Such a one-sided distribution of Jewish labour would not be a negative
phenomenon if it were possible to spread it uniformly over the entire
country. For, backward as Russia is industrially and commercially, the
Jews would easily find a place in the fields of endeavour which suit
them best and would greatly benefit the country by furthering the
process of its industrialisation. Under present circumstances they are
crowded in one place and overburden the commerce and the industry of
the Pale of Settlement. As a result, the struggle for existence among
them is so keen and desperate that in some sections they are
undoubtedly on the way to degeneration. In the West, Galicia and
Roumania excluded, the Jews are well represented in the wealthy
classes; in Russia an overwhelming portion of them are proletaries,
"free like birds," poverty-stricken people who literally do not know
to-day by what they are going to live to-morrow. Heart-rending
pictures are painted by impartial observers of the life of the Jewish
poorer classes, of all these tradesmen, factory workers, petty
merchants and peddlers.
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