidence, he offered such good prices. Your confidence once gained, you did not observe how he was overreaching you with regard to the good summer-suit. He accomplished his object, and will take very good care not to let himself be seen again”.
It took a considerable time before I was able to convince the good lady of all this; she then exclaimed with astonishment and almost with admiration:
“ Gracious me, what a clever fellow he is!” — “No, madam”, I replied, “that is not real cleverness; it is a mode of operation, partly inherited, partly the result of instruction. It is an ancient receipt, according to which the Jews have conducted their operations for centuries — even for thousands of years.”
[Page 30] It is the “ art” in business of deceiving one’s opponent as to the value of the goods, and as to one’s real intentions. I will relate to you a short story of a similar kind, which will make quite plain to you how this mode of operating proceeds, according to a certain pattern and custom.
A Jewish lad, who could not have been more than 10 or 11 years old, was accustomed to go from village to village, buying up hare and rabbit-skins. He was instructed what he should pay for the wares, and soon acquired such knowledge of the business by constant practice, that he was able to carry it on to the satisfaction of his father. A peasant, from whom he had bought several rabbit-skins, produced also the fur of a marten [related to minks, weasels, ferrets, etc.]. The young Jew held it to his nose, and said contemptuously:
“This is only the skin of a stinking marten, and is not worth anything”. The peasant, who understood little about such matters, urged the young Jew to take the fur of the marten as well, and finally the little business-man purchased it out of pure compassion for five half-pence! As soon as the young rascal had reached home, he called out:
“Father, look what a stroke of business I have done! I have bought a valuable marten-fur for five half-pence!” — and he related what had happened. A neighbour, who, unobserved, had witnessed the episode from the window of a stable, made it known. Even this diminutive man of business already possessed the “cleverness” to speak disparagingly of the most valuable goods in order to deceive the seller with regard to the real value, and thus to enable himself to buy them up at a very cheap rate.
Anybody who has once thoroughly grasped the mode of operation, which has been systematically made use of in these cases, need not express any great astonishment as to the measure of “cleverness” required. It is always the same trick. The Hebrew, who has lived for thousands of years by dealing, and by overreaching other men, has developed, in this direction, a cunning and superior tactic. He knows that the desire — the demand, causes the price to rise. Whoever allows it to be seen that he would like to buy certain wares, or, that he is urgently in need of the same, will soon tempt the seller to demand a higher price. And, on the contrary, whoever offers his wares in a pressing manner, and allows it to be seen that he must get rid of the same at all costs, probably because he is in urgent need of money, has to put as cheerful a face on the matter as he can, when advantage is taken of his situation to reduce the price to the utmost.
[Page 31] The old saying: “ Supply and Demand fix the price”, has a certain justification — so long as upright and honest merchants are concerned. Today, we know that Supply and Demand can be artificially produced, simply to influence the price. And the Jew “runs”, or carries on the most insignificant business in accordance with these sagacious measures, just as if he were operating, on a large scale, on the Stock Exchange. He knows how to deceive the other side as to his real intentions: he pretends that there is Demand, when he knows that, in reality, the Supply is more than sufficient, and also the reverse.
The Hebrew, who goes to the Produce Exchange, under the necessity of buying several waggon-loads of wheat, because he has contracted to deliver this amount to a mill, takes very good care to conceal his real intention. He assumes an attitude of complete indifference; and, if anyone offers him wheat, he replies, shrugging his shoulders:
“Wheat? I have enough wheat.
Do you want to buy any?” And, as all the other Jewish business people present, who, perhaps, also want to buy wheat, assume the same attitude, as if by some secret understanding, and behave as if they had no need whatever of wheat, but wanted, on the contrary, to sell it, they create the impression that there is a superfluity of wheat; thus, they force the price down, and succeed in buying the wheat cheaply.
A simple or open-natured farmer, on the contrary, who has gone to the Produce Exchange, in order to get rid of his produce, because he needs the money urgently to pay the interest for the impending quarter, will at once offer his wheat eagerly.
But, strange to say, he encounters cold refusal on all sides. And the same thing happens to all the other sellers; Supply preponderates, and the prices fall. Our farmer now returns to the first Hebrew, to whom he had offered his wheat, and who, in reality, urgently needs wheat, and the latter appears at last to relent, and says with apparent generosity:
“ Now, as you are an old business friend of mine, I will relieve you of your wheat, but only at a price, which is 2 marks (2 shillings) under the current price”
— that is 2 marks cheaper than the official price, quoted for that day on the Exchange.
[Page 32] In the end the farmer is glad to have found a purchaser at any price, and is secretly grateful to the Hebrew for having purchased his wheat out of sheer good nature. Several days later, when the supplies have been, for the greater part, bought up by the Hebrews, one notices a marked rise in the prices.
Business has been carried on in this manner, at the markets and on the exchanges, for decades and for centuries, without that simple section of humanity — the producers — perceiving what is going on; they — the producers — have always all the toil and disadvantage, the Hebrew dealer all the benefit. And this benefit or gain, on occasions, mounts up to millions. One example of this will suffice, compared with which, the so-called “Bread-Usury” of the Agrarians, about which the
Jews and their hangers-on, especially the Social Democrats, are always crying out, is mere child’s play.
In the year 1892, the corn-merchants Cohn and Rosenberg, supported by God only knows how many of their friends behind the scenes — the Chawrusse — by buying up on a gigantic scale, and then withholding from the market all available supplies of rye, produced such a shortage of this indispensable food-stuff, that the price of rye rose, in a few months, from 140 to 290 marks. They then “unloaded”, and “earned” by this business, in a very short time, about 18 million Marks (£900,000).
Most of our newspapers and of our so-called “ Liberals” — the friends of the people — had not a single word of abhorrence or even of disapprobation for this “Bread Usury” according to the Old Testament pattern.
The game is made much easier if the Hebrews have a secret understanding, that is to say, if they have consulted beforehand, amongst themselves, about the condition of the Market, and have decided what the attitude of the other side is likely to be. Still any such understanding is scarcely necessary, for all Jewish businesspeople respond to one and the same instinct, are schooled in one and the same tactic, and act as one without any previous arrangement.
[Page 33]
The “Killing” or “Slaughtering” Principle.
There is another mode of operation, by which the Hebrews secure an advantage in business, and to which they are indebted for their present dominating position. Again, an instance of this mode of operation will make the same clear to everyone.
Take, for example, a town in which there have existed for a long time ten separate businesses of the same kind or trade, and all of about the same size. The owners of these businesses have confined themselves, each to his or her circle of more or less regular customers, in accordance with the principle, “Live and let live”, and have all been able to make a tolerable, and even comfortable living. Suddenly this old harmony is disturbed. One of these businesses changes hands, and the new owner, a man with a large amount of capital, or with extensive credit, brings a new business principle along with him. He calculates thus: What has been formerly sold by ten businesses, can be just as well sold by one business. I will make it my task to attract all the customers in the town for this kind of business into my shop. This will not be difficult. I have sufficient money at my disposal to live comfortably, even if I make no profit whatever for several years. I will therefore offer all my goods at prices which show no profit whatever, i.e., at cost price. The result of this will be that all the customers in the town for this class of business will be attracted to my shop.
This business-man with the “ New Principle” orders a new price-list to be printed, and sends it to every customer in the neighbourhood. He has reduced the prices so much below what used to be customary in the trade, that all purchasers are attracted without fail to the new shop.
The remaining nine businesses or shops now either lose their customers, or are compelled to reduce their prices correspondingly. As in either case no profit is made, those, who have no means to fall back upon, must sooner or later give up the contest. Others, who may possess enough capital to support them for the remainder of their lives, remark that it is useless and stupid to continue to carry on a business, in which there is no profit.
[Page 34]
These simply discontinue business. Others again, try to keep pace with the new competitor, but only see what means they possess, gradually disappear, and they also, sooner or later, are compelled to retire from the ruinous struggle.
Thus, after a few years, the man with the “ New Principle” remains the master of the situation, and now that he is without competitors, and is practically a monopolist on his own territory, endeavours to make up for the loss, which he has undergone, by gradually raising the prices, until finally the customers are at a greater disadvantage than they had ever been before.
This is no principle of life; but is, on the contrary, a principle of destruction or death; it carries on business for the mere sake of business, that is to make money; it does not ask what becomes of the other people. Here we are, face to face, with a tendency, which places acquisition before life itself; for business and political economy are, in the last analysis, only of importance when regarded as a means for preserving life.
The supreme law of political economy should always culminate in the question: how can we arrange matters economically so that the people shall secure the maximum benefit in body and mind? A political economy, which certainly enables riches to be accumulated, but which, at the same time, causes the people to degenerate both physically and morally, cannot be regarded as ideal.
Seen from a purely business point of view, it may appear to be an improvement when material advantages are secured by concentrating all the trade into a single business. Certainly many purely economic advantages may be attained by the uniting of the scattered individual branches of any trade or business into one large central establishment; at any rate, the concentration of the management effects a saving in space, time and energy. Any person, however, who does not recognise business advantage as the supreme aim of life, but asks, on the contrary: what becomes of the people concerned? — such a person must have the gravest doubts as to the beneficial influence of such a business development as
[Page 35] that described above; he would feel himself compelled to ask: what has become of the nine families, who have been thrown out of action by the “New Principle?” And he will then have to confess, that this “New Principle”, however profitable it may seem at the first glance, leads finally to the expropriation and impoverishment of extensive classes of people, and thus, by its ultimate results, becomes a curse to the national life.
The man with the “ New Principle”, of whom we have just spoken, is not necessarily a Hebrew; others can also adopt this business method as their guiding principle. But, as a matter of fact — at any rate in our European affairs — it is almost invariably the Hebrew, who has introduced this principle. By so doing he has certainly created a great deal, which corrupts the eyes of many by its dazzling appearance, as, for instance, the great retail shops; but what kind of fruit this sort of development will produce in the more distant future of our nation is a question, which is well-warranted, and also very serious.
Another example, taken out of everyday life, occurs to me at this moment; it illustrates, in an allegorical manner, the action or operation of the Hebrew on the community.
For a great many generations there had been a number of small mills on a little river in Posen. There was not always sufficient water in the river at all seasons of the year to keep the mills working regularly; but one of the mills, on the upper part of the river, possessed a reservoir of considerable size, in which water could be stored up to provide for times of drought, when the sluices could be opened according to requirements. When the upper miller had water enough to work the mill for a day, or even for half a day, he started his mill, and thus the motive water flowed down regularly to all the mills situated below.
There was no written law to regulate the use of this water; the practical requirements and common sense of the owners sufficed to maintain this arrangement to the complete satisfaction of all concerned.
One day, however, a disturbing element crept into the harmony, which had so long prevailed amongst the milling industry along this particular stream. The upper mill, together with the reservoir, passed into new hands. Whether it was that the new owner did not understand much about his business, or did not make himself agreeable to his customers, in short, the old customers gradually deserted the upper mill, and went to the other mills, lower down the stream.
[Page 36] This annoyed the new owner, and he did his utmost to disturb the business of his neighbours. One means of offence he had always at his disposal, and that was his reservoir. He no longer allowed the water to run off, at regular intervals, but stored it up for days, and even for weeks, to the utmost capacity of the reservoir. Then, he would suddenly release the water by opening all the slu
ices, generally at night or on a Sunday, so that the accumulated water rushed down the stream with great force. The mills, on the lower part of the river, could make little or no use of this sudden head of water, and were obliged, as they did not possess any reservoirs for storing the water, to open their floodgates, and to allow this superfluous water to flow uselessly away. Any methodical management of the lower mills was thus rendered impossible. The injured parties complained in vain to the local and other authorities; they could obtain no redress because there was no law, which compelled the miller, on the upper part of the stream, to let the water run off at regular intervals.
The mills, on the lower reaches of the stream, would most certainly have been ruined by these spiteful tricks, if chance had not put a sudden stop to them. On one occasion, after a heavy rain-fall, the upper miller stored up the water to such an extent, and then let it rush through the sluices so suddenly, that a regular inundation ensued, which caused considerable damage to the embankments, dams and machinery of the lower mills. Now, at last, there was cause to take legal action against this disturber of the peace to force him to desist, and to make him pay compensation for the damage, which he had brought about.
Also, in this case, it does not necessarily follow that the disturber of the peace was bound to be a Hebrew; but as a matter of fact, he was; and, one is entitled to say, that the example given is typical of the onslaught made by the Hebrew race upon our economic life. The organic connection of economic examples, which results from the love of order, innate in the Aryan element, and from a voluntary adjustment to the harmony of life, which instills common-sense, and is supported besides by a moral feeling of duty and a respect for the respect of other men, collapses immediately when the Hebrew puts in an appearance.
The hitherto quiet and regular development of business relations suffers a considerable disturbance in all directions, as soon as this Oriental stranger, with his strange principles, and in whom the sense for social harmony is completely wanting,
The Riddle of the Jew's Success Page 4
