The fact that the Jews dwell chiefly in towns has considerably to do with their higher educational standing. If the statistics of relative literacy of the Jewish and the non-Jewish population in the towns were obtainable, the chances are strong that they would not show a much higher rate of literacy on the part of the Jews. At the same time the difficulties that are put in the way of Jewish attendance in the elementary schools must be regarded as a considerable factor in explaining this possibility.[26]
The participation of the Jews in the liberal professions, which implies the possession of a higher education, is also very large, even with the great obstacles that have been placed in the way of the entrance of the Jews into the universities, into the liberal professions and the state service. Relatively seven times as many Jews as Russians are found in the liberal professions.[27]
II. ROUMANIA
The economic activities of the Jews in Roumanian industry and commerce closely resemble those of their Russian brethren.[28] The large part taken by the Jews in Roumanian commerce may be gathered from the fact that, in 1904, one-fifth of those who paid the merchant-license tax were Jews. Equally great is their participation in large-scale industry, where, as an inquiry in 1901-2 shows, nearly one-fifth of the large industries were conducted by Jewish entrepreneurs. In some of the most important ones—the glass industry, the clothing industry, the wood and furniture industry and the textile industry—from one-fourth to one-half of the total number of entrepreneurs were Jews.
As in the case of Russia, it is in Klein-industrie or handicraft, which is more nearly characteristic of the present form of Roumanian industrial economy, that the Jews are mostly concentrated and where they participate so largely as to constitute "the backbone of the young Roumanian industry".
The latest inquiry—that of 1908—shows that the Jews were one-fifth of all inscribed in the corporations as artisans. They formed more than one-fourth of the master-workmen and nearly one-sixth of the laborers. In the five principal industries Jewish master-workmen formed from nearly one-tenth to nearly one-half. In the following trades Jews formed between one-fourth and nearly two-thirds of the entire workers: watchmakers, tinners, modistes, tailors, glazers, housepainters, coopers and bookbinders. In all the garment industries nearly one-third of the workers were Jews. The principal trades of the Jews, in which two-thirds of the Jewish industrial workers were found, were, in order: tailors, shoemakers, tinners, joiners and planers, and bakers.[29] The Jews in Roumania were thus more strongly concentrated in industry and less in commerce than their Russian brethren.
As masters and workmen they play a part in Roumanian large-scale and small-scale industry nearly four and a half times as large as their proportion in the total population. Their participation in commerce is equally large.
The Jews in Roumania present the same social characteristics, relatively to the surrounding population, as the Jews in Russia. The Jews were overwhelmingly concentrated in the towns. 80 per cent of the Jews dwelt in the towns; 84 per cent of the non-Jews dwelt in the villages. Of the population in the department-capitals the Jews constituted one-fifth. Of the population of the other towns they constituted more than one-tenth. In some of the department-capitals, notably Jassi, the Jews were a majority of the total population. In six other department-capitals they constituted from one-fourth to one-half of the population.
That the Jews are of a higher educational standing than the Roumanians is seen in the fact that they possessed a higher rate of literacy, having relatively twice as many literates among the males and nearly twice as many among the females. Confining this comparison to the cities, however, we find that the Jews had a higher literacy only in the age-groups above fifteen. The Roumanian urban population between the ages of seven and fifteen showed a higher literacy than the corresponding group among the Jews, indicating the influence of the special restrictions on Jewish education which will later be discussed.
While the higher literacy of the Jews in Russia and Roumania is due partly to residence in towns, the restrictions on the Jewish participation in the educational facilities afforded by the Russian and Roumanian governments have been so great as to make the higher educational standing of the Jews practically a product of their own efforts.