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* S AMUEL UNTERMYER! A name to conjure with! A name that summons memories of courage and valor and intelligence. Intricately interwoven with the history of the na tion for fifty years, his name shines lu minously from the pattern of a country’s record. He belongs to a race of giants who stood forth and challenged coward ice and corruption, who dared to speak eloquently of right and denounce vio lently the wrong. But never before could Jews lay claim to this small-statured man. He was with them in their ills and celebrates their victories. But his life was part of the symphony of a wider circle. He was rooted in the America that saw justice in terms of all men and that had neither the time nor the patience to seek out equity for the individual man. Samuel Untermyer was always, with certain rare and brilliant exceptions, “counsel for the people,” He protected them against expropriation by the money pow ers. He defended them against spolia tion by the scheming and the corrupt. He identified himself with Jewish causes hut only with the haste of one who must rush on to more pressing du ties. Today Samuel Untermyer belongs to the Jews. He is not only concerned with their problems, hut is attempting their solution. There can he no question that today Samuel Untermyer stands forth as the foremost Jew in the world. No munificent benefactions earned him that title. No honor conferred by alien pow ers won him that encomium. He is the Jew who towers above his fellows be cause he has given them leadership such as few men in modern times have dared to have his own way; but he 1 is the sympathetic outlook of one who has ob. served injustice in operation. High above the narrow corridor called Pine Street, in the heart of New YorU most merciless financial section, Samur Untermyer sits in a panelled room glow, ing with the flowers that come daily from his vast gardens at Greystone ;n Y'onkers. In his lapel is a fresh bloom, a daily habit that the years have madr more essential to his peace of mind. H haberdashery meticulously correct. I n- m termyer seems unwearied by the manh ■ of the years. ' To his office come men who mam years ago would have waited days for an appointment. Today they have easy a cess. They need only mention the word “boycott.” It is an “open sesame" to the sactuary of the most famous coun sellor at law in America. Eagerly he asks their reaction to the progress of the boycott, urges them to intensify their own activity, presses them to corral SAMUEL UNTERMYER Like Lord Reading, he has harnessed himself to the Jewish Chariot. A Character Sketch of A FIGHTER By Henry Monitor to do. Not even Louis Marshall, his late law partner and friend, gave to the Jewish cause such consistent devotion, such purposeful direction, such unerring discernment of effective attack. There is hardly a day passes but that the name of Samuel Untermyer is on the front pages of New York’s newspapers. He is chiding Tammany Hall for its blindness to the need for economy. He is excoriating the Wall Street brokers for their un willingness to bear a fair share of the city’s tax burden. He is planning how to extricate the city administration from an unfortunate financial sit uation. It is only occasionally that his boycott activities win him front-page notice. The boycott against Germany is stale news in New York by this time and details in connection therewith rate tenth twentieth page. But the press clippings Samuel Untermyer, <who through his leadership of the boycott movement against Germany has given direction and purpose to the Jewish counter-attack against the \’ati regime. The following is a brief outline of the character and methods of the man. others into a movement that has a world of Jews in its grip. Untermyer believes implicitly that the boycott is the only weapon that can bring Nazi Germany to her knees. Taking up an instrument that had previously been discredited by others, Untermyer has made it the most dangerous weapon which the Reich must parry. It is not only his prestige that has given the bov cott impetus. He has been as unafraid in his emphasis on the boycott as he was in his ruthless investigation into Wall Street corruption in 1913. Where oth ers may have feared the effect on public opinion, where others might have hesi tated to antagonize powerful forces, hr has raised his stentorian voice—not ask But it is only a pose to catch a friend or adver sary unaw'ares. His sight and his hearing require his concentration on objects and sounds. But one need not hope that he will be caught napping. For Untermyer has the intuitive understanding of experience and perception. He has the aggressive ness of one who has always been accustomed or are no measure of the relative interest which Samuel Untermyer takes in the boycott and in civic problems. Nothing that has ever engaged his attention in all his life has for him the same emotional pull, the same heart-breaking intimacy as the boycott against Germany. It is his flaming sw-ord against a world and a country gone mad. That flaming sword has not only attracted mil lions of followers but it has begun to pierce the enemy in his Achilles heel. A few’ w’eeks ago he celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. But he still has the mental exuberance, the physical vitality to refer scoffingly to some Jew ish pseudo-leaders of his own age as “old fogies.” His care-worn face is illuminated by a pair of eyes that have the brilliance of a keen mind and an even sharper tongue. There are times when Untermver seems naive. NAZI OKDKK TO HALT JEWISH BOYCOTT HELD TO HE FUTILE AM) MISLEADING Berlin (WNS). In Jewish ami diplomatic circles here the statement of the Nasi minister of eco nomies declaring that the government will not countenance discrimination between Aryan and non Aryan business tirms because such a policy would disturb the progress of economic recovery is regarded as mcanninglcss ami by no means a con cession. Although tiie annnouncement was made with the alleged approval of I>r. Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda, it can lie of no value to the Jews since most of the large Jewish tirms are no longer in Jewish hands while those still under Jewish management have been forced to dismiss all Jewish employes. As a matter of fact the ink was hardly dry on the statement before another Nasi official declared that in spite of the demand for a cessation of the anti-Jewish boycott the government has no intention of abandoning its plan to create a purely Aryan state. Outside of Berlin Nasi lenders continue to defy the economic ministry’s orders and the economic discrimination against the Jews is being pursued with the same old ruthlessness. From sources close to Nasi head quarter it was learned that this pronouncement by no means Indicates that the Hitler regime is ready to relax its anti-Jewish policy. The statement is believed to have been motivated by two factors: the demand at the League of Nations for action against the German government’s anti-Semitic pro gram. and the growing fear among the more con servative Nasi lenders that the world-wide anti- German boycott will cause an economic collapse in Germany this winter. ing, but demanding. This week it is the manufac turers of imported goods who are being brought into line. Last week it was the combined mer chants of New York who pledged themselve> toil his bidding by eliminating imports from Germany Next week it will be the customs guards who wi; inspect carefully every piece of goods from Ger many and ship back every product labeled Saxom and Bavaria to elude a careless inspector. Untermyer can be a leader because he has n< fears and needs enter no compromise. He can carry into action a systematic program, without regard to a constituency. Samuel Untermyer doe> not follow. He leads. He does not have to be hampered by the timid quibblings of a committee or the democratic frictions of a mass. The boycott has prestige in America today. It is the acknow edged weapon of a defenseless people. The _ r reat achievement must be inscribed to the credit <’t Untermyer. It is to be regretted that the sharpness "t hi> intellect was not placed against the hardn " Jewish problems before. Like Lord Reidin an the late Lord Melchett, he has harnessed h to the Jewish chariot in his riper years. Nov tha his leadership is to be had, he is to be felic He has given courage where there was timon before. He has provided direction where thei * aimlessness. He has given system to that 'h:<- was confusion. Darker days are still ahead. If Untermy y an be placed in a position where he will have t c stant response of millions of Jew-s, he wall leader required by the times, the leader w a goal and is not swerved from it. Copyrighted 1933 for The Southern Israelite h* « THE SOUTHERN ISRAt TT*