The Modern Moses.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 20 October 1891, Page 2

The Modern Moses.

11 The Russian loan of twenty million

sterling has been subscribed sevenfold in France alone. Baron Hirsch was one of the largest subscribers." This is the significant news received from Europe. Baron Hirsch is the millionaire who is making himself public by his efforts to relieve the sufferings of his co-religionists in Eussia, by securing tracts of land in other countries for them to settle on, and by assisting them to emigrate. An English contemporary gives the following sketch of the Baron : — " He is the supreme type of the unscrupulous speculator. He is as near a prototype of the the great robber barons of the American railroads as Europe can produce. He ' spoils the Egyptians,' or rather the Turks, and now, having amassed a fortune estimated at twenty to thirty millions, he proposes to tithe it for the purpose of carrying out a new Exodus." With all the agitation against the Jews in Bussia, it is thought possible that the Tzar will refuse to let the children of Israel go, and thus the action of Baron Hirsch in regard to the loan may be of much moment to the persecuted people. In the days of old, Pharoah made many promises to let the Israelites go, but until very harsh measures were adopted, he constantly changed his mind. The following story, which is stated as being true, will help to explain what may possibly have been the motive that induced the Baron to become such a large subscriber to the loan, so that in the event of the Tzar proving restive to his schemes, he might act in a somewhat similar manner : — " About forty years a»o the first Russian political refugee, Alexander Heiv.en, settled in London and founded the first Russian free press and paper, called the Bell. He

was a wealthy man, and before starting for his voluntary exile he converted all his landed property into bonds of the State, On coming to England he wanted to realise on these bonds ; but it somehow happened that the Government knew the numbers of Herzon's bonds, and the ( zar, Nicholas 1., thought he would ruin his enemy by ordering the Bank of the State to refuse his bonds as worthless. The Bank obeyed, as a matter of course, although it was contrary to law. But Herzon found a strong man to take care of his interest, Mr Kothschild, the elder, who sent to the Tzar's Government a note intimating that since the bonds in question were in all respects as good as other Russian bonds, he would consider their rejection as an evidence of insolvency arid would declare the Tzar of all the Russias a bankrupt upon all the stock exchanges of Europe. The Czar Nicholas put his pride into his pocket and ordered the Bank to accept Herzen's bonds.