JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

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122 'SAOTHAR 13another could therefore manifest itself as a national difference when, for convenience of language, aparty section was centred on a particular national grouping. It was such a development whichoccasioned Connolly's quip. But, more to the point, one of the issues which had originally attractedConnolly to de Lean's SLP and repelled him from H. M. Hyndman' s SDF in Britain had been the latter'sresort to anti-semitism in expressing its differences with de Leon. Connolly was to denounce the SDForgan Justice for having boasted of 'dealing effectually with those malcontents who are bent uponfollowing the lead of the German-Venezuelan Jew Loeb (or de Lean) to the pit of infamy and disgrace'.9Connolly maintained that this was an example of precisely the type of anti-semitic propaganda thatJustice had pursued on the outbreak of the Boer War, and he argued:'Justice, instead of grasping the opportunity to demonstrate the unscrupulous and bloodthirsty methods ofthe capitalist class, strove to divert the wrath of the advanced workers from the capitalists to the Jews; howits readers were nauseated by denunciations of' Jewish millionaires • and 'Jewish plots'. 'Jewish-controllednewspapers', 'German Jews'. 'Israelitish schemes'. and all the stock phrases of the lowest anti-semiticpapers until the paper became positively unreadable to any fair-minded man who recognised the truth, viz.that the war was the child of capitalist greed and inspired by men with whom race or religion were mattersof no moment.' 1 0Despite the factthat the SDF had its own East London Jewish Branch organised in the middle 1890s,Justice had carried an article on the eve of the Boer War by the SDF leader H.M. Hyndman en~t1ed'The Jews' War on the Transvaal' Y This elicited a vigorous riposte from leading SDF memberTheodore Rothstein who reproached Justice with preaching from its pulpit rank anti-semitism. Its antiJewish propaganda might be dangerous and lead to Jew-baiting if the paper had a wide circulation inthe country. 'Happily for the case, though unhappily for the general cause', he added, 'Justice is readby a comparatively small section of the community, so that a national anti-Semitic movement is not tobe expected'.12Given the coincidence of views between Rothstein and Connolly in deploring Justice's antisemitisrri,was it possible that Rothstein might also have authored Connolly's Yiddish-languageelection appeal? A query from this writer to the former's son, Andrew Rothstein, brought a responsewhich suggested a different relative as author:'I am inclined to think that my uncle (on my mother's side) Boris Kahan, may have drafted theappeal. The reason is that he was secretary of the East London Jewish branch of the SDF in 1903 (theyheld a Paris Commune commemoration meeting in that year at which Lenin spoke), and was a guestat the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democrats in London in 1907, in the capacity of hissecretaryship. The text which you append is much more in his style than my father's! They were closefriends'PBoris Kahan had been born in Kiev in January 1877 but Tsarist oppression of both Jews andSocialists had driven this particular Jewish socialist into exile like multitudes of others.14 Having settledin the UK he became Secretary of the SDP's East London Jewish Branch at a very young age.Subsequent research among the William O'Brien Papers confirmed Andrew Rothstein's belief that ithad been Kahan who had authored the Connolly appeal.The initial request by the Irish Socialist Republican Party (ISRP) for a Yiddish-language appeal toDublin Jewish workers was unfortunately not recorded in the minutes of its executive committee. Theminutes for the meeting of 5 October, 1902, however, record that 'it was decided to payoff ale for theJewish election literature'. On 14 October it was reported back that' Jewish alc for election literature7s.7d. paid as arranged'. A week later the minutes record receipt of correspondence from 'M. Kahn[sic], sec. East London Jewish Branch, SDF ... acknowledging receipt of 7s.7d. in payment of alc andenclosing Is. (stamps sent to WR)',IS The ISRP minutes secretary had, of course, misread the,signatureof Boris Kahan in this letter addressed to Connolly, which is also contained in the O'Brien Papers.Kahan's letter stated how glad he was to receive the Workers Republic, asked for it to be sent to him
DOCUMENT STUDY123SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION.EAST LONDON' (",•• I.h) BRANCH .. V·,---,Ail Ct)mmunirallofU< 10I.106, Com.ntenclII.l koad, ELetter to James Connolly, Secretary, ISRP,jrom Boris Kahan, Secretary,East London (Jewish) Branch, SDF, 19 October, 1902regularly, and in enclosing a shilling subscription he further requested that 'when money runs shortplease let me knoW'.16. What had occasioned Kahan' s leaflet on behalf ofConnolly? At the ISRP meeting of 14 November,1901 it was announced that the United Labourers' Union, with headquarters at 26 Fishamble Street,Dublin, were anxious to run a candidate in the forthcoming municipal elections and that Party Secretary
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JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY
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ContentsPageEditorial: Labour Histo
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EDITORIAL 3freedom to participate i
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CorrespondenceThe Irish Labour Part
Page 9 and 10:
; ~ ; ,The Decline and Fall of Donn
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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF DONNYBROOK
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·' THE DECLINE AND FALL OF DONNYBR
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,'-,;-''''.A PASSAGE TO BRITAIN 23C
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A PASSAGE TO BRITAIN 25only in the
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A PASSAGE TO BRITAIN 27clothing._De
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A PASSAGE TO BRITAIN 29established
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;:-.",.- .. .", ...... '.:. '
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LOUIE BENNETI 33feminist movement w
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:... ~: ."
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-.- '.LOUlE BENNETT 37While there i
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LOUIE ~ENNEIT 39Xl's encyclical Qua
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LOUIE BENNEIT 41Bennett's own relat
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LODIE BENNETT 43109; IWWU resolutio
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Essays in ReviewCosherers, Wanderer
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••• .".'. >. '~"ESSA YS IN RE
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ESSAYS IN REVIEW 49ConnolIy:Myth an
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ESSAYS IN ~EVIEW 51tion' in the Int
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ESSAYS IN REVIEW53International:'I
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REVIEWScontroversy is real history.
Page 59 and 60:
REVIEWSJoe Monks was among the earl
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REVIEWSnolly-Column Song','Proudly
Page 63 and 64:
REVIEWSresulting from the arrival o
Page 65 and 66:
REVIEWS,63the book by means of an a
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REVIEWSlogue, it is hardly surprisi
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The Team For All Workers ...CULIAIB
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ESSAYS 69mission and moral refonn.l
Page 73 and 74: .. ...... ~.~ -~ .'- '.ESSAYS. 71fr
Page 75 and 76: ESSAYS 73claimed authority but whic
Page 77 and 78: ESSAYS 75provided the basis for soc
Page 79 and 80: ESSAYS 779. For comparisons see E.T
Page 81 and 82: ESSAYS 7952. Annals of Christ Churc
Page 83 and 84: ESSAYS' 81Fianna Fail and the Worki
Page 85 and 86: ESSAYS 83Eireann in 1925 visibly di
Page 87 and 88: ESSAYS 85recognition of the impract
Page 89 and 90: ESSAYS 871970, it created the condi
Page 91 and 92: ESSAYS89The Irish Immigrants' Contr
Page 93 and 94: ESSAYS" 91Although anti -Catholic p
Page 95 and 96: ESSAYS 93McCowie played a key role
Page 97 and 98: :. -,,'.' ',. .~.,:.ESSAYS 95Althou
Page 99 and 100: ESSAYS 97young girl of their own ba
Page 101 and 102: SourcesIrish Labour History Society
Page 103 and 104: SOURCES 101INovember, 1971 to no. 1
Page 105 and 106: SOURCES 103would claim credit for t
Page 107 and 108: SOURCES105Sources for Irish Labour
Page 109 and 110: SOURCES 107NorthWest Archives and L
Page 111 and 112: SOURCES 109In 1966 the Finnish gove
Page 113 and 114: TURNINGANEWLEAFThe CPSSUis the larg
Page 115 and 116: REMINISCENCE 113us due to my politi
Page 117 and 118: REMINISCENCE 115when Jim was presen
Page 119 and 120: REMINISCENCE 117of Dail Eireann. 17
Page 121 and 122: REMINISCENCE 119NotesThe above arti
Page 123: DOCUMENT STUDY 121James Connolly in
Page 127 and 128: DOCUMENT STUDY 125proletariat of th
Page 129 and 130: DOCUMENT STUDY 127the support of Je
Page 131 and 132: DOCUMENT STUDY 12926. The Workers'
Page 133 and 134: 131BibliographyA Bibliography of Ir
Page 135 and 136: BIBLIOGRAPHY 133Compton, P.A. Demog
Page 137 and 138: BIBLIOGRAPHY 135Levine, I. and Madd
Page 139 and 140: BIBLIOGRAPHY 137Turner, M. 'Towards
Page 141 and 142: BIBLIOGRAPHY 1394. Land and Agricul
Page 143 and 144: BIBLIOGRAPHY 141Clogher Record12 (2
Page 145 and 146: BIBLIOGRAPHY 143Political Research
Page 147 and 148: BIBLIOGRAPHY 145Pres, 1987.O'Brien,
Page 149 and 150: 147Notes on Contributorsf onathanBe
Page 151 and 152: 1901: Ireland's first general union
Page 153 and 154: ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION .Establishe
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