JEWS. 



459 



" Gaelic " from Yokohama to San Francisco, 

 September 15, being made in 13 days, 22 hours, 

 and 32 minutes. 



Education, Literature, and Religion. Arinori 

 Mori, formerly the Mikado's envoy to Wash- 

 ington, and now Minister of Education in 

 Tokio, has devoted his energy to reforming and 

 elevating the standard of education. Among 

 the schools furnished with new and spacious 

 edifices daring the past year are the M6iji Law 

 School and the new Normal School. The book- 

 presses of the large cities were never more busy, 

 and 833 authors applied for copyright certifi- 

 cates from Jan. 1 to Oct. 18, 1886. The five 

 great daily newspapers of the capital circulate 

 by mail in every province. Under date of Dec. 

 31, 1885, there were 1,065 law advocates regis- 

 tered. A commission to study and report upon 

 the subject of art, with a view to maintaining 

 and developing the national taste on native tra- 

 ditions and models, has been appointed and sent 

 abroad. Messrs. H. Hamao, K. Okaknra, and 

 Prof. Ernest Fenollosa of Salem, Mass., com- 

 pose the commission. Earnest efforts are 

 also being made to reform the theatres and 

 raise the standard of popular litarature, with 

 the view of eliminating the licentious and re- 

 vengeful elements so prominent in the novel 

 and drama of old Japan. By Government en- 

 rollment there were at the end of 1885, 38,141 

 persons in the empire openly professing the 

 Christian faith. Statistics collected by the 

 Protestant pastors show 151 churches in opera- 

 tion, with 11,604 members, who contributed in 

 1886 for benevolence and church purposes 

 $23,406.97. Thirteen American missionary 

 societies employ 150 laborers in addition to 

 native helpers. The Tokio Missionary Confer- 

 ence resolved to establish the native Feast of 

 New Rice, which usually falls in November, as 

 a national Christian Thanksgiving-day. The 

 celebration took place on Tuesday, November 

 23. The Government is now fully tolerant of 

 all religions, though still maintaining national 

 and imperial shrines at an annual expense of 

 $268,213. Buddhism h*as been wholly dises- 

 tablished since 1874. In 1714 there were 393,- 

 087 temples ; in 1885 there were but 57,824. 



JEWS. On Jan. 4, 1886, the centenary of 

 Moses Mendelssohn's death was duly observed 

 in Europe and America. At Dessau, Germany, 

 the birthplace of the philosopher, the celebra- 

 tion was unique. In the larger cities, addresses 

 w^ere delivered on the life of Mendelssohn and 

 his influence on Jewish emancipation. 



For the year ending October 1, according to 

 the statistics of the New York United Hebrew 

 Charities, 27,000 Russian Jews landed at Castle 

 Garden, the vast majority remaining in New 

 York. To provide for the masses that have 

 been attracted to America since the persecu- 

 tions of 1882, has been a problem of no little 

 difficulty. For the young and hardy, agricult- 

 ural colonies were founded, a new one being 

 organized in Gilead, Kan., early in 1886. Oth- 

 ers exist in New Jersey, Dakota, and Kansas, 



chiefly under direction of the Montefiore Ag- 

 ricultural Aid Society ; and, as manufacturing 

 interests are added in some cases, it is thought 

 that they will succeed. At present only a few 

 hundred families are provided for in this way, 

 and the progress of these colonies is watched 

 with much interest. 



In the past year new temples have been 

 built in Dallas, Tex. ; Detroit, Mich. ; Daven- 

 port, Iowa; Oakland, Cal.; Vincennes and 

 Mount Vernon, Ind. ; Rochester, Elmira, and 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. ; New York city ; Birming- 

 ham, Ala. ; Jersey City, Philadelphia, Chicago, 

 Toronto, and Montreal. While Vienna adds a 

 new synagogue to its list, Brisbane, Australia, 

 builds one, as do also a number of smaller 

 towns in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. 



At Washington, D. 0., a Hebrew Charity 

 Fair was held in aid of the synagogue. In 

 New York, $175,000 was cleared by a fair in 

 aid of the Montefiore Home for Chronic Inva- 

 lids. In Dunedin, New Zealand, a bazaar net- 

 ted a large amount for the local synagogue. 

 Efforts were successfully made to raise fnnds 

 for the Hebrew Technical Institute of New 

 York and a new building was secured. Its 

 pupils won high prizes at an industrial exhi- 

 bition in New York. A new wing was added 

 to the Baltimore Jewish Hospital in May. The 

 Associated Hebrew Charities held their second 

 annual session at Chicago on June 27th. The 

 leading societies are contributing members. A 

 new edifice was erected in New Orleans for 

 the Jewish Widows' and Orphans' Home. In- 

 dustrial training is more and more recognized 

 in connection with the training of Jewish 

 children. 



In the Orders there were no new develop- 

 ments save the establishment of the "Meno- 

 rah," July 1st, as a monthly organ of the In- 

 dependent Order of Benai Berith, the largest 

 and oldest; and the gradual spread of this 

 fraternity, numbering about 30,000 members, 

 through Germany, where it counts 18 lodges. 

 Much discussion has taken place as to the 

 weakness of the present endowment laws, and 

 a loss in membership is acknowledged in con- 

 sequence. 



The Spring Ministers' Conference was held 

 in New York on May 3. The committee on 

 Sabbath-schools advocated the formation of 

 an American Sabbath-School Union ; but ac- 

 tion was deferred. The committee on wom- 

 en's rights reported the following resolution, 

 which was passed : 



That it is the sense of this Conference that women 

 can become active members of congregations by hav- 

 ing a voice in its meetings and serving as members of 

 its committees on Sabbath-schools. 



At the public conference, Rev. Dr. Kohut 

 (" Science and Judaism "), Rev. Dr. Landsberg 

 (" Leopold Zunz "), and Rev. Dr. Gottheil, took 

 part. In the Autumn Conference, November 

 22 and 23, in New York city, the committee on 

 a home prayer-book was empowered to publish 

 it, and a committee was appointed to amend 



