THE HONEST JEW.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10007, 1 April 1910, Page 3

THE HONEST JEW.

HOW THE BOUSE' OF ROTHSCHILD AkuSE. Ircagine in your mind's eye a dirty little back street in the city of Fra-kfort-on-the-Main. The houses have still a medieval 100k —it is th e middle of the eighteenth century they have evil-locking cellars, the top stories overhang, the sunlight seldom enters its tortuous passages, the people are meanly clad and poor. The whole aspect of the place is repellent. Yet here was founded the house of Rothschild. Here, in this dirty backs treet, was laid the foundation of that business whicn was to rule kings, which was to make war possible or impossible, at the will of one or two master minds. The present great business was started by Meyer Anslem Rothschild. He was bom in 1743. He had a fair education because his,parents wished him to become either a priest. or a schoolmaster. ; His inclination tended neither way. He wished to enter commercial life. He became bookkeeper in a moneychanger's office, 1 : After a time, after living frugally and saving nearly every thaler he received, be started business on his own account as a money-chang-er. Those were black days. Often, although he had some money in his cash box, be practically starved. Because he could not and would not touch his stock in trade. That would have meant hopeless failure, and Meyer Rothschild was not the mani to. fa'l. He had lived up to one sound motto: "Thrift and Integrity." It was a poor substitute for bread aid butter. But it won him his way. He became known as the "honest Jew," and when things were at their blackest with him, they turned for the best. Business came slowly and s'irely,,. then.overwhelmed him. The Prince of HesseCassel dealt with him. The Prince had acquired a fortune of nearly a million in a strange way. he sold his subjects as mercenaries to foreign countries to fight against .Napoleon. The Republican army was marching against Frankfort to punish the prince. To save his life he had to fly, but he could not take bis wealth with him —it was in silver and jewels. Then to the honest money-changer in the narrow street be turned in his dilemma. There was no time to waste. The; pickets were coming in in breathless haste, proclaiming the rapid march of the invading army. AH was consternation in the city. The pnnce had no army of his own; he had sold it.'/ He offered RotbschiMthe whole of his wealth. Would he mind it for him? He wanted ho receipt. He wauted ho interest. The honest Jew could use it and do what he liked with it, provided it was hidden from the French. The Jew refused. So big a sum of money terrified him. It Was dangerous and useless. The prince besought and protested, and at last Rothschild consented. Taking the million into bis possession, be altered the destine* of nations. His house made war or "peace at"will. How'/many wars it J m'ade wili never, perhaps, be known. Certainly on three occasions it has preserved the peace of Europe. ";, At dead of nightvthe treasure -was removed and deposited in a hole l in Rothschild's garden. ' Imagine this sceije, if you can. The Freiich almost thundering at the gates of the cityi while the prince land the Jew and a panic stricken rabble, gathered in haste without testimony, haphazard as they came, buried this vast sum of in his little plot of ground/ Nd woqder Rothschild was terrified at the: po*Hes.sionof it. Anyone'3f his labourers ' mighHave cot bis ; throat or turned,], informer. •' .J fo*th s eir 4 credit, they did not. . The s|oiled' him of 6is'b9n/ L'CuWingly he ! ; - J ' 000 thaier^—iie.OQO—but he ' saved the 'prince's million) Then, when the took place, •he opened his I ' office* agaiii' l an ! d i kecoimmencecl his I daily routine of calm and steady industry, !/.He dug up the treasure and used it. In at h^n'tj ; sb as not to excite suspicion, then 'in big sums, as :-''occaai%' '"■''.''.'"*.'■ *''/■ln^(i2l'the of' Hesse Cassel returned. He was almost afraid to i call upon the Jew. -Even if the French had left anythirg, aurely'the honesty of Meyer Poihschild could hot be proof against so strong temp-

tation as he had been compelled by due necessity to put in his way. "Did the lascals lake all?" he asked. "Not a thaJnr," replied the Jew gravely. "What say you," returned his 4 high- [ nesa "not a thaler. Why I was in- j formed that all your coffers had been j emptied and yourself mad-i a dps- ' gar. I even read so in the gazettes." j "Yes, it was so, may it please j your highness, and I was too shrewd for the French. By letting them take j my own -little stock, • I saved your great one. I knew that as I was reputed wealthy, although by no means so, if I should remove any of , my own cold and silver from their j bags and coffers the robbers would ' be sure to search for it; and in do- j ing so, would not forget to dig in j the garden. ' I "It was wonderful what a keen j acent these fellows possessed. Thi y actually poured buckets of waierover some of my neighbour's kitchen ami cellar floors, in order to diocover by the rapid sinking of ti.e fluid wuetler the tiles and earth had been recently dug up. "Well, as I was saying, I buried your treasure in the garden, and it remained untouched until the robbers lefc Frankfort to go in search of plunder elsewhere. Now, then, to the point: As tne sansculottes left me not a kreutzer to carry on my business, as several good opportunities offered o£ making a nandsome profit and as I thought it a pity that so much good money should lie idle while the merchants were both leady and willing to give large interest, the temptations of converting your highness' florins to present use haunt ed my thoughts by day and my dreams by night. "Not to detain your highness with a long story, I dug up the treasure and deposited the jewels in a strong box fromwhk-h they have never since been moved; I employed our gold and silver in my business; my speculations were profitable, and lam now able to restore your deposit, with 5 per cent interest since- the day on which you left it under my care.'' "I thank you heartily," my good friend," said the prince, "for the great care you have taken and the sacrifices you have made. As for the interest of 5 per cent., let that replace the sum which the French took from you; I beg you will add it to any other profit you have made. As a reward for your singular, honesty, I shall still leave my cash in your hands for twenty years longer, at the low rate of 2 per cent, interest per annum, the same being more as an ackthe deposit, in case of the death of either of us, than with a view to making a profit by you. I trust that this will enable you to.use my florins with advantage in a way which may appear most beneficial to your own interests." ' It was a time of war among na tions. v Every ruler needed money, and was prepared to pay a high rate of interest for it. Rothschild extracted tne last drop of blood from the borrower wno fljcued to him, and they, in their turn, squeezed the taxes f.om their unfortunate subjects. The British Government employed him as agpnt for the payment of £12,000,000 to her Prussian allies , during the w*r with Napoleon. This waa tne first great transaction of the Hebrew house, and it left a splendid profit in their hands.