The result of the General Election in England is regarded as very gratifying by the Hebrew and Yiddish press. The Hebrew journals in Palestine, as well as the Hebrew and Yiddish organs in Europe and America, express satisfaction at the return to Parliament of men who have repeatedly assured the public of their intention to adhere to the Balfour declaration.[847]
A further reason is advanced by the Jewish Courier for rejoicing at the downfall of the Conservative Government, namely, that "the election results have wiped out anti-Semitic remnants in England," for "the Conservative Government does include several members who are far from favourably disposed towards Jews."[848] The indulgence shown to the Jews and the honours piled on them by Conservative statesmen therefore availed nothing to the Conservative cause, and the welfare of the whole country was subordinated to the interests of the Jews alone.
It is difficult at first to understand how the programme of the "Labour" Party, even when combined with ardent pro-Semitism, could however be in accord with the interests of the Jews, who have never displayed any hostility towards the Capitalist system which Socialism sets out to destroy. Indeed, we find the same Jewish paper which rejoiced at the advent of the present Government to office offering birthday congratulations to the richest Jew in this country, whose wealth, it goes on to observe with some complacency, "amounts to no less than £12,000,000 sterling, and is constantly increasing, apart from the interest that it brings, by the huge profits of the concerns in which he is interested."[849]
It would seem, then, that in the eyes of Jewry all capitalists are not to be regarded as monsters who should be mercilessly expropriated.
But in considering the war on Capitalism it is essential to bear in mind that capitalists are of two kinds: national industrial capitalists--largely Gentiles and usually men of brains and energy who have built up flourishing businesses--and international loan-mongering capitalists, principally, though not exclusively, Jews, who live by speculation. Whilst to the former, social unrest may prove fatal, to the latter any disturbances may provide opportunities for profit. As M. Georges Batault has well expressed it:
From the strictly financial point of view, the most disastrous events of history, wars or revolutions, never represent catastrophes; the manipulators of money and the wary business men can make profit out of everything, provided they know beforehand and are well-informed.... It is certain that the Jews dispersed over all the surface of the earth ... are particularly favourably situated in this respect.[850]
It is significant to notice that the capitalists most attacked by the Socialists and Pacifists are not those who make profit out of wars and revolutions, but those who contribute to the prosperity of the country and provide work for millions of people. Here, then, the Jews and the Socialists seem to find a point of agreement. It is evident, at any rate, that many rich Jews consider that they have nothing to fear from the threatened Capital Levy and other features of expropriation. Are we not irresistibly reminded of the passage in the Protocols--where incidentally the Capital Levy is specifically mentioned--"Ours they will not touch, because the moment of attack will be known to us and we shall take measures to protect our own"?
But let us consider further how the Socialist plan for "the nationalization of all the means of production, distribution, and exchange" might be reconciled even with the interests of Jewish Industrial Capitalists. The more we examine this magic formula which is to transform the world into a Paradise for the workers, the more we shall see that it approximates to the system of Super Capitalism, of which, as Werner Sombart has shown, the Jews were the principal inaugurators. Socialists are fond of explaining that "Capitalism" began with the introduction of steam; in reality, of course, Capitalism, in the sense of wealth accumulated in private hands, has always existed since the first savage made his store of winter food. What Socialists really mean by Capitalism is the modern system of Industrialism, which tends to concentrate all the means of production and distribution in the hands of individuals or groups, who, if they happen to be unscrupulous, are able by systematic sweating of the worker and bleeding of the consumer to conduct operations on so large a scale as to crush all competition by the home worker or the small tradesman.
Obviously, however, with the growing demand of the workers for better conditions of life and the increasing support lent to them by enlightened public opinion this possibility cannot continue indefinitely, and unless a violent convulsion takes place the time will come when great industrial magnates will have to content themselves with moderate profits on their outlay. Thus although at first sight it might appear that the Super-Capitalist must desire to maintain the existing order of things, if he is far-seeing he must realize that profiteering under present conditions must soon cease.
It is therefore conceivable that even the Jewish Industrial Capitalist may see in the nationalization of industry a preferable alternative to the limitation of profits under private enterprise. The same financial acumen and skill in management which has enabled him to control rings and trusts in the past would ensure him a place at the head of nationalized industries, which in effect would be nothing but gigantic trusts nominally under State control but really, like all State enterprises, in the hands of a few men. Under Socialism the position of these trusts would be rendered impregnable. For whilst under the present system any individual or group may set out to break a trust, no such competition would be possible in a State where private enterprise had been made illegal. The men in control of nationalized industries would therefore be able to exercise absolute authority both over the worker and the consumer. Further, if the worker can be persuaded to accept the ultimate scheme of Communism, which is compulsory labour in return for no monetary remuneration, but merely a daily ration of food and the other necessaries of life whenever State officials decide that he requires them, the directors of Labour, like the overseers in a slave plantation, will be able, as in Russia, to impose any conditions they please.