The Days of a Man 1917 



press, that the meeting was controlled or financed 

 by pro-Germans, had no foundation whatever. As to 

 the number of German-Americans present I had no 

 means of knowing; certainly they were not much in 

 evidence distinctly less so than Irish, Italians, or 

 journal- Jews. Reports of this and subsequent meetings were 

 istic . . as a rule extremely incorrect and unjust. In Boston 

 a representative of The Christian Science Monitor 

 came "not to hear Dr. Jordan speak," he said, "but 

 to see how much the newspapers lied about him ! " 



The Madison Square Garden meeting was in its 

 way impressive, upward of 12,000 persons being 

 present, while some 3000 were shut out for lack of 

 room. Among these last were 400 working women 

 who had come from Williamsburg, Long Island, to 

 protest against the rising cost of living. Milholland 1 

 presided, opening the meeting with an effective tall 

 The notable address of the evening was that of Rabbi 

 Judah L. Magnes, a young man of fine intellect and 

 a rich, full, cultivated voice. 



Contrary to certain published reports there were 

 no disturbances of any importance, the accident of 

 a broken bench due to a private rumpus being the 

 only one noticeable. It was, however, apparent that 

 a large part of the audience was moved by distrust 

 and dislike of "Wall Street" and "The System," 

 rather than by a desire for international peace! The 

 note to this effect printed in The New Republic under 

 the head of "More than Pacifism" told the truth. 2 



1 See Chapter LII, page 700. 



2 "Any visitor to the recent crowded pacifist mass meeting . . . must 

 have been impressed by its complexion. There were in it a large number of 

 Germans, but they did not preponderate, and the meeting was far from being 

 a pro-German demonstration. There were citizens of all conditions and faiths. 

 There were women from the East Side with shawl-covered heads, men with flat 



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