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The Sor thehn Israelite Page 3 ■ CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE Again millions of people are grate ful, or at least should be, to Samuel Untermeyer. Known within the past ft-w decades as the champion of the people’s interests, Untermeyer has von his last great battle: the struggle between a great transit corporation L n d the public. When the Supreme Court of the United States recently decided that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company of New York City Las exorbitant in its demand for a keven-cent fare, and that a five-cent ■are was sufficient, even the most Conservative metropolitan newspapers blared forth the news in glaring streamers. It might not be of interest Ko other citizens throughout the Country, but the five-cent fare had b< en a social, political and economic roblem for many years in New York itGreat legal talent, headed by harles Evans Hughes, former Secre- try of State, declared that the five- ?nt fare was confiscatory, and that u* company was entitled to a higher fn e. New York City had assembled U al counsel, of greater and lesser Hghts, but it is well known that the in n whose ideas gave heart to the bi ef presented to the Supreme Court of the United States was Samuel Un- krmeyer. I There was a time when Untermeyer Was actively interested in Jewish af- fa rs. Rut rumor has it that the ag- gr ssiveness which he displays in his Wgal battles made him persona non gr a with those organizations which Itk ■ to transact their business through Btensive committees, endless red tape •n similar paraphernalia. Unter- nn yer has his own ideas on every sub- jet : and is very likely to withdraw interest from a project when his Jews are not promptly put into exe- CO' ion. ith the exception of the pait he Ux k in solving the New York transit Ur gle, Untermeyer has absented him- ^Pf > n large part from public affairs fci several years. But at the age of ie\enty-one, a birthday he but re cti ly passed, he is still the vigorous attorney who is always looking for conditions to investigate and corpora te to attack. ^Bhat he is a millionaire is a fact ^■ich many people must remember abbut Untermeyer, and that others leeringly remind him of. They *tgard it as incongruous that this ^Bn who has gathered huge sums in practice of law, defending most ^Bbody should now permit himself accepted as the guardian of the defenseless. Though Untermeyer to- is not by any means losing his ^Bome, the basis for his large fortune H* the days when he repre- ^■ted giant corporations and rail ■ s - as well as art collectors and ^rces. He is credited with having e possible one of the greatest mer- s of its day, that between the Utah P er Co., and the Boston Consoli- • Mr. Untermeyer very proudly ts to the fact that his lawyer’s alone on this case amounted to Moo. A Character Sketch of Samuel Untermeyer Hy JOSEPH SALMARCK Again the name of Samuel Untermeyer in in the headlines. This time it is in connection with the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court declar ing that a five-cent is sufficient for New York City. This disposition of an im mensely important cause is credited to the legal talent of Untermeyer, some of whose characteristics are touched upon i)i this sketch. The Editor. But, having acquired his wealth, Untermeyer very readily turned to less compensatory tasks. He under took to act in almost any case where the constitutional or personal rights of the public and individuals were threatened. It was he who made the Joint Legislative Commission on Housing held some years ago in New York an important factor in cleaning up the building industries. And when Untermeyer takes part in an investi gation, there is room for nobody else. He considers it fair that since he gives his personal time voluntarily to the case that he be permitted to carry it through to its conclusion according to his own plans. Perhaps his -most famous case, which brought him national attention, was that in which he acted as counsel for the Commission on Banking and JERUSALEM ELECTRIC COM- PANY AGREES TO EMPLOY JEWISH LABOR Jerusalem (J. T. A.).—A promise to employ fifty per cent Jewish labor in future undertakings which are to be started shortly was made by the Jerusalem Electric Corporation, fol lowing the objections raised by the Vaad Ha’ir against the company’s failure to employ Jews in the Jeru salem electrification work. The new work will begin as soon as new ma chines arrive. London (J. T. A..)—The Palestine representative of the Electric Corpor ation makes no distinction between Jews and non-Jews, but employment of labor is purely a business matter, declared Mr. Shearer, director of the London branch of the Jerusalem Elec tric Corporation to a representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The company works closely with the Jewish people in England, he added. The Jerusalem Electric Corporation cannot see its way to co-operate with the Ruttenberg Electric Corporation which is a distinct and separate under taking. It is expected that the work will be concluded by the end of the year when power and light will be available within a 20 kilometer radius from the Church of the Holy Sepul chre. Currency of the House of Representa tives. It was called the Pujo money trust investigation, in which a num ber of banks and several members of the Stock Exchange were charged with manipulating the money market in America. Never a respecter of per sons, Untermeyer summoned such men as the elder J. Pierpont Morgan and so cleverly cross-examined the witness that several damaging admis sions were elicited from the great financier. Mr. Untermeyer’s investiga tion may not have resulted in any actual beneficial results, but at least it provided the country with a sensa tion and temporarily brought the pub lic’s attention to regretable conditions in the money market. Samuel Untermeyer is perhaps the most curious character in American Jewry. He is a member, with Louis INTER-COLLEGIATE GOODWILL CONFERENCE HELD AT SOUTHERN COLLEGE Winter Park, Fla. (J. T. A.).—Over three hundred students and faculty members of Southern colleges par ticipated in the intercollegiate confer ence held at Rollins College here April 19-21 for better understanding and relationship of Catholics, Protestants and Jews. The suggestion that similar parleys be held at colleges throughout the country was voiced by a number of the speakers. Rabbi Solomon Goldman addressed the session, contrasting Judaism and Christianity, calling Judaism a cul ture while Christianity is a religion. The religion of the Jews is eclectic, Rabbi Goldman said. Father Ross of New York represented the Catholics and William Adams Brow r n, the Pro testants. “Philosophy and Religion” was the subject of an address by Cornelius Kruse. The Rev. Everett Clinchy, sec retary of the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, spoke on “Religion and Social Relationships. Round table dis cussions were led by each of the speakers. Several of the sessions were held in the home of President Hamil ton Holt of Rollins. The other sessions were held on the campus. Marshall, in the firm of Guggen- heimer, Untermeyer and Marshall, but he has not taken as active a part as Marshall in the Jewish community. For a time he was President of the Palestine Foundation Fund, in the days when Louis Marshall would not be associated with the Palestine en terprise. But he severed his public of fices, is high in the councils of his party, the Republican, and is often thought of when honorary rewards are to be distributed. Charles Evans Hughes, furthermore, is regarded as a benefacter of the public for the part he has taken in seven investigations of trusts and monopolies. Untermeyer has been responsible for more prob ings in to business misfeasance but seems to be promptly forgotten when the investigation is over. Though a Democrat, who has attended many na tional conventions as a delegate, he has apparently never been thought of by his party in connection with high office. And even when Samuel wanted his son, Irwin, to get some political office, he was rejected at the polls. The secret of the situation is that Untermeyer is not content to confine his aggressiveness to investigations. Charles Evans Hughes has been known to compromise, to soft-pedal and to evade issues. Untermeyer, how ever, is always straightforward. He thinks that most politicians are crooked, and publicly says so. He speaks his mind openly on public questions even at a time when it might embarass his party. The result is that Untermeyer is considered too unreli able for public offices, which would require pussyfooting and reticence. To the public, Untermeyer is a stern, ruthless prosecutor. There are few who know him as a sort of coun try gentleman, who reserves his emo tional moments for his estate outside of New York, where he reveals him self to his family as nothing like the man the people know. In this garden, one of the most famous in the coun try, which he himself cultivates, Samuel Untermeyer is an old Jewish patriarch, forgetful of suits and coun tersuits, corruption and incompetency, content with the beautiful home he has made for himself and the hours of triumph he has enjoyed. By the time he was twenty-one Un termeyer had argued several impor tant cases. Now that he is seventy-one, he is still engaged in large contests, with this difference: He usually is not paid for them. Some time ago Unter meyer was reprimanded by the Su preme Court for his conduct in a cer tain case. It appeared that nothing that had occurred for many years so upset the veteran of the bar as did the pronouncement of the Court. The decision of the Supreme Court with regard to the New York five-cent fare may be held by Untermeyer as sooth ing balm, and plenty of it, for an out raged spirit. (Copyright, 1929, by Seven Arts Fea ture Syndicate.)