18 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



IN ERANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, THE ANCESTRAL CITY OE THE ROTHSCHILDS, THE 

 MOST FAMOUS FAMILY OF FINANCIERS IN THE WORLD 



Mayer Anselm Bauer, the founder of this family of Jews, was the son of a small mer- 

 chant. The boy became a money-lender instead of a rabbi, as had been planned, and from 

 the counter of the sign of the "Red Shield" (Rothschild) there developed a financial institu- 

 tion which became more powerful during the nineteenth century than any monarch in Europe. 

 It was Rothschild's gold which enabled Britain to carry on the Napoleonic wars, and it is 

 said that the English Rothschild was present at the Battle of Waterloo to witness the triumph 

 of Wellington. 



any people. Bismarck's answer was that 

 the policy of restriction had given them 

 the character which is now made the 

 basis for complaints against them. 



Mirabeau in the French Assembly said, 

 in answer to a similar charge: "If you 

 wish the Jews to become better men 

 and useful citizens, then banish every 

 humiliating restriction, open to them 

 every avenue of gaining a livelihood. 

 Instead of forbidding them agriculture, 

 handicrafts, and the mechanical arts, en- 

 courage them to devote themselves to 

 these occupations." 



Russia's plaint against the jews 



It is probably true that the Russian 

 Jews do devote themselves to trading in 

 money, and that the Russian moujik is 



subject to abuse in this respect of which 

 the Jews take advantage, but it must be 

 borne in mind that the restrictions upon 

 the Jews as to livelihood have been and 

 are such as to drive them into money- 

 lending. Indeed, this cause dates from 

 the middle ages, when, as already said, 

 canon law forbade among Christians the 

 lending of money on interest and left 

 that business open for the Jews, who 

 perforce became the money-lenders of 

 Europe. 



The few avenues of employment for 

 Jews forced them into the conduct of 

 inns and the selling of liquor. This, as 

 I have pointed out, was a heritage from 

 the Polish nobility. 



Even if the charge made against the 

 Russian Jews of fraud and trickery has 



