"Your Excellency will now permit me to state my humble opinion with regard to the accusation of the Israelites feeling disinclined to cultivate the land. The great facilities which His Majesty's benevolent Government afforded me for the purpose of having the necessary intercourse with my brethren, enabled me to learn that they were always desirous, and are at present most anxious to devote themselves to agriculture. I shall adduce the following statement in support of this assertion:—In the year 1835, when His Imperial Majesty most graciously declared that the Israelites should cultivate the land, a great many of them shewed their willingness to desert their homes and move even to the remotest parts of the country. Unfortunately after several hundreds of Israelites had sold all their moveable and immoveable property to repair to Tobolsk and Omsk, in Siberia (these two places having been assigned to them), and actually succeeded, though not without great sufferings on the road, in reaching, with their wives and children, the above-named colonies, it was intimated to them that the land was not to be cultivated by the Israelites. In the year 1840, a great many families went to Kherson for the same purpose, but a considerable number of them on their arrival found their plans frustrated. They were most kindly treated, it is true, by His Excellency the Governor of Wilna. Every adult received forty-eight copecks banco assignations, and every child half that sum. They were also provided with the necessary vehicles for their conveyance, one being assigned to each family; but as they proceeded thence into the other Guberniums the adults received only twenty-four copecks banco and the children twelve copecks banco each, and the number of vehicles was reduced to one for every two families. The emigrants had to wait several days before the vehicles were ready for their use, during which time they were not provided with the necessary diet money. They were further furnished with boats for the purpose of performing part of the journey on the river Berezina and Dnieper. The money requisite to pay the hire of these boats was deducted from the amount allotted for their diet. The Israelites were assured that it would take them only a fortnight's time to make the passage on the rivers, and for this reason only received money to defray the expenses of their diet during that period; but the passage occupied seven weeks, and they had to sustain themselves out of their own means. Many of them were great sufferers from severe cold and hunger, and a considerable number who had not even the smallest coin beyond that which they received from Government, being left without food, whilst they had to endure the inclemency of the season, necessarily perished.
"The survivors, on arriving at the places of their destination, found that they could not obtain possession of the houses, agricultural implements, and cattle assigned for them in the month of May in accordance with the decree of His Majesty's Government, but had to wait for them until the month of August, and for the articles furnished to them which were of a very bad description, they were subject to a charge considerably exceeding their value.
"The rye seed which the Israelites ought to have received in the month of August, was not given to them before the month of October; the consequence was, that the crops of the first year did not prosper, and they were obliged to take provision from the Government for the next year also. The seed for the summer crops which ought to have been given them in the month of March, they did not receive before the month of May; thus they were obliged to put the seed into the ground very late in the season, and heavy rains which followed again caused the crops to fail. The habitations assigned for their occupation being of very bad materials, and badly constructed, most of them soon fell to the ground.
"Then followed an epidemic disease among the cattle, and the Israelites suffered a considerable loss. In consequence of this misfortune the Government benevolently ordered passports to be granted in order that they might repair to other places for the purpose of gaining their daily bread; but instead of paying for a passport valid for a year, according to the law of the country, they had sometimes to pay most exorbitantly.
"In addition to this and other similar hardships, I may mention the fact of the Poll Tax being demanded from the old settlers who are not liable to it.
"In the year 1844, when an Imperial Ukase appeared again inviting the Hebrews to agriculture, with a grant of support out of the Korabka, His Majesty's Hebrew subjects, desirous to avail themselves of this Ukase, not only forwarded their humble petitions on the subject to the Governors of their respective towns and villages, but even made voluntary offers to defray the necessary expenses from their own means. Your Excellency has full evidence of this fact in the numerous applications addressed to your illustrious person, and I feel convinced that your Excellency will be surprised to hear that difficulties are thrown in the way on occasions like the following.
"Some Crown land situate in the vicinity of Wilna and Kowno was offered to the public by auction, and Israelites were prohibited from being amongst the applicants, although many of them distinctly declared their willingness to cultivate the land in question personally. All this, I trust, will be sufficient to satisfy your Excellency that the Israelites are not averse to agricultural pursuits, and that there is no foundation for the charge brought against them in this respect.
"Having thus, I trust, convinced your Excellency that there is no just ground for the accusation that my brethren are disinclined to work laboriously and cultivate the land, I now humbly request your Excellency to consider with your wonted justice the two other charges brought against them, viz.:—
"That they impose upon the peasant and deal in contraband goods, these vices being traceable to a disposition to idleness. I trust, however, I have succeeded in proving that idleness is unjustly charged against them, and in further refutation of these two imputations against the Israelites generally, I may also be justified in observing that a man, however inclined he may be to accumulate riches, will not readily give up an occupation which insures him bread in comfort, and respectability for a business that is attended with little profit and great risk of life. I have already stated to your Excellency that only the fourth part of the Hebrew population in each town or village is engaged in commercial pursuits, and supposing even for a moment, that all the merchants in any one town might be liable to transgress the law of excise and customs (which case, I think, almost impossible, as the Hebrew law distinctly forbids such transgressions), surely so wise and benevolent a Government will not cause the removal of the entire Hebrew population from the Austrian and Prussian frontiers, because a few among them may have acted in opposition to the law? For these delinquents I do not intercede, His Majesty's wise and paternal Government will treat them like similar offenders in the Imperial cities of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, where I believe it will appear from the records preserved by His Majesty's Minister of Finance, there exists a great number of them notwithstanding the entire absence of Israelites. I implore only the extension of its merciful protection to the rest of the Hebrew inhabitants.
"The presence of the Israelites in the various villages throughout the Empire is said to be pernicious to the peasants. From the information I received, your Excellency will perceive that this cannot be the case. My informants assured me that since the Israelites were obliged to leave the Guberniums of White Russia and Little Prussia, the peasants have found themselves in a most deplorable state, and are very often in such an unfortunate condition that they are even without the seeds necessary for the future crops, which never happened whilst the Israelites were amongst them.