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 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 A STUDY IN PRACTICAL IDEALISM 
 
 BY 
 
 OLIVIA ROSSETTI AGRESTI 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 
 1922
 
 Copyright, 1922, 
 By Little, Brown, and Company. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Published November, 1922 
 
 Printed in the United States or America
 
 A RECOLLECTION OF DAVID LUBIN 
 
 More than fifteen years ago I first met David Lubin. 
 We were in Rome, dining with the Nelson Gays, who invited 
 several notables, political and literary, to meet us. Among 
 these was Lubin, whom I had never heard of before. But 
 during my conversation with him, I was at once impressed 
 by him. He was a man of medium size, well built and with 
 a remarkable head. He seemed to say things of special 
 pertinence to me, and I found myself listening to his remarks 
 when they casually emerged above the general hum. 
 
 When the dinner broke up I asked my friends to tell me 
 all they could about Mr. Lubin and his ideals, and I heard 
 that he had just had an interview with the King, who had 
 promised to back up Lubin's undertaking. No wonder 
 that he was overjoyed by the certainty that his project was 
 at last to be given an open free trial. "King Victor Em- 
 manuel", he said to me later, "was the fifteenth crowned 
 head, or ruler of a government, to whom I explained my 
 project : and he was the first to see its purport. He is an 
 idealist, a believing idealist, and this gave me a double satis- 
 faction when he saw that my plan was good." 
 
 Lubin was a very busy man, but I met him soon again, 
 and I had the good fortune to see him several times during 
 our stay in Rome. I recall especially one evening when he 
 invited me to dine with him at his trattoria, which seemed 
 to be connected with the old-fashioned hotel at Capo le 
 Case, where he had rooms. We sat at a little round table, 
 and the waiter brought us our food, course by course, and 
 weighed the fiasco of wine at the end, as if we were two well- 
 recognized frequenters of the place as Lubin was.
 
 vi A RECOLLECTION OF DAVID LUBIN 
 
 I found it very easy to talk with him. I asked a few details 
 about his great project, and he replied copiously, minutely, 
 nor have I forgotten the infection (if I may use the word) 
 of his language. Afterwards when I tried to remember 
 what he said, I realized that not merely the words them- 
 selves, but the tone of his voice and the emphasis combined 
 to produce the total impression. All the other diners had 
 finished and gone, before we bade each other good night, 
 and I walked up the hill to my hotel, feeling strangely ex- 
 hilarated, and fully persuaded that I had been listening 
 for two hours to a Minor Hebrew Prophet. 
 
 Lubin had the great gift of simplification. Political 
 Economy, which was the basis of his argument, became 
 suddenly the most real and living of subjects, and you saw 
 at a glance the moral aspect of each situation. The bushels 
 of corn, the quintals of vegetables, the gallons of wine, or 
 oil, which he registered and discussed, ceased to be material, 
 dead things and stood out as vital human parts of the life 
 of the people on a lower plane. It was because he saw the 
 moral foundation of life that he foresaw the inestimable 
 benefit that might come to mankind from his Agricultural 
 Institute. 
 
 Many years later I saw that Lubin was to lecture before 
 a students' club at Harvard, and I went down to hear him. 
 He was much older nearly seventy, if I remember the 
 date aright and much hampered by heart disease. But 
 he spoke with his old-time urgency and clearness. I felt 
 that the young men, who listened to him, did not quite 
 understand him. Perhaps there were too few Victor Em- 
 manuels among them. Perhaps it will require another 
 half century to raise up the Idealists for whom he looked. 
 
 Are we not all indebted to Signora Agresti for writing 
 this life of David Lubin, thereby enabling us to know one 
 of the distinctive great men of his age one of the Light- 
 Bringers ? 
 
 William Roscoe Thayer 
 
 August 20, 1922.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Recollection of David Lttbin v 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I The Motive 1 
 
 II From Infancy to Manhood IS 
 
 HI Pioneer Years in California: The Upbuilding of a 
 
 Business 38 
 
 IV A Journey to Palestine 63 
 
 V First Public Activities 81 
 
 VI Lubin the Sacramentan 95 
 
 VII Transportation and Tariff Ill 
 
 VHI The Horizon Widens 131 
 
 IX "Let There Be Light" 148 
 
 X A Missionary in Rome 165 
 
 XI The Romance of an Idea 185 
 
 XII The International Institute of Agriculture . . 206 
 
 Xm David Lubin the Propagandist 217 
 
 XIV The Master Builder 232 
 
 XV Russia The Balkans Peace 249 
 
 XVI Ten Years of Work for America .... 267 
 
 XVII David Lubin the Internationalist .... 290 
 
 XVIII David Lubin as Educator 805 
 
 XIX The Great War and the Great Peace . . . 324 
 
 XX Salve atque Vale 849 
 
 Index 353
 
 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 A STUDY IN PRACTICAL IDEALISM 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE MOTIVE 
 
 "... I think that you follow me. But, human-like, 
 you want to know my motive before you can trust me. 
 Well, my motive is not salary, not a medal, nor social scin- 
 tillations, nor is it to be a Count of Sacramento. I wish to 
 serve the dear old Uncle, Uncle Samuel, and you laugh ! 
 But how many better men have given their lives for the 
 Uncle. But there is a higher service still, and that is for 
 the United States of the World. And I am happy to be an 
 humble soldier, a private, in this Army. Do you under- 
 stand ? And when one is such in dead earnest, the Almighty 
 does not mind that he is an ordinary scrub and no educated 
 diplomat. That same Almighty makes him a 'persona gra- 
 tissima just everywhere; because this is His great fun in 
 His Divine Comedy. And that is the reason that He took 
 common scrubs for His prophets and His great workers, and 
 * who shall say Him nay ? ' ..." 
 
 Thus wrote David Lubin in September, 1908, in a letter in 
 which he tried to interest Mr. Gifford Pinchot, then a mem- 
 ber of the Roosevelt Administration, in the International 
 Institute of Agriculture. And in this quotation we get the 
 key to the master passion of his life, the passion for Service ;
 
 2 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 not service for one class or for one nation, but for the realiza- 
 tion on earth of that high ideal of equity and justice which 
 he believed would ultimately result in the Commonwealth 
 of Nations, the United States of the World. 
 
 It seems a long cry from these lofty ideals to the practical 
 and prosaic work of international crop-reporting and co- 
 operative systems of rural credit, the stability of ocean 
 freight rates and systems for promoting direct marketing, 
 which were some of the concrete forms in which David 
 Lubin's labors crystallized and found expression through 
 the International Institute of Agriculture in Rome with 
 which his name will ever be associated. But disconcerting 
 as such juxtaposition sounds at first, the chain of cause and 
 effect, as it worked out in his logical brain, is a sound one. 
 
 David Lubin's mind was characterized by a deep rever- 
 ence for the universal ideal embodied in the word "Right- 
 eousness ", together with a singular faculty for translating 
 promptly such abstract conceptions into terms of the con- 
 crete. This faculty made him see that the first essential 
 step toward realizing ideal righteousness on earth is to se- 
 cure justice between men in their economic relations. And 
 here again the means that occurred to him for the realiza- 
 tion of the desired aim were positive and practical. He did 
 not conceive of the advent of this justice in apocalyptic 
 terms of revolutionary destruction, but as the outcome of 
 a slow process of constructive organization which, while 
 leaving the social structure intact as a whole, would grad- 
 ually rebuild it, a bit at a time, until the whole edifice would 
 be renewed in such wise as to allow of a greater and ever 
 increasing degree of equity in human relationships, and 
 first of all of equity in exchange. 
 
 Nor did he look upon this equity in exchange as a purely 
 economic question; he considered it an essential condition 
 to insure the life of Democracy. While the flag, he would 
 say, is the symbol of ideal liberty, the dollar, in everyday 
 life, is the symbol of practical liberty, for does it not entitle 
 its owner to the enjoyment of a dollar's worth of commodi-
 
 THE MOTIVE 3 
 
 ties, of education, of leisure, or of recreation ? It is the 
 measuring rod of opportunity; therefore, whatever or 
 whoever unduly curtails the producer's share in the dollar 
 or its purchasing power, curtails his rights, limits his liberty, 
 commits a sin against democracy. 
 
 Reasoning along these lines, Lubin's life-work gradually 
 evolved with his own evolution. He was a practical ideal- 
 ist, and his whole life was spent in the tenacious effort to 
 realize this same ideal of economic justice. But Lubin was 
 not only an idealist, he was also an original thinker, an ini- 
 tiator, a pioneer, and step by step he worked onward and 
 upward through a series of coordinated efforts, all links 
 in the chain of the same endeavor. 
 
 The first stage of his life-work, the stage on which he en- 
 tered as soon as he had mastered the fundamentals of his 
 conception of justice, was local. The town in which he 
 settled, the community among which he lived, was suffering 
 from the evils consequent on a vicious trading system. He 
 would right it. His lifelong fight for "the just weight and 
 the just measure" began there. In his own insignificant, 
 small store he became a pioneer in introducing the system 
 of sales at fixed prices allowing for a minimum margin of 
 profit. He made a bold, aggressive fight among a Western 
 mining community ; at first he was laughed at, then he 
 was abused, then he won out, and in a remarkably short 
 time too. 
 
 But what was good for his home town would surely be 
 good for the State, and he became a pioneer in the organiza- 
 tion of a mail-order business conducted on the same lines of 
 scrupulous justice, and in a few more years he was at the 
 head of the first and largest mail-order business on the 
 Pacific coast. 
 
 As his experience grew his ideas expanded to keep pace 
 with it. He perceived that the prosperity of the laboring 
 and commercial communities of the towns was largely de- 
 pendent on the prosperity of the farming communities of 
 the country, and he perceived the important bearing that
 
 4 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 equity in carriage had on both. He became a pioneer in 
 the fight for equalizing and reducing railway rates. 
 
 Then he went a step farther. What was good for a com- 
 mercial business should be good for an agricultural business ; 
 he went into farming and was a pioneer in the application 
 of sound business principles to a fruit ranch. 
 
 This brought him up against the question of the economic 
 marketing of fruits, and here again he pioneered the way 
 for the subsequent achievement of the California Fruit 
 Growers' Exchange. 
 
 Studying the problem of marketing led him to advance 
 as a "Novel Proposition" which it then was a system 
 evolved from his own experience along lines at that time 
 quite unknown in America though already, had he known it, 
 familiar in Europe. He was the first to advocate the intro- 
 duction of a parcel-post system in the United States, a 
 system which he conceived of as organized to serve the 
 farmer as well as the merchant. 
 
 As Lubin went along, ever faithful to the original principle 
 of economic justice which was his lodestar, the horizon grew 
 ever wider. From local his work had, in a few years, become 
 State wide ; it was now to become national in scope. Study- 
 ing conditions as viewed both from his store and from his 
 farm, he became convinced that the farmers were suffering 
 from the effects of a fundamental economic inequity, and he 
 took up the fight to secure for them fair treatment in the 
 matter of the tariff. He argued that under then existing 
 conditions agriculture bore the cost of protection in America, 
 and that if industries were protected by a tariff on imports 
 of manufactured goods, justice required that the staples of 
 the farm should likewise be protected by a bounty on exports. 
 
 But even while engaged in this fight, which brought him 
 into touch with economic and political forces all over the 
 country, the truth forced itself on him that economic justice 
 must have a broader basis than the nation. He realized, 
 to use his own expression, that it was like ladling the water 
 out of a leaking boat to labor to correct economic injustice
 
 THE MOTIVE 5 
 
 to agriculture by national measures so long as the prices 
 of the staples were governed by international conditions, 
 and so long as these were such as to place a premium on 
 manipulation and speculation. Once fully convinced of 
 this, David Lubin became a pioneer in the field of inter- 
 national cooperation toward the attainment of the end he 
 had in view. 
 
 Working always on concrete, practical lines, seeing in 
 them alone the means to materialize the idealistic principles 
 which were the bull's-eye at which all his efforts were aimed, 
 Lubin reasoned that agriculture is the foundation industry 
 in a nation's economy, for are not the staples of the farm 
 the food and clothing of the people of the world; and do 
 they not supply, to a very considerable extent, the raw 
 material of the factories ? At the same time, the prosperity 
 of the cities is largely conditioned by the prosperity 
 of the countryside and by the consequent purchasing 
 power of the country population. It therefore follows 
 that an essential step toward realizing righteousness in 
 the relations between man and man is to insure equity in 
 the formation of the prices of the staples of agriculture. 
 Now, for this purpose international concerted action is 
 essential, for the price of the staples is a world price deter- 
 mined by world conditions. Therefore there must be a 
 world organization of the agricultural interests, as well as 
 of the interests of commerce, finance, and labor, which have 
 already organized both nationally and internationally. He 
 thus became a pioneer for the foundation of a world chamber 
 of agriculture, a League of Nations for economic justice. 
 
 In this fight for economic justice Lubin saw no mere 
 question of dollars and cents ; no mere class legislation for 
 the benefit of farmers. It appealed to him as an essential 
 concomitant to the realization of Righteousness, and, there- 
 fore, as a fundamental condition for insuring an enduring 
 world peace. Referring to the erection of the Peace Palace 
 at the Hague, on which the thoughts of most international 
 workers were then centered, he wrote :
 
 6 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 "It is not Carnegie's millions, nor millions added to those 
 millions that can kill war and bring peace. It is the 'just 
 weight' and the 'just measure' which is the flaming, flashing 
 sword of God that shall kill war; and nothing else can, 
 nothing else will, nothing else shall." 
 
 These words, which occur in a letter written in 1910 to 
 the editor of the American Agriculturist show another phase 
 of the motive, a phase that he never tired of urging on his 
 friends in the American peace movement. 
 
 While he firmly believed in the fundamental importance 
 of agriculture, Lubin was no sentimentalist, no advocate 
 of the "simple life", no mere "back to the land" man. He 
 never idealized the farmer. He would insist on the fact that 
 he had no more use for a farmer as such than he had for a 
 shoemaker or a storekeeper, and he loved to emphasize 
 this point and to thrust it down the throats of his audience, 
 especially if it were an audience of farmers. He never 
 "played to the gallery." Adulation of the farmer, he used 
 to say, was claptrap, only good at election times when his 
 vote is at a premium, and candidates for office shake his 
 hand and refer to him as the "horny-handed son of toil" 
 and "Nature's nobleman." "Nature's nobleman !" Lubin 
 would exclaim impatiently. "Rather would I call him 
 Nature's ass ! Villain, heathen, pagan are the names which 
 have been bestowed on the farmers down the ages, for they 
 have always been the last to change their language, their 
 costume, their religion. But for this very reason the 
 farmer is Nature's Conservative, and therein lies his great 
 social value, for he is the surest bulwark of a democracy 
 against the too rapidly progressive forces of the city." 
 
 Lubin read into history the lesson that in all ages and in 
 all civilizations, as the small, independent, land-owning 
 farmers of a community succumb before the keener wits and 
 combined energy and capital of the city men of commerce 
 and finance, popular government, democracy, succumbs with 
 them. He believed that in this matter history was repeating 
 itself, that the close of the nineteenth century was witnessing
 
 THE MOTIVE 7 
 
 a dangerous concentration of economic and political power 
 in the hands of commerce, finance, and town labor, and 
 that this concentration was bringing its weight to bear 
 steadily on the point of least resistance, agriculture. In 
 this steady pressure of the economic forces of the town on 
 the farm he saw a world danger, and the census returns 
 for the United States, indicating the steady decline in the 
 number of small land-owning farmers as compared to renters 
 convinced him that this tendency was endangering the very 
 life of that great experiment in democracy, America. 
 
 "It is idle to talk of Monroe doctrines, of navies, of forti- 
 fications, and of other devices for strengthening the nation 
 just so long as the trusts crawl up on the efficiency platform. 
 Just let the trusts get the death-grip on the American farmer 
 in earnest, that death-grip which they will surely attain if 
 not effectively prevented, and all props for strengthening 
 the nation will prove broken reeds to lean upon." 
 
 In the letter to Governor Sulzer of New York from which 
 the above quotation is taken, it is the American farmer 
 on whom the emphasis is laid, but in his thought and work 
 Lubin always generalized, and the need for the protection 
 of the farmer the world over, as an essential factor in build- 
 ing up universal democracy, was an important phase of 
 the motive. 
 
 And there was yet another phase. It was no mere form 
 of speech when he said in the letter first quoted from that 
 no desire for personal advancement influenced his actions. 
 Before undertaking public work Lubin had acquired financial 
 independence, and the further accumulation of wealth had 
 no attractions for him. For social distinctions he cared 
 less than nothing ; he was a man of the people and such he 
 remained to the end. "Nor do I care a hang to meet and 
 shake hands with the European lords or counts. In fact, 
 I prefer our ordinary friends of Hangtown Crossing or 
 Dutch Flat or Fiddler's Gulch of good old California," is 
 a phrase which occurs in a letter to his friend and co-worker, 
 Senator Duncan U. Fletcher. Political position or power
 
 8 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 he never sought and certainly he never went about the right 
 way to acquire them, for he would be almost brutal in his 
 frankness to the "powers that be." What he cared for was 
 the work in itself, and the only satisfaction he sought was 
 the knowledge of service rendered. Yet, deep down in his 
 heart, there was a personal motive ; one which he never 
 allowed to get an undue hold of him, but which undoubtedly 
 fed fuel to the fire of the untiring energy which urged him 
 on through ill-health, difficulties, disappointments, enabling 
 him to work unceasingly, turning neither to the right nor 
 to the left, and devoting the minutest care to the details 
 as well as to the main outline of his work for international 
 justice. This motive may be described as the longing for 
 a noble revenge. 
 
 David Lubin belonged to that great paradox of history, 
 the Jewish people, the only people of antiquity which still 
 survives in our midst with its religion and customs well- 
 nigh intact; the people whose sacred books have been 
 adopted by the two great branches of religion, Christianity 
 and Mohammedanism, as the revealed Word of God ; the 
 people who, according to both Jewish and Christian belief, 
 were told "Go forth and be a blessing to the nations", and 
 "in thee shall all the people of the earth be blessed"; yet 
 in many countries these same people are still forced to live 
 as social outcasts, while in others "toleration" is the most 
 generous word used in their regard. 
 
 Lubin had pondered long and deeply on the history of 
 his people, but the grievous record of blood and tears, of 
 suffering, injustice, indignity and humiliation had bred no 
 lasting bitterness or hatred in his generous heart. He was 
 broad-minded enough, human enough, to understand preju- 
 dice and to allow for ignorance. But he was fired with 
 the desire "to return for every blow a benefit, for every curse 
 a blessing", and this was also a phase of the motive. 
 
 This desire, or, rather, this instinct, had grown within 
 him from childhood upwards; gradually clarifying and 
 crystallizing, gaining in clearness and directness of purpose
 
 THE MOTIVE 9 
 
 as experience and knowledge grew. It was this desire, dimly 
 apprehended, which inspired the dreams of his wayward 
 childhood as a poor immigrant boy in the "east side" of 
 New York City ; which lent dignity of aim and moral purpose 
 to his early struggles in California ; which grew and gained 
 in intensity as he pored over his favorite books, the Bible, 
 Plato's Dialogues, Cicero's Disputations, Herbert Spencer, 
 John Stuart Mill, Maimonides, Matthew Arnold; until, 
 at last, the vision stood out in clear relief, and he saw his 
 work laid out before him. 
 
 A long period of evolutionary development followed, 
 which led him stage by stage to the final conception. Sacra- 
 mento, California, America, the World, were the progressive 
 phases of his outlook. "Generalize an advantage, and you 
 transmute it into an equity ; mere economics have become 
 ethical economics," he was wont to say. Thus he realized 
 in the last phase of his life-work, the international phase, 
 that union of the concrete and the practical with the abstract 
 and the ideal, that merging of the particular in the universal, 
 toward which in thought and action he had groped ever since 
 he started on his career as a reformer in a twelve-by-ten-foot 
 store in Sacramento, until in 1904 he found himself in Rome, 
 a missionary vox clamantis in deserto preaching the 
 gospel of international organization and pointing, as an 
 ultimate, to the Commonwealth of Nations. 
 
 It was thus that an idea and the realization of a great 
 racial heredity transformed the rough, willful boy, the passion- 
 ate, energetic, successful business man, into a dreamer and 
 a prophet. A dreamer whose head was in the clouds but 
 whose feet were firmly planted on solid earth; a prophet 
 who could put his arguments in such shape as to win the 
 approval of hard-headed business men or keen-witted 
 scientific economists. And when, in the fullness of time, 
 his self-imposed service led him to Rome, he came equipped 
 with practical experience of men and affairs, psychologic 
 insight acquired as an employer of labor, and dignity of 
 purpose, combined with genuine modesty. He felt that
 
 10 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 he was, as he phrased it, "just an ordinary scrub", a humble 
 instrument in the working out of a great purpose; and he 
 insisted that credit for the work was due to the heroic 
 prophets and thinkers who had preceded him, to the mar- 
 tyrs and confessors of a great idea, and not to the man, 
 David Lubin, who was striving to serve toward the realiza- 
 tion of that idea. 
 
 This combination of good, sound, "horse sense" and 
 inflexible conviction with personal modesty made him per- 
 fectly willing, nay anxious, to remain in the background 
 while attributing a generous meed of recognition to the 
 efforts of his co-workers ; and this won for him the regard 
 and affection of those before whom he placed his ideas. 
 It made success possible. His passionate desire to serve, 
 his singleness of purpose, and his belief in a mission to be 
 performed made of this rough Westerner a statesman and a 
 diplomat who could, on occasion, match his wits successfully 
 with some of the keenest in Europe. This it was which 
 enabled an unknown American to win for his proposal the 
 support of the Chief Executive of a great nation, and actually 
 to bring into being, some sixteen years ago, the first real 
 League of Nations, so much in advance of its time that the 
 world at large looked askance and would only give it grudg- 
 ing acknowledgment. 
 
 It will be the endeavor of this biography, while narrating 
 the events of a remarkable life, to show the interplay of 
 race and nationality, of Polish ghetto and American democ- 
 racy, in shaping the character of this man, who, as time 
 goes by, will come to be recognized more and more as a lead- 
 ing pioneer in blazing the trail for the advent of the inter- 
 national phase in the world's history, a phase on which we 
 are now entering. 
 
 Had David Lubin grown up within the pale of settlement 
 in Russian Poland, where he was born, he might have been a 
 dreamer, more probably a revolutionist, but he would have 
 been foredoomed to failure. The environment would have 
 stifled him.
 
 THE MOTIVE 11 
 
 As it was, the "conserved energy ", as he used to phrase it, 
 which had come down to him as a racial inheritance through 
 the centuries of oppression to which his people had been 
 subjected, found on American soil, and under the stimulating 
 care of American institutions, the opportunity to expand 
 and develop to its full. The hard schooling of poverty and 
 work, the rough and tumble, the give and take of pioneer 
 life in Arizona and California, followed by the discipline and 
 experience of business training, developed the adventure- 
 some, imaginative, hot-tempered, impulsive boy into a man 
 of purpose and tenacity. His native capacity for generaliza- 
 tion and synthesis, working on the actual facts of economic 
 life, made him an economist of no mean order, and when he 
 felt that the time for action had come he did not wait for the 
 opportunity to offer, but he himself created the opportunity 
 for rendering the service he had elected himself to perform. 
 
 Writing in the last months of his life to Mr. Israel Zang- 
 will with reference to a proposed biographical essay, Lubin 
 says: 
 
 "It should deal (a) with the genesis of the central theme, 
 a 'call to service', starting from an incident which occurred 
 when I was four days old, and its development under mater- 
 nal and Jewish influences in the New York environment; 
 (6) its further development under Christian influences in 
 New England until I was sixteen years of age ; (c) the next 
 stage, three years in the wilds and deserts of Arizona until 
 nineteen years of age ; (d) then the Calif ornian experience, 
 the entrance into commercial life, its shaping, and the 
 influences of this central theme; a journey to the Holy 
 Land and its influences and the purpose for which I took 
 up the occupation of agriculture (horticulture and cereals) 
 all actuated by this central theme, this 'call to service.* 
 Next comes the entry into the actual field of service, first in 
 the state, second in the nation, third in the international 
 field, culminating in the upbuilding of the International 
 Institute of Agriculture, to which fifty-seven nations now 
 adhere under treaty."
 
 12 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 It is the story of this evolution, made possible by the 
 vivifying atmosphere of American democracy, which I 
 shall attempt to tell in the following pages, and to tell, so 
 far as possible, by quoting David Lubin's own words and 
 writings. The story is an inspiring one, for it shows what 
 can be achieved by a forceful individuality, starting from a 
 sound premise, sustained by stalwart faith, and impelled by 
 a noble and disinterested motive.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 
 
 There is little record left of the early years of David Lubin. 
 He came of humble folk and grew up in humble surroundings, 
 and what glimpses of his childhood and youth can be snatched 
 from the night of oblivion are rather in the nature of flash- 
 light pictures than of an accurate chronicle of events. If 
 questioned as to his own history he would impatiently 
 or jokingly as his mood might be put off inquiries by say- 
 ing that he was not going to tell when he ate his first pap or 
 when he first sat up in a high chair; or he would brush 
 personalities aside, saying that it was not he but the work 
 which was of interest, and would launch forth into a dis- 
 quisition on the principles underlying the International 
 Institute of Agriculture or any other phase of the work 
 on which he was engaged. At times, however, he would 
 become reminiscent and tell incidents or anecdotes of his 
 early years. With these, and a few particulars supplied by 
 members of the family, it is possible to reconstruct the 
 environment and to get a fair idea of the influences under 
 which he grew up. 
 
 David Lubin was born in a Jewish community in a little 
 town in Russian Poland. In her book, "The Promised 
 Land", Mary Antin has given a striking picture of life 
 within the Jewish pale as it was lived in Russia up to the 
 time of the revolution. Excluded from the land, excluded 
 from the professions, excluded from most trades, excluded 
 from educational opportunities, the Jews lived in great 
 poverty, crowded into certain areas, restricted practically 
 to a few occupations. They were tailors, seamstresses, 
 jewelers, goldsmiths, small traders, peddlers. Living 
 amidst hostile surroundings, in constant fear of vio-
 
 14 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 lence, shunned by neighbors who, for the most part, 
 were inferior to them in brains and education, the Jews 
 were driven to rely solely on their own resources. Their 
 position under the Russian autocracy was practically that 
 of outlaws, whose presence was tolerated in certain pre- 
 scribed localities. They were excluded from the rights and 
 privileges but not from the duties of Russian subjects; 
 they had to pay taxes and to serve as privates in the army. 
 Otherwise, subject to brutal outbreaks of mob violence, 
 fostered frequently by the authorities, they were left very 
 much to their own devices, and within its prescribed limits 
 the ghetto enjoyed a large measure of autonomy. Within 
 itself the community was self-governing and developed 
 along its own traditional and cultural lines. In all matters 
 of daily life the Judaic law was observed. Marriage and 
 divorce, contracts among themselves, education, religious 
 observances, were regulated by the Rav and the Dayun. 1 
 Points of ritual were referred to the former while the latter 
 heard disputes and quarrels among members of the com- 
 munity and settled them according to the Law. The 
 spiritual and intellectual life of the people centered around 
 the synagogue and the heder. 2 Driven in upon themselves 
 poor, despised, humiliated the spiritual life of the Jews 
 became more intense, while the lack of all opportunity forced 
 them to devote their keen intellectual faculties almost 
 exclusively to subtle metaphysical disquisitions and hair- 
 splitting debates on the interpretation of texts or points 
 in the Scriptures or the Talmud. 
 
 Yet with all its limitations and sufferings, Lubin used 
 to say that the atmosphere of the Russian ghetto was less 
 deadening in its effects than the brutalizing influences which 
 so often make of the Jew in other countries a rank materialist 
 and Mammon worshiper. Within the pale the Jew clung 
 to his religious theme ; he knew it was for that theme that 
 he suffered ostracism, and he was proud of it. The social 
 atmosphere was essentially democratic; all were members 
 
 1 A rabbi who renders decisions. ' Hebrew School.
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 15 
 
 of the House of Israel, and as such felt themselves superior 
 to the outside world, however much they might have to 
 yield it lip-reverence. The special garb imposed on them as a 
 humiliation became in their eyes the distinctive mark of a 
 superior though suffering race. There were degrees of 
 poverty, and comparative wealth was sometimes attained, 
 but in the ghetto itself learning and not riches was the path 
 to honor, and a rich man would select as husband for his 
 daughter the penniless scholar learned in the Law and the 
 Talmud, and would be envied for his luck in securing such a 
 one for son-in-law. Cut off from opportunity for develop- 
 ment in other directions, the Russian and Polish Jew turned 
 to religion and philosophy. Racially gifted with logical and 
 speculative minds, reasoning on abstractions and theories, 
 they easily became, when they outgrew narrow orthodoxy 
 and sectarianism, the doctrinaires of revolutionary idealism, 
 extreme socialism, agnosticism, nihilism, as a reaction to 
 soul-killing ritualism on the inside and social ostracism and 
 political oppression on the outside. 
 
 Into such surroundings David Lubin was born on the first 
 of June, 1849, at Klodowa, a few miles from Cracow. He 
 came of strictly orthodox stock and was the last of six chil- 
 dren born to his parents. His father's name is lost to 
 memory ; he died, when David was still a mere infant, in one 
 of the cholera epidemics which at frequent intervals devastate 
 the unsanitary towns and villages of Russia and Poland. 
 
 When the child was four days old his mother, Rachel, 
 sat up in bed to bless the Sabbath candles. As she did so 
 the wick of one flew off and fell on the cheek of the infant 
 who nestled by her side, making a deep burn which left 
 its scar on him till his dying day. The baby wailed with pain 
 and the distressed mother wept bitterly. Shortly after- 
 wards her husband came home from the synagogue bringing 
 with him, as is the wont with the orthodox, a poor scholar, 
 a stranger in that town, to share with the family the Sabbath 
 meal. They found the poor woman still in tears and 
 learned from her what had happened, but instead of offering
 
 16 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 sympathy the learned man reproved her, reminding her 
 that on the Sabbath tears are unlawful, that even if her son 
 lay dead she should still praise the Lord. Moreover, he 
 said, here is clear cause for rejoicing, not for weeping, for 
 is it not a sign ? Marked by the Sabbath candle, the child 
 is set apart by the Lord for His service. He then inquired 
 what name was to be given to the boy, and was told that, 
 according to custom, he would be given his grandfather's 
 name, Pinchus. "No," said the Rabbi, "this child shall be 
 named David the King, and he shall grow up to be a mighty 
 man in Israel; for the Lord hath dedicated him unto His 
 service." 
 
 In his old age Lubin would occasionally tell this tale which 
 he had learned as a child from his mother's lips, and he would 
 say that, free as he believed himself to be from superstitious 
 bias, this omen, in which his mother firmly believed, had 
 given a turn to his whole life. 
 
 David was still an infant when his mother, who had 
 married again, decided to emigrate with her second husband, 
 Soloman Weinstock. Religious fanaticism, spurred on by 
 Russian reaction, made life intolerable for the Jews in 
 Russian Poland. The family had lived through the horrors 
 of a pogrom, when the mother had crouched, trembling for 
 her babes, in a cellar, while the drunken, infuriated mob 
 pillaged and killed, and the experience was too terrible to 
 risk repetition. 
 
 So these poor people, like the multitudes of their co- 
 religionists who have been driven to seek refuge in foreign 
 lands, sold what they had to sell, gathered together their 
 few poor belongings, and with the three surviving children 
 of her first marriage Mrs. Weinstock and her husband left 
 their native land. 
 
 Their first stopping place was in England. They stayed 
 in London for some two years, and there in September, 1854, 
 their son, Harris, was born, who was to become the business 
 partner and lifelong associate in public work of his half- 
 brother, David.
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 17 
 
 It must have been in 1855, when David was not yet six 
 years old, that his parents sailed with him across the Atlantic 
 and landed in New York, in those days a very different place 
 from the huge city of skyscrapers and undigested foreigners 
 of our time. Yet it was even then the largest city in the 
 United States, boasting a population of some eight hundred 
 thousand, with a large Irish and a not inconsiderable Jewish 
 element which crowded into the tenement houses of the 
 Bowery, near the great river with its many wharves and 
 crowded shipping. 
 
 The great ships, still largely the picturesque sailing vessels 
 of an already vanishing age, exercised a powerful attraction 
 on the imagination of the little boy who played about the 
 streets in their vicinity. They inspired him with a great 
 fancy for the sea, fostered by tales of travel and adventure, 
 of pirates and tropical countries, in which he reveled. 
 On more than one occasion he tried to run away from home, 
 and once actually got taken on by a skipper who fitted him 
 out with a full set of " slops" in which he gloried, and would 
 have taken him off to round Cape Horn had not his elder 
 brother Simon, deputed by his distracted mother to find 
 the recreant David and bring him home at all costs, spotted 
 him and bribed him to come home with promises of a free 
 pardon and a new suit of clothes. "It was providential 
 for me that this was the case," Lubin used to remark in 
 telling me of this adventure of his boyhood days, "for it 
 turned out that the skipper with whom I was going had the 
 reputation of being the crudest man on the seas, and was 
 afterwards brought to trial for murdering his cabin boy in a 
 fit of rage on the very journey on which I was to have gone." 
 
 Love of adventure was a marked feature in David's 
 character, and far from the depressing influences of his native 
 ghetto, he grew up a bold, fearless, impulsive boy, full of 
 mischief, fond of games and sports, not at all "bookish", 
 yet an insatiable reader of all that came his way and could 
 fire his imagination or appeal to the poetic, idealistic side 
 of his nature. He used to love to watch the great clouds
 
 18 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 every few minutes, now the embattled castles and forti- 
 fications of the fairy tales of which he was so fond, now rush- 
 ing headlong through the skies like great monsters pursuing 
 one another. He would stand spellbound at the sight, 
 humming tunes of his own invention which seemed to him 
 in keeping with these "huge cloudy symbols of a high 
 romance." 
 
 But to understand the boy and the influences under which 
 he developed we must say a few words of his mother, for 
 more than by any other factor, the character and mind of 
 David Lubin were shaped by her. 
 
 Family tradition has it that Rachel Weinstock was a 
 resolute, high-tempered, energetic woman, deeply religious, 
 strictly orthodox, a strong believer in the wisdom of the 
 proverb "Spare the rod and spoil the child." She was, 
 from all accounts, strictly true to type, steeped in the tradi- 
 tions of the environment in which she had grown up. The 
 words in which Mary Antin describes her infancy must have 
 been equally true of the elder generation to which Rachel 
 belonged: "When I came to lie on my mother's breast she 
 sang me lullabies on lofty themes. I heard the names of 
 Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah as early as the names of father, 
 mother, nurse. My baby soul was enthralled by sad and 
 noble cadences as my mother sang of my ancient home in 
 Palestine or mourned over the desolation of Zion. With 
 the first rattle that was placed in my hand a prayer was 
 pronounced over me, a petition that a pious man might take 
 me to wife, and a messiah be among my sons." 
 
 Though she lived more than two thirds of her life in 
 America Rachel Weinstock remained to the last essentially 
 what she was when she first came. Never could she be 
 induced to live for long away from the Jewish environment 
 in the East Side of New York. As her sons grew prosperous 
 they were anxious that their mother should share the greater 
 comfort of their life in California ; she tried it to please them, 
 but she was not happy there and soon left. She loved to 
 be among those whom she felt were her own people, talking
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 19 
 
 her own Yiddish dialect, helping with inexhaustible charity 
 from her small means all more needy than herself. Thus 
 it was in the latter years of her life, when, had she wished, 
 she could have lived in luxury in the American homes of her 
 American children. In the early days in New York she 
 showed the fine stuff she was made of in the energy and ability 
 with which she faced poverty and the labors and responsi- 
 bilities of a large, growing family. Nor were her virtues 
 all of the prosaic, materialistic order. David Lubin always 
 said that his mother was largely gifted with intuition and 
 spiritual insight; what he possessed of these qualities he 
 derived, he said, entirely from her. She always remained 
 her son's ideal of a wife and mother, and I have often heard 
 him contrast the virtues of his "old chump of a mother" 
 as he would endearingly call her, with the follies and foibles 
 of the modern, gadabout, society woman for whom he had 
 no love. As cook, housekeeper, dressmaker, home-maker 
 and educator she toiled early and late for her family, and the 
 stews and cookies which his mother made, the fine coat with 
 shiny buttons which she had sewn for him, the stories she 
 used to delight him with, the lessons in honesty, truthfulness, 
 and integrity which she taught by word and example were 
 never forgotten by her son, and in his opinion, nothing 
 equaled them. 
 
 Rachel Weinstock firmly believed that David was destined 
 for great things had not the Rabbi told her so when the 
 babe was but four days old ? Did he not bear the mark of a 
 special call ? and she watched over the fatherless boy with 
 anxious solicitude. While she scolded and punished him for 
 his childish misdemeanors, it was she who developed his 
 native idealism by handing on to him the traditions of his 
 people. At her knee David learned the Hebrew psalms and 
 prayers he had to learn them, and negligence was followed 
 by condign punishment. He used to say that as a child 
 he often looked with longing eyes at the Irish boys of the 
 neighborhood, free to play and fight gloriously in the streets 
 while he had to stay home and memorize the psalms. But
 
 20 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 this was only one side of his mother's teaching ; she was also 
 a great hand at telling stories, quaint, shrewd, humorous 
 folklore tales, long imaginative yarns of adventures and 
 travel, as well as Bible stories and the historical traditions 
 of his people, in simple, impressive words which left a mark 
 on the sensitive boy that nothing could efface. 
 
 David loved those stories which did far more to develop 
 his mind than the scanty schooling he got. They fed his 
 imagination, carrying him back to the Jewish communities 
 in Russian Poland, and way back further to that Holy Land, 
 that Zion, of which his mother spoke with a devotion and 
 love which made her words glow and her characters live. 
 She told him of the Maccabees, of the wars with the Romans, 
 and of the destruction of Jerusalem, and David made himself 
 a wooden sword which he covered with tin foil and in his 
 games would proudly fancy himself a Jewish hero fighting 
 the Romans single-handed. And then his mother would tell 
 him of the dispersion and of the grievous persecutions that 
 Israel had suffered for his faith, and she would tell David how 
 he had been marked by a sign, set apart for a purpose, and 
 that he was to grow up to be a Servant of the Lord, to serve 
 his people and to serve the world. "You will sit at table 
 with Kings," she would say in her quaint figurative language ; 
 and the strength of her conviction penetrated deep into the 
 child's soul, sowing seed which could not be stifled by the 
 other side of his life which he lived in the American public 
 school, with American boys, American ideals, American 
 ambitions. 
 
 Both in the home and in the school, though in such dif- 
 ferent tongues, he was taught devotion to an ideal. In the 
 home, by the little mother, it was called "The Lord our 
 Righteousness"; in the school it was America, Liberty, 
 Democracy and in the boy's heart these came to be one 
 and the same ideal which he, in some mysterious way, had 
 been set apart to serve. 
 
 The public school was doing its work ; the boy was growing 
 up an American. Where Russia with all her autocratic
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 21 
 
 power utterly failed to denationalize and assimilate, America, 
 by gift of perfect freedom, by absolute respect of religious 
 beliefs, by granting complete equality of opportunity, 
 succeeds; succeeds because she sets up an ideal which the 
 stranger within her gates soon comes to recognize as his own, 
 however different may be the language in which it is ex- 
 pressed, his own because at bottom it is the expression of 
 that love of liberty and justice which instinctively lives deep 
 down in all human hearts. 
 
 While the young David was mastering the three R's on 
 the benches of the public school, events of world import 
 were brewing. In 1861 the Civil War broke out, and, the 
 boy, then a full-fledged American in spirit, thought, and 
 speech, experienced the thrills of patriotism, the emotions 
 of a struggle to the death for a great ideal in which the 
 environment he was growing up in was saturated. He 
 caught also some glimpses of the "alarums and excursions of 
 war." 
 
 Recruiting stations had been opened in all quarters of the 
 town, and soap-box orators, to the martial strains of drum 
 and fife, called on the youth of the country to rally round 
 Old Glory and save the Union. David longed to enlist, in 
 spite of his mother's threats of dire punishment if he talked 
 of such a thing at his age. One day the temptation proved 
 too strong and he answered the impassioned appeal of a 
 recruiting sergeant, who promptly took him at his word, 
 backed up as he was in his statement as to age by a man in 
 the crowd who volunteered to act the part of uncle for the 
 occasion. However, when the youthful recruit was brought 
 before the officer in charge, the latter looked him up and down 
 and dismissed him with the injunction to go straight back 
 home to his mother. For all his love of adventure, David 
 Lubin was to be neither sailor nor soldier. 
 
 Later on he was to see something of the ugly side of war 
 as well, and the scenes he witnessed during an anti-Negro 
 riot to which the military draft of 1863 gave rise left on 
 him a lasting impression of horror, trained as he had been
 
 22 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 by his pious mother to look upon an insult to a man because 
 of the color of his skin as reproach to his Maker. He used 
 to tell how, with his half-brother Harry, he had, on that occa- 
 sion, saved a Negro from the fury of the mob. The two boys 
 were playing in the street in front of the house where they 
 lived when the poor terrified black rushed up a little ahead 
 of his persecutors. David took in the situation at a glance 
 and pushed the poor fellow into a closet in the courtyard of 
 the house, which had a second entrance on another street. 
 The crowd followed hot on the scent, and on being informed 
 that their quarry had turned the corner, rushed off after 
 him ; while his pursuers ran in the wrong direction, the boys 
 smuggled the poor fellow out by the back way. 
 
 At the age of twelve David had left school and started to 
 earn his living. The orthodox Jewish environment of his 
 mother's home was no longer to be his ; it had molded the 
 boy; the youth and the man were to be shaped by the 
 broader American influences. 
 
 An elder brother, Simon, had gone to work in Massa- 
 chusetts, and David followed him there to learn the trade of 
 jeweler and goldsmith, working ten hours a day and earning 
 six cents an hour, or $3.60 a week which he handed over 
 to his brother for his keep. Simon, however, who in those 
 days was rather a gay dog, soon tired of acting the pater 
 familias, and so one day (I quote from a letter written in 
 1910 by Lubin to his son Jesse) he was told, "You'll just 
 hop round to another job, somewhere else, and earn enough 
 to pay for your board and lodging. Now skip!" "Well, 
 there was nothing left for me but to skip, so I went four miles 
 to North Attleboro, howling all the way. When there I 
 inquired around what solderers and polishers were getting 
 an hour. "Oh, from fourteen cents up," was the reply. 
 So I went in to Morse Brothers* shop and tremblingly asked 
 for a job, soldering and polishing. I was exhilaratingly 
 surprised when, in place of being kicked out, I was given a 
 job and a box of gold-plated scarf pins were put before me 
 for polishing. Desiring to show how quickly I could work,
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 23 
 
 I pitched in and was finished with a box in a couple of hours. 
 This was an 'eye-opener' for the foreman. I got a good 
 pat on the back as I left for lunch. On returning I saw, 
 near the desk end of the workroom, an excited group con- 
 sisting of the two Morse brothers and the foreman. They 
 seemed to be doing the stunt act in Richard III or in 
 Coriolanus, and the word 'Hell' sounded quite audibly. 
 At last the foreman, pointing to me, said, ' There's the skunk. 
 Come here. What in Hell did you do ? ' I turned to find 
 a hole to sink into, gave a furtive glance toward the door, 
 but it was no use. And so I went up to the trio. 
 
 "I tried to work as quick as I could, Sir; and if I work 
 this afternoon I '11 try still harder." Then came a volley 
 of language, semi-piratical, largely bacchanalian, wherein 
 I was told that the 'quick' work had been my undoing. 
 I had rubbed off each pin every scrap of the double-rolled 
 gold plate that had been put upon them. I had rendered 
 them pure and simple brass." 
 
 The boy, however, was given another chance at his job 
 and came out all right. Indeed, it was in this same shop 
 that a little later on he took the first step toward success. 
 The demands of war were claiming the services of industry, 
 and the firm received a big order for the blue goggles which 
 Sherman's troops wore when crossing the sandy country on 
 the way to their famous march through Georgia to the sea. 
 David was set to soldering these goggles and taught to do so 
 by dipping each separately. But the boy in him longed to get 
 quickly through the assigned task so as to go off and play. 
 This set his brain to work, and he soon devised a plan by 
 which he could solder a dozen at a time. The rapidity with 
 which he worked was noticed, and he was questioned. The 
 device was found ingenious, was perfected and adopted ; 
 but all the good that David got out of it was the approval 
 of his employers for his smartness and some extra half 
 hours at the games he loved. 
 
 The appreciation of good workmanship, acquired by Lubin 
 in his early years at the bench, remained with him through-
 
 24 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 out life. Though he had no theoretic mastery of the science 
 he took a great interest in mechanics and had his full share 
 of the American gift for mechanical invention applied to 
 labor-saving devices. His early contrivance in the Attle- 
 boro jeweler's shop was but the first of a series of inventions 
 to which his success in life was in no small part due. He 
 was gifted with a remarkable faculty of concentration and 
 would bring his whole mind to bear on whatever work he 
 was engaged on at the moment. Consequently, he was 
 always trying to improve and perfect the means of accom- 
 plishing his task, whatever it might be. Thus, when a few 
 years later he was working as traveler for a firm which sold 
 lamps he invented a non-explosive coal-oil lamp which was 
 patented by his employers and sold to good effect. Later 
 on, when he started as a merchant and was brought in touch 
 with "dry goods" he patented an overall which, as we shall 
 see, was the origin of his business success ; when, as a further 
 development of his activities, he went into farming he 
 thought out several devices in agricultural machinery, 
 among others a "clod-cutter" which is still found valuable 
 in preparing swamp lands for cultivation, the "Lubin 
 windlass cultivator", and a "soil pulverizer" to which from 
 time to time, down to the last months of his life, he devoted 
 a great deal of thought and energy. 
 
 The years in which David Lubin grew from boy to youth 
 in the environment of a New England manufacturing town, 
 were years which witnessed vast revolutionary changes 
 in thought as well as in political conditions. They were the 
 days of Abraham Lincoln ; it was the New England of the 
 Abolitionists, of Thoreau, of Emerson, of Channing, of 
 Longfellow; and the thought of the community in which 
 the boy was growing up a community of much more 
 homogeneous stock than it is now was also keenly in- 
 fluenced by the work of the thinkers and writers on the other 
 side of the Atlantic, in England, in those years the very 
 center of progressive thought and action. 
 
 In 1859 Darwin had published his "Origin of Species",
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 25 
 
 and this was followed at short distance by Huxley with his 
 "Man's Place in Nature", and by the first volumes of Her- 
 bert Spencer's "Synthetic Philosophy." John Stuart Mill 
 was publishing his essays, Carlyle his histories, Kingsley 
 his social novels. Karl Marx was writing the first chapters 
 of his "Capital", and from his refuge in England was work- 
 ing with Engels for the birth of modern socialism. 
 
 The struggle between the old order and the new, ushered 
 in by the French Revolution, a struggle which has not even 
 yet completed its cycle, was convulsing the political and 
 economic regime of both hemispheres. The European 
 movement reacted on the New World, largely through the 
 influx of refugees from political, religious, or economic 
 persecution, who sought asylum in America with its freer 
 atmosphere and wider opportunities. 
 
 The United States was just entering on that transition 
 period which was to multiply its population several times 
 over, fundamentally modify its racial characteristics, make 
 of a country until then essentially a grower and ex- 
 porter of staples a great commercial and manufacturing 
 center ; a transition which was to shift the balance of power 
 from the farm to the factory, and to give us the industrial 
 organizations, the trusts, and also the labor unions which 
 have made the United States what it now is. Those were 
 the years in which, following on the earlier discovery of gold, 
 the Far West was opened up and the great railways built ; 
 the days of the discovery of the full extent of America's 
 vast mineral wealth in oil and iron ; the days of the great 
 prosperity of the California gold mines; the days when 
 fortunes were made overnight, and the hod-carrier of to-day 
 became the millionaire of to-morrow. 
 
 Politically, intellectually, materially a continent was 
 opening up; social and religious experiments were being 
 made on all hands; nothing seemed impossible; nothing 
 beyond man's power to grasp and master; and in this 
 environment the psychology of East and West met in the 
 boy David and mingled to produce the man that was to be.
 
 26 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Though not what is meant by a studious boy, Lubin was 
 always a great reader and an independent thinker, alive 
 and sensitive to the intellectual stir around him. He was 
 only fourteen when he first began to read Spencer and 
 Huxley, who remained prime favorites with him all his life. 
 With them he came under the influence of modern scientific 
 thought. The "Lord our Righteousness" of his mother 
 was to become "the Unknowable" of Herbert Spencer, 
 and orthodox tenets made room for speculative thought. 
 
 But the old longing for adventure was strong in the growing 
 youth, and not to be gainsaid. The thoughts of America 
 were steadily turning westward ; and in 1865, when sixteen 
 years of age, the boy turned his back on New England and 
 set forth on his travels. 
 
 His dearly loved elder sister Jeannette, his close chum and 
 protector in the stormy days of his boyish scrapes in New 
 York, whose memory he cherished and revered to the last 
 as one of life's saints, had married and gone to California. 
 
 This was the magnet which first drew him to the Land of 
 the Setting Sun. But these were to be his "wander years" 
 and he was not to settle down until his longing for the new 
 and marvelous had been satisfied. 
 
 Of his journey across the continent in those days of slow 
 and difficult travel no record remains, but we can be sure 
 that nothing of the incident and novelty of what must have 
 been a great experience was lost on the boy. He used to tell 
 me that he worked for some months at his old trade of 
 jeweler in San Francisco and felt the strange fascination 
 of that beautifully situated city, which had suddenly grown 
 from a rough pioneer settlement into a metropolis where 
 West met East. Chinatown; the port with its interna- 
 tional medley ; the wooden houses ; the rough-paved, 
 bustling streets where miners and merchants, pioneers and 
 sharpers, laborers suddenly transformed into millionaires, 
 gamblers, sailors, adventurers of all kinds and nationalities 
 met and mingled, worked and quarreled, fought and grew 
 rich; the city where lawlessness and crime were offset by
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 27 
 
 Vigilance Committees and Lynch Law all entered into the 
 varying features of the panorama spread before him. He 
 took it all in, learned its turn of speech, which became his 
 own, gloried in the warmth and color and sunshine of gener- 
 ous, open-handed, warm-hearted California, which awoke 
 within him atavistic longings for a land "flowing in milk 
 and honey"; and then again the urge to move came on. 
 One evening he informed his employer that he had made up 
 his mind to try his luck and seek for gold in Arizona. 
 
 He went South, taking with him as his dearest possession 
 a little violin he had brought from his New York home; 
 for Lubin, though by no manner of means a musician, was 
 all his life long an ardent lover of music. At his mother's 
 bidding he had learned to play the old-world melodies to 
 the Hebrew songs she taught him and had added thereto the 
 simple popular repertory of his day, and all through his 
 wanderings his fiddle was his faithful companion. 
 
 He stayed for some time in Los Angeles, then a village 
 of a few thousand inhabitants, surrounded by what was 
 practically desert country, peopled by coyotes and jack 
 rabbits. He worked there some months in a lumber yard, 
 "packing lumber." Strong, vigorous, fond of manly sports 
 riding, swimming, dancing he enjoyed the primitive 
 life of those rude pioneer communities. He remembered 
 a wild ride, his first one, on a partially broken-in horse on 
 which he rashly set out at his employer's bidding, who never 
 guessed that he was such a novice at horsemanship ; on 
 another occasion he got caught in the quicksands and owed 
 his life to the fact that he remembered having read that in 
 such a plight the right thing to do is to keep on moving your 
 feet (or your pony's, as the case might be). By acting on 
 this advice he at last managed to struggle to terra firma, 
 but not before he had stared death in the face. But still 
 the wilds called him, and he was not to have peace until 
 he had experienced the desert, and the mystery and poetry 
 of great solitudes had sunk into his soul. 
 
 In 1868 his chance came, and the youth joined a party
 
 28 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of reckless, adventuresome spirits who, under the leader- 
 ship of one Captain Kirby, set off with a pack of horses and 
 mules over the long trail for Arizona to seek for gold. 
 
 A glimpse of his life there and of the affectionate remem- 
 brance in which he held "Old Arizony" is afforded by the 
 following letter, written nearly forty years later, in reply 
 to a communication received from a mail-order customer. 
 The typewritten copy before me is prefaced by a penciled 
 note written in Mr. Lubin's hand to his partner, Mr. Wein- 
 stock: "This is a sample of what I mean by business- 
 making letters." 
 
 (New York) February 23rd, 1904. 
 
 Mrs. Ed. Garcia, 
 Wickenburg, Ariz. 
 
 Dear Madam : 
 
 Your order was handed to me by the clerk, who drew 
 my attention to the last line, and while our custom is not 
 to send anything to any customer, in order that we may 
 do strict justice to all, yet as you are from Wickenburg, I 
 will make an exception. 
 
 I do so because I have some recollections of Wickenburg 
 which date back to a time perhaps before you were born. 
 In 1868-69 I was one of the party of fourteen prospectors 
 who pioneered from Los Angeles, coming over the old Emi- 
 grant trail, to Wickenburg, where most of the party re- 
 mained, and worked in the Vulture Mine. During those 
 old pioneer days the place was thickly infested by the Apache 
 Indians and your letter brings to my recollection the vivid 
 times of early days. 
 
 I remember crossing Yuma, and going toward Castle 
 Dome, and then afterwards striking out for the "Dry 
 Tanks", which were sure enough "dry", and then to make 
 our way back again to the Colorado River, being nearly two 
 days without food or water, and you may realize what that 
 means. At one place our captain shot down some steers, 
 in order to save our lives, and on reaching the Colorado 
 River we proceeded on our way by La Paz. I have some
 
 FROM INFANCY^ TO MANHOOD 29 
 
 recollection of Granite Wash and Dos Palmos. Is there any 
 recollection of Crete Bryant and his mule teams ? I worked 
 for the Vulture Mills at Wickenburg at a time when a Mr. 
 Brown was the manager. I have some faint recollection 
 of the Arizona House. I wonder if that is there yet ? Our 
 party had the usual experiences of camping out in the Desert 
 where the friendly Coyote or the "sly Rattler" made them- 
 selves more or less manifest. I also have some recollections 
 of "Frejoles" and "Tartilles." 
 
 During the time of our wanderings I became separated 
 from the party and was lost in the desert for nearly two 
 days. It is quite pleasant to think of those old times again, 
 and in remembrance thereof, I take pleasure in sending you a 
 silk shawl which I hope you will wear with my compli- 
 ments. 
 
 With high esteem, I remain, 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 D. Lubin (of W. L. & Co.). 
 
 The deep impression left on his mind by those years passed 
 in the wilderness is again apparent in the following extract 
 from a letter which he sent some years later (May 13, 1915) 
 to Governor Hunt of Arizona. 
 
 I should be pleased [he writes], to have Arizona and its 
 Governor exert whatever influence is possible toward the 
 carrying out of this measure [a proposal for a national 
 marketing organization to which Mr. Lubin was then devot- 
 ing much thought], especially so since I have, years ago, 
 passed several years of my life travelling through Arizona 
 on a prospecting tour. It was some time in the latter end 
 of the sixties, when much of the travelling had to be done 
 on ponies or on foot, and when the staples of life consisted 
 mainly of flap-jacks, black coffee, and bacon, and sometimes 
 mighty little of that ; and when the mode of retiring was to 
 throw your blanket down on the ground, lie down on one 
 end of it, and roll and keep on rolling until you reached 
 your pillow, the said pillow consisting of the saddle with a 
 great brown felt sombrero in the centre, and the trick was 
 to finish the roll by landing your head in the centre of the
 
 30 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 sombrero, and then sleep. And now I hear that they are 
 wearing high hats and evening dress suits, and boiled shirts 
 in that same Arizona, and that the Apache and the Apache- 
 Mohaves, and the Pimos and the Maricopas are about gone, 
 and perhaps the rattle-snakes too. 
 
 Dear, quaint, weird old Arizona is a piece of poetic inspira- 
 tion ! Its rarefied atmosphere, its bunch grass, its uncanny 
 looking cactus, and its dried river beds, its vast natural 
 parks with miles of flowers, its yellow mustard fields, its 
 seas of sand, and its endless mesas ! It is perhaps not with- 
 out reason that the great religious prophets, the Moses, the 
 Elijahs, the Johns and the Mohammeds, obtained their 
 inspiration from the desert. I may say that whatever little 
 work I have been able to do in the hope of bettering human 
 conditions has had its inspiration from my few years tramp- 
 ing in Arizona. 
 
 Speaking of his companions of those days, of Captain 
 Kirby and his men, Lubin would say: "they would as lief 
 have shot down an Indian as a rabbit; and with no more 
 compunction ; the thing was incomprehensible to me." 
 
 "Whoso mocketh a man reproacheth his Maker," was a 
 precept engraved on his mind as a child, and Lubin saw in 
 the Indian a fellow man and felt toward him as such. In- 
 deed, his attitude toward the backward, childish peoples 
 of the earth Indians, Negroes, primitive races of all sorts 
 was always markedly sympathetic ; that of the elder 
 brother, half-compassionate, half-amused, who would fain 
 help and protect. And the Indians divined the difference 
 between him and his associates. Sometimes some of the 
 bolder spirits would cautiously approach the camp fires, 
 with little parcels of gold dust to exchange for tobacco and 
 other commodities. Lubin would get in touch with them, 
 they interested him; he would share his precious tobacco 
 with them, and they would listen to the tunes he played 
 on his fiddle and press on him their gifts. If the party 
 stayed any length of time in a place he would get quite 
 friendly with some and so it was that once, when he fell
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 31 
 
 very ill with chills and fever, an old Indian took him off to 
 his camp and cared for him, curing the sickness with the 
 simple but effective remedies known to the natives. 
 
 Things, however, were not always so peaceful ; sometimes 
 the white intruders had quite serious encounters with the 
 original owners of the territory, and in one of these skirmishes 
 Lubin got an ugly wound in the leg. 
 
 In more ways than one Arizona molded Lubin's character. 
 He learned while there to deal with rough men, to hold his 
 own with them, to swear and fight with the best if occasion 
 arose. 
 
 Physically the life was splendid, and the youth grew into 
 a vigorous, robust man of good medium height, broad- 
 shouldered, lean and muscular; with an abundant crop of 
 jet-black hair, a high narrow forehead, bushy eyebrows 
 overshadowing deep-set, keen, yet kindly gray eyes. He 
 was very dark-complexioned, with the large mouth of an 
 orator, a powerful jaw, and a small, round, obstinate 
 chin. The shape of his head was remarkably long and 
 narrow, though deep ; his noticeably flat ears were set well 
 back, and he had a remarkable facial angle. 
 
 Lubin acquired in Arizona the rough, picturesque, and 
 forcible speech of the pioneer, and a gift for expressing him- 
 self in such simple terms that, later on, even when dis- 
 cussing abstract and intricate themes, he could make his 
 meaning clear, not only to the educated but also to the 
 illiterate. He learned to take nothing for granted ; to 
 think out his problems for himself, and when he had once 
 made up his mind, to take rapid decisions and to act on 
 them. 
 
 The two days he was lost in the desert made a deep and 
 lasting impression on him. Such an accident meant almost 
 certain death, yet he used to say that when the first shock 
 of realization was over, he experienced not fear but a deep 
 awe and wonder. He felt the imminent presence of God 
 as it is felt only in the desert, and realized in every fiber 
 of his being the majesty and beauty of the infinite space
 
 32 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 surrounding him, of the audible silence, of the weird and 
 wondrous desert coloring, of the sun, as it sank, a huge 
 orb of fire, behind the horizon of the sand-sea which spread 
 limitless on all sides, of the mystery of the unnumbered 
 stars which, in those latitudes and in that rarefied atmos- 
 phere, shine with unwonted splendor as night's shadows 
 fall. He looked into his own soul and felt the promptings 
 of destiny. 
 
 On the eve of the second day, as he was wandering aim- 
 lessly, letting his exhausted pony go its own way, he suddenly 
 stumbled across his party again. They had almost given 
 him up for lost, and indeed, as Lubin himself used to say, 
 it was little short of miraculous that he should ever have 
 been heard of again. 
 
 It was some time after this that an incident occurred 
 which gave a turn to his thoughts and subsequently to his 
 life. One day, as he was working with the others, he started 
 singing to himself, and the melody and words which came 
 to his lips were those of one of the old Hebrew songs of his 
 childhood. One of his mates, a rough, quarrelsome fellow, 
 suddenly asked him what he was singing. Lubin explained 
 that it was a song he had learned as a child. 
 
 "But what lingo is that?" persisted the other. 
 
 "Oh, that is Hebrew," replied Lubin. 
 
 The fellow stopped in his work and stared at him in 
 astonishment. "Why, you don't mean to say you're a 
 damned Jew, do you?" 
 
 It ended in a fight, and the man, who was something of a 
 bully, got the worst of it, and when the matter came to the 
 ears of Captain Kirby he advised the fellow to make him- 
 self scarce. 
 
 In Lubin resentment at the silly insult died out with the 
 fight ; but not so the train of thought to which it had given 
 rise. It brought back to him his childhood days and the 
 precepts and traditions his mother had taught him, all of 
 which had receded somewhat into the background during 
 the years that he had been living and working in a purely
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 33 
 
 American environment. If Judaism was what his mother 
 taught, why this hatred? Why "damned Jew"? And 
 there grew in him a desire and a determination to master 
 the inner meaning of the history of the people to which he 
 belonged. The conviction instilled into him by his mother 
 that the day would come when in answer to a special call 
 it would be his privilege to serve that people, recurred to 
 him and he longed to do so, but already he was outgrowing 
 narrow particularism, and in the desire to serve he embraced 
 not one but all, not only Jew but Gentile. He would serve 
 America, the biggest collectivity he then grasped. 
 
 But with this desire came the realization of the limitations 
 of his education. He knew that the three It's and the 
 Psalms were not enough ; he felt that there was something 
 behind the ritual of the synagogue which he failed to get 
 at, which those who had hitherto taught him could not teach. 
 Instinctively he felt that religion, as commonly practiced, 
 was but the shadow of a substance at which he guessed but 
 knew not. There was something beyond the ceremonies 
 and symbols, however poetic ; something deeper and loftier 
 than the words, however solemn, chanted amid the blare 
 of the ram's horn on the day of Kippur. He now felt 
 he knew that this something was the essential. He 
 formed the resolve to fathom the inner essence of religion ; 
 to get at the heart of it ; and he made up his mind that as 
 soon as occasion offered he would make it his business to 
 study and to know. 
 
 Some years were still to pass, however, before he found 
 his life work. After the Arizona adventure his thoughts 
 turned eastward once more to the mother and the home 
 associations. He had not "found gold" nor "struck oil" 
 during his journeyings. He returned as poor in pocket 
 as he had gone, with nothing to show for his pains but the 
 cherished little bags of gold dust which the Indians had 
 given him. With these and his precious fiddle he started 
 homeward. 
 
 The chronology of these years is somewhat faulty in the
 
 34 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 few recollections held of them by surviving relatives, but a 
 landmark is afforded us by a glimpse we catch of him making 
 a stop in Chicago on his way to New York, and being caught 
 in the great fire which destroyed that city on the 8th of 
 October, 1871. In the fire he lost all his few possessions, 
 including the gold dust, and just managed to escape with 
 nothing but the clothes he stood up in and his beloved 
 fiddle. 
 
 After this he "took to the road" as he used to express it, 
 traveling for a time for a New York firm of lamp manu- 
 facturers. He made his headquarters at his mother's, 
 and his sister, Mrs. Fanny Bonnheim, remembers David 
 coming home at intervals, bringing with him new books and 
 new ideas in which he used to try and interest the family 
 circle, and also bringing new food in the shape of the banana, 
 then still a novelty, introduced by him to the household as a 
 particularly healthy and nourishing fruit. Mrs. Bonnheim 
 recalls him as a moody, erratic, hot-tempered youth, of 
 whom the young fry of the family stood much in awe. He 
 would pore over his books and studies and at such times 
 would be intensely impatient of any noise or interruption, 
 and his mother would enjoin on the children that by no 
 means must " her David " be disturbed as he "was thinking 
 out things." 
 
 At one time he thought he would try his fortunes as a 
 commercial traveler on his own account instead of working 
 for his firm and went south as far as New Orleans, but 
 though he doubtless acquired experience, his new venture 
 was a dead failure from the financial standpoint. I re- 
 member his telling me it was his worst experience in that 
 line; he got reduced to such extremities that he did not 
 know where to look for his next meal, and had to work 
 his passage back North on a river steamer in the roughest 
 of rough and unwashed company. 
 
 On one of his visits to New York the explosion of a coal- 
 oil lamp, which nearly burned down his mother's home, set 
 his mind to work, resulting in the invention of the non-
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 35 
 
 explosive lamp already referred to. Once again a mechanical 
 device, adopted and patented by the firm for which he 
 worked, materially aided his success in life. 
 
 All this while he' had not forgotten the determination 
 formed in Arizona. If there was little of the mystic there 
 was a great deal of the speculative philosopher in Lubin's 
 composition. While the orthodoxy of his childhood still 
 inspired him with reverence, yet he had outgrown it ; not 
 so the religion. That he was only just growing into ; but 
 he needed to get it on a basis that would satisfy his reason as 
 well as his emotions, a basis that would afford a firm anchor- 
 age for his thought. He felt the call to service, but, as he 
 wrote years later, "as the true marksman must have a 
 given point at which to aim, so the effective teacher must 
 have a logical postulate from whence to draw his deductions." 
 It was this logical postulate which he was to work out for 
 himself, Arizona fashion, taking nothing for granted, and 
 never consciously allowing himself to be carried away by 
 mere words. 
 
 A vast intellectual curiosity stirred within him; he fed 
 it on the one hand by studying the book of life as read by 
 the light of his daily experience, on the other by poring 
 over the volumes of history, of philosophy, or of speculative 
 thought that came his way. 
 
 And then came a new experience which left its mark on 
 him. A year or two after his return from Arizona he 
 made his first trip to Europe, crossing to Amsterdam, and 
 traveling thence through Germany and Austria to Poland. 
 We can picture the contrast between democracy in an 
 extreme form, such as he had lived it for three years in the 
 Wild West, and the class distinctions, traditions and cus- 
 toms of what was then still largely feudal Central Europe. 
 I have heard Mr. Lubin tell, with retrospective amusement, 
 how, boylike, he was dazzled and overawed by the glitter 
 and splendor of the magnificent porter in the Viennese 
 Hotel, who condescended to honor such an outsider as 
 himself with advice and assistance. Lubin felt sure that
 
 36 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 it would never do to insult such a grandee by offering him a 
 tip, though he had soon discovered that the smaller fry 
 were by no means averse to such tokens of regard. When, 
 after a few days, the porter no longer smiled upon him, 
 Lubin felt he must have been guilty of some grave breach 
 of etiquette, and in his anxiety went off to consult the 
 American consul, who had already assisted him in getting 
 his greenbacks changed into the local currency. " When 
 did you last tip him?" the consul inquired, and the guffaw 
 with which Lubin's reply was received was enlightening to 
 this young scion of a democracy where bowing and scraping 
 for gratuities was looked upon as degrading. 
 
 On this occasion he visited Warsaw and probably also his 
 native town. Here he saw the life of the Jew living literally 
 as an exile in a foreign and hostile land ; but what impressed 
 him most were not so much the material disabilities as the 
 atmosphere of spiritual fervor and apartness of the com- 
 munity, kept together by a theme and a self-imposed Law. 
 Yet he could not but perceive that the wealth of conserved 
 energy of these communities was going to waste; circum- 
 stances had forced it into sterile channels whence only now 
 and again an individual escaped to bring his particular 
 contribution to progress, but as an individual only and not 
 as a member of a corporate body, of a missionary people. 
 And while in Poland it was the conservatism of the Jew 
 which impressed Lubin, when he looked to conditions as 
 he knew them in America it was the assimilative character 
 of the race which came to the fore. There they became 
 Americans, and as such developed their special abilities, 
 "making good" in a variety of lines. But the young man, 
 striving to find his bearings in order to steer his course in 
 life with firm, unwavering hand, had the sensation that in 
 both countries much was being lost, power was running to 
 waste; in neither case was the human family getting the 
 full value of the contribution which he somehow felt his 
 people yet could and should bring to the common cause of 
 human progress and improvement.
 
 FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD 37 
 
 These were the ideas and impressions which, in the midst 
 of the multiple activities of a busy, hard-working life, were 
 growing and taking shape, stored, so to speak, in "the back 
 of the mind" of David Lubin when the call came which at 
 last gave a definite direction to his energies and started him 
 on what was to be his path in life. His sister Jeannette 
 had lost her husband, and had come into a small sum of 
 insurance money four hundred dollars with which she 
 decided to open a dry-goods store in San Francisco. She 
 sent for her brother Harry to help in this venture, and he 
 went to California. She now proposed that David, recently 
 returned from his European journey, should also invest his 
 meagre savings in the business and settle down. He agreed 
 to do so, and in 1874 he joined his relatives in San Francisco.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA : THE UPBUILDING 
 OF A BUSINESS 
 
 The following account of David Lubin's start as a business 
 man and merchant is taken from notes of the story as he 
 told it me some years ago in Rome : 
 
 In 1874 I was traveling in the East for a firm, selling 
 lamps, copper kettles, and other specialties in hardware, 
 when I received one day in New York a letter from my half- 
 brother, Harris Weinstock, who was then living in San Fran- 
 cisco. He told me of an opening there, and urged me to 
 come on and join him in a dry-goods store he was starting 
 mainly with some insurance money my sister had come into. 
 I decided to put my savings into the venture and go into 
 business with him. Our capital all told did not exceed six hun- 
 dred dollars. We opened a store down town, on Washington 
 Street, then in a good business quarter, doing a fair class of 
 trade for those days, though before long the Chinese began 
 to come in and gradually swamped the neighborhood. 
 Those were times of big prices on the Pacific Coast, of rapid 
 fortunes, and big failures. It was the custom to ask tre- 
 mendous sums and then sell for what you could get eighty- 
 five dollars for a suit of clothes, say, and then sell it for four. 
 No change under "two bits" was spoken of, and a "bit" 
 was 12^ cents. Coppers were not taken ; to offer them was 
 looked upon as an insult. 
 
 Trade was done in those days by standing at the door of 
 your store and inviting in customers sailors and miners 
 formed a goodly percentage of the motley population 
 and then you would "soak" them for all they were worth. 
 It was the old-world, old-time system of barter, handed down 
 from an immemorial past. It was a matter of bargaining 
 and haggling over prices between salesman and customer,
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 39 
 
 in which the latter was very generally worsted. To me it 
 was hateful. I could not square it up with my notions of 
 right and wrong, and I made a poor hand at the business. 
 I was hardly worth my salt. 
 
 I remember that I was alone one day in the store when a 
 sailor came in. I had been doing practically nothing for 
 weeks past, and was dissatisfied and restless. I thought I 
 would try my hand and see what I could do as a salesman, 
 and I did quite a stroke of business as things were with us, 
 for I took thirty dollars from the man, handing him only ten 
 cents change. But when the transaction was over I had 
 made up my mind. It was wrong. I would have nothing 
 more to do with it, and I determined that I would start for 
 myself on the basis of fixed prices on all goods, marked in 
 plain figures so that all could read. 
 
 I set out to find a place to start in, but nothing suitable offered 
 in San Francisco, so I resolved to go up the river to Sacra- 
 mento and see what chances there were in the State capital. 
 
 I went by boat, landing in Sacramento with my share of 
 the stock, and pretty poor stuff it was too. After looking 
 around I found a place I thought would do, on a corner of 
 K Street, above a basement saloon. It was about 10 ft. 
 wide by 12 ft. deep, separated by a thin partition from a 
 Chinese laundry. I occupied one half. Under me was the 
 saloon ; and under the saloon was a pool of stagnant water. 
 On the other corner there was another saloon, and yet an- 
 other on the third corner. 
 
 Well, I settled in and made shelves and painted them, 
 set up a counter made of dry-goods boxes covered with 
 oilcloth, and hung out a sign "D. Lubin, one price." 
 ["Probably the first 'one price* sign hung out in America 
 west of the Mississippi," comments Mr. Jacob Rubel in an 
 article written after Mr. Lubin's death.] I used to get my 
 meals for "two bits" on the floor above me where there was a 
 boarding place, and a sloppy place it was too. I rigged up 
 a bunk in the store, under the counter, and slept there. It 
 took "some" strength to take it apart later on; it was 
 fastened together with spikes and would have stood the 
 weight of an ox, let alone a man. I had a straw mattress 
 and turned in there of nights.
 
 40 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 I can assure you I had a pretty tough time; but I ran 
 things according to my own ideas of what was right, and 
 stuck to them ; fixed prices marked in plain figures, and no 
 lying as to the quality of the goods. I sold clothing of all 
 sorts, mostly to the miners who came to Sacramento to make 
 their purchases, and what success I had was mainly due to 
 an improvement I invented about that time to prevent 
 overalls splitting open (the endless-fly overall I called it). 
 I used to sell a pair of overalls with this improvement, which 
 I patented, for 75 cents, and as the nearest to these in quality 
 were the "riveted" overalls which were sold at a dollar and a 
 quarter and were not nearly so strong, my invention soon 
 came to be in great demand. That was the first hit I made, 
 and it was about time too, for it began to look as if I 
 should have to send down to San Francisco for a dollar to 
 keep me alive. 
 
 My system of fixed prices was so novel that it was not 
 accepted without a great struggle. I remember one day a 
 great big chap came into the store and bought quite a lot of 
 things, perhaps 25 dollars' worth ; it was the largest piece of 
 business I had done in one go since I started. When he 
 had done buying and I was wrapping up the goods, he noticed 
 a pocketknife I had on view in a little show case with a few 
 other things. It was marked, if I remember right, 50 cents, 
 and he wanted me to throw it in with his other purchases. 
 I explained to him that I could not do so, that it was against 
 the principle on which I ran the store ; that if I gave him a 
 knife I should presently have to give presents to other people, 
 and that such a course would be inconsistent with an equi- 
 table mode of doing business. He still insisted, urging that 
 he had not beat me down a cent on the other goods. I re- 
 fused; then he said, "All right, you can keep your damned 
 traps," and went for the door. "Very well," I replied, and 
 threw the parcels on the shelf, and when he still hung about, 
 wanting to haggle, I told him I would not sell them to him 
 anyhow, that he could just get out and go to hell. That 
 was the rough Arizona talk I gave him. And so my best 
 customer was hustled out. He went right enough; but 
 pretty soon, while I was at lunch, a man came in and bought 
 the goods of my relief boy who usually came to mind the store
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 41 
 
 when I went out. He bought them for himself, but they 
 went to that big chap, all right. 
 
 On the Saturday night following, as I was getting ready to 
 shut up, there was quite a rumble on the board sidewalk ; 
 it sounded as though a company of soldiers were marching 
 up. Pretty soon the crowd stopped in front of my store 
 and for a moment I thought there was going to be a fight. 
 "There he is," their leader shouted as he came in, pointing to 
 me ; "he's the only honest storekeeper in Sacramento, boys. 
 Whatever he says is so. Let's buy him out." It was the 
 fellow I had refused to dicker with a few days before. And 
 sure enough, by the time they had got through with their 
 purchases, there was not much of my stock left. 
 
 Well, the big chap of this story was the foreman of the 
 boiler shops in the works of the Central Pacific Railroad 
 Company, and this adventure was soon noised abroad. It 
 marked the turn of the tide. One customer would bring 
 others, and pretty soon I needed a clerk. When he came I 
 said to him, "Do you lie?" "No," says he. "Well, just 
 remember this; if I catch you lying to any customer of 
 mine, out you go." One day I caught him praising up some 
 goods to a woman, saying they were so and so. "No," 
 said I, "'tis n't either; that is poor stuff," right out 
 before him. I would n't have any one in the store who was 
 going to lie about the goods. I wanted it to be known 
 throughout Sacramento as a place for fair dealing. If a 
 man would not accept the coppers given him in change, 
 as frequently happened in those days, they were thrown in 
 the street after him. 
 
 Soon sales began to go up, and the business was growing 
 too big for the store. Then one day the Chinamen next door 
 played a gambling game long into the night; this was 
 nothing unusual, but on this particular occasion they seemed 
 to me to be making more noise than usual, and I could not 
 get to sleep. I was terribly mad at being kept awake and 
 pounded on the partition to stop them. I suppose I 
 pounded pretty hard, and in my anger I smashed a looking 
 glass on my side and at last broke a panel through and found 
 myself in the Chinamen's quarters. The next morning 
 they summoned me and I went into court. I don't know
 
 42 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 how many charges they had against me; house-breaking, 
 assault and battery, and what not. When the judge asked 
 me what I had to say, I told my story in which I referred 
 to the [gambling that was going on in the adjoining room, 
 over which the Chinamen had grown so excited. "Ah," 
 he said, "that will do. Mr. Lubin, you are discharged." 
 But he fined the Chinamen fifty or sixty dollars for gambling. 
 
 The landlord came round that day with a great tale of 
 how I was robbing him of his tenants, for the Chinamen had 
 resolved to move. I asked him what they paid and he told 
 me. "I will give you that for the room," I said, and so we 
 knocked down the partition and I enlarged my store. 
 
 That was how I started business; the fundamental idea 
 was the same that I am now working on in the International 
 Institute of Agriculture ; it was a fight then for fair dealing 
 between individuals ; it is now a fight for fair dealing be- 
 tween nations. 
 
 Thus the business of Weinstock and Lubin started forty- 
 six years ago in Sacramento, for soon David was joined by 
 his partner who came up from San Francisco. "We started 
 with a goodly assortment of ethics, but with an indifferent 
 stock of goods," Lubin said in an address he delivered in 
 February, 1916, before the employees of the firm which had 
 grown to prosperity out of such small beginnings. " The 
 ethics were first-class ; but the trouble was with the goods, 
 which consisted mainly of a few dozen overalls, some jumpers, 
 some red flannel overshirts, some cotton-flannel shirts and 
 drawers, some cotton handkerchiefs, some paper collars, 
 some pocketknives, some collar buttons, etc. The greatest 
 assortment was of our ethics. 
 
 "Unfortunately the people who called to buy knew little 
 or nothing of ethics, but knew very much about beating 
 down the price. They would usually begin or end with the 
 sentence, 'I'll tell you just what I'll do with you.' And my 
 answer usually was, 'No, you need not tell me ; you will do 
 nothing with me ; you will pay the price that is marked or 
 nothing.' And again they would start in to tell me what 
 they would do.
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 43 
 
 "'You are not here to conduct this business,' I would say. 
 'You are here to buy at the price marked. Buy the thing 
 if you want it at that price ; otherwise, go,' and the larger 
 number obeyed my injunction and went : and I often had n't 
 the twenty-five cents per meal to pay the boarding mistress." 
 
 Thus it came about that these two young men set to 
 work in this little "Mechanic's Store", as it was called, to 
 build up a business on lines then quite unknown in the 
 West, and they were rewarded by rapid success. 
 
 In all his activities David Lubin showed a wonderful 
 gift of intuition. He brought his keen gifts of observation, 
 deduction and generalization, the theories and thoughts of 
 the philosophers and writers whom he studied, to bear on 
 the conditions he lived among, and as a result he arrived 
 at conclusions which entitle him to be considered a pioneer 
 in reform as distinguished from a Utopian dreamer. When 
 he would first broach an idea or a proposal his mode of pres- 
 entation would often take his listener by surprise, indeed, 
 quite disconcert him. In discussing some practical business 
 issue where nothing but practical considerations of dollars 
 and cents, profit or loss, would seem to be involved, Lubin 
 would go back to first principles and be quite capable of 
 quoting as authorities Isaiah or Socrates or Cicero, or a 
 medieval worthy whom he held in high esteem, Maimonides. 
 He would talk of old Rome, or of the People of Israel ; and 
 his "practical" listeners, anxious to get through with a 
 "practical" matter, would grow impatient and be inclined 
 to classify him as an impractical theorist or, indeed, a " bore." 
 But they were very generally wrong, and in the long run had 
 to acknowledge it. Lubin was simply trying to get at the 
 "innards" of the question, as he would phrase it, despising 
 empirical conclusions and solutions, and trying to reason the 
 matter out from cause to effect, trying to get at right ways 
 to attain the desired ends. The result of all this hard 
 thinking and close if often quaint reasoning, was that 
 the movements he initiated, though frequently ahead of the 
 times and often sneered at on that account, were truly in
 
 44 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 keeping with real needs. They were nearly always taken 
 up and carried out sooner or later, often without due credit 
 being given the initiator. 
 
 Thus it was in the bold, aggressive fight for a new mode 
 of doing retail business which he made in the little town of 
 Sacramento way back in the early seventies. He was 
 striving to put into practice ideas and conclusions which had 
 taken root in his mind as the result of the reading he had 
 done in hours snatched from sleep or recreation, and the 
 hard thinking to which this reading had given rise. His 
 customers would doubtless have been surprised to hear 
 that Herbert Spencer, or John Stuart Mill, or the Bible had 
 anything to do with the one price, fair dealing, cash payment 
 system he was trying to introduce, but though they might not 
 have followed the reasoning which determined his policy, 
 they soon saw the advantages of that policy as it affected 
 them. So sound were the lines he laid down for his business 
 that in April, 1875, he was able to state in an advertisement 
 he drew up : 
 
 We started in business in Sacramento in October 6th, 
 1874, at 100 K. Street, between 4th and 5th, with two cases 
 of merchandise in a place 10 by 12, and as we were not over- 
 burdened with spare cash one of the partners of this firm 
 hauled the lumber himself, and placed the shelves where they 
 now are. It was a risky undertaking, but we wanted to 
 try our system, which we herein make public, for the benefit 
 of our customers and our contemporary storekeepers 
 
 1st. To buy or manufacture our goods at the lowest 
 market prices, and always be on the lookout for extra 
 chances, if goods were offered lower than the regular market 
 price. 
 
 2d. To calculate at how low a percentage we could afford 
 to sell them. 
 
 3d. Having settled that point to mark all our goods with 
 the selling price in plain figures, so that all who could read 
 figures should know the price as well as ourselves. 
 
 4th. Never to misrepresent any article offered for sale. 
 
 5th. To sell at one price only.
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 45 
 
 By adhering strictly to the above rules we have established 
 a reputation that no business house should be ashamed of ; 
 and our trade increased, for on the 15th of November, 1874, 
 we had to push back ten feet, and on the 3rd of February 
 another ten feet, and now we occupy two stores or six 
 times the space we occupied before well stocked with 
 sound, saleable goods, bought at their lowest market price, 
 and sold at their real value. We advise our older, and as 
 they call themselves smarter merchants to do as we do, and 
 they will have no occasion to say that in '49 times used to be 
 flush in Sacramento, but since the railroad came here trade 
 has gone to ruin bear in mind, old fogies, the trade is here ! 
 Turn over a new leaf be honest learn the true value of 
 goods, and do not misrepresent ; and do not lie to the public ; 
 and sell at a small percentage, and you will soon change 
 your opinion of Sacramento. Let the public bear in mind 
 we do not propose to sell goods at half price nor below cost, 
 but at the lowest price the goods can be sold at and at 
 one price only. 
 
 The reader will note in this unusual kind of advertisement, 
 printed in the local Sacramento Bee, with some grammatical 
 lapses (though Lubin acquired a truly remarkable command 
 of language and of forcible, picturesque expression, he re- 
 mained all his life somewhat deficient in what he termed the 
 "tool chest" of the writer) a full measure of the enthusiasm 
 and crudity of youth, as well as of the hustling aggressive 
 spirit of a Western community of those early years ; but the 
 note of self-assertion was justified by the fact that the writer 
 meant what he said and lived up to it. 
 
 While Lubin was determined to make a success of his 
 business enterprise, he was equally determined to achieve 
 that success only by rigid adherence to the most scrupulous 
 standards of integrity. To find a parallel to the following 
 anecdote, which I relate as it is given by Colonel Weinstock, 
 one must go to the life of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 "At that time our young firm was building up quite a 
 business with the large number of mechanics employed in
 
 46 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the local railway shops. An article of prime importance 
 to these workers were overalls, which they wore at their 
 tasks. One common criticism made by wearers was that in 
 hurriedly putting on these garments the worker would often 
 run his foot against the crotch of the overall which would 
 give way, causing great and sometimes embarrassing rips. 
 
 "Lubin, being of an inventive turn of mind, took these 
 criticisms to heart, and devised a remedy in the nature of a 
 continuous front fly, thus making the accidents complained 
 of practically impossible. Patent rights were secured, giving 
 the firm the exclusive privilege in the use of such device. 
 
 "An active publicity campaign was begun and soon this 
 particular style of overalls had the lead in the local market. 
 In due course the improvement came to the notice of a 
 large San Francisco manufacturer who saw a fortune in the 
 idea with the whole country available as a possible outlet. 
 
 "One day this great manufacturer put in an appearance 
 at the little Sacramento shop and said he was interested in 
 the overall improvement, and would like to buy the patent 
 rights for the United States. How much would they cost ? 
 
 "Lubin and I went into executive session. It was a great 
 problem, what to ask. We felt that we should not ask less 
 than $200 and a maximum price would be about $400. 
 Finally, in gross ignorance of its real value, we compromised 
 between ourselves on the sum of three hundred dollars, which 
 to us at that period of our business career seemed quite a 
 fortune. 
 
 "With much hesitation the price of $300 was quoted, in 
 great fear lest the prospective buyer would turn on his heel 
 and walk out. Imagine our surprise when without a word 
 the manufacturer whipped out his checkbook, wrote out his 
 check, and smilingly handed it over to us. The transaction 
 was closed in a flash. The buyer was serenely happy, and 
 so were we. Never before had we seen so much money in 
 one day. 
 
 "Two or three years intervened. The far-sighted manu- 
 facturer was doing a large and profitable export business in
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 47 
 
 those overalls. We soon realized what a valuable source of 
 profit we had practically given away for a song, and how the 
 retention of the patent rights on our part would have led 
 to an early fortune. 
 
 "One day there came a well-groomed gentleman who 
 introduced himself as an attorney from San Francisco. 
 After considerable hemming and hawing and beating about 
 the bush, he finally made to us the astonishing statement 
 that there had been an error in the assignment of the overall 
 patent, that legally the rights were still vested in us, and that 
 he was at our mercy in the matter. He had been sent by 
 the San Francisco manufacturer to ascertain at what price 
 we would be willing to make a reassignment of the patent. 
 
 "Here was a golden opportunity. A fortune was staring 
 us in the face. In our ignorance we had almost given away 
 the patent rights. Now the choice was open either to exact 
 a large sum for reassignment, or to decline to reassign, to 
 market the improvement ourselves and thus enjoy a short 
 cut to wealth. 
 
 "Admittedly, it was a strong temptation to get rich quick ; 
 but without a moment's hesitation, and without even 
 stopping to consult me, Lubin said to the attorney ' You 
 ask at what price we will make a reassignment of the patent 
 rights. The answer is, there is no price.' 
 
 "For a moment the lawyer's face dropped. Continuing, 
 Lubin went on to say, 'Your client bought the patent in 
 good faith, and we sold it to him in good faith. We do not 
 propose to take advantage of any mistake. Hand out your 
 document and it will be cheerfully signed, without one 
 penny of additional compensation.' 
 
 '* The attorney looked as though he could be knocked 
 over with a feather. He had come authorized and prepared 
 to pay (if need be) a big, fat sum to get the signature on the 
 dotted line, and here it was given for the mere asking. Later 
 he acknowledged that if all business transactions were con- 
 ducted on such a level, the occupation of the legal fraternity 
 would largely be gone."
 
 48 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 The story of the progressive development of the Sacra- 
 mento business can be read in the advertisements drawn up 
 by Mr. Lubin during these early years of struggle. He was 
 in charge of the publicity side of the work and set about it 
 in characteristic style. He had very definite ideas as to 
 what advertising should be. 
 
 "Let the advertising man remember that there is no effort 
 or genius necessary to make slap -dash statements ; anybody 
 can do that; a scrub writer can dash off statements about 
 bricks, religion, suspenders, astronomy, hogs, automobiles, 
 houses, bonds, shirts, or anything. ... It takes more 
 genius to tell a plain statement in a plain way, and to tell it 
 truthfully, than it does to make all the flashy and dashy 
 style that has ever been devised ; and as for effect, there 
 is no comparison whatever," he wrote in his later years 
 in going over this subject in a letter to his son Jesse. 
 
 And again, in a letter written in 1910, he says, "When 
 reading general literature you should have your 'weather 
 eye ' open in converting the sense of what you read into your 
 everyday affairs of business, and complementary to the same 
 all the suggestive points of business should be employed in 
 shaping your generalization on your reading. In accordance 
 with same I wish to say that . . . my mind was arrested 
 last night in reading on the subject of 'dissipation of energy ' 
 by this paragraph : ' the man who is always speaking in a 
 loud, shouting voice must shout very much louder if he is 
 to excite more attention, but the person who always speaks 
 in a low, gentle voice has only to raise it the least little bit 
 and we at once give him all our attention.'" 
 
 These were the reflections of a man who had been through 
 the mill, and who reviewed the situation in the light of a 
 life's experience. We must not expect to find the same de- 
 tachment and objectiveness in the young athlete struggling 
 to make headway against adverse circumstance. There is 
 a note of aggressiveness in the way in which he attacked the 
 "grabbers", as he called his business rivals who resorted 
 to modes of trade which he condemned, which does not en-
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 49 
 
 tirely reflect this philosophic serenity, this "sweet reasonable- 
 ness." But, right from the start, in his advertisements as 
 in his mode of effecting sales, David Lubin strove for truth. 
 In his descriptions of goods he made none but plain straight- 
 forward statements which he could prove. There is no 
 undue emphasis, no "cracking up" his wares. Emphasis 
 comes in when he gets on the subject of the fundamental 
 principles to which he pinned his faith. On that subject 
 he speaks, nay, shouts in no uncertain tones; and in his 
 hands the advertising columns of a small provincial news- 
 paper became a pulpit from which he preached the doctrine 
 of honest business. 
 
 In his business activities, as in all other phases of his life 
 work, Lubin was full of the missionary spirit. He wanted to 
 get on and to make a success of his store, but he also, and 
 more especially, wanted to educate himself and to educate 
 others in the principles of Tightness, of "righteousness." 
 
 The advertisements which he drew up were often more in 
 the nature of a proclamation of principles and a challenge 
 to all concerned than an advertisement of goods. The 
 following from a Sacramento paper sets forth in clear, char- 
 acteristic way the basic idea underlying Lubin's economic 
 activities in his store, on his farm, and in his international 
 work: 
 
 WE WILL NOT SUBMIT TO UNJUST TAXATION! 
 
 This was the Watchword that created the greatest Republic 
 in the World. But are not the majority of the people taxed 
 heavier than before the Great Revolution ? We do not mean 
 politically but individually. The Tyrannical Tax Collectors 
 owe allegiance to no Government. Each one of the Ty- 
 rants runs a tax-collecting mill on his own account. They 
 collect more unjust taxes from the people than all the State, 
 County, and City taxes put together. Their motto is 
 Grab grab all you can none are exempt from the 
 clutches of their claws. 
 
 The boy in buying his marbles or jackknife, the girl in 
 buying a doll or toy, the young, the old, the rich, the poor,
 
 50 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the close, the liberal are all taxed alike by the accommodating 
 Grabber, and still the Grabbers call themselves Merchants. 
 Merchants indeed ! What a base meaning the word mer- 
 chant would have if this were true ! When the principal 
 stock in trade of a Merchant would be to be a continual Liar ! 
 
 And the writer goes on to describe some of the more com- 
 mon dishonest trade practices of the day and place, and once 
 more to lay down the sound business principles which have 
 now come to be almost universally accepted if not equally 
 universally practiced. 
 
 The style of these advertisements is not so novel now as it 
 was forty years ago ; it has been imitated, and the imitations 
 are pretty generally parodies, for they simulate apostolic 
 fervor in order to sell goods, whereas with Lubin the fervor 
 was genuine. His purpose was not only to sell his wares 
 but also to educate his readers to standards of business 
 morality which he conceived of as a spoke in the wheel of 
 the great Righteousness he aspired after. Psychologically, 
 too, he was right in his mode of address. To be one of a 
 chorus shouting at the public to come to your own particular 
 store to buy "shoes, hats, valise, cheap for cash" attracts 
 no special attention. To make confidants of the public, 
 so that they come to be interested not only in your merchan- 
 dise but also in your mode of doing business and to make 
 them realize that under that mode your interests and 
 theirs are not antagonistic but parallel, is to make of them 
 staunch friends and faithful customers. 
 
 While he and his partner were building up for themselves 
 a large and profitable business, David Lubin was also 
 steadfastly pursuing an ideal, and that ideal was to reduce 
 to a minimum the friction in exchange, to do away with 
 "unjust taxation" in the economic as well as in the political 
 sphere. The following quotation from a letter written in 
 his later years sets forth the point of view which he held 
 through life : 
 
 You and I have heard time and again that the farmer 
 and the man in the factory, commonly denominated pro-
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 51 
 
 ducers, are very much praised, while merchants and traders 
 in the same breath are condemned and sometimes called 
 parasites. Herbert Spencer shows the fallacy of such claims. 
 If there be merit in distinction it should, in my opinion, 
 go to the man of exchange, the trader, the merchant; but 
 when ? Only when the friction of exchange, the profits, are 
 reduced by their efforts to their lowest denomination ; and 
 doubly meritorious is this exchange when the merchant has 
 skill and employs it at both ends, in buying and selling. He 
 then truly becomes a blessing to the social system. . . . 
 
 The world will presently begin to understand that real 
 usury does not so much consist in contracts for interest, as 
 it does in incompetency as a trader. The trader who pays 
 too much, the trader who charges too much, and the trader 
 who gives inferior goods is the real usurer, the real enemy of 
 mankind. Conversely, the trader who buys at the lowest 
 price, who sells at the lowest price, and who buys and sells 
 only sound goods, is a blessing, a blessing to himself and a 
 blessing to all with whom he does business. Such a trader 
 is neither a parasite nor at all inferior in social economy to 
 the farmer or the workman. If anything at all, he is their 
 superior. 
 
 To reduce friction in exchange to a minimum, so that 
 the middleman, the merchant, the dealer, the banker act 
 as the lubricant which eases the workings of the social 
 machine, insuring smooth running, and not as the toll-taker, 
 the usurer, the "profiteer", this was the phase of economics 
 to which Lubin devoted his life. He firmly believed not 
 only that there was a legitimate sphere for the "middleman" 
 but that the duties he performed were of the highest social 
 value, on condition, however, that he acted as a means not 
 of wasting but of economizing energy. 
 
 " The merchant," he said in the address from which we 
 have already quoted, "who conducts his business properly 
 is the man who reduces the rough angles in exchange. In 
 substance, he takes the product of the labor of the carpenter 
 and exchanges it for the product of the labor of the shoe- 
 maker; the product of the farmer with the product of the
 
 52 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 tailor; and so along the entire line of production and dis- 
 tribution not merely the production and the distribution 
 of his own locality, but in widely extended areas ; sometimes 
 expanding to the ends of the earth. The merchant who per- 
 ceives and rectifies the waste and loss in the process of ex- 
 change, so that shoemaker Thomas receives the full measure 
 of equity in exchanging the product of his labor for the 
 product of the labor of teamster Brown is doing work of high 
 moral, economic and political value. More than that; a 
 properly conducted business is of almost as high value as 
 a church, an altar. But on the contrary, an improperly 
 conducted business is a place of inequity and iniquity. A 
 properly conducted business works for the general welfare, 
 for civilization ; whereas the improperly conducted busi- 
 ness pulls downward to injustice and barbarism. ... It 
 took the barbarous peoples centuries and centuries to devise 
 the rudest form of exchange ; and even to-day, in this twen- 
 tieth century, and in this great civilized nation, we have very 
 much to learn before we will have 'Exchange' as just and 
 as equitable as the Prophets of the Bible wanted it to be." 
 
 As the Sacramento business developed it had to meet a 
 condition diametrically opposed to the principles on which 
 it was founded, and that condition was the "jobber/* 
 
 Weinstock and Lubin were doing a strictly cash business 
 with a small margin of profit ; to carry out this policy suc- 
 cessfully they needed to buy for cash in the cheapest market, 
 i.e. direct from the manufacturer. But in 1874 this was an 
 innovation which a small man could only make at the cost 
 of much effort and no small risk. The young merchant 
 who had boldly put out the first "One Price" sign west of 
 the Mississippi took a pioneer part in this fight with the 
 jobber in merchandise. 
 
 In these early days David Lubin used himself to go East 
 to buy for his store, and it was his energy which found the 
 means to break through the barriers and get in touch with 
 the manufacturer. 
 
 In August, 1877, two years and ten months after its humble
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 53 
 
 start, the Mechanic's Store was well on its way to becoming 
 what it has remained ever since an institution rather 
 than a store for Sacramento. Its premises had to be con- 
 stantly enlarged as its activities expanded, and in one of 
 his characteristic advertisements Lubin was able truth- 
 fully to state : 
 
 "Justice is our sole guide in business. Our rules are made 
 in strict accordance with the strict laws of justice, and shall 
 always adhere to them. By doing justice to the sharper, 
 justice to the ignorant, justice to the clever, justice to the 
 simple, justice to the young, justice to the old, we have 
 succeeded in establishing the Largest Retail Business in 
 Sacramento, and a reputation second to none on the Pacific 
 Coast." 
 
 Meantime the firm's activities were spreading beyond 
 Sacramento; they had become State- wide, and more than 
 that. By the careful and minute attention to detail and 
 routine which was one of his characteristics, Lubin was 
 building up a new form of business, the Mail Order House. 
 
 The firm was now becoming an employer of labor on quite 
 a considerable scale, and as functions began to differentiate, 
 the propaganda and labor side of the business became Lubin's 
 particular sphere of activity. 
 
 Here in his own words is an account of the modes he 
 employed in training his staff : 
 
 One of our most difficult tasks was to teach the em- 
 ployees to tell the simple truth. At that time misrepresent- 
 ing and lying was the normal process in buying and selling. 
 Let me illustrate one mode of teaching. 
 
 Say a boy, Charlie, came up to my office, sent there 
 through a complaint of the Head of the Department. 
 
 " Charlie, I am told that you have been a bad boy. Is it 
 true?" 
 
 ;;No, Sir." 
 
 "But here are the charges, Charlie; you havs done thus 
 and so." 
 
 "No, I have not."
 
 54 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 "Charlie, who is your boss?" 
 
 "You are, Sir." 
 
 "I don't think so ; try again." 
 
 "Mr. Weinstock." 
 
 "Try again." 
 
 "The superintendent." 
 
 "Try again." 
 
 "The Head of the Department." 
 
 "Try again." 
 
 "The printed rules." 
 
 "Try again." 
 
 "I can't." 
 
 "Now come over to this table and sit down here and I 
 shall draw something, and you will tell me what it is. What 
 is it, Charlie?" 
 
 "It is a can, like a kerosene can." 
 
 " We will fill it up with kerosene ; now what is it filled with ? " 
 
 "Kerosene." 
 
 "And now let us run the kerosene out. What is the can 
 filled with?" 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 "No, it is filled with something." 
 
 "It is filled with air." 
 
 "Now, watch; let us fill it with ink until it comes up to 
 the top. What is the can filled with ? " 
 
 "Filled with ink." 
 
 "And now let the ink run out. What is the can filled 
 with?" 
 
 "Filled with air." 
 
 Then I continue drawing, converting the can into the head 
 of a boy. 
 
 "What is it now?" 
 
 " The head and face of a boy." 
 
 "Now let us pour something into this head. Let that 
 something be ideas. Let us pour the ideas into the head 
 through the eyes. Let us pour into the head nasty ideas. 
 What will the head be filled with?" 
 
 "Nasty ideas." 
 
 "Now let us clean the head out and pour in good ideas. 
 What is the head filled with?"
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 55 
 
 "Good ideas." 
 
 "Let us pour that out and put in some good and some 
 bad ideas. What will the head be filled with?" 
 
 "The head will be filled with good ideas and bad ideas.'* 
 
 "Do you now begin to understand who is really your 
 boss?" 
 
 "I think so, Sir; I think it is my ideas." 
 
 "If you pour good ideas into your head, what will you 
 be?" ' 
 
 "A good man, Sir." 
 
 "And bad ideas?" 
 
 "A bad man." 
 
 "Who then is your real boss?" 
 
 "My ideas." 
 
 "Then it makes a very important difference as to whether 
 you put good ideas or bad ideas into your head?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And now let me ask you another question. Whom do 
 vou cheat first when you are doing wrong ? " 
 
 "Myself." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because it would be putting bad ideas into my head and 
 making me poorer." 
 
 "Do you now understand who is your boss?" 
 
 " Yes, Sir, I am my own boss ; my ideas are my boss. And 
 I must think properly and act properly in order to get my 
 head filled with good ideas." 
 
 "And so, Charlie, you see that your boss is your own soul, 
 and that it is wonderful but it is true that the laws that 
 govern your thoughts are as real as the law that moves the 
 earth." 
 
 It will be readily understood that teaching of this order, 
 saved from the blight of preachy "tall talk" by the quaint- 
 ness of the mode employed and by the unaffected directness 
 and sincerity of the teacher, was no small factor in the up- 
 building of the business ; a business which Lubin was de- 
 termined should not only bring him material rewards, but 
 should prove a blessing to all who worked for it ; they were 
 not to be just his employees, but were to feel themselves
 
 56 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 servants in a service to the community of which they were 
 part. 
 
 How well he succeeded in this aim can be realized by talk- 
 ing with those who entered his employ in the early days, 
 some of whom are still at the "old stand" in Sacramento. 
 " There were no eight-hour days in those times," one of these 
 said, in talking to me. "Business hours were from 7.15 a. m. 
 to 10 p.m., but we enjoyed every minute of it ; work was no 
 hardship. We loved the store and the spirit that pervaded 
 it; we were made to feel that we were part of it, that its 
 success was our success ; and if we worked hard, Mr. Lubin 
 worked harder still. And he was very considerate; for 
 instance, he required all of us juniors under eighteen to 
 attend classes which he organized for us during some of the 
 working hours each week, and those girls who were not called 
 for by relatives were always sent home at night in a con- 
 veyance specially provided for this purpose, in charge of a 
 chaperone. No other employer thought of such things." 
 
 I remember a lady coming to me in Rome one day and 
 exclaiming : "What a wonderful man Mr. Lubin must be." 
 She had called at the International Institute of Agriculture 
 to see him, and had there met an American, to her a total 
 stranger, who had come on the same errand. Finding Lubin 
 out, they had dropped into conversation. The man, then 
 president of a great American railroad, had told her that he 
 owed everything in life to Lubin ; that he had entered his 
 employ as a boy, and attributed his success entirely to the 
 training he had then received, to the personal attention and 
 helpful interest which had developed his abilities and afforded 
 him scope to rise. 
 
 Another such instance is that of a minister who began 
 life as clerk to Weinstock and Lubin. Always fond of 
 metaphysical discussions, Lubin had not failed to note a 
 similar taste in this employee; he considered him gifted 
 and found that his vocation was for the church, but that 
 circumstances did not allow him to make the requisite 
 studies; so, with characteristic generosity, he himself
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 57 
 
 helped to meet the expense of training the young man in a 
 theological seminary, enabling him to become in due time 
 a respected and successful Baptist minister. 
 
 And here it may be of interest to give some idea of Lubin's 
 position in relation to labor matters. He was all his life 
 long what is termed a "progressive" employer; the love of 
 justice, the high standard of integrity which were his were, 
 of course, exemplified in his relations with his employees. 
 
 These relations were also essentially democratic. Lubin 
 was a great believer in parliamentary modes of procedure, 
 in the value of council, in debate and criticism, and he car- 
 ried these ideas into his practical dealings with those in his 
 employ. Before coming to a decision in any matter he would 
 hear all sides, encouraging those in the more humble as well 
 as in superior capacities to express their views freely. He 
 would as willingly consult the cash boy or the porter as the 
 head of a department. Accuracy in statement, soundness 
 in argument, ability in generalization were the qualities he 
 most prized, and these he wished should prevail, whoever 
 might be their exponent. "As smoke to the eye and vin- 
 egar to the teeth are glittering generalities with no specific 
 facts behind them," he would often say. 
 
 In bringing in subordinates to take part in such discus- 
 sions his first wish was that they should feel entirely at 
 their ease, sit down and make themselves comfortable, and 
 for this purpose he would insist on comfortable chairs, a 
 cigar maybe, and a free and easy exchange of thought. But, 
 on the other hand, he would be decidedly disconcerting to 
 those unaccustomed to his ways. He disliked mere ac- 
 quiescence or any attempt to take a lead from him and fit 
 answers accordingly. He would look the offender through 
 and through with keen, unflinching eyes, and pounce down 
 with some unexpected inquiry or comment which would 
 throw him or her quite off the track. The nervous or the 
 timid might well dread such an ordeal, but as Lubin never 
 desired to browbeat or intimidate, and was only harsh on 
 the insincere or "slazy" (as he would phrase it) reasoner
 
 58 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and not on the shy or slow-witted, he could and would be 
 gentle and very patient if he once realized the situation. 
 
 He attached the utmost importance to careful training 
 of the eye and hand as well as of the brain, and was a strict 
 disciplinarian. Work was work and play was play ; he 
 believed in going in for both whole-heartedly, but in keeping 
 them strictly apart. Yet he never thought time wasted in 
 argument on essential points, even if lengthy, and he greatly 
 encouraged independent thinking among his employees. 
 
 Lubin always maintained that so-called "cheap" labor 
 is the most expensive ; he was a firm believer in high wages 
 for good service. He liked to see men rise from the ranks, 
 and granted rapid promotion for ability. He believed in 
 competition as a driving force for progress ; but while he 
 was certainly not a collectivist neither was he an absolute 
 individualist. Writing on this subject in December, 1910, 
 to a correspondent he says : 
 
 The question remains, on what line should this work be 
 done? Should it be on the line of Collectivism? Should 
 it be on the line of Individualism? As well let one say of 
 color, let it be red ; and another one, let it be blue. In the 
 scheme of color we need not alone the cardinal tints but the 
 shades as well. And so in the affairs of the social structure. 
 We need socialistic Collectivism, and we need Individua- 
 lism, but not as separate isms. These two are merely parts 
 of a structure, of the social structure. As in a great machine 
 shop if there be crooked shafting, journals too tight or too 
 loose, untrue pulleys, and imperfect belting it will be no 
 marvel to find the shop on the road to bankruptcy, so in 
 the social structure there is the same problem, how to 
 straighten out, how to justify, how to perfect. 
 
 For sentimentality he had no use, and he was skeptical 
 as to the value of so-called "social uplift" and "welfare" 
 work. Inasmuch as it patronized he believed it degraded ; 
 at best it was ladling out with a spoon the water steadily 
 flowing into a leaking boat. Justice, not charity, he believed 
 to be the true relation between employer and employed.
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 59 
 
 He was firmly convinced that social justice in the eco- 
 nomic sphere can only be assured by a "balance of power", 
 and for this reason he believed in offsetting the organizations 
 of finance and commerce by labor organizations, trade 
 unions, and so forth, and he was undismayed by the use of 
 the strike as an economic weapon. 
 
 The following quotation from a letter he wrote in 1888 
 when visiting Spain sets forth his point of view on this 
 question : 
 
 From what I have observed here I have come to the 
 conclusion that this new axiom may be added to the list of 
 "old saws" : "Blessed is the land that has a labor question 
 and has labor troubles." I know that there are many who 
 fear and do not wish to see labor agitations in our country, 
 but it is an undeniable fact that through the medium of 
 labor agitations we owe much of our standing as a nation of 
 freemen and a people of progress. The price of labor de- 
 termines the physical, intellectual and spiritual welfare of a 
 people, and a land where there is no labor question, no labor 
 troubles, no labor agitation, is dead and the people are 
 starving slaves. Spain has no labor question, and the 
 laborer has no choice but to accept the miserable few coppers 
 a day for his toil. 
 
 He was extremely skeptical of all efforts to make arbi- 
 tration compulsory; he believed them foredoomed to fail- 
 ure and rightly so, for he considered such legislation essen- 
 tially undemocratic. 
 
 Of the socialist state as advocated by the followers of 
 Karl Marx he had the most profound distrust. He con- 
 ceived it as essentially a vast, centralized bureaucracy ; an 
 eater and not a producer of wealth ; an instrument for the 
 protection of mediocrity ; crushing all initiative and enter- 
 prise ; by nature, parasitic. He believed that the perpetual 
 struggle of forces in the economic world is the only means of 
 progress, but for that struggle to be fruitful knowledge must 
 replace ignorance ; chaos must give way to order ; anarchy 
 to the higher synthesis of forces. He was a strong believer
 
 60 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 in cooperation as a check on excessive individualism, in 
 organization as a corrective to excessive competition, and 
 above all and before all he believed in democracy, which he 
 derived as a direct consequence of the religious ideals which 
 were his. 
 
 As we look back on these opening years of David Lubin's 
 career we ask ourselves what it was that differentiated him 
 from his compeers, that justifies us in looking upon him as a 
 man apart. Not his enterprise. We need only think of 
 the extraordinary and rapid development of the Pacific 
 Coast States to see that there was no lack of enterprise, 
 and of a high order, in that community; enterprise which 
 was constantly making itself manifest on a gigantic scale. 
 Those were days when, as I have heard Mr. Lubin tell, a 
 dry-goods man, Mr. Crocker, a grocer, Leland Stanford, 
 and two hardware men, C. P. Huntington and J. Hopkins, 
 met in a back parlor in Sacramento and planned and, 
 what was more, carried out the building of a transcon- 
 tinental railway. Their achievement was rivaled by those 
 of others in other fields. Enterprise, daring, intelligence 
 and energy were not rare qualities in California. Nor was 
 a high standard of honor and integrity enough to set him 
 as a man apart ; Lubin had no monopoly in these qualities. 
 Nor was it his success ; others were achieving equally rapid 
 and much greater success, if success be measured by money 
 returns. 
 
 Rather was it the consciousness of a purpose more than 
 his own, a purpose which guided his actions, making him 
 use, as a step in the ladder of Service, the sphere of ac- 
 tivities which circumstances had made his. 
 
 Circumstances, not nature; I think all who knew David 
 Lubin intimately must often have been struck by the incon- 
 gruity between himself and his surroundings. The rough 
 life in Arizona, in contact with the bed-rock realities and mys- 
 teries of life; later on the forum of the social reformer or 
 even the pulpit of the impassioned preacher; and, as his 
 ideas reached maturity, the council room of the statesman
 
 PIONEER YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 61 
 
 would have been the congruous environment for such a 
 personality. But here was a prophet and a reformer set 
 down in a dry-goods store to purchase and sell shirts and 
 pants and suspenders, ribbons and dresses and bonnets for 
 the good people of Sacramento. Nothing daunted, he made 
 of his store a pulpit, and a much more effective one than if 
 he had addressed a church congregation, for here the sermon 
 was preached in deeds as well as words; and he made the 
 experience acquired in buying and selling a textbook in 
 which he studied world economics to better purpose than if 
 he had been in the studious seclusion of a university ; and 
 from the first he looked upon the fortune he was making 
 not as an end in itself but as a means which was to enable 
 him to perform the larger Service of which he even then 
 dreamed, and which he wished to fit himself to perform with 
 that entire disinterestedness which is only possible to the 
 ascetic saint (and this he emphatically was not) or to the 
 man of means. 
 
 It was the strong conviction, for long periods only latent 
 but always there, instilled into him from his earliest years, 
 the conviction that he had received a call to Service, which 
 made him a man apart and set the distinctive mark on 
 him when compared to other equally enterprising, equally 
 honorable, and equally successful men. It was his almost 
 feminine gift of intuition and sensitiveness to the emotion 
 of the ideal. Again the desire which guided his actions 
 was to return a blessing for every curse, for every blow a 
 benefit. 
 
 Let me conclude by quoting again from the address with 
 which he may be said to have closed his business activities 
 when, in February, 1916, he visited for the last time his 
 store in Sacramento : 
 
 What is the function of a merchant? If he is not able 
 to be a blessing he has no more right to be a merchant than 
 a hog has to be a merchant. Every stone, every brick, every 
 piece of shelving, every piece of goods within the boundary 
 of the merchant's domain must be the result of conscientious,
 
 62 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 intelligent, and painstaking labor. Otherwise all that he 
 has is a witness against him for destruction. Shall the 
 farmer be designated "Nature's nobleman" simply because 
 he can plant and harvest wheat, potatoes and onions? 
 And shall not a merchant be deemed Nature's nobleman 
 when, through the labors of his business, he creates a Pass- 
 over : when he passes, in his dealings, over the highway from 
 the Egyptian darkness of inequality into the broad domain 
 of the Holy Land of justice and equity ? 
 
 And this continual Passing-over is the mission of the true 
 merchant. 
 
 A business is a sacred place; and a liar and cheat has 
 no right in a business. If this truth is being taught now and 
 right here in this business ; if this has been done right along, 
 then we may say "all 's well." But if there has been a de- 
 parture toward the decline then it is "all 's ill." Does this 
 business allow injustice to customers? Does this business 
 allow injustice to employees? Are employees sent off on 
 unjust reasons, or because some hot-head acts on the spur 
 of the moment ? Then I say of that business that the foun- 
 dation has been laid in vain. The whole thing is a misfor- 
 tune. But if this business has continued on in the course 
 laid out for it; if it has continued on adhering strictly to 
 the laws of equity ; then the foundation has not been laid 
 in vain. Then the structure is as solid as the eternal moun- 
 tains.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 
 
 In the ten years which followed the opening of the store 
 in 1874, David Lubin became firmly established in Sacra- 
 mento as a prosperous and substantial merchant, at the head 
 of the largest Department Store and Mail Order House on 
 the Pacific Coast. The principles he had fought for had 
 prevailed ; the "grabber" was going or gone, and the Wein- 
 stock-Lubin mode of doing business was the abundant re- 
 cipient of that sincerest form of flattery, imitation. 
 
 During these years Lubin had settled down and married ; 
 he was now a family man, the father of thriving boys and 
 girls ; a substantial citizen active in local politics and issues ; 
 a keen business man intensely interested in the problems 
 of his store. Yet he never allowed business interests to 
 absorb him to the exclusion of intellectual and educational 
 pursuits. On the contrary, he made each serve the other. 
 All his life long he was a strong believer in the practical 
 value of abstract thought, and in the philosophical value 
 of business experience. Writing on this point in 1911 to 
 his son Sie, he says : 
 
 I would be pleased to have you read this book [Maimoni- 
 des, "a Guide to the Perplexed"] with Jesse and write me 
 something in the nature of a thesis on the subject from time 
 to time; and do not for one moment think that reading 
 such books will deteriorate business faculty. Nothing is 
 better calculated to strengthen business ability, and there 
 is nothing better calculated to help to an understanding of 
 books such as this than everyday business experience, 
 provided always that the business thought be blended with 
 the philosophic sentence, and the philosophic sentence 
 be blended with the business experience; but in all this 
 there should be absolutely no trace of priggishness.
 
 64 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 The little afterthought with which the above quotation 
 closes is illuminating; nothing angered Lubin more than 
 the superciliousness of the "superior" person; there was, 
 indeed, nothing of the "highbrow" about him. 
 
 He was at great pains during these years of growth and 
 development to supplement and complete his scanty early 
 education. He did so from many angles. Among other 
 things, he purchased and erected on his roof a good telescope, 
 got hold of a local man of some scientific attainments, and 
 started to acquire an elementary knowledge of astronomy; 
 not, however, from the mathematical end ; that was always a 
 closed book to Lubin. He had a logical mind which could 
 "play ball" with ideas, but figures fogged him. In connec- 
 tion with the mechanical devices which he invented from 
 time to time he acquired a considerable knowledge of me- 
 chanics, but here again he reasoned from cause to effect 
 without the help of figures. 
 
 He got together a considerable library and read widely 
 and discursively in history, philosophy, theology, and 
 economics, always bringing to the books he read the prob- 
 lems on which his own mind was engaged, and getting out 
 of them data and food for further thought and the con- 
 firmation or criticism of his own ideas, rather than acquir- 
 ing ideas from them. 
 
 Of what is meant in Europe by "culture" he had little 
 or none, and the aesthetic sense was in him rudimentary. 
 He could perceive and appreciate the beauty of Holiness, 
 but not the holiness of Beauty. I dare say he himself would 
 have disputed this dictum, for although he did not profess 
 to understand, he respected art. Indeed, he did his best 
 to arouse the torpid interest of the community in which he 
 lived to its importance. He had, moreover, very distinct 
 likes and dislikes, in this as in other fields, which he was at 
 no trouble to conceal. Still, the fact remains that he looked 
 upon all aesthetic manifestations with some condescension, 
 as agreeable trimmings to life, not as fundamental issues, 
 vital forms of spiritual energy.
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 65 
 
 Prosperous, respected, progressive, Lubin in those years 
 was typical' of the best side of the Western American; but 
 once more the dualism which was latent in his character 
 was to emerge. 
 
 In 1884 his mother, then an old woman over seventy 
 years of age, reminded him of an early promise he had made, 
 that if ever he could afford it he would take her to the Holy 
 Land. Now he had the means, and the time had come to 
 redeem his promise. 
 
 So son and mother started off together. To the old lady 
 the journey was a pilgrimage, the fulfillment of the pious 
 aspirations of a lifetime. It was to mark a turning point in 
 her son's career. 
 
 "I had a sweet old time, I can assure you," he would say, 
 when growing reminiscent of that expedition. " My mother 
 would touch no food that was not strictly 'kosher', and I 
 had to see that she got it. We traveled in the Pullman 
 palace cars across America, and when the appointed hours 
 came round the old lady, totally indifferent to comment 
 or surprise on the part of outsiders where matters of religion 
 were at stake, would go through with her devotions, and if I 
 betrayed any uneasiness lest this should make us too con- 
 spicuous, she would give me a sharp retort expressive of 
 contempt for all respecters of persons : ' I am not ashamed 
 of my religion.'" 
 
 After passing through England, France, and the chief 
 Italian cities, where they visited the great museums and art 
 collections, which did not fail to make their due impression 
 on Lubin, they went to Egypt and thence to Palestine, 
 landing at Jaffa, and as his aged mother stepped on shore 
 she fell on her knees and kissed the sacred soil with passion- 
 ate devotion. 
 
 Lubin now found himself brought face to face with the 
 immemorial East. The sudden change of environment from 
 the ultra modernity of a pioneer community in Western 
 America to these lands of ancient lore, so fraught with a 
 tradition which was his, yet so untouched by the civilization
 
 66 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 in which he had grown up and of which he was a part, could 
 not but make a deep impress on his mind. 
 
 He accompanied his mother on the usual pilgrimage of 
 the pious Jew. The familiar Bible stories were visualized 
 as the guide took them from spot to spot. The critical, 
 half -amused skepticism with which he listened to many of 
 the legends and marvels related was tempered by the deep 
 respect and tenderness which old associations called forth. 
 
 Palestine, under the rule of the Turk, was almost as 
 remote from modern progress in 1884 as in the days of the 
 Prophets. Of course, there was the railway, and pilgrims 
 came from all corners of the earth to visit the sanctuaries 
 where the Moslem soldiers kept the peace between warring 
 Christian sects, many of whose adepts were plunged in 
 ignorance and superstition almost as gross as that which 
 characterized the populations who surrounded the Israelites 
 in the days of old. The Turk, for his part, took good care 
 that the spirit of modernity should not breathe upon the 
 dry bones of the past. 
 
 The duality in Lubin's make-up had full play here. Con- 
 tact with the homeland of his race made him dream dreams, 
 but these dreams were shaped by his American upbringing 
 and experience. The following quotation, taken from a 
 letter written many years later to Justice Louis Brandeis, 
 clearly shows this : 
 
 In response to your request let me say, first of all, that in 
 1884 I visited Palestine and became impressed with the idea 
 of Zionism to the extent of subsequently writing an article 
 on the subject which was printed either in the London 
 Jewish World or in the Jewish Chronicle, I do not remember 
 which. In this article I favored starting the development 
 of Palestine on industrial rather than on agricultural lines. 
 I favored the opening of factories, to be operated by up-to- 
 date machinery, for the manufacture of such staple goods 
 as would find a market in the Mediterranean countries and 
 in the interior of Asia and Africa. In fact, I was in favor of 
 converting Palestine into a new New England, when com-
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 67 
 
 merce and industry on American lines would be sure to 
 sweep the field. 
 
 This, however, was to be but the beginning. Successful 
 commerce and industry were soon to open the way for safe 
 financial ventures, when capital would come forward for 
 the construction of aqueducts to afford an ample water 
 supply for irrigating and manufacturing purposes. The 
 agricultural restoration of Palestine could then be taken 
 systematically in hand ; when reafforestation could be under- 
 taken; when the ancient vineyard terraces could again be 
 supplied with earth; when hill and dale, when mountain- 
 side and plain could again be made to blossom as the rose ; 
 when a new Palestine would arise, perhaps surpassing in 
 grandeur the Palestine of the days of old. 
 
 But presently I bethought me of the Turk, and I was 
 driven to the conclusion that if the Turk excels in anything 
 he excels in the art of converting something into nothing ; 
 that in matters of progress he is uniformly inert and reaction- 
 ary. And my dream faded into nothingness. 
 
 Side by side, however, with this Americanized vision of 
 an industrial Palestine, accumulating the earnings of but- 
 ton and shirt factories, and what not, as a means towards 
 an ultimate intellectual and spiritual as well as material 
 revival, Lubin caught in vivid relief the vision of the past. 
 
 In Palestine, as in Poland and Russia, political oppression 
 and social ostracism drove the Jew inward. He intrenched 
 himself behind his religious theme and found therein spiritual 
 sustenance which enabled him to persevere along his own 
 individual lines and to preserve his identity as a "peculiar 
 people." In the school and the synagogue the life, though 
 narrow and antiquated, was intense, and Lubin came into 
 close contact with it. He frequented the Talmud schools ; 
 he was present when the doctors of the law disputed on points 
 of doctrine ; he took part in their debates. 
 
 Temperamentally, Lubin was alien to formalistic ritualism 
 and narrow orthodoxy ; he looked upon these as, in them- 
 selves, but shadows without substance. He was only an 
 intermittent attendant at temple or synagogue, nor did he
 
 68 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 adhere strictly to the forms and ceremonies of his faith ; yet 
 here, in this strange yet familiar homeland of his race, he 
 began to realize, as never before, their inner significance, the 
 truth cloaked in the quaint or subtle symbol, or brought home 
 by picturesque illustration or parable. He pondered on the 
 significance of much that he had hitherto taken for granted ; 
 on the "tallith", the fringed outer garment of white wool 
 with ribbons of blue, handed down to the orthodox from a 
 remote past that the wearer might not forget "that God is 
 Holy and that Israel should be a holy people." He noted 
 the way the reader followed the text he was expounding 
 with his pointer, giving due emphasis and weight to each 
 word, and his singsong chant as he swayed from right to left. 
 The words of the ancient prayer, "our Father and our King, 
 we have no Sovereign but Thee ", still repeated by this people 
 living in sufferance even in the very cradle of its race, assumed 
 for him a new significance of protest, the undying protest of 
 democracy against autocracy, a protest against the assump- 
 tion of sovereignty by man over men ; and it became the key 
 which explained to him the position of political subjection 
 in which the Jew was kept in such despotic countries as 
 Russia. 
 
 He began to perceive the esoteric meaning of the long 
 familiar tales. The religious theme instilled into him by his 
 mother in the impressionable years of early childhood stirred 
 within him. He realized as never before the tragedy of his 
 race and the responsibility of belonging, as he believed, to a 
 Messianic people sent forth to be a blessing to all the nations 
 of the earth. While on the one hand, as we have seen, 
 the vision of the ruins of what had once been a smiling land 
 turned his thoughts to the possibility of restoring material 
 prosperity on modern industrial lines, and of thus procuring 
 an economic basis on which to build up a homeland for the 
 oppressed ghetto dwellers of Eastern Europe, on the other 
 hand he conceived of a far nobler mission for his people 
 than that of fulfilling the dreams of nationalistic Zionism. 
 
 Though this side of his mental make-up was not one with
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 69 
 
 which his collaborators in the many practical schemes which 
 he initiated came generally into contact, no life of David 
 Lubin which failed to give due emphasis to his conception 
 of Israel as a missionary people would faithfully portray 
 his personality. It was the underlying motor power of his 
 whole career. 
 
 While he aimed at achieving reform along the strictly 
 practical lines for which his American training and experience 
 had fitted him, yet in his eyes the important thing was not 
 the reform considered in itself and by itself, but the reform 
 considered as a link in the chain of progress, starting from 
 the Primal Cause, the one Righteousness, to attain the 
 ultimate effect, the realization of the Kingdom on Earth, 
 through the instrumentality of that choice band of Fighters 
 for God designated in the Hebrew language by the name 
 "Israel." And here we must point out that it would be 
 doing Lubin a real injustice to give the impression that, 
 prejudiced by racial feeling, he presumed to limit the desig- 
 nation "Israel" (used in the broad sense in which he chose 
 to interpret it) to the Jewish people. While heredity, train- 
 ing, and constant reading along specialized lines strongly 
 inclined him to the belief that his people had indeed played 
 a preponderating and a pioneer part in the development of 
 democracy and all that democracy stands for in the spiritual, 
 social, and political fields, he was, nevertheless, careful 
 to explain that he did not use the designation "Israel" 
 in a tribal sense. In a note dated from Washington, Novem- 
 ber, 1911, addressed to Commissioner Charles P. Neil of the 
 Bureau of Labor, Lubin explains his position on this point : 
 
 Relevant to the illuminating toast you were good enough 
 to deliver at the dinner we attended together, I hand you 
 herewith the text which forms the basis on which my work 
 in the Institute rests. In presenting this paper to you I 
 wish to dwell a moment on the designation "Israel." You 
 will see from the dictionary that it means "Fighter for God", 
 and this does not necessarily imply that Israel means exclu- 
 sively those of the Jewish people. It really means all that
 
 70 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 band of faithful workers of all times and of all nations who 
 have striven for development and civilization. 
 
 Lubin has emphasized this conception elsewhere, and 
 more especially in his book "Let There Be Light", of which 
 more later on. 
 
 And now, with the above for annotation, I will let the 
 following excerpts from letters written many years subse- 
 quent to his Palestinian experience, but which exhibit the 
 train of thought fostered and confirmed by that experience, 
 speak for themselves. 
 
 y In 1909, replying to Miss Adella Mills, the daughter of a 
 valued old Californian friend, who inquired how he came by 
 the idea which resulted in the foundation of the International 
 Institute of Agriculture, he writes : 
 
 Well, it is a long long story, and one not intended for 
 publication; it dates back to when I first gave expression 
 to this idea at the International Agricultural Congress of 
 Budapest, in Hungary ; it dates back to 1884 when I took 
 my mother to the Holy Land, when on landing at Jaffa, 
 she knelt down and kissed the earth ; in fact, it dates back 
 to the centuries in the life of a very small nation, a life of 
 the most significant consequences to all the nations of the 
 earth and for all time to come. It dates back to Aaron, the 
 brother of Moses, from whom I am descended (as I come 
 from the tribe of priesthood) and it dates back to Abraham 
 who was told "Go, and be a blessing to the nations", who 
 was told "through thee shall all the nations of the earth be 
 blessed." It has its root in the eternal struggle of Israel 
 against the theory of incarnations, incarnations believed in 
 by all the tribes and nations of the world excepting Israel, 
 who was to make no physical or mental image of God, 
 because no image could be made of Him. For an image is 
 an embodiment of material, of matter, and matter is com- 
 posed of parts, and each of the parts is finite, and God is 
 not finite as a whole nor in part. Sometimes Israel has 
 defined his belief in the oneness of God in what is called 
 monotheism. "Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is One God" 
 and "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 with all thy soul and with all thy mind."
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 71 
 
 Now, were this one God composed of parts, He would be 
 a finite composition, just as much so as in the theory em- 
 braced by polytheism. It was for this reason that Israel 
 was permitted no physical or mental image of God ; not 
 even the word "God" was permitted to be used. God 
 was the universal ideal embodied in the word "Zadoketh", 
 which means collectively what the two words "Charity" 
 and "Equity" mean, or, as it is designated in English 
 "Righteousness." And here, you see, you have the Uni- 
 versal Father, the incorporeal Mind, which governs right- 
 eously the mote and the ponderous globe, the insect and the 
 soul of thought. 
 
 It was because Israel lived this thought, brought forth 
 this thought, that he has lived the life he has, and suffered 
 all these centuries. ... At the present moment Israel, 
 stunned, lies asleep in the Valley, in the Valley of "Dry 
 Bones", but presently he will awaken and go on with his 
 mission, and continue in the work for which he was eternally 
 ordained, and this mission is to be Servant; Servant unto 
 the Nations of the Earth. 
 
 And the service wherein he is Servant is most sacred, 
 for it is destined, in the end, to cause "the swords to be 
 beaten into ploughshares, the spears into pruning hooks", 
 when nation shall no longer lift up a sword against nation 
 neither shall they learn war any more ; then shall every man 
 sit under his own vine and fig-tree and none to make them 
 afraid. . . . 
 
 It was in 1884, when I brought my mother, then over 
 seventy years of age, to the Holy Land that I was vividly 
 reminded of the mission of my people. This was the reason 
 why I bought lands in California and became a farmer, 
 to the end that I might study and thus become of service, 
 thus to render service in the ways in which Israel is to 
 serve. 
 
 Your father well knew this idea, and his powerful and 
 superior mind and his sympathy aided me much in its 
 elaboration. You, perhaps, are familiar with some of my 
 work in California in behalf of its fruit industries from 1885 
 until 1893, and after that time the wider struggle in behalf 
 of the farmers of the nation who produce the staples of
 
 72 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 agriculture, culminating in the idea set forth at the Inter- 
 national Congress of Agriculture at Budapest for the inter- 
 national control of the problems confronting that foundation 
 industry. 
 
 And here is a letter addressed in the same year (1909) 
 to Doctor Max Nordau : 
 
 Dear Dr. Nordau : I have your valued comments on my 
 letter to Miss Mills. You say: "Your letter is beautiful 
 as a profession of faith and as the revelation of a deep and 
 lofty idealism. But I object most emphatically to the 
 definition of Israel as a servant, however noble, to the other 
 nations. It is base degradation; and still worse to glory 
 in it. No self-conscious nation with a sense of dignity and 
 with manliness, will suffer to be the servant of others. A 
 nation with self-respect serves only its proper aspirations, 
 and it becomes a blessing to mankind at large by striving 
 to attain such a moral height as to be a beacon to the world 
 and an example to other nations. We never work more 
 efficiently for all nations, than when we work intensely 
 for ourselves." 
 
 I do not know whether what you say will be approved by 
 Frenchmen; I am sure it would be by Americans. As an 
 American I fully agree with what you have said, but as a 
 critic on the position of Israel among the nations I hold your 
 opinion untenable. 
 
 When Israel rejected the cats, the crocodiles, the scarabei, 
 the bulls of Egypt, he became untenable in that country. 
 When he evolved his God thesis until he had his non- 
 incarnate, non-transmigratory, sole God, not composed of 
 parts, a God of Universal Law, incapable of magic or wrong 
 or injustice, conscious and cognisant, the Only God, then 
 he became untenable in Judaea, for his neighbours would not 
 have it so. When the story of the death of the incarnate 
 God arose, and when this death was attributed to Israel, 
 Israel as a nation became an outlaw, outlawed as a nation, 
 outlawed to this very day. The outlawry is the price he 
 pays for the maintenance of his position. 
 
 Let Israel abandon his position . . . and his outlawry 
 is at once removed. He could then become a nation and a
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 73 
 
 strong nation. But let him persist in the position he has 
 held, the position which he holds, and he stands forfeit of 
 national existence. . . . 
 
 And so the issue is squarely before us that Israel is the 
 stammerer, the Lord's stammerer, with a mission to the 
 nations; a mission which renders him the Servant of the 
 Nations for the uplifting of all the people of the world, and 
 for all time ; or he has no such mission. 
 
 If he has no such mission he is an impostor, or he is living 
 under a delusion, and the quicker he assimilates and becomes 
 merged with the nations, the quicker he loses his identity 
 as Israel, the quicker will it be possible for him to become a 
 nation and perhaps a strong one. 
 
 But, you may say, such a renegade Israel would not be 
 worth restoration; it would make very little difference to 
 the world whether such renegades were restored or not. 
 
 And if this be so, the question still remains whether there 
 be verity behind the theme of Israel; whether it be The 
 Verity? If his position be The Verity, and if he may 
 only maintain that position in dispersion, then, of course, 
 the nationalist proposition becomes untenable. And what 
 then ? Is it not clear that there is one Dominion, one King- 
 dom which he may, which he should, occupy? And is not 
 that Dominion, that Kingdom, Service? And in this 
 Service have we not the key to unlock the fetters of out- 
 lawry ? 
 
 This stammerer, with a stammerer's gesticulations, at 
 times utters what the spirit prompts, and this utterance, like 
 the irrigating waters to the parched soil, gives life. And in 
 the past the most intense life came at the time when Israel 
 suffered most. 
 
 And now a new danger, a danger more to be dreaded than 
 suffering has come, the danger of prosperity. Israel with 
 his caftan, his yermaloch, with his tallith, 1 his tephillin, 2 
 his psalms, with his Bible, was a respectable entity ; but 
 the Jew banker with monocle, with automobiles, with the 
 girl with yellow hair, is evidently the animal in the mind of 
 the Greek artist who designed the man-goat, with his charac- 
 
 1 A shawl with fringes worn by men during prayer. 
 1 Phylacteries.
 
 74 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 teristic animal ears and hoofs. That is the tribe that makes 
 for "rishes." x 
 
 And besides this tribe there is the deep, great Valley of 
 Dry Bones, and Israel slumbers in the Valley, and he calls 
 it peaceful rest ; but it is not Peace nor Rest ; it Is Rust and 
 Death. And is not the time here for the voice that shall 
 awaken, the voice that shall animate, the voice that shall 
 inspire, the voice that shall indicate that the time is at hand 
 for action, for service ? 
 
 I am sure, my dear Doctor, that on reconsideration you 
 will think better of the word "Servant", "Service." Where 
 is there a man of renown, a man of princely rank, a King, 
 an Emperor, that stands higher in the eyes of the Almighty 
 than the humble man, or the humble nation, or the humble 
 people that unselfishly does service in the uplifting of the 
 people? If I had the choice offered me by the Almighty 
 to found a nation for the Jewish people, secure and mighty, 
 or that they be servants to all the people of the world, up- 
 lifting the nations, I would choose the latter as the destiny 
 of Israel. Even though the latter was through the troubled 
 waters of sorrow and misery. 
 
 The correspondent to whom the next letter from which 
 I will quote was addressed, Mr. Nissim Behar, was one of 
 the Palestinian Jews whom Mr. Lubin met in Jerusalem. 
 Subsequently Mr. Behar settled in the United States, where 
 he has worked hard and successfully with Congress, pleading 
 the cause of the unlettered immigrant from whatever land 
 of origin he may hail. To him Mr. Lubin wrote in the 
 summer of 1909 from Wiesbaden (Germany) where he was 
 spending his vacation, as follows : 
 
 Let the young American Pullackin [Polish Jews] and 
 Yavanin [Russian Jews] that crowd the colleges in the New 
 World read up, and read with open eyes, and they will begin 
 to see as clear as noonday that there is no necessity for them 
 to run away to crazy collectivism or to insane anarchism as 
 a theme for progress ; they will then be astonished to see that 
 the Jew is by no means the poor outlaw scrub that the Goy 
 
 1 Prejudice.
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 75 
 
 [Gentile] would make him out to be. With clear vision the 
 young student would learn, perhaps with astonishment, that 
 America was discovered long before Columbus lived; that 
 all there is in the " red-white-and-blue ", and in the "Mar- 
 seillaise Hymn", and in the British House of Commons, 
 and in the virtues of the English home and the American 
 home, and in English liberty and in American liberty came 
 straight from the Yid" [Jews]. More than that, the young 
 "Litvak" [Lithuanian] and the young "Pullack" Yid will 
 learn that the lifework of his people, of Yisroel, has just about 
 got into shape to be begun, for we may safely say that, if we 
 are to take the word of the Prophets seriously, our work in 
 the past is but the prelude to what we have to accomplish. 
 To prepare us for this great work we have been placed in 
 a comatose condition for twenty centuries, and we are just 
 about beginning to awaken from our long sleep. 
 
 And when we open our eyes what do we behold? We 
 behold the crown of royal equity, of righteousness, of justice, 
 of "rachmonus", of the Spirit, ruling the nations, the people 
 and the individuals ! and the regal quality of this rule is 
 infinitely more potent than all the qualities inherent in kings 
 or presidents ; and after beholding this let any one then say 
 that the Jew has no country. Can a country be shown, high 
 in the scale of the qualities named, that was not shaped 
 through the influences in the life of Israel ? Do not let the 
 young people get fooled by the seeming level-headed, prac- 
 tical man; the man that boasts of his levelness. Such 
 men are more often practical humbugs. . . . Let there be 
 but one Jew with the proper spirit ; let him go forth to do 
 the work which it is Israel's mission to do, and the work will 
 be begun. 
 
 How strongly Lubin felt on the theme of "Service" is 
 again set forth in the following letter written from Rome in 
 December, 1910: 
 
 I have read the interesting article in the magazine you 
 sent me concerning the female phase of "rishes" as expressed 
 in the exclusion of Jewesses from private schools. You 
 seem to me to state the case tersely and logically, but then, 
 of what value are such presentations ?
 
 76 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 See then ; a younger brother, Isaac, wins and assumes 
 leadership, leadership as Master of the House; the rival 
 brother for leadership, Esau, finds an opening, expels Isaac, 
 and takes possession of the house. Thereat Isaac stands hat 
 in hand asking Esau to let him in, perchance to afford him a 
 way to "rule the roost", to run the House. And what is 
 the answer of Esau? "You be damned, and stay out there 
 and freeze." 
 
 There is but one way for the poor "Yeedcha" to come 
 in out of the cold, to take his place on an equality with Esau, 
 to be his peer, his leader, and mayhap his superior, and that 
 is through service. And the highest kind of service 
 is that which will bring the world what our prophets called 
 righteousness, which I interpret as "one law for the 
 native and for the stranger", "a just weight and a just 
 measure ye shall have" . . . 
 
 Come, do you not know that with all our climbing from 
 the gutter of the Ghetto, with all our department stores, with 
 all our newly acquired political pulls, with all the supposed 
 dignity derived from the addition of dollar upon dollar, 
 there is evolved, what? A mere monkey- Yeedche, that is 
 keen on "fressing chazzaer" l and in a sneaking anxiety for 
 toleration, perchance assimilation. If I were a "goyishker" 2 
 American I would say "To hell with them, the degenerates ; 
 the degenerate sons of the divinely inspired prophets; of 
 prophets that lifted up a world, prophets that conquered 
 barbarism." 
 
 Just let Israel do a "lick of work" on this line, even if it 
 takes "all summer", if it take a century, if it take centuries, 
 and there will be no reason to whine, coax, or "holler." 
 
 The next excerpt is from a letter to Doctor H. G. Enelow, 
 written in June, 1912 : 
 
 It may take fifty years more, a hundred years more, a 
 thousand years more, or ten thousand years more for Israel's 
 task to be accomplished; accomplished it will be some 
 day ; seme day when " Thy will be done in earth as it is 
 in heaven", when there will be a "just weight and a just 
 
 1 Eating pork. * Gentile.
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 77 
 
 measure " ; when there will be collective righteousness, the 
 righteousness of the city, the righteousness of the State, 
 the righteousness of the Nation, and righteousness among the 
 Nations as well as righteousness practiced by the individual. 
 This is the mission of Israel, and in this field no one has 
 even attempted to usurp his place; no one will usurp it; 
 it belongs of right to Israel. Israel has worked for it these 
 past 3,500 years and has suffered for it, and is yet to suffer 
 for it. Thrust prone to the earth, comatose, with the foot 
 of the oppressor but lately removed from his neck, Israel is 
 convalescing, and some part of him has even grown merry, 
 merry in eating pork, merry in owning diamonds and auto- 
 mobiles and in denying divine rule. But these do not count ; 
 these are the scoriae, the scum, the maggots, the baser 
 portion which disfigures, which is not integral. The real 
 Israel lives, will live for ever. The real Israel is ever cath- 
 olic, must ever be catholic, just as he must ever protest, 
 must ever be protestant; and thus, in time, trunk and 
 branches will all make one great tree, Israel. 
 
 From the files which contain much of David Lubin's 
 correspondence during the last twenty years of his life many 
 other letters could be culled setting forth the same theme in 
 vigorous and picturesque language, but repetition would 
 be wearisome. Enough has been said to show how powerful 
 this conviction of the mission of Israel was in shaping his 
 work and ideas. The journey to Palestine had crystallized 
 the latent thought, and his efforts were henceforth to broaden 
 rapidly in scope, and progressively to aim at universal rather 
 than at national results. 
 
 As I have already said, Lubin always considered that this 
 journey to Palestine marked a turning point in his career. 
 Why? Because while traveling over this small stretch of 
 barren and largely barbaric territory, insignificant indeed in 
 extent to one accustomed to the vast spaciousness of the 
 New World, he first began to realize the importance of the 
 small land-owning farmer as a factor in democracy. 
 
 Pondering on the theme and the history of Israel he could 
 not but ask himself how it came that so small a handful of
 
 78 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 people, surrounded on all sides by radically different and 
 hostile civilizations, the civilizations of Egypt, of Babylonia, 
 of Assyria, by Canaanites and Hittites and Philistines, had 
 been able to make so vast a contribution to the thought and 
 civilization of the world; to evolve conceptions of social 
 and political righteousness still far in advance of our most 
 advanced achievement. Where the mystic or the strictly 
 orthodox might have been satisfied by an a prioristic answer, 
 pointing to a text for authority, the rationalistic turn of 
 Lubin's mind, rebellious against mere dogmatic formulae, 
 made him seek a more convincing and scientific solution of 
 the problem. He found it in the system of land tenure which 
 prevailed in Judaea. In the surrounding kingdoms, land 
 was vested in the monarch, and the peasantry who tilled 
 the soil were serfs or slaves ; in Judaea land was vested in 
 an impersonal, incorporeal God and worked by His children, 
 to whom He gave it as a heritage. "The earth is the Lord's 
 and the fullness thereof ; " not the landlord's. 
 
 Thus Judaea came to be peopled by a nation of small 
 landowning farmers, farmers whose landmarks could not be 
 removed ; who were, therefore, economically free men. To 
 this basic fact Lubin traced back the growth and per- 
 sistency of democracy among them. 
 
 While the surrounding peoples worshiped their rulers 
 as personifications of the deity, the Jews conceived of the 
 king as the servant of the people, not as its master ; hence 
 the denunciations showered by the prophets on the heads 
 of rulers unfaithful to their trust, who fail to render judg- 
 ment and who grind the faces of the poor. 
 
 In this democracy of small landowning farmers, closely 
 settled on a narrow strip of then fertile territory, Lubin 
 found the key to the intense intellectual life which enabled 
 the Jew, racially similar to the other Semitic peoples by 
 whom he was surrounded, so far to outstrip them. Economic 
 freedom promoted criticism and debate; the day's work 
 done, the small farmer would look over his fence and talk 
 with his neighbor ; democracy means free speech, and free
 
 A JOURNEY TO PALESTINE 79 
 
 speech encourages free thought, and free speech and free 
 thought make for progress. And among the Jews, in the 
 absence of scientific knowledge characteristic of that age, 
 progress advanced along the lines of religious and philo- 
 sophic speculation, and found its noblest expression in the 
 teachings of the great Prophets, those fearless Tribunes 
 of the People. 
 
 Lubin found a confirmation of this theory, by which he 
 explained the evolution of the Jew, in his reading of the 
 history of Rome. There again a democracy was built up 
 which endured as such so long as the landowning farmer held 
 his own, and no longer. He began to see clearly the connec- 
 tion between democracy and the form of land tenure pre- 
 vailing in a community. 
 
 This, then, was one of the truths brought home to him 
 by his journeyings in the Holy Land. He felt that he must 
 study along these lines and work out this thought to its 
 logical conclusion if he were to perform the Service to which 
 he felt called, or rather, as he would often say, to which he 
 had elected himself to be a servant. 
 
 But how was a Jew to speak with authority on such a 
 point? Of all the nations of the earth was not the Jewish 
 the only one which for centuries past, ever since the dis- 
 persion, had been divorced from the soil? Had not his 
 people been driven by social prejudice and legal enactments 
 to devote themselves almost exclusively to commerce and, 
 until recent years, to the more despised forms of commerce 
 at that, to petty trading and usury? Was not his own 
 personal experience exclusively that of a merchant ? How 
 was he to become the prophet of a democracy based on the 
 recognition of the economic and political importance of the 
 independent landowning farmer ? 
 
 When Lubin left Palestine he had found a solution to the 
 problem; his mind was made up. He would buy land. 
 He would acquire by personal experience the knowledge 
 he required. Just what were the lines on which to make his 
 fight for righteousness in human relations he did not then
 
 80 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 know, but he had faith that the path would grow clear as 
 he gained in knowledge and experience. 
 
 All these experiences and impressions were necessarily 
 crowded into a short space of time. The exigencies of 
 business would not allow of more than two or three months 
 absence from Sacramento, and David Lubin once more 
 turned his face westwards. His mother decided to remain 
 behind; it was her desire to die in the Holy Land and to 
 sleep her last sleep in the land of her forefathers. She was 
 absorbed in the religious life of Jerusalem and its multi- 
 farious charities for the poor Jewish pilgrims who travel 
 there from the lands of exile. As a matter of fact, however, 
 the old lady was to find that she was farther from her end 
 than she supposed, and seeing that death tarried overmuch, 
 she returned after some time to America, where she fell 
 asleep in the fullness of years when well over eighty. 
 
 As to her son, the seed she had sown in the days of his 
 boyhood had been brought to maturity, and when he left 
 Palestine it was to enter definitely, and of set purpose, on 
 his life work, on that Service to which his mother believed 
 he had been called when she nursed him as a babe in the 
 little village in far-off Russian Poland.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 
 
 Lubin, as we have seen, returned from the Holy Land 
 impressed with the importance of the small landowning 
 farmer as a basic factor in democracy and determined to 
 master agricultural economics. 
 
 Having purchased a farm he started on his new career, 
 raising wheat on two sections of land in Colusa County, and 
 devoting himself with great energy and enthusiasm to the 
 management of a fruit ranch some ten or fifteen miles from 
 Sacramento. 
 
 He illustrated in his own person the proverbial versatil- 
 ity of the Westerner, for he not only owned the farm but be- 
 came proficient in its technique, mastering the arts of plant- 
 ing, pruning, grafting, and so forth ; and in a short time the 
 merchant had developed into an experienced fruit-grower. 
 
 In this new field of activity he was again to be an in- 
 novator, a pioneer. Fully alive to the sociological im- 
 portance of the enterprise in which he was engaging, he de- 
 termined to bring the experience of a merchant to bear on 
 the farm, which he wished to run on strictly scientific busi- 
 ness lines. 
 
 Mr. Grove L. Johnson, his old friend and fellow-Sacra- 
 mentan, has noted down, in some recollections, how Lubin 
 set about this task. The fruit ranch was surveyed and di- 
 vided into districts, and the trees numbered and classified, 
 just as the books in a well-kept library are arranged by 
 shelves and aisles and numbers. His idea was to have a 
 complete record kept of the yield of each tree. For this 
 purpose he drew up printed blanks which enabled the fore- 
 man of the ranch to keep such an account, so that he might
 
 82 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 know which trees did well, and what was the effect upon each 
 of the soil in which it was growing and of the mode of culti- 
 vation, as shown by the yields obtained. 
 
 Nor was he an innovator in the management of his farm 
 stock only; he devoted like attention to the management 
 of his farm labor. The notion that anything in the way of 
 accommodation or no accommodation was good enough 
 for the seasonal workers employed to pick, pack and de- 
 liver the fruit did not square with his ideas of justice or 
 policy. 
 
 "Gruff commands, surly orders, poor food and a dirty 
 bed are not likely to engender faithful and conscientious 
 work," he wrote in commenting at the time on the farm 
 labor situation in California; and his was the first fruit 
 ranch in California to provide wholesome, clean, attractive 
 sleeping accommodation for these laborers, of whom, in the 
 rush season, he employed as many as seventy. 
 
 The following recollections taken down from a Mr. 
 Adotte, formerly in Lubin's employ, show what an im- 
 pression these unusual methods made on his farm hands : 
 
 What sort o' place was it? Well, 'i gosh, they was the 
 nicest folks I ever worked for : Lubin, he had this big fruit 
 farm, maybe three hundred acres, and he had twenty-four 
 boys working for him then. H 'd had girls the year before, 
 but he did n't like 'em much ; said they talked too much and 
 did n't get enough done. But say, it sure was a nice place. 
 Systematic, too. We all slept in two big rooms, long, they 
 was, and come together at a right angle, and where they 
 come together was a big eight-sided room. The sleeping 
 rooms had bunks in 'em, all along, two tiers high, and cup- 
 boards between 'em, and every feller had his own cupboard 
 to keep his things in, and no key fitted any other cupboard. 
 Then this big eight-sided room, 'i gosh, it had cards and all 
 sorts of conceivable games, and magazines for reading, and 
 every night sharp at nine the foreman, he used to turn down 
 the lights, and if anybody wanted to read after that, it was 
 all right, but there could n't be no noise. All finished up in 
 hard wood, the place was, and we had clean sheets every
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 83 
 
 week, regular. Some different from on shipboard, where 
 your blankets used to last you till they was wore out ! 
 
 Eat ! No, we did n't eat there. There was a boarding 
 house, run by a man named Stout, and his wife. I used to 
 call him Strong. And 'i gosh, we et good, too ! The bell 
 used to ring fifteen minutes before breakfast, and again 
 fifteen minutes before quitting time, noon and night. They 
 give you that half hour a day, to wash up and get ready ; 
 paid you for it, same 's if you worked for it. 
 
 Lubin always felt strongly on this matter of the treatment 
 of farm labor. To his mind it was at the bottom of much 
 social unrest. As late as 1918 he took the subject up in 
 a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Examiner in which 
 he says : 
 
 My sister sent me an editorial clipping from your paper 
 of Feb. 11th entitled "Decent housing conditions will help 
 to solve the Farm Labor Problem." Your editorial hits the 
 nail on the head. If we want to build up a substantial 
 I. W. W. all we have to do is to continue the system of 
 smelly, filthy, bunk houses, along with poor food and skimped 
 pay. Anything short of that will be sure to hit the I. W. W. 
 Some of us in California are so soft-hearted that we will not 
 hit anything, least of all the I. W. W. ; so why not put up 
 with the smelly filthy bunk houses ? 
 
 As was his wont, Lubin threw himself heart and soul into 
 the task before him, sharing the labor of his men and in- 
 spiring them with some of his own enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. John P. Irish, then editor of Alia California y who met 
 him in those years writes : 
 
 He impressed me as almost reverently alive to the im- 
 portance of the soil, of its tillage and its production. Listen- 
 ing to him one felt the very sacredness of seed time and har- 
 vest. He had gone far past the theory of agriculture as a 
 science to consider the practice as an art. He invoked 
 invention to the improvement of farm tools and implements.
 
 84 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 He saw the opportunity here for variety farming, a system 
 by which a group of several crops would promote the for- 
 tunes of the farmer. ... I found him focusing in the lens 
 of his business experience the whole range of questions in- 
 volved in the tillage of the soil. 
 
 He had invested in good "second bottom" land, but in one 
 part of the ranch the shallow soil lay on a foundation of 
 bedrock, and there nothing would flourish. This afforded 
 Lubin an opportunity for experimenting in one of his favorite 
 theories ; he got hold of an old miner who with charges of 
 giant powder blew up the rock, revealing, beneath a thin 
 layer of hard pan, alluvial soil rich in fossil remains. Chem- 
 ical analysis showed this to be the most fertile soil on his 
 farm, and with the use of high explosives he brought it all 
 under cultivation, planting French plums which yielded 
 such heavy crops that the branches had to be propped or 
 they would have broken under the weight of fruit. 
 
 Lubin soon realized that California had in her soil far 
 greater wealth than her gold mines had yielded to the early 
 forty-niners, but it was also brought home to him that the 
 development of this potential wealth was hindered, and more 
 than hindered, by the conditions under which the crops 
 were marketed. 
 
 The conditions from which all branches of agriculture 
 then suffered were those so powerfully depicted by Frank 
 Norris in "The Octopus." The great railroads, built to 
 open up the vast possibilities of the Western States, the rail- 
 roads which alone could furnish the means to market the 
 crops of the West in the cities of the East, pursuing a policy 
 of ruthless exploitation and grab had become the masters 
 rather than the servants of the people. The vast wealth 
 of California was being diverted from its natural channels 
 into the coffers of the railroad magnates, too short-sighted 
 to see that such action was equivalent to killing the goose 
 which laid the golden egg. The result of all this was to im- 
 poverish the farmers, and with them the manufacturers and
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 85 
 
 merchants, bringing the whole State to the brink of finan- 
 cial ruin. 
 
 Lubin's reaction to this evil was characteristic. His 
 attitude was neither that of angry revolt nor of fatalistic 
 pessimism. The folly of the policy adopted by the rail- 
 roads could be demonstrated by logic ; logic pointed to the 
 remedy; and he was convinced that it was only a case of 
 setting forth this logic clearly enough and forcibly enough 
 and in the right quarters, for it to convert the arch offenders 
 themselves. 
 
 His recent observations in Europe and the East, his 
 meditations on democracy and its' basis, made him realize to 
 the full the gravity of the situation, not only in its economic 
 but also in its political and social aspects. The year in 
 which he started as a fruit-grower, 1885, happened also to 
 be the first year in the history of that industry in California 
 in which the crop exceeded the demand in the limited market 
 developed for it east of the Rockies. The finest peaches, 
 apricots, and table grapes were being sold at prices which 
 hardly paid the growers for the boxes in which they were 
 packed. 
 
 Looking up the reports of the State Agricultural Society 
 of California for those years we find such statements as the 
 following: "There are single farms in the State containing 
 each over half a million fruit trees, one person owning enough 
 trees, when fully matured, to provide as much fruit, other 
 than grapes, as will be sold this year throughout our State. 
 The day is not far distant when fruit will be an important 
 crop for raising and fattening swine." 
 
 In 1885 the shipments east did not exceed a thousand 
 carloads of green fruit. With the impulsiveness of the West- 
 ern pioneer, the farmers were already talking of overproduc- 
 tion, of rooting up their orchards and vineyards, of seeking 
 their fortunes elsewhere. 
 
 In common with his fellow growers, Lubin suffered heavy 
 loss, but he saw that the talk of overproduction was non- 
 sense; the supply was a trifle compared to the demand,
 
 86 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 measured in terms of people ready and anxious to consume 
 fine fruit when offered at prices which they could afford to 
 pay. Being a merchant he also knew that the farmers were 
 not the only sufferers; that all interests in the State were 
 struggling with widespread economic depression. He put 
 two and two together and clearly saw the danger run by a 
 community in which the staple industry was ruined by un- 
 economic marketing; and in the case of California he 
 judged that the staple industry was, and jwould be fruit- 
 growing. 
 
 At the time he came into the field California fruits were 
 mainly marketed through two big firms of commission mer- 
 chants, Earl, and Porter Brothers. These dealers bought 
 in large quantities from the growers, on whom they forced 
 their price, shipping East only those limited amounts which 
 could be sold at such exorbitant prices as, for instance, 
 ninety cents a pound for cherries. The practical monopoly 
 they had of the export fruit trade was rendered possible by 
 the policy pursued by the railroad, which would only accept 
 whole carloads, charging for them at the rate of six hundred 
 dollars a car. As none but the owners of very big ranches 
 could possibly be in a position to ship a carload of green 
 fruit at a time, the small farmer found himself entirely at 
 the mercy of the big middlemen who were squeezing the life 
 out of him. 
 
 Lubin recognized herein the root of the evil, and he saw 
 in that evil much more than a mere personal loss to himself 
 and his fellow fruit-growers ; he saw that it endangered the 
 future prosperity of the State and aimed a blow at the es- 
 sence of democratic institutions. He at once rose to action, 
 taking an active part in organizing the Fruit Growers' Con- 
 vention which was held in San Francisco in September, 1885. 
 This meeting was destined to lead in time to far-reaching 
 results and to the ultimate organization of the California 
 Fruit Growers' Exchange, which maybe said to have initiated 
 a new chapter in the economic history of the West no less 
 than in the marketing of farm produce.
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 87 
 
 Lubin believed fruit-farming to be particularly favorable 
 to the growth and stability of a rural democracy of small 
 landowning farmers. Convinced of the social and political 
 importance of this development, he spared no effort to make 
 both merchant and banker understand that this was no mere 
 farmers' question ; that their own economic interests were 
 closely bound up with its satisfactory solution. Looking over 
 old files of local newspapers which, in those months, were full 
 of discussions on this matter and of suggestions for its solu- 
 tion, we constantly come across Lubin's name, and we find 
 that in his advocacy of the cause of the fruit-grower he 
 based his argument not on the distressful situation of the 
 individual but on the higher interests of the community as 
 a whole. An all-absorbing interest in first principles dis- 
 tinguishes his propaganda from that of his fellow agitators ; 
 indeed, one cannot help feeling that they must often have 
 grown impatient of his methods, for he is far more insistent 
 in dwelling on the general principle than on the particular 
 grievance. The faculty of visualizing the abstract in terms 
 of the concrete, so characteristic of his mind, was very ap- 
 parent in this, his first piece of public work; while, in his 
 selection of means to ends, he displayed in a local campaign 
 the same daring and originality, crowned by the same success 
 which was to be his when, in later life, he came to play a part 
 on the stage of world events. 
 
 The fruit-growers had held their convention; Governor 
 Stanford, himself one of the great railway magnates, had 
 addressed the assembly and given it his blessing ; the rail- 
 roads had even offered to reduce their charges from six hun- 
 dred dollars to three hundred dollars per carload, but, as the 
 fruit had to be shipped in full carloads, the concession, so 
 far as the small grower was concerned, was practically value- 
 less. There was much talk of organization of the fruit- 
 growers along cooperative lines, but nothing positive had 
 materialized. At this juncture Lubin wrote an article of 
 some eighteen thousand words, in the form of a dialogue be- 
 tween a fruit-grower and a merchant, in which he argued the
 
 88 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 whole question at length in its political and economic bearing, 
 and brought out into clear relief the responsibility of the 
 railroads. Armed with this formidable document he went 
 straight to the editor of the railroad paper, the Record Union, 
 of Sacramento, offering it for publication in their next issue. 
 Preposterous the request must have seemed at first sight, 
 and it was met by a flat refusal ; but when Lubin pocketed 
 his manuscript, briefly stating that he was going to offer it 
 to the anti-railroad paper, the editor thought better of the 
 matter, and the full eighteen thousand words appeared next 
 day, introduced by a most respectful leading article, which 
 echoes Lubin's line of argument in the following words : 
 " The best thought of the State, the far-sighted men and state 
 builders, the thinking capitalist and the great transporting 
 agencies, are of one mind that California should be a State 
 of small homes ; that in a large population there are elements 
 of weakness rather than strength unless the people are mainly 
 self-supporting and represent independent homes. So far 
 as the fruit debate concerns the fostering of small farmers, 
 so far is it a question of overshadowing importance." 
 
 It was a favorite axiom with Lubin that a fundamental 
 truth, however intricate, whether in economics, or science, 
 or philosophy, can always be stated in plain, convincing 
 language, so as to be perfectly comprehensible even to the 
 untrained mind; that statements which cannot be made 
 plain are almost always based on fallacies, on solecisms 
 which may sound well but will not stand the test of close 
 analysis. His own mode of exposition can be judged from 
 the following quotation taken from the Record Union article 
 above referred to : 
 
 Grower. Now, permit me briefly to recapitulate what 
 has so far been the subject of discussion, and let us see what 
 conclusion we have arrived at. You said: "that the com- 
 mercial and industrial interests of California were on the 
 decline?" 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. This decline, you said, was caused by the
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 89 
 
 almost extinction of the mining interests and the loss of 
 trade in the Northern and Southern parts of the Pacific 
 Coast, and that we can never hope to regain the trade ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. You say that if we could increase by con- 
 centration the density of our population to a number equal 
 to those lost by reason of decline in the mining interests 
 and those formerly tributary in the Northern and Southern 
 parts of the Pacific Coast, commerce and industry would 
 revive as in former times ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes, sir. 
 
 Grower. You are opposed to the immigration of more 
 of the labor element for the present ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. You are likewise opposed to the method 
 pursued by speculators and land manipulators, who, you 
 claim, give us a pseudo-population, many of whom cannot 
 find it possible to make a living, while others do so under 
 great difficulty. These, you claim, are not permanent nor 
 desirable ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. You agreed that every community has a lead- 
 ing industry, and that all the other industries were con- 
 tingent, tributary, and dependent for their existence on the 
 main industry ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. That the main industry of California was in 
 a formative state ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. That if we could influence the molding or 
 shaping of events we should by all means aim to mold so as 
 to obtain the best results ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. That best results meant a concentration or 
 augmentation of desirable and permanent population ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. That wheat-raising was preferable to cattle- 
 raising because much less land is required ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes. 
 
 Grower. That fruit-raising was preferable to wheat-
 
 90 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 raising because much less land is required to raise fruit 
 than wheat ? 
 
 Merchant. Yes, sir. 
 
 Grower. Thus we come to the conclusion that every 
 community has some main industry to which all other in- 
 dustries whatsoever are tributary, contingent and dependent. 
 That were we so to mold and shape events as to make fruit- 
 growing the main industry of this State, it would insure its 
 permanent prosperity because it would tend to concentrate 
 a denser, more permanent, and desirable population than 
 could be obtained by any other industry whatsoever. 
 
 Merchant. You are right. 
 
 Having thus established as his premise the importance of 
 the fruit-growing industry to the State, Lubin proceeds to 
 show how it is strangled by uneconomic modes of distri- 
 bution, the main responsibility for which lay with the 
 railroads : 
 
 . . . Grower. Let us now take up the question of trans- 
 portation. I certainly do not think that the railroad com- 
 pany would intentionally place a bar to the success of this 
 which promises to be the foundation industry. It would be 
 the very height of folly on the part of the railroad corpora- 
 tion to hamper in the least the very foundation upon which 
 is built the possibility of a concentrated, desirable, and 
 permanent population. . . . "Fools" would be a genteel 
 appellation to apply to those who would indulge in such 
 senseless conduct. Traitors to the State, robbers of the 
 people, enemies of civilization, would be the just and proper 
 appellation of such rare tyrants. With the corporation in 
 question no such thoughts need enter our minds. We know 
 the men, the directors; were they not, are they not our 
 friends ? 
 
 Apart from these considerations, however, we need 
 only await the result of their contemplation of the effect 
 their action would have ; let them attempt to bar the prog- 
 ress of this industry, and what would be the result ? Their 
 rails would rust, their sleepers rot, their cars would find a 
 permanent home on the switch, spiders and jack rabbits 
 would dwell in their shops. There would be no dividends ;
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 91 
 
 they would be the enemies. New roads would be sought 
 after, and, when found, the arch tyrants would be over- 
 thrown. On the other hand, energetic and perhaps heroic 
 action in the direction of rendering valuable aid in this the 
 opportune time may result in placing California on a basis 
 of permanent prosperity that may be surpassed by no State in 
 the Union. When such action will be taken, the corpora- 
 tion will have for its friends the entire people of this State. 
 
 This article aroused much comment locally ; but Lubin's 
 efforts did not stop here. The written word was followed 
 up by a personal appeal. He made a flying visit to New 
 York and went straight to the man who was looked upon as 
 the chief representative of the railroad in its "octopus" 
 aspect. He called on Mr. Huntington in his office ; was not 
 to be put off until he got a hearing ; and driving his argu- 
 ments home with sledge-hammer blows, he succeeded in 
 making a deep dent in the steel plate of opposition. The 
 Southern Pacific Railroad was now prepared to go a long 
 way in adapting itself to the requirements of what Lubin 
 demonstrated to be the basic industry of California. 
 
 Thus clear-cut principles, direct statements, close reason- 
 ing, and homely illustration brought home to reader or 
 listener the lesson which Lubin wished to teach; nor was 
 he slow to perceive the importance of suggestion and the 
 strength which lies in persistent reiteration. In inculcating 
 ideas he brought to his assistance the experience gained in 
 selling goods. And his views made astonishing headway. 
 In this case an active six-weeks' campaign induced the rail- 
 roads to halve their rates and placed the fruit-growers in a 
 fair way to becoming the masters of their crops. 
 
 It is true that the plans adopted in bringing this about 
 differed considerably from those which Lubin himself had 
 advocated. Under the influence of Herbert Spencer and the 
 individualistic school he feared the complexities and high 
 centralization of the cooperative organizations which most 
 of his associates favored. He believed that if the railroads 
 would halve their rates and allow the growers to book quarter
 
 92 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 instead of whole carloads, and if marketing facilities were 
 secured in the Eastern cities by a system of small partner- 
 ships between grower and dealer, conditions would soon be 
 brought to normal in the fruit industry, and he conducted 
 an energetic campaign by pen and speech advocating solu- 
 tions along these lines. However, the cooperators won the 
 day ; probably they were in the right ; and Lubin, true to 
 his belief in democratic methods, when the fight had been 
 made and the majority had pronounced itself, came squarely 
 over and stood by their decision. The Record Union of 
 November 13, 1885, describing the meeting which resulted 
 in the organization of the California Fruit Union, reports 
 Lubin's action in these words : 
 
 "After a minute's silence David Lubin arose and said, 
 'I think something should be done now to relieve the fruit- 
 growers in the direction of finding a market for all the good 
 fruit grown in the State, and as nothing can be done without 
 uniting together, I am in favor of joining and having all my 
 friends join this Union and making it a vast and grand con- 
 cern for the good of California. Let us bury all differences of 
 opinion and all prejudices, and work for a single aim. ' " 
 
 There was nothing of the "sorehead" about David Lubin. 
 While he had the persistency, single-mindedness, and pro- 
 found conviction of the fanatic, he was free from the latter's 
 limitations. Unbending where principle was involved, he 
 could compromise on details of execution. 
 
 Commenting at the time on the whole campaign and on 
 David Lubin's part in it, a local paper printed : "The indi- 
 vidual labors of Mr. Lubin during the past six weeks will 
 be productive of incalculable good. He has brought the 
 fruit interests prominently before the merchants of the 
 State; he caused a recognition to be made of the future 
 greatness of the industry by the Chamber of Commerce 
 in San Francisco, and has pointed out many facts pertinent 
 thereto to many of the leading newspapers in the State." 
 
 But it required more than railway rate reductions and 
 cooperative action on the part of the growers to solve the
 
 FIRST PUBLIC ACTIVITIES 93 
 
 complicated questions involved in the successful disposal 
 of California's fruit on the markets of Chicago and New 
 York. The 1886 shipping season opened as disastrously 
 as those of the two preceding years. The fruit-growers were 
 again in despair ; again they talked of the collapse of their 
 industry. 
 
 As usual, the reaction in Lubin was dynamic ; difficulties 
 only roused the "Irish" in him, as he used to term the 
 fighting spirit. "Seventy per cent Irish and thirty per cent 
 spirit" was his formula for the man of action; obstacles 
 only arose to be overcome. Long consultations and de- 
 bates followed with his partner and co-worker, Mr. Wein- 
 stock ; he discussed the question in the Grange and in the 
 press; many proposals were made, some advocated by 
 Lubin with much zeal, but no real remedy was found. At 
 last it was decided between the partners that Mr. Weinstock 
 should go East as a sort of self-appointed commissioner to 
 investigate the situation from the buyer's end, and not 
 long after Lubin himself sailed for Europe on a trip on which, 
 as usual, he sought not only relaxation but the solution of 
 the problems with which his thoughts were engaged. Mr. 
 Weinstock's inquiries led him to the belief that the solution 
 of the grower's difficulties was to be found in selling the 
 fruits, on their arrival in the Eastern cities, at public auction. 
 About the same time Lubin had an opportunity of witnessing 
 in London the way in which the auction system worked in 
 the disposal of fresh fruits in Covent Garden market, and his 
 cable on his observations reached the California Fruit Union 
 to confirm the conclusions arrived at in Mr. Weinstock's re- 
 port. The plan was adopted and proved an instantaneous 
 success. 
 
 Thus, in his first piece of public work, Lubin had done 
 much to place on a solid foundation an industry which, 
 spreading later throughout the State and assuming truly 
 vast proportions in the South under the fostering care of the 
 California Citrus Fruit Exchange, has done so much for the 
 economic prosperity of the West. And what was true of
 
 94 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 him in this particular instance was true throughout his career. 
 It was Lubin's part through life to sow ideas broadcast, to 
 drive home his points, to carry conviction both by the sound- 
 ness of his logic and by the power of the faith that was in 
 him. But his suggestions were rarely carried out in the form 
 in which he proposed them. Frequently, indeed, his ideas 
 would be slightingly set aside, the so-called "practical" men 
 the "grocery men" as Lubin called them treating 
 him as a visionary or a crank. Yet time after time those 
 very same ideas would be taken up a little later on, some- 
 times modified and not infrequently marred in their detail, 
 and then carried into effect. When, however, the time came 
 to distribute the honors, the name of David Lubin would 
 often be conspicuous by its absence. He was never one to 
 scramble for a place on the band-wagon.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 
 
 We must figure David Lubin during these years of man- 
 hood's prime as an unusual and picturesque figure in the 
 life of his home town. The older generation of citizens 
 have vivid memories of him as he walked the streets of 
 Sacramento, prominent in all movements for promoting 
 the commercial or educational interests of the city, taking 
 an active and intense part in the life of the community in 
 which he lived. Now fighting "boss rule", by urging on 
 electors the duties of citizenship ; now debating a religious 
 or philosophic problem ; using the counting-house, the store, 
 the advertising columns of the local press, the farm or the 
 Grange as an educational forum. 
 
 Given to bold speculative thinking along national or 
 even broader lines, yet conditioned by an environment 
 essentially narrow and provincial, the humanity of the man 
 was too strong for him ever to lose touch with his fellow 
 citizens. He could always see in the local problems they 
 had to solve an angle or facet of the universal, the micro- 
 cosm in which the macrocosm is reflected. Actively engaged 
 as a merchant, and dependent for his income on his store, 
 he had nevertheless come to conceive of agriculture as the 
 fountain-head of national prosperity, the primary source 
 whence wealth percolated down from the rural to the urban 
 districts. Consequently he was ever on the lookout to 
 promote that prosperity not as a matter of individual ad- 
 vantage but of general benefit. 
 
 Thus believing, he spared no efforts to acquaint himself 
 thoroughly with the economic problems of the farm. He 
 joined the local Grange and became one of its leading mem- 
 bers, bringing up for discussion at its meetings the problems
 
 96 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 on which he was engaged. Absorbed in the questions he 
 was studying, anxious to view them in all their aspects, he 
 went about debating them with his neighbors in town and 
 country, much as Socrates of old went about among the 
 Athenians of his day. 
 
 Debate was the breath of his nostrils, and he was equally 
 willing to thrash out a question with a wage laborer, a pro- 
 fessor, a business man or a farmer. He would pin his man 
 down and argue his point out, in and out of season, never 
 deeming time wasted in clarifying a thought or digging 
 down to fundamental truths underlying commonly accepted 
 facts. Plato's dialogues and Cicero's disputations had early 
 been among his favorites in literature, and he became no 
 mean adept in the art of Socratic reasoning, which he con- 
 ducted in the picturesque lingo of the Bret Harte miner. 
 
 Between the acts of his main life work we catch glimpses 
 of him engaged in multifarious activities. I have said 
 elsewhere that Lubin was lacking in the aesthetic sense; 
 he had no instinctive delight in and knowledge of the great 
 as opposed to the merely pretty or the trivial in art, and his 
 lack of instinct in this matter had never been supplemented 
 by training, but intellectually he conceived of the aesthetic 
 as occupying a lofty place in the scheme of things, deserving 
 of deference and cultivation. Impressed by the art treasures 
 in the galleries and cities of Europe and by the educational 
 value of museums, he became the guiding spirit in founding 
 a society known as the California Museum Association. 
 I have often heard him refer to the days in 1885 when he 
 worked with leading citizens for this purpose. "Chris 
 Green, a butcher with a lame foot, was made president, and 
 I was one of the directors, and what we and our fellow work- 
 ers in this field did not know about art would have filled 
 not a book but a library," he would say. The Association 
 must have had some points of resemblance with that one 
 "upon the Stanislaw" immortalized by Bret Harte, but if 
 the committee had only third-class knowledge, it certainly 
 had first-class ambition.
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 97 
 
 "California ought to be the home of plastic art. What 
 is the matter with our American boys ? Has any parent a 
 son with a taste in that direction ? Encourage it, bring him 
 here, and let us build up a school of sculpture in hot Sacra- 
 mento ; Florence is hotter. All the natural conditions are 
 favorable to us; who knows but that here Michaelangelos 
 and Canovas may be developed and make all the world bow 
 the knee to Sacramento genius," exclaimed Director Lubin 
 in one of his addresses. 
 
 The physical resemblance between California and the 
 Mediterranean countries impressed him deeply ; he used to 
 say that both were the natural home of the "aristocrats 
 of the Plant world", the peach, the apricot, the vine, the 
 orange, the almond; and he claimed the Mediterranean 
 Basin as the home of the aristocrats of the human family, 
 of the "three princes of the Lord" who had given the world 
 its Religion, its Art, its Philosophy and its Law, the Jew, 
 the Greek, and the Roman. He believed that California, 
 with similarity in climate, in scenery, in vegetation, and 
 with the added advantages of vast natural resources, the 
 inestimable benefits of developing under free, democratic 
 institutions, and of starting economically with a clean slate, 
 would, in time, become a great Empire State, the Italy of 
 the New World in artistic and intellectual genius as well 
 as in natural beauties. 
 
 Working in those early days with most unpromising 
 material, hampered by his own woeful ignorance in matters 
 aesthetic, Lubin, by sheer force of will, succeeded in arousing 
 interest in his views and in making a start which, had the 
 environment been less dead to such matters, could not have 
 failed to develop. He dragged his coadjutors along chained 
 to the chariot of his own enthusiasms, and succeeded, in 
 1885, in getting together a loan exhibition of artistic, scien- 
 tific, and historic objects, for the display of which the local 
 magnate, Mrs. Margaret Crocker, lent the art gallery 
 attached to her mansion, an elaborate, expensive, and, let 
 it be said, a very ugly stone building, then the pride of
 
 98 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Sacramento. On this occasion, David Lubin delivered the 
 opening address, from which we quote the following : 
 
 In canvassing for life members the committee had certain 
 experiences not laid down in the program and which, for 
 the time being, produced an effect that almost neutralized 
 their ambitious zeal. "What do you want a museum for? " 
 said one; "can't you see all the old stuff you want in a 
 junk shop ?" 
 
 Another said, "Museum? Nonsense! Hideous idols, 
 Indian clubs, scalps, old Patent Office reports, cranky 
 models of impossible inventions, old mummies that have a 
 suspicious smell about them, plaster-of-Paris men and 
 women with no clothes on them, bottles with nasty worms 
 so carefully preserved as to save them intact for the day of 
 resurrection, and to add to this insult to common sense, 
 long-winded names that would puzzle the very Chief of 
 Hades to get into plain solid English. Trash and nonsense ! 
 No museum for me ! " 
 
 A third said, "Museum, indeed ! Who goes to a museum ? 
 Lank and lean young men who wear their hair long and 
 parted in the middle, whose mysterious appearance is height- 
 ened by their eyeglass string, significantly looped over the 
 left ear ; or the old codger who mopes around musty books, 
 who delights in antediluvian remains, whose burden of 
 lamentations consists in groaning after the missing link. 
 No, sir ! I don't want a museum ! When I want progress, 
 I'll send my boy to the most progressive machine shop or 
 business house." 
 
 And so it comes to pass that when a man lives by bread 
 alone his mind becomes dyspeptic. Shop and nothing but 
 shop soon converts a man into a boot, an overall, a barrel 
 of sugar, a banknote, or a mortgage squeezer. Practical? 
 Come, oh, practical stomach, let us write the biography of 
 one such as you. Don't be impatient. We won't detain 
 you long. Birth, Feed-money, Death. No sooner dead, 
 when your hard-earned gold vanishes like a puff of smoke 
 into hands other than you wished or dreamt of. . . . How 
 unlike "the image of God", such men are, allied by instinct 
 and capacity to the brute. These are the men above all who 
 have need of a museum
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 99 
 
 Untaught, man is but a large child; he can be best 
 taught by objects. Nor need any one feel ashamed to take 
 lessons in the ABC book of nature, for the greatest scholars 
 in the world learn direct from objects. ... If his state of 
 development debars him for the time being from learning 
 fruitful lessons from the limitless laws of nature, let him 
 begin with the actions and motives of man, primitive man. 
 The savage will be a good object to begin with. Let him 
 examine the stone axe, the flint arrow, the armor, the cloth- 
 ing, the war club and implements of labor. Let him observe 
 these well ; also call to his assistance the observations of 
 other men by conversation and books. Let him compare 
 his mode of living with theirs, draw conclusions, and he is 
 doing what ? Generalizing : he is on the highway to 
 learning. Let him continue step by step, lesson by lesson, 
 advancing upward in the scale, until he reaches the limit of 
 his capacity. And if that be of a high order there is no 
 reason why the former rustic may not in time rival the 
 learned philosopher. 
 
 This is one of the offices of the museum. It is the channel 
 for intellectual development. It is the true emancipator 
 of the mind. . . . By lending a helping hand an institution 
 will be built up that will prove of lasting benefit ... an 
 institution in whose close proximity will spring up technical 
 schools of art, science, music, literature, and industry, fitting 
 ornaments for God's most favored people, teaching the art 
 of progressive peace. 
 
 This exhibition, which was an unqualified success, had 
 an epilogue illustrative of Lubin's impetuous action, when 
 once his mind was fully made up. 
 
 Judge Crocker, one of the original directors of the Central 
 Pacific Railroad, grown rich "beyond the dreams of avarice" 
 had traveled through Europe in the early seventies, and with 
 the help of the guides, antiquity dealers, and other such 
 legalized brigands who assist American millionaires, with 
 more money than knowledge, to spend their dollars, had 
 come home with a whole gallery of paintings, such as one 
 might expect would be thus brought together, many digni- 
 fied by the names of masters who would turn in their graves
 
 100 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 could they see the canvases attributed to them. These 
 were lodged in the Crocker art gallery, which was lent for 
 the loan exhibition by the Judge's widow, a generous- 
 hearted, simple old soul, a woman of the people, unspoiled 
 by the adulation and deference which great wealth brings 
 in its train. Lubin was a favorite with Mrs. Crocker, and 
 had for her a very sincere regard. To his untutored eye 
 the gallery was indeed a palace of art, though his shrewd 
 wit led him to suspect that the old Judge had been badly 
 swindled on more than one occasion. 
 
 As the date drew near for closing the exhibition, Lubin 
 became obsessed by the idea that the Crocker Art Gallery 
 should belong to Sacramento, that it should be the worthy 
 nucleus of the museum of his dreams. Mrs. Crocker's 
 children were all settled elsewhere, and his mind's eye saw 
 the palatial residence with its treasured contents dispersed 
 by indifferent heirs; the empty halls falling from their 
 high estate, used perhaps as warehouses or storerooms. 
 
 On the day before the exhibition was to close, Lubin 
 came to his office looking as if he had passed a sleepless 
 night. He confided to Mr. Weinstock the thoughts which 
 had kept him awake, and as he talked them over he worked 
 himself up to such a pitch of enthusiasm that he grabbed his 
 hat and bolted out of the door, saying, "I am going to Mrs. 
 Crocker right now to persuade her to give the gallery to the 
 city." 
 
 Lubin loved to tell how he waited on the simple, kindly 
 old lady, living alone amidst the pompous opulence of 
 the home of which Sacramento was so proud ; how he went 
 straight to the point he had at heart, picturing with vivid 
 words the fate awaiting the building and its contents when 
 she would be no more; the curious strangers pricing the 
 treasures, while the auctioneer prepared to disperse them 
 among an indifferent crowd of bargain seekers; and as he 
 saw that his words were going home, he came boldly out 
 with his proposal : Mrs. Crocker should present the building 
 and its contents to Sacramento, thus making it a lasting
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 101 
 
 monument to the late Judge and to herself, a permanent 
 benefaction to the city, the seed whence the future artistic 
 greatness of California was to spring. When his bewildered 
 listener, to whom the whole idea was startlingly new, said 
 that she would think it over, he overpowered her by declaring 
 that the time to act was there and then ; that the loan exhi- 
 bition was to close the next evening, and that its success 
 would be crowned if she would publicly announce on the 
 closing night that the gallery and its contents were to be 
 presented by her as a gift to Sacramento. 
 
 "Of course I had hoped for an immediate favorable 
 answer," Lubin used to say, "but Mrs. Crocker pointed out 
 that this was the first moment that the idea had ever been 
 suggested or had come to her mind, and that she must have 
 time to think it over." She finally promised to give her 
 answer the following morning. 
 
 Lubin spent another sleepless night, hoping for a favor- 
 able and fearing an unfavorable reply. At the earliest 
 permissible hour the next morning he was waiting on Mrs. 
 Crocker to learn her decision. It was favorable. The 
 idea had appealed to the old lady as wise and proper, and 
 she asked him to announce the totally unexpected and gener- 
 ous benefaction at the closing gathering of the loan exhibition 
 that evening. 
 
 "But it is your gift, Mrs. Crocker, and you must make 
 the announcement. You must give the people of Sacra- 
 mento the pleasure of learning this great news from your 
 own lips." 
 
 "Lor', Mr. Lubin, I could never make a speech, you know 
 I couldn't ; how could such an idea come to your head ? " 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you what, Mrs. Crocker, you'll stand on 
 the platform ; I '11 make the speech, and you '11 nod. You 
 can do that, can't you ? " 
 
 And so they compromised. That evening, when the 
 main gallery was crowded for the closing exercises, the 
 Mayor announced that Mrs. Crocker had an important 
 statement to make. Escorted by David Lubin the old lady
 
 102 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 was led to the platform, and while he announced in her 
 name the gracious gift, she nodded her kind old head vigor- 
 ously, and was almost overwhelmed by the manifestations 
 of grateful enthusiasm of her fellow citizens. 
 
 In 1888 Lubin took a prolonged trip through the leading 
 European countries, paying particular attention to their 
 agricultural methods and development, as far as he was able 
 to observe them. In the series of letters he wrote home, pub- 
 lished in the Sacramento Bee and the Pacific Rural Press, it is 
 curious to note the combination of acute observation with the 
 prejudice and ignorance of the uncultured American regard- 
 ing things European, an ignorance and prejudice equaled 
 only by that of the average European regarding America. 
 Europe is to Lubin the continent of despotic monarchies, 
 effete aristocracies, and downtrodden peoples, where crowned 
 kings rule and prostrate subjects obey. But though his 
 patriotic pride in California calls forth many unfavorable 
 comparisons, we can see that his travels were sowing the 
 seeds of that broad-minded vision which was to make him 
 later on so powerful a factor in laying the foundations for 
 sound internationalism. 
 
 For instance, after visiting the country round Naples he 
 writes : "It would be a paying investment and a new era in 
 the history of California if some several hundred farmers 
 and fruit raisers were to come to Europe and make a few 
 observations on tillage. I would recommend them to visit 
 the land situated between Rome and Naples. The entire 
 country, consisting of one hundred and sixty-two miles of 
 land, is literally a garden. The soil is stirred to a depth of 
 about ten inches, thoroughly mingled, very finely pulverized, 
 and levelled perfectly. . . . These fields have been regu- 
 larly cropped many centuries before the time of the Csesars, 
 and yet they will put to shame by their results and crops 
 land in California that was originally richer, but which 
 fifteen or twenty years of unintelligent or dishonest labor 
 have impoverished." 
 
 Again, writing from Spain he says : "Preconceived notions
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 103 
 
 of Spanish character, as received from ideas of Spanish 
 history in the Netherlands and in the history of South 
 America, would lead one to suppose that the people here are 
 semi-savages; but I was agreeably surprised to find that 
 in the great majority of cases the people are exceedingly 
 polite, affable, generous and hospitable." 
 
 Here again, as in Italy, his inclination to presume that 
 the Old World countries were necessarily "back numbers" 
 in all practical concerns such as scientific agriculture, re- 
 ceived some salutary shocks. It was while traveling on a 
 train in the south of Spain that he fell into conversation 
 with a Spanish grandee and landowner, who, amused at 
 Lubin's evident conviction of American superiority in all 
 such matters, invited him to visit his farms in Andalusia 
 and to see what was still got out of soil that had been cul- 
 tivated for some two thousand years. While watching on 
 this farm the careful tillage by which the Spanish peasant 
 laboriously "comminuted the soil", so different from the 
 superficial harrowing to which Lubin was accustomed, he 
 conceived the idea of a mechanical device by which the same 
 results might be attained as he then saw secured by the hoe. 
 On his return to California he elaborated this idea and devised 
 a machine which did the trick, but which in after years 
 among his friends came to be known as the "Lubin Tribu- 
 lator", so much effort did he devote to it from time to 
 time. 
 
 The monuments bearing witness to the Moorish and 
 Jewish civilizations in medieval Spain fascinated him. In 
 one of his letters he tells how, accompanied by his wife and 
 two children, he visited in Seville the former Jewish quarter 
 with its synagogues, seized after the expulsion of the Jews 
 and given over to the Catholic Church, and of a long and 
 curious debate he had with a Spanish friar, in which Ameri- 
 can Jew and Catholic priest, meeting in a former temple of 
 the Jewish faith in medieval Seville, discussed theology 
 through the medium of an interpreter. Sincere in his own 
 beliefs Lubin had a great respect for those of others. Reli-
 
 104 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 gion to him was the sacred aspiration of the soul toward 
 its Fountain Head. 
 
 From Spain he went through Italy to Austria and was 
 greatly impressed by the wisdom of the forestry laws of that 
 country which made it compulsory, whenever trees were cut 
 down, to replant as many on the same ground. He wrote in 
 comment on this in 1888, long before the dawn of the "con- 
 servation" movement: 
 
 There is no question touching the welfare of California 
 that is of so much importance as is the one of forestry. We 
 have a beautiful climate, but we are permitting it to be 
 stolen, tree by tree, the climate goes, never to return. 
 The foothill man will catch the flood first, but the valley 
 man will catch the drought first so both will be evenly 
 and properly paid for their neglect if they permit the destruc- 
 tion. Even at the present time, if an investigation should 
 be made, it would be found advisable to retrace former 
 error by beginning the costly work of afforestation. Any 
 one conversant with the locality will tell you that in and 
 around certain portions of Mohawk Valley in Arizona 
 there are times when torrents of water rush down the sides 
 of the mountains and in a few hours wash away miles of 
 railroad track. Look at the mountains ; they are bare and 
 barren. There you have the cause cause not alone of 
 flood but also of drought; for nothing will grow in that 
 region unless irrigated. 
 
 You ascend on the higher reaches of land, and what do you 
 find? Bowlders, gravel, sand. A citizen, knowing these 
 facts to be true, who does not raise his voice or make an 
 effort to have this forest destruction stopped, is neither 
 faithful to his State nor loyal to his Country. 
 
 The technical schools and commercial museums of Austria 
 and Germany impressed him as powerful instruments for 
 the development of foreign trade, instruments in which the 
 United States was then deficient. He writes from Berlin : 
 
 Much attention is paid to foreign commerce, and by 
 reason of their push and energy they have a firm foothold on
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 105 
 
 the trade of South America to the exclusion of American 
 manufactures. This is not brought about by any reason of 
 greater merit or cheapness of their goods over those of the 
 United States, but because of more energy and greater skill 
 in their disposition and distribution. In other words, they 
 are better merchants. 
 
 In London the traveler was deeply impressed by the value 
 of the great exhibitions, such as that which Italy was then 
 holding in the English capital, as a means of promoting 
 trade and industrial development. He also made it his 
 business to inquire into the market for California canned 
 fruits and to note the causes, such as careless selection and 
 packing, which hindered them from securing the place they 
 have subsequently come to occupy. Here also he witnessed 
 the disposal of green fruits by auction at Covent Garden 
 market, and cabled home to the California Fruit Union 
 recommending this method of marketing almost at the same 
 time that Colonel Weinstock was advising it as the result of 
 his independent investigations. 
 
 On this trip he visited Ireland and used to narrate with 
 gusto the following experience in Dublin with a guide proud 
 of local progress. 
 
 "The guide took us to a fire-engine house, and pointing 
 to a dilapidated old engine said, 'Look at that now. When 
 we has a fire, we takes that and squirts the water on it 
 by machinery. What do you think of that?' I replied, 
 telling him that we also have fire-engines in the United 
 States. He then asked me if we pulled them with horses, 
 and I said, 'Yes, more than that. On the occurrence of a 
 fire an alarm is sounded, the driver jumps on his seat, the 
 horses run to their places, the harness drops down and ad- 
 justs itself automatically, the door opens, and before you 
 could say Jack Robinson half a dozen times the engine is 
 off to the fire.' 'Well,' replied the Irishman, 'I always 
 heard that there were liars in America, but I never thought 
 there were such d d liars as all that.' " 
 
 On his return to Sacramento in the autumn of 1888 Lubin
 
 106 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 brought back two proposals for practical action. The 
 first was that the economic interests of California would be 
 greatly promoted by opening in London a permanent exhi- 
 bition of the natural beauties, latent resources, and agri- 
 cultural and industrial products of the State. 
 
 His intuitive faculty enabled Lubin to grasp the various 
 links in the chain of cause and effect and arrive at the ulti- 
 mate, while others were yet struggling to master the first 
 principles. While the California fruit-grower was only 
 just beginning to realize that he need not necessarily root 
 up his orchards as a remedy for overproduction, that organ- 
 ization could place within his reach the markets east of 
 the Rockies, Lubin already saw California fruits on the 
 table of every European hotel, saw her oranges and lemons 
 competing on the great London emporium with those of the 
 Mediterranean countries, and visualized the then straggling 
 towns and villages of Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego, 
 and Santa Barbara as the rivals of the Riviera for the tour- 
 ist trade of the world. 
 
 His ideas aroused interest and some considerable response, 
 but, on the whole, the food was too rich for those to whom 
 it was offered. He did, indeed, carry the exhibition pro- 
 posal almost to a successful issue ; secured the appointment 
 of an influential committee ; and, at the cost of great effort, 
 a bill was drafted which had every chance of passing the 
 State Legislature ; but when he found that a rider was 
 attached thereto which, he believed, would have made 
 the whole scheme a means of political "graft", he refused 
 to have anything more to do with it and let the whole thing 
 lapse. 
 
 But it was not only the merchant and fruit-grower, it 
 was likewise the Director of the California Museum Asso- 
 ciation who had been traveling through the art centers of 
 the Old World, and in this capacity also he had a suggestion 
 to make. 
 
 While stopping in the chief cities of Italy he had been 
 deeply impressed by the extraordinary wealth of art treas-
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 107 
 
 ures which that country possesses ; at the same time he had 
 come to the conclusion that Italy's material wealth could be 
 greatly increased if the old-fashioned plow, the hoe, and 
 the rake, made way for modern farm machinery. In the 
 development of the latter America was a leader. Why 
 should not each country give the other that of which it had 
 a superabundance ? Why not exchange specimens of Italian 
 art for products of the International Harvester Company? 
 Why should not Sacramento become the medium for this 
 exchange and secure for her Museum the coveted treasures ? 
 He had already approached the American Embassy in Rome, 
 and the matter had been discussed in a tentative way with 
 the Italian authorities; he now placed it before his fellow 
 citizens, hunted up the Italian consul, aroused his interest 
 in the proposal, and organized a committee. Those ac- 
 quainted with the Italian official mind can easily imagine 
 how it must have stood aghast at the idea of such a trans- 
 mutation of values, and will not be surprised to hear that, 
 in spite of strenuous efforts, nothing came of the suggestion. 
 But Lubin was tenacious, and this was not to be his last 
 attempt to secure art treasures and a worthy historical 
 museum for California. His early years in the southern 
 part of the State and in Arizona had given him a glimpse 
 into the interest and romance attaching to the fast disappear- 
 ing life of the Indian tribes and to the Spanish Missions 
 which, under the saintly guidance of Padre Junipero Serra, 
 first brought civilization and Christianity to the shores 
 of the Pacific. He took the occasion offered by the prep- 
 arations for the State Fair in 1892 to urge the desirability 
 of an historical exhibit in which should be gathered objects 
 illustrative of the primitive life of the native Indians, the 
 civilizing efforts of the early missions and their devoted 
 padres, the early days of the pioneers and the 'forty-niners, 
 the art of gold mining as practiced in its various stages, the 
 relics of Spanish and Mexican rule, the geology, flora, and 
 fauna of the Golden State. Having carried his point with 
 the organizing committee, he took on himself the task of
 
 108 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 traveling from place to place and organizing local committees 
 to hunt up and assemble the vanishing relics of the early 
 days in the life of California. 
 
 Indian implements and weapons, Spanish and Mexican 
 costumes and heirlooms, the precious mementos of the old 
 Spanish missions were brought to light, and Lubin succeeded 
 in persuading their owners to loan them for exhibition. He 
 won the friendship, one might say the affection, of the 
 Mission Fathers, who, inspired with something of his own 
 enthusiasm, came to his assistance and helped to make the 
 historic collection a really remarkable exhibit. It was felt 
 that such a collection should not be dispersed, and Lubin 
 hoped to see it permanently housed in the one building of 
 historic interest for Sacramento, the Sutter Fort. But 
 local apathy was stronger than his enthusiasm, and the 
 opportunity was allowed to slip by. Lubin was fond of the 
 old Greek myth which represents Fortune as tapping at the 
 door of each of us, very gently, and but once ; if her call is 
 heard and the door opened, the capricious goddess will 
 come in, but miss the single chance and she is gone for ever. 
 I thought of this story as Lubin used to tell it when, after 
 visiting Sacramento, I spent a wonderful morning in the 
 beautiful and interesting ethnographical Museum at San 
 Diego, which is realizing his desire but not in the home town 
 for which he was so ambitious. 
 
 The divine fire was not destined to burn steadily in Sacra- 
 mento. Lit by Lubin's fierce energy, it flared, flickered, 
 and died out. True, the Crocker Art Gallery still stands 
 intact, but the formerly elegant neighborhood in which it 
 was built is now a poor section, and the building, once the 
 admired of all beholders, is now recognized as a product of a 
 period of degraded taste. Still, its spacious, finely lit 
 galleries with the few good things they contain would make 
 a substantial nucleus round which to build. But David 
 Lubin has had no apostolic successor. No museum of 
 California is to be found in the State capital ; the seats of 
 art and learning are elsewhere. Suffice it to say that in
 
 LUBIN THE SACRAMENTAN 109 
 
 this field also he manfully played his part of pioneer, and 
 as far as one man's energy and enthusiasm could do, his 
 did. 
 
 Thus the busy years fled by, while Lubin worked for his 
 town and his State, in his store and on his farm ; now organ- 
 izing a committee to promote the opening of new factories 
 in Sacramento, now working to have a proper levee built to 
 save the city from the danger of destructive floods, such as 
 one he had witnessed and taken an active part in fighting. 
 Nor was it all work and no play; he shared to the full in 
 the social life and convivialities of the town, was "hail fellow 
 well met" with one and all, and could enter into enjoyment 
 as heartily as into work. There was still a good deal of 
 the Arizona frontiersman about him ; now and again he 
 would have what he called "a rip-snorting time." Generous 
 and open-handed, there was no initiative for the improve- 
 ment of Sacramento in which he did not participate, and 
 the Weinstock and Lubin store had become a real community 
 center for the city. 
 
 His fearless integrity won him the respect of all, even of 
 the "toughs." I have heard him tell how one day he was 
 in a saloon when a very rough character, a sort of "bad 
 man from Bodie " always ready with his revolver, came in 
 and in Lubin's hearing began to abuse the Jews. Lubin turned 
 on him: "You miserable barbarian, you, still all teeth and 
 claws, you dare to speak slightingly of the Jews. Why, if it 
 were not for the Jew and his Bible you would probably still be 
 a savage among your native bogs. Do you not know that 
 when you were born it was a Jewish prayer that was read over 
 you, when you were married a Jewish psalm was said, and 
 when you die it will again be a Jewish psalm which will accom- 
 pany you to the grave. Why, if you were to go down on your 
 knees at the street corner and black the boots of every Jew 
 that passed your way from now until the day of your death, 
 you would be unable to pay off one tithe of the debt you owe 
 that people. And you, miserable brute, dare to abuse!" 
 The astonished Irishman, taken aback at this outburst,
 
 110 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 apologized. " I never passed Cavanagh after that but he 
 took his hat off to me," Lubin used to say. 
 
 He could tell a good story and it would lose nothing in 
 the telling. Let me close this chapter of miscellanies with 
 one which he used to relate with peculiar relish. Sitting 
 at the right hand of Bishop Manuogue at a banquet given 
 to celebrate the completion of the Roman Catholic cathedral 
 in Sacramento, Lubin rejoiced the company with the story of 
 how his red-headed Irish servant girl, Norah, stood stoutly 
 by her belief that religion had originated with St. Patrick 
 in Ireland. Noticing a Catholic missal among her employer's 
 books she had felt that it had no place on the shelves of an 
 infidel, and had summoned up courage to ask him for it. 
 
 "Ye see, it's a book of moy Church, and as ye doan't 
 believe in it, it 's moy book," she had said, in pressing her 
 claim. 
 
 "Why, Norah," Lubin replied, "I said some of the prayers 
 in that book in the original tongue when I was but a wee bit 
 of a boy." 
 
 "The original tongue," responded Norah; "how's that? 
 Do ye know Oirish ?" 
 
 "No," I said, "but they were written in Hebrew, and I 
 knew enough Hebrew to repeat them." 
 
 "Haybroo. Phat's Haybroo? Sure, the first man to 
 tache religion was the Blessed Sint Patrick in Oirland ! " 
 
 "But I tell you, they were written in Hebrew all the 
 same." 
 
 "Well," says Norah, "then they jist copied em." 
 
 "Good for Norah," gleefully exclaimed the good Bishop, 
 pounding the table with his fist ; "Good for Norah ! "
 
 CHAPTER Vn 
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 
 
 One day in his store Lubin noted a large stock of books ; 
 he looked it over. "Camille, Wife in Name only", "The 
 Burglar's Fate", "A Crown of Shame", "Strikers and Com- 
 munists", "A Rogue's Life", "The Old Ma'mselle's Secret", 
 "Fair Women", "Professional Thieves." How came Wein- 
 stock and Lubin to be selling such stuff? It all came from 
 Eastern publishing houses, and the cost of carriage alone 
 must have represented a large figure. He inquired into 
 the matter and found out that these publications, coming 
 under the classification of serials, were all transported through 
 the United States mails at a uniform charge of one cent a 
 pound in any quantities, and that the large subsidies which 
 the publishing trade thus received from the Government 
 were held to be justified on the ground of encouraging the 
 spread of "literature." 
 
 Somewhere around the same time Lubin had for sale 
 the wheat of his Colusa County ranch. It was fine grain, 
 and he noted that the Liverpool price quotations were good ; 
 yet the offers he could get barely represented the cost of 
 production. How was this to be accounted for? He went 
 up to San Francisco to inquire of the Chamber of Commerce. 
 The secretary was in a hurry and briefly disposed of Lubin's 
 inquiries by saying "Charters." 
 
 "Charters? What's that?" said Lubin. "Just you sit 
 down and tell me. I need to get at the bottom of this matter, 
 and that 's what the Chamber of Commerce is for. And just 
 tell me Arizona fashion, with no technical conundrums." 
 
 So the secretary sat down and told our friend all about it ; 
 how you hire space in the ship for carrying the grain ; and 
 how the charge for that space varies according to the rela-
 
 112 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 tion between supply and demand ; how a shortage of ships 
 at a shipping point at the time when they are needed will 
 raise the cost of the so-called "charters"; how this cost is 
 deducted by the buyer from the price quoted for the grain 
 on the world's chief buying market, Liverpool; and how 
 the Liverpool price, minus the cost of transportation and 
 other subsidiary charges, becomes the price at which the 
 farmer has to sell his grain, and not only the quantity sold 
 for export, but that sold for consumption on the home 
 market as well. "And so, you see, charters just now are 
 very high, as there is a shortage of ships in the export ports, 
 and therefore the price you can get for your grain is low, 
 although the Liverpool price may be high." 
 
 "Ah ! that 's how it is," mused Lubin, and went away 
 with much to think over. 
 
 These two incidents, which occurred somewhere round 
 1893, held in embryo the whole of Lubin's future work, 
 of which the International Institute of Agriculture was to 
 be the logical and ultimate outcome, and the next ten years 
 of his life with an interlude when he almost concluded 
 that problems of practical justice could best be solved from 
 the philosophic-religious approach were given up to the 
 questions of transportation and tariff, and their influence 
 on price formation for the staples of agriculture. 
 
 In taking up this new campaign he again had recourse 
 to the Sacramento Record Union, and set the ball rolling 
 with an article, some four thousand words long, entitled a 
 "Novel Proposition Revolutionizing the Distribution of 
 Wealth", which appeared in that paper in September, 1893. 
 
 Lubin in those days was a protectionist, first, last, and all 
 the time. He based his arguments for protection not on 
 economic grounds even then he was compelled to admit 
 that, economically speaking, protection was unsound 
 but on political grounds. He argued that America was 
 still a "great experiment" ; that it yet had to justify itself 
 in the eyes of the world, and more especially that it must 
 preserve with fostering care its democratic institutions
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 113 
 
 against contamination by deleterious outside influences. 
 Free trade, he argued, by rapidly developing the foreign 
 relations of the United States, would induce a large number 
 of young Americans to go abroad as travelers, agents, and 
 so forth, when contact with "despotic European countries" 
 and "effete aristocracies" would undermine the manhood 
 and republican principles of American youth. 
 
 This argument sounds crude, and so it was ; and here we 
 come to one of the interesting angles of Lubin's mind ; the 
 way in which the clear intuitive insight into essential facts, 
 which is one of the gifts of genius, pierced through the 
 provincialisms, prejudices, and limitations proper to his 
 environment and his education. 
 
 "Protection" was the holy of holies of the Republican 
 party to which he belonged ; it saved the American worker 
 from falling to the low level of his oppressed European 
 brother ; it safeguarded the infant industries of the United 
 States, and was the corner stone of their prosperity. Lubin 
 accepted all this, but he could not "think cant" and he 
 clearly saw that, as things stood, it was the farmer who paid 
 for the protection which the manufacturer and the industrial 
 worker enjoyed. The farmer's staples being exports could 
 not be protected by a tariff on imports, and the cost of 
 high protection to industries was placed on the shoulders 
 of agriculture without any compensating advantage. 
 
 Now, this was wrong wrong from the standpoint both 
 of equity and of policy ; for any condition that permanently 
 impoverished the farmer would, in the long run, undermine 
 the prosperity of the nation. 
 
 "Confiscation of a good portion of the producer's just 
 earnings is caused by the protective tariff; but as I am a 
 confirmed protectionist, and am convinced of its tendency 
 toward the conservation of our American institutions, I 
 seek to perpetuate it, but not in its one-sided and unjust 
 operations. Protection is politic; should it not also be 
 just?" he asks in a letter to Mr. George B. James, then 
 editing the American Cultivator of Boston.
 
 114 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Now, what was the "Novel Proposition" by which Lubin 
 sought to achieve this justice ? Here it is in his own words : 
 
 To meet the transportation question, I would suggest 
 national legislation that would change our present system of 
 product transportation to the same system as is now in 
 operation by the United States post office in the forwarding 
 of mail matter, and in charge of that department. 
 
 To illustrate, a fruit-grower at San Rafael wishes to send 
 five hundred pounds of peaches to San Francisco. He 
 obtains a stamp of his post office (which may be three times 
 the size of a postal card, and on pasteboard) ; he attaches 
 same to one of his crates, and delivers same to the postal 
 clerk at the railroad company's depot. Say the value of the 
 stamp is one dollar. Another grower in Chico likewise 
 wishes to send a like quantity of peaches to the same desti- 
 nation, and he too obtains a one-dollar stamp and the fruit 
 is forwarded the same way. A third grower in Sacramento 
 county wishes to forward a like quantity to New York, and 
 he likewise obtains a one-dollar stamp and the fruit goes 
 out to New York. 
 
 In short, land products, in their natural state, are to be 
 forwarded in any quantity to any destination just the same 
 as other mail matter and subject to similar conditions. 
 
 Replying to an objector he emphasizes his point by stat- 
 ing: 
 
 "Last Thursday I received a case of books from the 
 publisher in New York weighing 165 lbs. for $1.65; these 
 books came in six days, and were brought here by the U. S. 
 Government through its post office department. . . . We 
 all know in advance that the Government pays the railroad 
 from three to six cents per pound for carrying the books, 
 yet it only charges the publisher one cent per pound. Who 
 pays the difference? Who but the people. Every tax- 
 payer, producer or consumer, pays to make up the loss. . . . 
 In these book shipments the publishers, the writers, and the 
 merchants are benefited, and were farm products forwarded 
 that way the farmers would be benefited."
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 115 
 
 1893 was a year of wide-spread agricultural distress ; the 
 grain-growing areas of the world had been rapidly extending ; 
 India, Argentina, and new Russian territories were coming 
 into competition with the wheat growers of Europe and 
 North America; with increased production and greater 
 shipping facilities than ever before the price of the 
 staples had been continuously falling. In Europe the 
 agrarians were attributing their troubles to America, and 
 several of the importing countries were protecting themselves 
 by heavy customs duties, which raised the price within their 
 own frontiers but could not affect the basic world price 
 ruling for the producer in the exporting countries. The vast 
 distances which the staples raised in the West and Middle 
 West had to traverse before reaching the export markets 
 made profitable farming in those sections of the country 
 almost impossible at the prevailing low rates, and the dis- 
 content which all this engendered expressed itself in great 
 political unrest and in the rise of a whole series of agita- 
 tions, such as those of the Populists, the Free Silverites, the 
 Single Taxers, and others. The Grange was then a powerful 
 organization, and took up many of these cries. 
 
 Lubin's statement of the case pointed to the fundamental 
 fact that in the United States, where the staples were ex- 
 ports, the protective tariff necessarily discriminated against 
 the farmers, and that protection should be afforded them by 
 lifting off their shoulders the burden of distance competi- 
 tion : "If the farmer can have his products forwarded at an 
 even rate for 100 miles or 3000 miles the difference that he 
 will save will be his protection." The difference between 
 Government receipts from the sale of the proposed "stamps", 
 and its expenditures in payments to the railway companies 
 for carrying the farm products, would, of course, have to be 
 evened up out of taxation, but Lubin claimed that the ad- 
 vantages accruing to the manufacturer, the merchant, and 
 the labor man from the increase in national prosperity which 
 this system would bring about would be such that they 
 would willingly pay this tax.
 
 116 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 The article in the Record Union aroused considerable com- 
 ment. Some approved, more condemned and derided. 
 Caricatures were published of Lubin posting cabbages and 
 pigs. One of the State Assemblymen, arguing the point, 
 had asked, "Why, d' you mean to say you 'd send a cabbage 
 through the mails?" 
 
 " Certainly," replied Lubin. 
 
 "Would you send a pig?" 
 
 "Why, yes; I would send anything; I would send you," 
 came the reply. 
 
 His friend, Grove L. Johnson, who with a twinkle in his 
 eye told me this anecdote, was standing by when this con- 
 versation occurred and stepped forward, almost expecting a 
 fight ; " but no insult had been meant ; Lubin had spoken 
 in all sincerity, only giving one more example of mailable 
 produce." 
 
 Anyhow, the proposal was novel enough and notable 
 enough to be widely noticed by the press of the country. 
 
 Lubin reprinted article and comments with his replies 
 thereto as a pamphlet of which he had fifty-five thousand 
 copies printed and scattered broadcast among all kinds and 
 conditions of readers, from labor men to professors, from 
 editors to business men, from farmers to financiers ; asking 
 all and sundry to send in their views for publication and dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 This resulted a few months later in the issue of a second 
 pamphlet in which his suggestions had definitely crystallized 
 into three proposals. 
 
 The first was that specified farm products, in limited 
 weight and bulk, should be mailable through the U. S. 
 post office department at a uniform rate of one cent per 
 pound for any distance within the Union. Thus Lubin was 
 the first to carry on an active propaganda for a parcel-post 
 system in the United States. 
 
 The second proposal was that the disabilities arising from 
 long-distance competition be overcome by providing for the 
 transportation of farm products in their natural state,
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 117 
 
 raised within the United States, at a reduced rate, lowering 
 the rate in inverse ratio to the distance from the market 
 centers. 
 
 In this connection we may note that action along lines 
 similar to those advocated by David Lubin was taken in 
 1906, as a measure of justice to the agricultural South, by 
 the Italian Government when it took over the railways. 
 While distances in Italy are not comparable to those in the 
 United States, nevertheless the geographical formation of 
 the peninsula entails a very long haul from the Southern 
 provinces and Sicily, which are mainly agricultural, to their 
 markets in Central Europe, and to overcome the geograph- 
 ical disadvantage at which they were thus placed as com- 
 pared to the industrial North, a system of differential tariffs 
 was introduced by which the greater the distance traversed, 
 the lower the rate. 
 
 Many of the issues which Lubin raised in this campaign 
 are as alive to-day as they were when he was agitating them 
 in the early nineties. Ask the citrus fruit growers of Cali- 
 fornia, the grain growers of the North and Middle West, 
 and they will have much to say on the subject of long-dis- 
 tance competition and the effect of transportation rates on 
 agricultural prosperity. Further, the claim he made that a 
 prosperous farming community is essential to the prosperity 
 of industry and labor is also borne out in a striking manner 
 by recent events, when, to quote a statement made in 1921 
 by Secretary Hoover, "the resistance against lower levels 
 in the services and commodities that the farmer must buy 
 in the face of his very much lower returns is already digging 
 the grave of unemployment for the other industries." 
 
 I lay it down as an axiom [Lubin wrote] that the interests 
 of our nation can best be served ... by absolute and un- 
 hampered free trade among the several States of the Union. 
 Now, as long as our territorial extent is almost as great as 
 the continent of Europe, it is manifestly impossible to main- 
 tain free trade between the several States and sections as 
 long as the factor of distance creates an uneven charge for
 
 118 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 transportation. This unevenness is felt in a much greater 
 degree in agricultural products transported in their natural 
 state, than in the average for manufactured goods. A suit 
 of clothes weighing ten pounds and costing $15 may be trans- 
 ported from New York to San Francisco at about one per cent. 
 The charge for carrying ten pounds of peaches from San 
 Francisco to New York will be about two hundred and fifty 
 per cent. The reason is clear. The ten pounds of suit is so 
 much more expensive than the ten pounds of peaches. The 
 fact is, of course, well known, and being so general is deemed 
 a fixed law in the social arrangement. The question remains, 
 is it a just law? We may unhesitatingly say that it is not 
 so much a law as a custom. For law is no law unless it 
 be grounded in justice, and this custom is not grounded 
 in justice but in injustice, and injustice is never a factor 
 for betterment. 
 
 And here again we touch a question still unsolved, on 
 which his views have recently been confirmed in the following 
 words by Secretary Hoover : "Horizontal rate increases have 
 thrown the relativity of rate scales out of gear, both as to 
 the value of commodities and zones of distribution. The 
 increase of rate may amount to 5 per cent on the shipper's 
 value of some commodities and 80 per cent on others. We 
 have many complaints of the hardship worked by the upset 
 in ratio ; complaints that it is readjusting the commercial and 
 industrial map of the United States; complaints that in 
 some industries the charge can be passed on to the consumer 
 while on others, such as agriculture, it falls largely upon the 
 producer ; and complaints that it is stifling production." 
 
 And so we get back in 1921 to the basic fact pointed out 
 by Lubin in 1894 ; that such a system works injustice, and 
 that "injustice is never a factor for betterment." 
 
 While Populists and Free Silverites on the one hand, 
 labor unions, tariff leaguers, and the great industrial in- 
 terests on the other, formulated their programs and pressed 
 their policies solely in view of "advantage", all guided by 
 the purely materialistic conception of the Marxist "class 
 war", however much some of them may have deprecated
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 119 
 
 that expression in the mouths of labor agitators, Lubin's 
 motive in this campaign was then as always the single- 
 minded desire to see the "just weight and the just measure" 
 prevail. Principle, not expediency, was his lodestar; and 
 though this often laid him open to the derision of the "prac- 
 tical" man, it saved him from pinning his faith to any of 
 the cheap nostrums of the day. He took great pains to 
 demonstrate that in seeking relief for the farmer the pur- 
 pose was to benefit not one but all classes in the community. 
 He sought not privilege but justice, and justice can never 
 be other than even-handed. 
 
 Going into the matter from the standpoint of city labor, 
 he showed by close reasoning along Socratic lines, and in 
 dialogue form, that "increase of acreage of a field product 
 at a remote distance from the market, without a correspond- 
 ing decrease of production of a like product in other sections, 
 demands either a constant decrease of wages or a gradual 
 decrease in the cost of transportation" ; that unless this de- 
 crease in the cost of transportation is provided for "the 
 tariff and the prevention of immigration will not prevent a 
 steady decline in the wage rate." And here again we have 
 a question which, after an interval of thirty years, is as live 
 an issue to-day as when Lubin wrote ; in fact, the Emer- 
 gency Tariff, the Immigration laws, and the great railway 
 rate and transportation crisis lend an interest of absolute 
 actuality to the problems which he then brought up for 
 discussion and action. 
 
 His third proposal was a bold effort to secure for agri- 
 culture the effective protection which industries enjoyed 
 under the tariff. 
 
 While his contentions in the matter of "long-distance 
 competition" started necessarily from a sectional viewpoint, 
 the viewpoint in his contention for equality in protection 
 was national and in its active advocacy he was to be educated 
 up to the need for a still broader outlook; the nation was 
 to merge into the world, nationalism into internationalism. 
 Nor could it be otherwise when abstract justice was the
 
 120 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 bull's-eye aimed at, for justice knows nothing of frontiers, 
 and in the long run justice and expediency are found to 
 converge, however wide apart they may appear to be at 
 the start. 
 
 But in 1894 Lubin's horizon was limited to the need for 
 economic equity as between several interests in his own 
 country, and his proposal, briefly stated, was to offset the 
 protection afforded to manufacturers and industrial laborers 
 by a tariff on imports by granting the producers of the 
 staples a bounty on exports in the form of a government 
 subsidy to reduce the cost of ocean carriage from the shipping 
 points to the foreign import markets. By this means, Lubin 
 argued, some of the wealth accruing to the industrial in- 
 terests through protection would be returned and spent in 
 behalf of the agricultural interests. The actual subsidy, how- 
 ever, would be but the smallest part of the benefit which 
 would accrue to the producers of the staples, for by reducing 
 the cost of carriage to the world's importing center, Liverpool, 
 the price which the producer would receive for every bushel 
 raised would be increased to the extent of said subsidy ; 
 not only the price of the bushels sold for export, but also the 
 price of the remainder, and much larger amount, sold for 
 consumption on the home market; for the export and 
 home price on the wheat pits are one and the same. 
 This effective protection would, he claimed, enable the 
 farmer to hold his own against the competition arising 
 from the "use of approved modern appliances for agri- 
 cultural labor in the hands of countless hordes of docile, 
 cheap labor in many important sections of the world." 
 
 It required several years yet before Lubin saw that equity 
 in price formation for the American farmer required as a 
 preessential equity in the price formation for farmers the 
 world over; that, to use his own words, the advantage he 
 strove to secure for one must be transmuted into a benefit for 
 all before it could be effective. 
 
 The ardor, tenacity, and ability which Lubin displayed 
 in organizing and pushing this campaign were extraordinary.
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 121 
 
 Steadily refusing, as he did throughout his life, to subsidize 
 papers or propagandists to advocate his views for he 
 rightly held that while open advertisement is legitimate, 
 clandestinely paid propaganda is not availing himself 
 of no political "pull", for this too he held to be unclean; 
 backed by no "interests", for he resolutely refused to favor 
 such, except in so far as their claims conformed strictly 
 to those of justice ; working in a small community and with 
 an obscure city as his center, he yet succeeded in a very 
 brief time in getting his views prominently before the people 
 not of California but of the United States. Dipping freely 
 into his own pocket, devoting his time and means and abil- 
 ities to this service without stint or reward, he set to work. 
 His first pamphlet, sent out in an edition of 55,000 copies, 
 was followed by a second of like number and these by others. 
 Using the experience acquired in publishing business cata- 
 logues, he gave these the widest possible distribution, 
 sending them to the press, to the universities, to the great 
 business firms, to statesmen and politicians, to granges and 
 farmers' associations, to labor unions and individuals, con- 
 spicuous and obscure, wherever he thought the seed could 
 be sown with advantage. In a short time he had "pro- 
 mulgation" committees at work in various sections, de- 
 bates for and against going on in the farmers' meetings 
 North, West, South and East, and the "novel proposition" 
 had become a live issue calling for editorial comment in the 
 press of the country. 
 
 Lubin was indefatigable. The campaign which he started 
 in September, 1893, developed into an absorbing labor of 
 years, in which he sacrificed business and family interests 
 to his zeal for the public good. Gradually the broader issue, 
 that which aimed at equalizing the supposed benefits of 
 protection as between the agricultural and the industrial 
 interests, engrossed him to the exclusion of the minor matter 
 of differential railway rates. 
 
 He traveled from point to point (generally taking with 
 him one or other of his children) giving himself up, heart
 
 122 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and soul, to this work, and speaking and debating with all 
 manner of men and women. None were too humble and 
 none too exalted for Lubin to tackle. In June, 1894, he 
 achieved a first success when the proposal was adopted by 
 the Republican State Convention of California as a plank 
 in its platform. He continued the campaign of education 
 among Granges and Farmers' Alliances, and the proposal 
 was next indorsed by the State Grange of California. 
 
 This agitation for equalizing protection as between town 
 and country, while it conciliated the traditional repub- 
 licanism of the Western States, appealed to the farmers, 
 discontented with a system of which they paid the cost with- 
 out receiving the benefits, and before Lubin was through 
 he had the enthusiastic support of the Granges of California, 
 Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Missouri, Virginia and Penn- 
 sylvania. And in those days the Granges were a political 
 force of no mean importance. 
 
 The high priests of protection in the East now began to 
 awaken to the incipient dangers of such a movement. The 
 treasurer of the American Protective Tariff League ap- 
 proached Lubin with a request to contribute to the funds of 
 the League and to indorse its policy. He replied by a 
 challenge to debate the agricultural phase of the question : 
 
 "As we seem to differ radically in our opinions, and as I 
 am now under the impression that if your theory of protection 
 is just, mine is unjust, and as I would like to have this ques- 
 tion decided by competent authority and abide by their 
 decision ... I will contribute to the funds of your League 
 the sum of $1,000 subject to the order of a committee 
 nominated for the purpose of deciding this question." 
 
 Lubin goes on to name as his members of the committee 
 Professor Ely of the University of Wisconsin, John Wana- 
 maker of Philadelphia, the Master of the California State 
 Grange, Samuel Gompers, and Senator Chandler of New 
 Hampshire. These names show that he had no hesitation 
 in carrying his campaign into the strongholds of protec- 
 tionism.
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 123 
 
 The challenge was acknowledged, but it is significant that 
 it was never taken up, and in due time the certified check 
 was returned to Lubin. 
 
 The campaign was not without its humors. For instance, 
 when the matter was taken up for action in the National 
 Grange, the political hacks of the Republican party got to 
 work and succeeded by a majority of one in getting that 
 body to refuse to sponsor the measure. The reporter for 
 the committee on agriculture on that occasion was a certain 
 Aaron Jones of Indiana. Now, Mrs. Jones, who under 
 Grange regulations had a vote equally with her husband, 
 and who was evidently less of a politician than he was, con- 
 vinced by the logic of Brother Lubin's arguments, announced 
 her intention of voting for his motion. But on the morning 
 of the day when the issue was to be decided, she was packed 
 off home by her spouse. 
 
 "I don't know what's got into him," the good woman 
 said, as she bade Lubin and other acquaintances good-by, 
 "but he 's just hustling me off, and I did so want to remain 
 for the exercises." 
 
 On another occasion Lubin had traveled many hundreds 
 of miles to place his case before a State Grange Ohio, if 
 my memory is not at fault. Hour after hour went by and 
 the Worthy Master never looked his way. A speaker 
 would sit down and Lubin would think his turn had come, 
 when Sister Smith would be called on for a song, or Brother 
 Brown invited to relate some personal experience. 
 
 At last a big, shaggy farmer, who had been sitting in the 
 background observing these maneuvers, asked for the 
 floor. It was granted and he rose, opened a ponderous tome, 
 and began slowly and deliberately to read out: "Nails: 
 brass tacks, 5% ad valorem; tin tacks, 5% ad valorem; 
 half -inch nails, 5% ad valorem^, and so forth. 
 
 This went on for a few minutes to the amazement of the 
 assembled company, when at last the Chair interrupted, 
 asking the Brother kindly to explain why he was reading 
 out the tariff, and how long he would hold the floor.
 
 124 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 "Well, it's like this," replied the worthy Granger. 
 "Brother Lubin has come here, and I know he has traveled 
 a long way, and he has something to say which many of us 
 want to hear, but I have noticed that the Worthy Master 
 never looks his way, and time is going by, and Brother 
 Lubin will have to leave without a hearing. Now, I don't 
 think that' s fair, and so now I 've got the floor, and I 'm going 
 to hold it ; and as I don't know how to make a speech, I 've 
 got hold of this 'ere book, and I'm just a-going to read it, 
 and under our rules you can't take the floor away from me 
 until I 'm through, and I '11 only stop to make way for Brother 
 Lubin, for I '11 see a fair deal, or know the reason why." 
 
 Lubin got the floor ! 
 
 Throughout 1894-1895 and the early part of 1896 we 
 find Lubin here, there, and everywhere, educating and prop- 
 agandizing; spending freely the wealth he had acquired 
 as one of the means to fit him for Service. Seeking justice 
 for all, he confined his efforts to no class, and was as ready 
 to address the American Federation of Labor or the Tariff 
 League as the Grange. In Sam Gompers he had a sym- 
 pathetic listener; the labor unions were strong for protec- 
 tion, but they were not unwilling to see it extended also to 
 the farmers; yet when Lubin addressed their annual con- 
 vention at Denver he found that here again politics ran the 
 show, and his motion was tabled, not because it failed to 
 carry conviction, but because, as the "boys" told him be- 
 hind the scenes, they were not particularly anxious for 
 measures which would make for economic peace. 
 
 In October, 1894, Lubin attended the Trans-Mississippi 
 Commercial Congress at St. Louis, where it took Mr. Bryan's 
 silver-tongued eloquence to get action on the motion for 
 equal protection postponed until the next conference on the 
 plea that it was too novel to be acted on without further 
 study. From St. Louis he went to New York to discuss the 
 whole question with leading business men and journalists, 
 and thence to Pennsylvania to bring up the proposal before
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 125 
 
 that State Grange and secure its indorsement and that of 
 the Virginia State Grange ; and thence to Washington to a 
 "hearing" before the House Committee on Agriculture. 
 
 With untiring energy Lubin left no stone unturned. He 
 submitted his premise for comment and refutation to all 
 and sundry ; among others to the President of the Chicago 
 Board of Trade, who fully confirmed the soundness of his 
 claim that the price of farm staples in the United States is 
 the free trade world price minus the cost of carriage from the 
 producing centers to the world market center. This claim 
 the Home Market Club of Boston boldly undertook to re- 
 fute, in a debate lasting two days which took place at Wash- 
 ington. The floundering efforts made on this occasion by 
 the self-constituted supporters of the status quo to prove 
 that the "foreigner" and not the consumer pays for protec- 
 tion, and that the farmer is all right because his staples are 
 on the tariff book, make almost amusing reading, especially 
 when in the course of the debate Grove L. Johnson, then 
 M. C. for California, tried to tie them down to the point. 
 
 "Lubin mopped the floor up with them," the shrewd old 
 lawyer said to me not long ago, growing reminiscent over 
 the old days. 
 
 Nor were the Universities neglected by Lubin in urging 
 this cause. He paid flying visits to Madison and Ann Arbor, 
 discussed the matter with the professors of political economy 
 of the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan, and left 
 with them substantial sums for prize essays to be written by 
 their students on "Protection and the Farmer." 
 
 Naturally the Democratic and Free Trade press had not 
 been slow to look into this matter and to point out that 
 "equalized protection" was the reductio ad absurdum of 
 protection; Lubin had given them points. Indeed, by now 
 he had become a veritable thorn in the side of the orthodox 
 Republican protectionist. Contemptuous silence had given 
 way to derisive comment and virulent attack, but it looked 
 as if the "cat were out of the bag" as far as the farmers were 
 concerned, and this was matter for anxiety.
 
 126 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 On one of his visits to New York Lubin received an in- 
 vitation to call at the office of a leading paper whose editor 
 was one of the shining lights in the inner circles of the pro- 
 tectionist elite. He went. 
 
 "Now, Mr. Lubin, we know your standing as a merchant; 
 we know your services to the party; we know you are a 
 stanch Republican, but we want to hear from you all about 
 this agitation you are starting with the farmers. What 
 are you doing it for ? " 
 
 "What am I doing it for?" and Lubin, nothing loath to 
 talk on his favorite subject, innocently started to explain 
 that a tariff on imports could not protect the staples of 
 agriculture which were exports, etc., etc. 
 
 "Oh, I know all about that," interrupted the other im- 
 patiently. "What I want to know is what you are doing it 
 for." 
 
 "Doing it for? Why, that's what I'm doing it for, of 
 course ; because I believe it 's right." 
 
 "Just so, just so; but of course you must have a motive. 
 Well, remember, Mr. Lubin, there are always positions open 
 to good Republicans, to men of your ability and standing. 
 Perhaps you would like to travel ? A consulate in some in- 
 teresting place, eh ? " 
 
 Lubin left that office somewhat enlightened, but he 
 always believed that he had made a lifelong and powerful 
 enemy. 
 
 By the spring of 1896, when both political parties were 
 preparing for the Presidential election, "Lubinism" had 
 become a recognized issue. The farmers in many sections 
 were pinning their faith to it; labor was lending a sym- 
 pathetic ear; the press was devoting considerable space 
 to the proposal, in editorial columns from one end of the 
 country to the other. 
 
 In April of that year, Lubin, who as a prominent Repub- 
 lican had become treasurer of the first McKinley Club in 
 California, addressed Mark Hanna to know his stand in the 
 matter. He received an evasive answer, accompanied by a
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 127 
 
 request for generous support. He determined to make 
 "equal protection" a prominent feature of the presidential 
 campaign or know the reason why. 
 
 With this end in view he wrote the following letter to 
 Mr. Hanna : 
 
 Dear Sir : Your favor of the 7th inst. received, saying 
 that as this matter does not come within your jurisdiction 
 "I leave the question between the Governor (McKinley) 
 and yourself." 
 
 Pardon me for observing a few seeming errors in your 
 statement, to which I draw your attention. 
 
 As a citizen of the United States, desiring its welfare, 
 this question comes within your jurisdiction. As a pro- 
 tectionist desiring the protection of American industries 
 against the competition of the pauper labor of the world, 
 this question comes within your jurisdiction. And, lastly, 
 as a warm friend of Governor McKinley, seeking to promote 
 his nomination and election to the exalted position of Presi- 
 dent of the United States, this question comes within your 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 You have surely observed, as I and millions of others have, 
 that as long as we export a portion of agricultural staples, 
 the export price must not alone be accepted for the quantity 
 of agricultural staples sold for export, but that the export 
 price, once accepted, becomes the home price for the entire 
 home production. 
 
 What, then, is this export price? Is it not the world's 
 free trade price ? Again, you have surely observed that the 
 introduction and employment of agricultural machinery in 
 the cheapest land and labor countries in the world, lessened 
 cost of transportation, and subsidized highways and methods 
 of carriage in those countries, have had the tendency of 
 so increasing the world's production as to lower the price of 
 agricultural staples to about half the former rate. . . . 
 
 You must surely know that the primary purchasing power 
 of this Nation is in agriculture, and that if the volume of 
 the primary purchasing power is diminished, it diminishes 
 the demand for labor by curtailing the demand for manu- 
 factures.
 
 128 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 You also know that a lessened demand for labor must 
 reduce the rate of wages of what use, then, is protection 
 for manufactures ? 
 
 Would it not be economically wrong to exclude cheaper 
 manufactures so long as agriculture cannot afford to pay the 
 higher prices which a tariff on imports makes possible ? 
 
 If it would be an economic wrong to do this, of what 
 economic value can such a candidate as Governor McKinley 
 be, unless he stand squarely in favor of actual protection 
 for agriculture by a bounty on exports, so long as he favors 
 protection for manufactures by a tariff on imports ? 
 
 Some protectionists, however, assert that a tariff on im- 
 ports can in some way, directly or indirectly, protect the 
 staples of agriculture. If this is so, the promoters of the 
 proposition for the protection of agricultural staples by a 
 bounty on exports do not know it. They have asked to be 
 informed on this subject by so high a protection authority 
 as the American Protective Tariff League of New York, 
 offering to subscribe one thousand dollars to their funds if 
 they could do this. The League, while promising to bring 
 this offer before the Executive Committee and to notify ac- 
 tion, failed to give any public notice of its action. . . . 
 
 That there may be no mistake, and no room for mistake 
 on this most important question, I will submit the following 
 for your acceptance. 
 
 I shall, on receipt of your telegram accepting same, de- 
 posit in the Bank of D. O. Mills & Company, the sum of 
 ten thousand dollars subject to the terms and conditions 
 offered to the American Protective Tariff League of New 
 York (see paper inclosed), which sum, should the matter 
 be decided against this proposition, shall be placed to the 
 credit of the McKinley campaign fund. Should the de- 
 cision be against McKinley, then in that event he 
 (McKinley) is to advocate this proposition. . . . 
 
 I deem it necessary to add that this offer is not made with 
 a view to injury of any one, nor is it such a great sacrifice 
 on my part as it may seem to be. On the contrary, it is 
 in the line of prudence and economy. 
 
 I believe that protection, when limited to a tariff on im- 
 ports, becomes, under present conditions, an enormous
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND TARIFF 129 
 
 burden and a tyrannically unjust tax on agriculture ; a burden 
 which should be equalized or abolished ; a burden which, 
 unless promptly rectified, must tend to the ultimate elim- 
 ination from land ownership of the independent farmers of 
 this nation, and their replacement by peasants and tenants ; 
 that, as an indirect consequence of this, the existence of 
 this Republic, as such, would be greatly endangered. Be- 
 lieving so, I have for the past several years expended each 
 year about the sum named, I might continue to expend such 
 sums for years to come, and perhaps in the end learn that 
 Governor McKinley's method of protection is right, after 
 all. 
 
 Should I find this to be the case at this time, I would 
 clearly save money by ceasing this work. 
 
 On the other hand, should this work be in the right direc- 
 tion, economically sound and practicable, there would be 
 no better or more practicable method to have it adopted than 
 that indicated. 
 
 That this proffer is opportune may be seen from your 
 campaign pamphlet for McKinley, "A Nation's Choice", 
 when you say on page 32, "Major McKinley is a man of 
 moderate means." Being a man of moderate means, the 
 $10,000 would, no doubt, come in handy for his campaign. 
 
 Kindly let me hear from you at an early date, or, if you 
 prefer, you may telegraph your conclusions. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 David Lubin. 
 
 Lubin corrected the proofs of this letter which he meant 
 to make public, but it never appeared. 
 
 The time had come when he was to pay the penalty of 
 unstinted devotion to public work by sacrificing much of his 
 personal happiness. He had been so absorbed in this serv- 
 ice to which he held himself dedicated that he had inevitably 
 neglected private interests and family duties. Moreover, 
 the constant nervous strain and tension had told on him, 
 making him irritable and inconsiderate in small things. 
 A prophet, a reformer, is hardly likely to be the amiable, 
 attentive husband of conventional family life; yet under a
 
 130 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 rough and somewhat gruff exterior this prophet had a sin- 
 gularly sensitive nature; nurtured deep, nay, passionate 
 affections. But he doubtless seemed " odd ", " incongruous " 
 I have already used the word and I repeat it to his 
 environment. And the blow came. His home was broken 
 up, and he himself brought to the verge of nervous collapse. 
 The physician would not answer for results if his patient 
 did not immediately stop all work and take a complete 
 change of scene. Accompanied by his five children and their 
 governess, Lubin sailed for Europe in the spring of 1896. 

 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 
 
 "Let the novelist throw caution away and show us men 
 and women in the act of leading desirable lives, show us how 
 much better the creative is than the possessive or acquisitive 
 spirit. Let him invent for his bankers, railroad men, mer- 
 chants, lawyers, a kind of success which without bringing 
 them wealth is yet as credible and indisputable and joyful 
 as the success which Henry James has bestowed upon his 
 novelists who don't sell." 
 
 I had just closed the previous chapter of this biography 
 when I chanced on the above in a literary criticism in the 
 New Republic, and the words struck me, for was not the life 
 I am trying to describe lived on just that creative plane ? 
 With all its shortcomings, failures and sorrows did it not 
 know the "indisputable and joyful success" reserved to 
 such ? 
 
 Passionate and emotional by nature, Lubin was familiar 
 with the ups and downs of such temperaments; in his 
 haste and impatience he would sometimes be unjust, would 
 wound, and then deeply regret; more frequently he was 
 himself wounded and concealed the smart, perhaps under 
 an assumed harshness of demeanor. But the creative spirit 
 can never be pessimistic, for pessimism is sterile, negative. 
 In such temperaments personal sorrow is transmuted into a 
 further spur to action. Susceptibility to the "emotion of 
 the ideal", capacity for enthusiasm, enthusiasm for a cause, 
 carry those thus endowed through the vicissitudes of life, 
 enabling them to dwell, so to speak, above and outside of 
 themselves, and to breathe a vivifying atmosphere unknown 
 to those confined to the purely materialistic plane.
 
 132 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 And so it was with David Lubin. He went abroad 
 to recover his health and to rest. But throughout life 
 "rest" was an impossibility to him. "I shall have time 
 enough to rest when I go into cold storage," he would say. 
 His "vacations" were always farces. Perhaps two or three 
 days of relaxation, but even in that he would be strenuous ; 
 and then, that over, the only difference would be that 
 instead of observing some approach to business hours, he 
 would be at it at all hours. The hardest strain of all was 
 during periods of apparent "rest", for then his active 
 mind, driven in upon itself, would very literally wrestle 
 with the problems which his activities or his reading had 
 raised, and he would come out of the ordeal physically 
 exhausted, recovering his poise in the recuperative exer- 
 cise of active work. 
 
 The processes of his mind were, in a certain sense, slow. 
 He had none of the brilliancy and rapidity of the Latin 
 intellect which grasps an idea almost before it is formulated. 
 But again he possessed in a supreme degree the tenacity and 
 capacity of taking pains in which the Latin is often deficient. 
 He would stammer and stumble, express himself clumsily, 
 realize his failure, and be at it again, pursuing an idea as a 
 hound pursues its quarry, until at last he would hunt it to 
 earth. So in his reading. He would read slowly, deliber- 
 ately ; heavily underscoring the pages with a total disre- 
 gard of all aesthetic consideration ; but a book would leave 
 his hands replete with his own personality, having yielded 
 up to him the truth he sought in it perhaps, rather than 
 the truth it contained. He would often quote a remark of 
 Spinoza's to the effect that an original mind need never be 
 ashamed of halting expression and hesitating gait, for by 
 its very failures it is painfully laying the foundations on 
 which others may erect the polished structure. 
 
 So it had been with his campaign for equity in economic 
 relations as between agricultural and industrial interests. 
 He had stated his case so often, debated it so frequently, 
 given it so much hard and earnest thought, that he had
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 133 
 
 reduced it almost to axiomatic expression ; and yet, so far, 
 the remedy he had evolved was practically one of "robbing 
 Peter to pay Paul" and then emptying Paul's pockets 
 back into Peter's. He had argued protection down to its 
 reductio ad absurdum. 
 
 Lubin had come to realize very clearly the deleterious 
 influence exercised on the American producer by unduly 
 low prices forced on the Argentinian, or Indian, or Russian 
 producers, but he was still content to refer to these latter 
 with even-handed contempt as "pauper labor", and to 
 attribute the situation vaguely to "European despotisms" 
 forcing the use of modern machinery on the "clay-like, un- 
 resisting human raw material" of oppressed and enslaved 
 countries and inferior races. He had to travel a stage 
 further in his development to see clearly the fundamental 
 solidarity of interests which should unite producers the 
 world over, and to advocate as the remedy for the ills he 
 clearly discerned justice for all rather than artificial pro- 
 tection for the few. His travels in Europe in 1896 were to 
 take him a considerable stage further on this journey. 
 
 Unable, in spite of doctor's orders, to keep his mind off the 
 absorbing topics on which it was engaged, he began to look 
 around to see whether facts as he could observe them in 
 England, in Russia, in Germany, in Austria, Hungary, Italy, 
 and France carried out the claims he had made. In the 
 Old World as in the New the decline in the price of agri- 
 cultural staples was a fact claiming the earnest attention 
 of landowners and economists ; but in Europe it was also 
 engaging the best thought of the conservative statesmen. 
 They sought to combat it by protective tariffs (effective 
 in their case, for the countries in question were importers 
 of the staples) and by legislation affording the farmer special 
 railway facilities, cheap credit, cooperative enterprises, and 
 fiscal privileges. Yet all this was proving of little avail. 
 What was the cause at work ? 
 
 Lubin still saw it in the spread of agricultural machinery 
 to the cheap land and labor countries of the world. For-
 
 134 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 warding a batch of catalogues showing the growth of the 
 agricultural machine industry in Europe to Mr. J. H. Brig- 
 ham, then Master of the National Grange, he writes in 
 October, 1896 : 
 
 The important bearing of these catalogues on American 
 agriculture will escape the duller mind, but will arrest the 
 attention of thoughtful American citizens, be they farmers 
 or of other occupations. The indications point that in 
 the near future almost all Europe will employ labor-saving 
 agricultural machinery ; but at this time the greatest signif- 
 icance must be attached to the fact that it is being con- 
 stantly and rapidly employed in the cheapest land and labor 
 countries. . . . What then must be the potency of this 
 factor in lowering the world's price of agricultural staples ? 
 
 These observations, confirming his belief that low and 
 still lower prices would be the trend, convinced him more 
 than ever of the need of protecting the farmer if he was not 
 to be degraded from the status of independent landowner to 
 landless tenant. In the United States his opponents sneered 
 at his contention that protection was denied to farmers, 
 but refused to take up his challenge to debate the matter 
 and show him where he was wrong. He therefore seized 
 the opportunity to get the opinion of foreign economists, 
 unbiased by party passion. " Can a tariff on imports protect 
 the staples of agriculture when they are exports?" was the 
 conundrum he went about propounding; he received in 
 reply an unequivocal "no" from the authorities he con- 
 sulted in Berlin, in Vienna, in Budapest, and in Rome. 
 
 In Berlin he found both the academic and the political 
 world keenly alive to the gravity of the heavy and constant 
 decline in the price of agricultural staples, a decline which 
 the powerful Agrarpartei met by protective tariffs. 
 
 With the help of the U. S. Embassy, Lubin obtained an 
 audience with the Prussian Minister of Agriculture, Baron 
 Hammerstein-Lockstein, who fully sympathized with his 
 anxiety regarding agricultural depression and arranged for 
 a conference with prominent German agrarians. It was on
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 135 
 
 this occasion that a suggestion was made by Professor Max 
 Seering which became the nucleus around which Lubin's 
 thoughts crystallized during the next few years. "Why 
 should not the agrarians of the world form an international 
 alliance with a central bureau in London, Washington, Berlin 
 or Paris for the protection of their common interests? If 
 this were done might not a common policy be evolved in the 
 interests of all?" 
 
 From Berlin Lubin and his party proceeded to Budapest 
 to witness the festivities with which Hungary was celebrat- 
 ing the thousandth anniversary of her national life. As 
 fortune willed it, on this occasion an international congress 
 was meeting in that city to inquire into the very matter 
 uppermost in Lubin's thoughts, the causes of and remedies 
 for the decline in the world's price of farm staples. Dele- 
 gations had come from many countries, but the United 
 States was unrepresented. Lubin received an invitation 
 from the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture to attend. As 
 he always considered that the address he delivered before 
 the Congress contained the first outline of the proposal 
 which was to crystallize into the International Institute 
 of Agriculture, it undoubtedly claims our attention. It is, 
 moreover, a typical example of Lubin's mode of presenta- 
 tion, a presentation in which ideas positively jostle one 
 another in the somewhat clumsily constructed sentences. 
 
 To those accustomed to keep religion and economics 
 wide apart, lodged in separate watertight compartments of 
 their brain, it seems full of references to irrelevant matters, 
 yet its very originality and unexpectedness sets the thought- 
 ful mind to work. 
 
 Lubin first inquires whether the decline in values com- 
 plained of has been general, "for if all other commodities, 
 including interest, taxes, rent, incomes, and wages have 
 correspondingly declined, then a uniform decline can have 
 no adverse effect upon agriculture. An adverse condition 
 may only result from a disturbance in the relative exchange 
 value, or in an unequal mode of distribution."
 
 136 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Having shown the existence of this adverse condition 
 he refers to the alternative remedies then offered in the 
 United States, the remonetization of silver in the ratio 
 of 16 to 1 ; a higher protective tariff ; and, finally, an export 
 bounty on the staples, or, failing that, free trade. 
 
 That the arguments of the free trade advocates, which 
 had met him at every turn of his campaign, had made a 
 deep impression on his mind is shown by the following : 
 
 Free traders now step in and say that any and all restric- 
 tive measures are, in the end, injurious ; that as the farmers 
 are obliged to sell their products at the world's price it is 
 an injustice to compel them to pay protection prices on 
 what they buy. They further claim that the maintenance 
 of artificially raised prices for necessities, on the one hand, 
 and a constantly lowering world's price on the other, must, 
 in the end, destroy the independent land-owning farmer. . . . 
 In this connection it may not be amiss to remark that the 
 general public has but a feeble idea of the real cost, the real 
 tax of protection by a tariff on imports. . . . When pro- 
 tection really protects it enhances the import and the home 
 price not alone by the addition of the duty, but also by the 
 addition of the profits thereon, a conservative estimate 
 of which would be 15 per cent for the importer, 20 per cent 
 for the jobber, and 25 per cent for the retailer, which in 
 calculation is compounded, and nearly doubles the original 
 amount shown by the Government schedules. This pro- 
 tectionists, as a rule, deny, and yet it can be readily confirmed 
 by the accounts of merchants, showing that protectionists 
 seem to deal in advantage rather than in truth. 
 
 But again dread of the competition of cheap Oriental 
 labor, so firmly implanted in the Californian, made Lubin 
 fight shy of free trade. He proceeds to set forth his casein a 
 way which cannot but have surprised the practical-minded 
 agrarians he was addressing. 
 
 Much has been said about the "Culture Kampf " ; in the 
 future very much more will be said about the "economic 
 kampf." Tariffs and restrictions will dash and clash, but
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 137 
 
 in the end the restrictive walls must crumble by their own 
 unwieldy weight and fall ; and the flood of general advantage 
 will take the place of obscure, unjust factionalism and 
 sectionalism. From now on, and until a universal level is 
 reached, there will be warfare, not a warfare of bullets or 
 even of ballots ; it will be by efficient means of production, 
 and the fittest will survive. 
 
 This warfare is actually being fought now, but the state 
 of the fight is as yet only a skirmish ; England with her 75 
 cents a day wage-rate against the German 60 cents, or the 
 French 55, and the American $1.25. This is a mere prelude 
 to the fierce battle which will ensue when several hundred 
 millions of Orientals will step to the front and operate 
 throttle and lever at the rate of from 8 to 20 cents a day. 
 
 Let us consider that what is usually termed wages is, 
 after all, a measure of privileges. Where privileges are 
 scant there wages are meager. In the world-battle the 
 Oriental sought peace, the Occidental privileges. Charac- 
 ters are now stereotyped, the one in submission, the other 
 in aggression; the former defenseless, the latter armed, 
 armed in his more developed mind, in conceded rights, in 
 his method of production, in the mechanical appliances for 
 labor. These he has created, invented ; and so long as he 
 alone is the exclusive user of them, so long may he continue 
 to hold and enlarge his privileges. When, however, the 
 time will come when the Oriental will likewise employ these 
 appliances, these machines, then will have arrived a time 
 of new and strange struggles for new adjustments. 
 
 . . . What then should be done now, at this time ? Cease 
 exporting machinery? No, that cannot be done. All 
 that can be done is to agree to unite all the power at our 
 command in an endeavor so to modify conditions as best 
 to promote our several advantages, not advantages which 
 one individual holds or intends to obtain at the expense of 
 his brother, not an advantage to one country at the expense 
 of another ; that is barbarism and robbery. We should aim 
 to cultivate that which will be of advantage to our neighbor, 
 and in this we will most surely find our own highest advan- 
 tage. 
 
 To do this requires not only will but wisdom, and wisdom
 
 138 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 may be more readily found in union, in deliberation, and 
 in interchange of experiences. 
 
 Such a union has been suggested by that able and eminent 
 economist, Professor Dr. Max Seering of Berlin in the forma- 
 tion of a permanent International Association of Agricul- 
 tural Organizations with the aim of the general promotion 
 of agricultural interests in the civilized countries. While 
 at first thought it may seem that the various and conflicting 
 interests would not permit the growth and development of 
 such an organization, yet on sober second thought it must be 
 admitted that much more good than harm can be done by 
 such an Association. Why then should not such an organi- 
 zation be formed ? 
 
 Here we have indeed a widening of the horizon. In 
 1893 the Californian had become an American, in 1896 
 the American was becoming a citizen of the world. 
 
 In this development the approach was made essentially 
 from the ethico-religious rather than from the practical, 
 economic end. During these years of development Lubin 
 had been thinking hard along both these lines, and the nearer 
 he got to the Central Theme in religion the clearer became 
 his grasp of economic truths. 
 
 "No political, economic or social system can be just or 
 equitable which does not rest on the solid foundation of 
 justice and equity. And can that be justice and equity 
 which is not grounded in universal law?" he was to write a 
 year or two later. It was this constant endeavor to make 
 his practical work conform to universal law which was 
 freeing Lubin from his prejudices and limitations. Right 
 thinking in the abstract was leading to right action in the 
 concrete. The man was constantly developing from within. 
 Years of work and travel, of observation and discussion had 
 stored his mind with a great variety of facts and thoughts, 
 fully or partially grasped, and he was now using this data 
 for ever wider generalizations. 
 
 On his return to the United States in December, 1896, 
 Lubin settled in Philadelphia. McKinley had been elected 
 President, and it was known that one of the first acts of
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 139 
 
 the new Administration would be a revision of the tariff. 
 Was the farmer's claim to be again ignored, or would he 
 receive his share of protection ? Lubin found himself again 
 in the thick of the fight. His proposal had attracted tenta- 
 tive support from a rather unexpected quarter. The ship- 
 building interests, which had suffered heavily from the high- 
 protective tariff, were trying to arouse public interest in 
 the need for an American merchant marine, and Lubin's 
 proposal seemed to offer a means of furthering their ends 
 while gaining to their side the large body of public opinion 
 represented by the American farmers. A conference of the 
 South Atlantic ship-builders went on record in its favor, 
 but . . . there was a "but" attached to their support. 
 The measure was to be for a bounty on agricultural exports 
 "providing they were shipped in American bottoms." 
 
 Lubin could see that this would amount, in practice, to 
 handing the bounty over to the shipping men ; the farmers 
 would be no better off than before. Protected by a practical 
 monopoly, the American charter rates would rise to a figure 
 which would absorb the bounty, and the price of the staple 
 would be unaffected both on the export and home market. 
 
 Tempting as the offer appeared on the surface, Lubin 
 refused to secure what might have been a personal success 
 that of carrying his measure through Congress at the 
 cost of stultifying its real purpose. He decided that it must 
 stand or fall on its own merits. 
 
 He was determined, however, to fight to the last ditch, 
 and in the closing six months of the campaign the contest 
 waged with redoubled energy. 
 
 He memorialized Congress. His old friend Senator 
 Perkins of California had several of his papers made into 
 public documents, and Lubin saw to it that the franking 
 privilege granted to such was used to good purpose. He 
 attacked the orthodox protectionists in their stronghold 
 and practically stumped Pennsylvania, speaking throughout 
 the State to show the inequities of the one-sided system of 
 protection. Faithful to his plan of never making it a class
 
 140 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 issue, a farmers' fight, he took the matter up with the Central 
 Labor Union and got the annual conference of that influen- 
 tial body of organized workers to pass a resolution stating 
 that "so long as our manufacturers are protected in what 
 they produce by a tariff on imports, justice, equity, and 
 expediency demand as an offset an equal protection to agri- 
 culture by a bounty on exports." Labor joining hands 
 with agriculture made a threatening combination, and the 
 orthodox Republican press got quite worked up about this 
 "crank" from the wild and woolly West who was stirring up 
 trouble in the happy home, defeating protection by out- 
 Heroding Herod. 
 
 But perhaps his most original move in the campaign was 
 the effort the successful effort he made to win the pul- 
 pits of the various denominations to espouse the cause for 
 which he stood. His efforts resulted in the formation, in 
 Philadelphia, of a Lubin Club with a membership of some 
 fifty-five ministers of the different churches pledged to 
 support the proposal for even-handed protection as between 
 industries and agriculture. In March a deputation of five 
 clergymen waited on President McKinley and presented 
 an address, reminding him that he had already undertaken 
 to have the Lubin proposal carefully studied. 
 
 "As this question involves the principles of equity and 
 justice it is the purpose of many of the clergymen we repre- 
 sent to devote their time and energy to this work and to 
 deliver addresses in their places of worship as well as through 
 this and other States of the Union. ... As this proposition 
 has been before you for consideration for the past sixteen 
 months it is most respectfully desired that you give us your 
 conclusions." 
 
 But McKinley was not to be drawn, and the Republican 
 press roundly rated the ministers of religion and advised 
 them to " confine their attention to their congregations 
 and the subject of their discourses to such as are naturally 
 suggested by the Bible." 
 
 A little later on "See that the Republic receives no harm"
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 141 
 
 was selected by nine Philadelphia clergymen as the subject 
 for an address from the pulpit in which on the same day they 
 drew attention to the ethical and economical phases of pro- 
 tection in relation to Lubin's proposal. 
 
 In seeking the support of the different churches Lubin 
 was perfectly logical, for "equity" not "advantage" was 
 his watchword, and he always maintained that such work 
 was not "secular" but "sacred"; it was to him the very 
 essence of religion in general and of the religion of Israel 
 in particular. 
 
 In May, 1897, the Dingley Tariff Bill was up for action in 
 Congress. It was a foregone conclusion that it would pass. 
 The interests arrayed in its support were far too powerful 
 in the halls of legislation to allow the farmers' claims, as 
 embodied in the Lubin proposal to stultify the high protec- 
 tionist policy. Lubin was the leader of a forlorn hope, but 
 he made a plucky fight to the end. Senator Frank Cannon 
 of Utah, converted from an opponent into a fervent upholder 
 of "equity in protection", introduced an amendment to the 
 Dingley Bill whereby "any exporter of wheat or wheat 
 flour, rye or rye flour, corn, ground or unground, cotton, 
 hops, or tobacco, produced wholly in the United States and 
 exported by sea from any port in the United States" should 
 receive a specified export bounty "by way of an equalization 
 to agriculture of the benefits of this act to encourage the 
 industries of the United States." 
 
 The amendment was defeated by a large majority. 
 
 To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat was now the 
 purpose to which Lubin's efforts were directed ; but the 
 victory he had in mind was no small, immediate political 
 success. The three and a half years' campaign had not been 
 wasted time ; the experience had been intensely educational, 
 and the first one to profit thereby had been the promulgator 
 himself. He had learned much from the criticisms of the 
 free traders, he had learned still more from his contact with 
 the viewpoint of economists in foreign countries. While his 
 premise had stood the test and come out unscathed from the
 
 142 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 ordeal, he had come to see flaws in the proposed remedy. 
 When tried by the selfish standards of the advocates of a 
 high tariff it was unshaken; from that point of view all 
 considerations of fairness demanded that the farmer should 
 be given his share of protection. But there was a broader 
 and a higher standpoint from which the whole question 
 could be considered, one more in line with ideal justice. 
 
 The price of the staples, he argued, was determined by 
 world conditions; low prices in certain countries lowered 
 the price in others. The narrow point of view was to accept 
 this as a fact and to seek a national advantage, to apply 
 the poultice of protection in the form of export bounties 
 to the evil due to international inequities in price formation. 
 But even as he preached this remedy he began to perceive 
 its inadequacy, to have an inkling that it was empirical. 
 
 After all, what determined the price of such a farm staple 
 as wheat? The ratio between demand and supply. What 
 was the supply ? Was it the supply of a County, of a State, 
 of a Nation ? No, it was the total available supply from all 
 wheat-growing countries. Now, how. was the amount of 
 this supply determined ? 
 
 This was a fundamental question, and one which was to 
 occupy his thoughts much during the next few years, for he 
 could see clearly that the individuals, nations,' or con- 
 stituted authorities who gave out this price-forming factor 
 would have it in their power to manipulate prices, to corner 
 markets, and to defeat any attempt to secure justice for 
 the farmer by national legislative action. 
 
 But before engaging in this fight for justice in the inter- 
 national field, the last and logical development of his 
 labors, an interval of some years was to elapse, during 
 which he was to clarify his underlying thought and 
 strengthen the ethico-religious foundations of his economic 
 labors. 
 
 Then, too, the claims of his personal life required attention. 
 For years he had been absorbed in public matters well nigh 
 to the exclusion of all else. Yet, in a certain sense, he was
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 143 
 
 deeply attached to family life. His personal happiness 
 was entirely dependent on it. Apart from the duties im- 
 posed on him by the Service to which he was self-dedicated, 
 the company of wife and children was the only company 
 he sought ; his own fireside the one place where he loved to 
 develop the dawning intelligence of his children, to converse 
 with a few choice friends, to read his favorite books. 
 
 In nothing were the contradictions of his character, con- 
 tradictions resulting from inherited tradition and tempera- 
 ment in contrast with environment and reasoned conviction, 
 more striking than in his attitude towards woman. Theo- 
 retically he placed woman on a high pedestal, but he could 
 not bring himself to accept the modern attitude which not 
 only sees in her the equal of man, but would give her similar 
 functions in the world. His idealized woman was essentially 
 intuitional; not only the home-maker but the priestess in 
 the home ; a delight and an inspiration to her husband, an 
 educator to her children, leading a sheltered life, able to 
 share through spiritual insight in his highest thoughts and 
 aspirations, but recognizing her essential difference if not 
 her inferiority to man. Indeed, he considered her in many 
 respects his superior, yet he expected her to acknowledge 
 the authority and mastership of man in all relations of life. 
 Lubin's ideas in this matter were those of an age which is 
 fast disappearing, and the environment in which he lived 
 was becoming every year more and more at variance with 
 his instinct. He did not like to see women in politics or in 
 professions ; he was prejudiced in favor of very early mar- 
 riages; he felt no sympathy with the claim of woman to 
 economic independence. Yet no man ever felt more keenly 
 the need of woman's sympathy and help. Pursuing his 
 economic work with all the fervor of a religious mission he 
 realized that nothing would be of such great help to the 
 holy cause of righteousness he had at heart as the enthu- 
 siasm and support of women, in whom, indeed, all great 
 religious teachers have found their most devoted and effective 
 disciples. He realized that the spiritual nobility he so highly
 
 144 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 prized is the crowning glory of perfect spiritual freedom, 
 but he failed to see that under modern conditions this implies 
 the subsidiary forms not only of personal but also of eco- 
 nomic and political freedom. In this respect the possessive 
 instinct was often stronger than his reason. The wife 
 might be the priestess in the home, but the man was the 
 master ; and master is a word against which the twentieth 
 century, for good and for evil, is rebelling. 
 
 In 1897 he remarried and again took up his residence in 
 California, making his home in San Francisco, where he 
 resumed business activities, opening a branch of the Sacra- 
 mento Department Store, no longer the "Mechanic's Store" 
 of early days, but a full-fledged corporation, Weinstock, 
 Lubin and Company. 
 
 Though engaged in no active campaign, Lubin could not 
 lie fallow. Much of the unrest of future years was brewing 
 in those late nineties, years when the capitalistic industrial 
 system had attained perhaps its fullest expression ; when 
 abundance, such as the present generation may never again 
 hope to enjoy, flooded civilized countries with cheap prod- 
 ucts of all kinds, when science had placed comforts and 
 conveniences, formerly undreamed of even in the seats of 
 the mighty, within the reach of the humblest. Yet the very 
 prevalence of material prosperity accentuated the contrast 
 with the poverty and distress of the surplus labor which 
 formed the basis on which capitalistic industrialism rested, 
 that surplus labor which crowded the city slums and men- 
 acingly raised its head in times of exceptional unemploy- 
 ment, giving pause for thought even to the most complacent. 
 
 Those were years of great activity in the ranks of organized 
 labor ; socialism was sowing the seed which was to fructify 
 in the social upheavals of to-day and Lubin was closely in 
 touch with these movements through his lifelong friend 
 Sam Gompers, through Andrew Furuseth, the sailors' 
 champion of whom he saw much in San Francisco, and 
 through many others with whom his work brought him in 
 contact all over the country.
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 145 
 
 AVIiile on the surface all looked serene, a turning point 
 in history had been reached. Not only was there simmering 
 industrial unrest, but spiritually also the modern world 
 had lost its bearings. Current religious creeds had lost 
 their hold on the masses as well as on the intelligentsia. 
 Even that bed-rock of social life, the family, was under- 
 going radical transformation; the "woman's movement" 
 was certainly not the least revolutionary symptom of the 
 times. 
 
 Lubin was keenly sensitive to all this. He felt that 
 society was living on the crust of a volcano, and this forti- 
 fied his conviction of the imperious need of strengthening 
 the conservative element in a democracy, the landowning 
 farmer. But at the same time he became more and more 
 convinced that right thinking, a sound "Central Theme" 
 is a preessential to right action ; that a spiritual revival 
 must be an integral part of an economic readjustment. 
 "What a false level, a false plumb, a false square and a 
 false compass are in building, such is the postulating of 
 false attributes of God in religion with its reflex action on 
 the social structure." These words which occur in his book 
 "Let There Be Light", then taking shape in his mind, clearly 
 state his position. Ought not then the work of the re- 
 former to lie in clarifying religious thought ? 
 
 The questions stirring in his mind as a youth in Arizona, 
 as a young man in Palestine, were still clamoring for answer ; 
 he now felt prepared to formulate a reply. Experience, 
 reading, constant and deep reflection had stored his mind 
 with the data requisite for drawing the higher generaliza- 
 tions. 
 
 His scattered writings during three years of comparative 
 inactivity in San Francisco indicate that it was the ethical 
 side of the economic and social problem which engaged his 
 thoughts rather than the practical solutions on which he 
 had worked so hard in preceding years. That he attached 
 no less importance to equity in the home than in the other 
 spheres of life is evidenced by an article he wrote which
 
 146 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 gave rise to a wide discussion in the columns of the San 
 Francisco Bulletin. 
 
 "Are the scales evenly balanced?" was the question 
 raised in his mind by the debates on woman's rights, so 
 frequently and so hotly argued in those years. Is the man 
 entitled to claim credit as the sole "bread winner" in the 
 home? By no means, Lubin points out; the function of 
 wisely exchanging money for goods, the function of the 
 housewife, frequently requires skill of a higher order than 
 that of exchanging labor for money, and the wife in the 
 home performs a task demanding ability similar to that 
 of the highly paid "head of department" in a store. "The 
 intelligent outlay of the earnings of the husband in the 
 interest of the family by his wife is as much a part of earning 
 a living as is the labor of her husband ; her position is there- 
 fore that of an equal, a partner, a helpmeet ; both are inter- 
 dependent, yet independent and free." 
 
 In another symposium which he started by an article 
 entitled "Should it be Labor or should it be Service", he 
 examines the ethical side of the labor question in the form 
 of a dialogue between a Man of Earth and a Man of Mars. 
 The truth which David Lubin tried to teach might well 
 give pause for thought in our day when labor loudly claims 
 recognition as the most important factor in the State. 
 "Begin," says Lubin's Man of Mars, "by avoiding the over- 
 praise of such labor as renders inefficient service. Where, 
 in universal law, will you find the undeveloped preferred 
 to the developed? The idealization of that kind of labor 
 which does not render efficient service is a fiction, a lie, a 
 delusion, and untrue to universal law. We esteem those 
 the most illustrious who render the greatest service ; your 
 system gives a theoretic, empty and fictitious title to labor, 
 while in reality it gives the substantial profits to those shrewd 
 enough to absorb them. Your system seeks to absorb 
 service ; ours, on the contrary, seeks to expand service." 
 
 Self-development by observation, generalization, and 
 synthesis as a preparation for Service, this, he believed,
 
 THE HORIZON WIDENS 147 
 
 was the duty of every man "made in the image of God", 
 no matter how lowly his station. To encourage and facili- 
 tate the accomplishment of this duty should be the func- 
 tion of democracy, as opposed to aristocracy which reserved 
 the highest development as the privilege of the few. The 
 most powerful instrument in this development should be 
 the Church, the great educator, training man to use his 
 senses so as to understand the laws of God. 
 
 These were the thoughts which led David Lubin for the 
 next few years to approach the problems of righteousness 
 from the angle of right thinking rather than to push his 
 practical schemes for right acting. He took a step back in 
 the arena of action, much as a runner recoils before making 
 the final rush and leap which is to clear the obstacles in his 
 path and land him at the goal.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 "let there be light" 
 
 "Let There Be Light !" These words, not as command 
 but as prayer, summarize the efforts and endeavors of David 
 Lubin during the years of preparation for his ultimate work. 
 
 The conclusions drawn from earnest thought and endeavor 
 in the field of reform left him at this time somewhat dubious 
 as to the path he should follow. Was it not necessary to 
 lay a sound foundation for practical work by inculcating 
 right ideas in the abstract as a preliminary? Would not 
 right thinking necessarily bring about right action? Was 
 not the real need of the age a religious revival? And then 
 again the knowledge of his own limitations made him hes- 
 itate. For twenty-five years he had been reading widely 
 and thoughtfully the works of American and English econ- 
 omists, sociologists, philosophers, historians, theologians ; 
 they had taught him much ; above all they had taught him 
 how much he did not know. The following passages from 
 letters written in 1900-1901 to his son Simon on his pro- 
 gram for study at Harvard show the equipment he be- 
 lieved necessary to the speculative thinker : 
 
 And now a point in your studies to which I wish to draw 
 attention. I note that you omit entirely any practical study 
 of physics or mathematics, and I am afraid that with- 
 out these it is not possible to analyze or synthesize prop- 
 erly. . . . 
 
 And again : 
 
 Since writing you last I have thought over the subject, 
 and the more I think it over the more conclusive my opinion 
 becomes that the studies you have chosen are not likely 
 to do you nearly as much good as studies in the domain of
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 149 
 
 Science. The reason why I did not advise this at the start 
 is because my lack of experience as technical student did 
 not permit me to come to this conclusion in a positive form, 
 though you may remember I spoke on several occasions 
 of it. 
 
 Intuitively, however, you will see from my book "Let 
 There Be Light " that I come to the conclusion that the 
 future training of man, through the Church, should be by 
 the study of phenomena or through science. And this con- 
 clusion, while ahead of the times for general adoption, is, 
 I am sure, a sound conclusion in your case. If we read the 
 "More Nabuchim" [Maimonides' "Guide to the Perplexed"] 
 carefully we find that the "secrets of the Torah" (specu- 
 lative philosophy) were only transmitted to one who was a 
 graduate in the sciences, and such receiving it were "doctors 
 of the Law" whereas all others are of no value as authority. 
 Among the essential sciences mentioned by Maimonides are 
 mathematics, astronomy, anatomy, chemistry, and the 
 healing art. But to-day this list may be amended. 
 
 To begin with speculative philosophy is to end a Jesuitical 
 theorist, a crank. Speculative learning may educate a man 
 to be at home with himself, but in a monk's cell. Science so 
 educates a man that he is always at home in all the world. 
 It is the study of science which fits a man to become a real 
 speculative philosopher. To begin with speculative phi- 
 losophy is the lazy way of trying to acquire wisdom. Specu- 
 lative philosophy proper should only be the profit, the prod- 
 uct of science. 
 
 A little later on he returns to the charge : 
 
 As I understand the matter, no one can achieve an eminent 
 standing in speculative philosophy who has not served a 
 long and faithful apprenticeship in the sciences. It seems 
 to me that any one devoting himself to speculative phi- 
 losophy without a grounding in the sciences must either 
 become a textbook man or a crank. This is even more 
 likely to be the case with a University student than with a 
 man studying who is in business; the latter, through con- 
 flict with the world, has checks to crankiness, whereas the 
 former has this tendency to its maximum. ... As it seems
 
 150 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to me, there should be no generalizing at the start; there 
 should be the foundations, well grounded, of such sciences 
 as mathematics, astromony, chemistry, biology, mechanical 
 motion, philology, optics and acoustics. 
 
 Lubin lacked this preparation, though in his case, the 
 school of life and practical business experience had trained 
 the mind to logical, positive thinking. But he held firmly 
 to the democratic doctrine that all men have the power, 
 if they will but exert it, of reasoning from experience. With- 
 out arrogating to himself the rank of teacher, he therefore 
 decided to approach the problems humbly, as a searcher after 
 truth, quoting as his authorities the standard textbooks of 
 his day, laying no claim to original research, but drawing 
 deductions from given data, and to throw his treatise into 
 the form of a series of debates on political, social and labor 
 questions held by the members of a workingman's club. 
 
 This resulted in a book, published by Putnam in 1900, 
 under the title "Let There Be Light'*, which fully engaged 
 his activities during 1898-1899. 
 
 Desirous of securing a wide hearing, addressing himself 
 not to scholars but to thoughtful men and women of all 
 classes, Lubin sought to avail himself of the attractions of 
 fiction. He threw his book into the form of a story in which 
 he tried to show the viewpoint of the wealthy capitalist who 
 has risen from the ranks, and of his well-to-do nephew and 
 niece, who represent the leisured, cultured class, in contrast 
 with that of the intelligent working man, whether con- 
 servative trade-unionist, socialist agitator, or humble ac- 
 ceptor of the status quo. These, represented by American, 
 Italian, German, Irishman, and Negro, he groups round the 
 central figure, Ezra, a Jew gifted with the fine speculative 
 brain characteristic of his race, who by argument, debate, 
 criticism and thought has attained a degree of spiritual 
 freedom which enables him to view events not as isolated 
 phenomena but as links in a chain of cause and effect. The 
 prevailing social and economic order comes up for discussion 
 before the Twentieth Century Club in a series of debates
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 151 
 
 on "The Republic and its Destiny", the "Industrial and 
 Social Question", "Competition and Collectivism", "Social- 
 ism." Ezra sees in the injustice complained of evidence of 
 wrong thought resulting in wrong action with its concom- 
 itant evils. He summarizes the debates, leading those pres- 
 ent to assent to the proposition that civilizations decline or 
 prosper according to the degree in which they conform or 
 deviate from universal law. His idea is conveyed in this 
 quotation from "Let There Be Light :" 
 
 To illustrate : A house can, no doubt be built without 
 the use of the square, the compass, the plumb, and the 
 level, but it cannot be built so quickly or so truly as with 
 these aids. A cathedral or palace could never be built 
 without them. Now what are these things? Are they 
 not material embodiments of universal law? They cer- 
 tainly are. If then they can best build houses who conform 
 to universal law, is it not equally necessary to adhere to 
 universal law in the upbuilding of the social structure? 
 Surely. ... In the higher development of industrial and 
 social systems it is necessary to conform as strictly as possible 
 to universal law. And if so, must not universal law become 
 our standard, our central theme, our criterion, our rule 
 to go by? So long as we lack this criterion we are like a 
 ship at sea without rudder or compass. Having this we can 
 sail on our true course. But whether our progress shall 
 then be in harmony with the law of least resistance depends 
 upon the quality of our perception of universal law. The 
 more nearly perfect our perception, the more truly will 
 our criterion harmonize therewith. . . . Are our political, 
 social and economic institutions grounded on universal law ? 
 If not, any mere change in the present system which fails 
 to take cognizance of universal law can be no improvement. 
 What test can we apply which will determine this question 
 as accurately as a plumb determines for us the true line of 
 gravitation? I know of but one . . . that central theme 
 which actuates us and from which we receive our highest 
 inspirations for thought and deed. What then is our Cen- 
 tral Theme and what should it be ?
 
 152 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 The debaters are thus brought face to face with the ques- 
 tion of religion. If a man's thoughts shape his actions, 
 what subject can be so important to the reformer as to 
 make sure that this action-shaping force, this spiritual 
 dynamo, is working along right lines ? 
 
 One by one the debaters set forth their views. The 
 Italian sees salvation in the Catholic Church ; another 
 member pins his faith to the theme as embodied in the 
 Presbyterian creed ; another makes an eloquent exposition 
 of the doctrine of Unitarianism ; the Negro makes a plea 
 for the Baptist Church, while the Socialist member brushes 
 all this aside, makes sport of the doctrine of Jew and Chris- 
 tian, and attributes hatred, persecution and cruelty to the 
 superstitious conceptions arising from belief in an anthropo- 
 morphic God. "To abolish these we must abolish religion. 
 Our Central Theme is here without it. It is ever present 
 in the laws of Cause and Effect." 
 
 Then Ezra takes up the ball. He is the mouthpiece for 
 the ideas which Lubin had arrived at. 
 
 The Central Theme, by which our actions are guided, is 
 obscured by ignorance, an ignorance which leads the mind 
 to ascribe false attributes to God. A finite mind cannot 
 grasp Infinity; attempts to do so and to formulate dog- 
 matic conclusions result in idolatry, the worship of false 
 gods. The very compass by which we steer our course is 
 thus falsified, and all the aberrations in practical action 
 which mar social systems originate in such false conception 
 of the Central Theme. Yet, would man but realize it, he 
 has within his reach a sure guide to a realization of the 
 eternal harmony and unerring justice which rule alike the 
 mote and the star: "The laws which surround us, un- 
 changing and infinite, we know and feel that they cannot 
 err. We realize that they cannot be partial in their oper- 
 ations; they cannot be unjust; they cannot be set aside. 
 And what are these laws but the manifestations, the messen- 
 gers, the agents of God ? " 
 
 Surely then it should be the task of the Church to train
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 153 
 
 the people to seek God through a devout study of His laws. 
 And he proceeds to develop his idea of a church which 
 should effectively live up to the names of three of the "most 
 powerful factors in the development of the human race", 
 Israel "Champion of God", Catholic "Universal", and 
 Protestant "one who protests." "Combine these three and 
 we have the Universal Champion of God in constant Pro- 
 test against ignorance and wrong. This Church should be 
 for the mass of the people what the University is to the 
 favored few. The endeavor of the churches should be 
 centered on the amelioration of the economic and social 
 status of the people." 
 
 We must not seek for the essence or originality of David 
 Lubin's ideas in the pages in which he sets to work to de- 
 scribe the mode of procedure of his "Church Universal." 
 Rather must the originality of his mind be sought in the 
 directness with which he applies abstract reasoning to con- 
 crete facts. Working with and as part of the Church Uni- 
 versal he would have the people in every district form into 
 committees for social service so that the teaching of the 
 Church may react immediately on the actual life of the 
 nation. Committees on factory and farm labor, on trans- 
 portation, on public amusements, on education, on news- 
 papers, on housing, on pure food, on hygiene, in short, on 
 all forms of social activity would be the field for practical 
 amelioration ; he would set all to thinking and generalizing, 
 and acting. He had got at the principle so much discussed 
 nowadays under its Russian name of Soviet; the effort to 
 make the masses actual participants in government. 
 
 He contemplated undismayed the possibility of the boldest 
 experiments, provided the spirit that inspired them be an 
 enlightened endeavor to conform to universal law ; provided 
 these same masses be educated up through an agency, 
 which he thought should be the Church, to the right thinking 
 essential to right action. 
 
 In this Lubin departed from the fashion of his day, which 
 was to say, "What do a man's thoughts matter? We
 
 154 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 are concerned only with what he does." For him the essen- 
 tial was the thought behind the action, for by it the action 
 would be determined. And his criterion for judging thought 
 was no dogma, but conformity to universal law as revealed 
 by phenomena. 
 
 Lubin was never a polished but often a very forcible 
 writer, setting his mark indelibly on all he wrote in pointed 
 metaphor and telling, homely illustration. But oppressed 
 by a feeling that he lacked what he used to call the "writer's 
 tool chest", and extremely anxious that this book should be 
 easy, pleasant reading, he had it revised and largely re- 
 written by a literary assistant. The result is a curious 
 volume, full of ideas, of original thoughts, yet with a warp 
 of commonplace running through the weft of expression 
 of a strong personality with something worth while to say 
 and saying it in all earnestness and singleness of mind. 
 
 On its publication in 1900, it was widely reviewed and 
 favorably received, yet the result was a disappointment to 
 its author. His deep conviction of the practical importance 
 on the subject had led him to hope that fellow workers 
 would arise, debating societies be formed, chains of discussion 
 in newspaper, pulpit and lecture hall result in united effort, 
 leading to a definite program of work in the field of social 
 amelioration. But his message in this form was delivered 
 to an unheeding world ; and it was well. He was destined 
 for a more fruitful service. 
 
 On the man himself an interesting psychologic side light 
 is afforded by a series of letters written to Miss Rebecca 
 Altman, a correspondent with whom his book brought him 
 in touch, but whom he never met. Like ships that pass in 
 the night they signaled to each other on their journey through 
 life ; then went their several ways ; indeed the corre- 
 spondence itself is limited to the dozen letters from which 
 I am privileged to quote : 
 
 New York, June 28th, 1900. 
 My dear Miss Altman, 
 Your interesting letter of 28th received. No, I made no
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 155 
 
 mistake, the letter to Rev. Wm. Wole was intended for you, 
 and seemingly it has accomplished its purpose. . . . You, and 
 some other "daughters in Israel" are to be warmly con- 
 gratulated that you are so far removed from the present 
 aims and aspirations of the "sons", and some considerable 
 number of "daughters" too, who can only be at home in 
 "shop", on "bargain", or on "poker." 
 
 I, of course, deny that any such trash are "Chosen 
 People", or "Israel " ; they are simply "rishes "-makers, par- 
 venus, hook-nosed Idumeans, or perhaps mongrel Egyptian- 
 Persian-Roman-Greek-German-French-Spanish mixtures. 
 
 That God can have any special interest in such pork- 
 eating, diamond-wearing gentry I deny. And if that is 
 "Israel", then let me be Irish or Hawaiian. But, you say, 
 these were brought low by persecution. "Not so," I reply ; 
 " persecution elevates, does not degrade. The mongrel par- 
 venu among Israel existed as really so in the days of Isaiah 
 as to-day." . . . 
 
 And now Miss Rebecca (and I prefer that name to a simple 
 R) I would ask that you read the book over again and we will 
 see whether you will not come nearer the view and the as- 
 pirations of the author. We will see if you cannot after all 
 find " Jiddishkeit " not that taught by Joseph Caro in the 
 Schulchan Arach of Medieval idolatrous times but 'that 
 taught by Isaiah and Jeremiah and Micah (and Jesus 
 too if we subtract the additions of paganism and heathen- 
 ism). . . . 
 
 And that is the mission of Israel; to speak words of 
 fire which shall consume idolatry. Not Lessing's "ring" 
 parable; for Elijah, Isaiah, and Moses did not believe in 
 compromises with idolatry, and we have had enough of 
 crawling into holes conveniently placed for us to crawl into 
 by the Goyim during the past nineteenth century. God, 
 when he gave us free America, took us out of the depths, what 
 for ? To do lucrative pawnbroking, to furnish "Beitzimers" 
 with bargains, to permit our men to play pinocle and poker, 
 and our women to wear diamonds ? Far better than this is 
 a return to the Ghetto, to the Sabbath lights, the "maz- 
 zurah" and the "tallith." 
 
 No! God gave us freedom in order that we might be
 
 156 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 revenged on the Goy. "Vengeance is mine," saith the Lord ; 
 and if we are God's Chosen we must do God's work, and 
 execute God's vengeance on the People. And what shall 
 that revenge be ? This, we shall bless them that cursed us, 
 and we shall lift up them that pulled us down. 
 
 And in this blessing, this lifting up of the nations, shall 
 Israel find his own blessing and elevation. 
 
 This, my dear young lady, while it is not the theme of 
 the "Schulchan Arach", is the theme of the immortal and 
 inspired prophets of Israel. And does a voice speak to you 
 saying, "Go forth and do my work." Then obey it. 
 
 July 4th, 1900. 
 
 Your valued favor of 2nd received. I do not think 
 that your sweeping generalization is permissible without 
 qualification. This is not an age when the "real" is the 
 ideal. 
 
 The greatest thinkers of contemporary time have de- 
 voted their highest energies in proving that there is no 
 such thing as "real", that if there is a true "real" at all, it 
 resides in the ideal (this seems like an Irish bull). 
 
 There is, it is true, quite a body of people in this country 
 whose sole effort is a hot chase after what they call the " real ", 
 and this real with them is, in the end, money for diamonds 
 and money for poker, and these "real" chasers are the ones 
 who give Prof. Goldwin Smith, Herr Ahlwart, Stocker, 
 and Bebel a chance to "rip up" Judaism. These "real" 
 chasers cause the seaside hotel to send notices, "no 
 Hebrews." . . . 
 
 Last summer at the Catskills while I was writing my book, 
 I tried to converse with the guests, nearly all Jews. They 
 would talk "clodding", "bargains", even local "boledigs", 
 but when I brought up the subject of the ideal they began 
 to look at me with suspicion. "He talks mishagga" [in- 
 sanely] I overheard one animal say. But, say you, "Is it 
 not necessary to be wide awake in business? How is one 
 to live otherwise?" Yes, that is true, but business is only 
 a means, only what a boiler is to a machine shop. What I 
 object to is not business, for I have been for twenty-five
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 157 
 
 years at the head of a business house at Sacramento, and 
 still derive my principal income from that house, and yet 
 I had time for reading. 
 
 So far as I can see, a large part of our Jewish people in 
 the United States think that by eating pork, sporting 
 diamonds, and playing poker they are worthy of the love 
 and respect of the American people. 
 
 And is this Judaism ? Is this the Mission of Israel ? 
 
 Of course, I do not write this way to Prof. Goldwin Smith 
 or to Herr Bebel, but to you, a young daughter in Israel, 
 I write, for it may be that you can exert influences mightier 
 than you give yourself credit for. . . . 
 
 Spring Lake, N. J., July 16, 1900. 
 
 Your valued favor July 10th at hand, and I note what 
 you say about the crusade which I spoke of in my last. 
 You point out the difficulties in the way, and forget that 
 the glory of achievement lies in overcoming difficulties. Do 
 you think that any credit is due for convincing those whom 
 it is not necessary to convince ? 
 
 Take any great master in achievement, and was the crown 
 of mastership gained with that ease which you would have 
 evidenced before you would be tempted to enter the field? 
 Certainly not. Heroes buckle on the armour and unsheath 
 the sword and fight valiantly. Those who are too much 
 attached to ease stay at home and are no heroes ; they are 
 part and parcel of the conventional and commonplace 
 people. If you have a longing for achievement, are of 
 heroic blood, have the divine impulse and sufficient force, 
 you can surely achieve. And what an achievement ! for, 
 mark you, they who achieve in the sphere of Religion, 
 achieve for ever. 
 
 And the Jew, as I believe, has his greatest achievement 
 before him, not behind him. Great as was his past, his 
 future is to be still greater and grander. He has to eman- 
 cipate, not himself alone, but the whole world. 
 
 And shall not the Jewess enter this God blessed task? 
 And if so why not you ? Can you tell me ? . . .
 
 158 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Spring Lake, N. J., Aug. 2nd. 
 
 ... I am about to block out a new book, and were you 
 in New York I would deem it a fortunate event to consult 
 you. During my work on "Let There Be Light" I was 
 assisted by Miss May Rhone, daughter of Col. Rhone, 
 Master of the Pennsylvania State Grange. Miss Rhone, 
 being an orthodox Christian, could hardly be expected to 
 sympathize with my theme. 
 
 As it is, I may from time to time send you any of the more 
 important sketches. 
 
 Spring Lake, N. J., Aug. 3. 
 
 In reading over your letter again to-day I am reminded 
 of a story. A Scotch land-owner in making the rounds of 
 his estate chanced upon one of his tenants, a woman who 
 was bleaching flax. "Were you to church last Sunday?" 
 asked the man. "Yes, and I enjoyed the sermon very 
 much." "What was the text?" "I do not know." "What 
 did the Minister say that impressed you?" "I cannot 
 remember." "Of what value to you then is your church- 
 going?" "Well," she replied, pointing to the flax on the 
 ground, "I put water on this flax exposed to the sun, and I 
 keep on doing so until the flax is bleached. I cannot tell you 
 just how much each drop bleaches, but I know if I keep on 
 I have bleached flax. So with the sermon. I cannot tell 
 just how the parts of sermons or any sermon makes me 
 better; all I know is that they make me better." 
 
 This, I think, answers your query as to why the few 
 sages have not been able to transform a world of primitive 
 minds. The fact is that the sages have done this very 
 thing and are doing it to-day. 
 
 The bleaching is so gradual as to seem to the untutored 
 mind to be no bleaching at all. But do you not see that it 
 is going on all the time ? So then each of us may do some- 
 thing (and in fact we do) towards the great end. . . . 
 
 Spring Lake, N. J., Aug. 11th, 1900. 
 
 . . . Permit me to say that recently I received a photo- 
 graph of a young Jewess who seems to me to be a model of
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 159 
 
 that sweet and heroic and classic type which I love to de- 
 nominate "Israella" queen of "Isroael." . . . Why 
 " Israella" ? Why not Judith ? 
 
 Judith is tribal as Judah is, but Israel is universal. 
 
 Had you been known to me for ever so many years I 
 would not have known you as well as I know you now. 
 
 I see your sweet spirit in your unselfishness, but please 
 to bear in mind that in the Republic of letters the true 
 subjects are of that order. So what are "terms", these 
 indexes of grocery men and butchers, to those who in 
 spirit think of their fellow craftsmen as of their own right 
 hand ? 
 
 Thank God I have some means for my own. And who 
 are my own ? And in this I am a Galilean, a Nazarene, aye, 
 the Chief est of them, who said, in substance, "Who is my 
 father or my mother or my brother or sister or my friend ? " 
 Who but those who were with him in spirit. Even so, my 
 dear daughter, are you very near me. . . . 
 
 Do you know Edwin Markham? He wrote the poem 
 "The Man with the Hoe." He was here for one week and 
 we went over the field, and thank God the Goy was con- 
 verted, and his first next poem will be "The Shofar." And 
 in it will be found the dream of philosophical Anarchism, 
 logical Socialism, spiritual Christianism, and ameliorating 
 Israelitism. You are to meet this poet and inspire him in 
 his work. You are to help materialize the theme of the new 
 book of which there are already some sketches. Oh, there 
 is ever so much work to do, and the work is so grand and 
 heroic and sweet, but who understands its high value ? 
 
 And now I will close by saying that I know you now, you, 
 your soul, your heart, your mind, and you are no longer 
 stranger. So come to us. 
 
 Spring Lake, Aug. 20th, 1900. 
 
 Your esteemed favor of 31st at hand, and Mrs. Lubin and 
 I regret that you did not come. 
 
 However we shall be glad to entertain you at our residence 
 in New York whenever you come to that city and shall try 
 to make your stay as pleasant as possible.
 
 160 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 I have not yet started on my new book and may not do 
 so until the beginning of winter. Next week I am to meet 
 Professor Markham in New York, when we are to go over 
 an outline for his next poem. 
 
 At some future time I may give you an impression of 
 the photograph ; sufficient at this time to say that I judge 
 its owner possessed of considerable power which is at present 
 dormant and likely to remain so unless conditions of de- 
 velopment arise. 
 
 Spring Lake, Aug. 29th, 1900. 
 
 Your interesting letter of 28th just to hand as I was about 
 to begin my morning's correspondence, so I will start by 
 answering you. First of all, your praise, while appreciated, 
 is not altogether deserved when judged by all criticism at 
 hand, for a clipping to hand this morning from an Episcopal 
 paper of Philadelphia tells me that I have "written a bad 
 book" and hopes that but "few should read it." Again, 
 even Jesus when called "good" turned to the speaker saying, 
 "Why callest thou me good? No one is good but God." 
 And know, my dear friend, that I have as hard a struggle to 
 adhere to the Path as others, and, my young sister-confessor, 
 let me tell you that I do not always come out the victor in 
 the struggles. Hence you see that I, too, am common 
 clay. 
 
 But I feel that I could be so much stronger and happier 
 were I in a sympathetic atmosphere. Not one soul sur- 
 rounds me who can approximately sympathise with my work 
 and my ideals. So much is this the case that I am obliged 
 out of deference to environment to hide my nature by at 
 least appearing as a normal store-keeper and "man of the 
 world." So last week I tried to learn the game of " progressive 
 euchre" but I failed utterly, and fell accordingly in the esti- 
 mation of present environment. I feel, however, that some 
 day, perhaps years after I am gathered with my fathers, I 
 may be more seriously considered. 
 
 But what nonsense ! What can it matter how I am con- 
 sidered? What egoism, what rare impudence, the wish to 
 be considered good and great when I know and feel that I am 
 neither good nor great ! And yet I certainly crave for some- 
 thing ; but so do children. . . .
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 161 
 
 Spring Lake, Aug. 3Cth, 1900. 
 
 Having a few moments' leisure I will make clear that 
 part of my former letter about my contemplated book. 
 When I wrote you that I had parts of the book already 
 written I meant by that the following : 
 
 I originally wrote "Let There Be Light" in story form, 
 but I was strongly advised to drop the story form and write 
 in pure essay form. This I did not consent to, and seeing 
 the force of the opposing argument I compromised by toning 
 down the story to a mere thread. You therefore see that 
 I have, say, a dozen sketches, which, with modifications, 
 can be availed of for the new book. 
 
 This new book I have not framed yet, hoping to do so 
 in the near future. But right here there is a sense of con- 
 fusion in my mind; for I find two ideas running counter. 
 One, the idea of a story : the other a book, in essay form, on 
 the theme "Righteousness", in which I would show that the 
 Prophets meant by that term "amelioration" and not 
 piousness; whereas Christianity reduces all to "salvation", 
 which is to be had through belief in Christ. And now do 
 you understand? 
 
 Were you here we could then go over the merits of the 
 story and the essay. If the "story" is to be chosen, I 
 would then be glad to visit the "East Side" of New York 
 for some local detail. . . . 
 
 You seem to have some doubt as to my bearing with re- 
 gard to my fealty to the cause of Israel. You can safely 
 put aside all doubt. Israel shall rise from his dung-hill 
 and ascend the throne and reign sole sovereign over the 
 whole world. "Oh, what nonsense!" say the so-called 
 practical men, "why, there is no sign that they will ever 
 even reign over a village, let alone the world !" 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, I say that he will reign over 
 the whole world. Yes, and he even reigns to-day; for do 
 you not see clearly that it is not Emperor, Czar, King or 
 Queen who rule, but Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, Micah, and 
 Jesus who rule. This rule it is which is to be made clearer, 
 brighter and surer, and by and through the "Champion of 
 God", which is the English for the Hebrew "Isroael."
 
 162 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Spring Lake, N. J., Sept. 3. 
 
 My dear Pupil : 
 
 Your letter of Sept. 1st just received, and as you close by 
 saying "If time permits, answer soon", and as time does 
 "permit" I comply now, but do not promise to be as prompt 
 when I am in New York (which will be shortly) as there 
 my time will be taken up with hard study and work. . . . 
 
 From the tenor of this letter and from some portions of 
 the former letters I am of the opinion that I can discern 
 what is going on in your heart. You seem to possess the 
 germs of an idealist's soul with strong realist tendencies. 
 And this is true to the higher Jewish nature, the rare ex- 
 ception to which was the great Nazarene. "Tachles" 
 purpose, profit is the normal Jewish characteristic, and 
 you, you want, in sight, the love of humanity even before 
 you have a right to demand it. And so do I; hence we 
 are both Jewish ; high relatively, but low absolutely. The 
 high absolutely has the crown of thorns driven deep into 
 the brow and the spirit is, nevertheless, serene. 
 
 You and I prate of sympathy and long for it; but the 
 true God-child suffers all and singular tortures and is serene 
 in spirit. I have toiled some, some years before you heard 
 of me, in the work, and I have lived in oh, so many dis- 
 appointments, so many thorns and wounds, and did I live 
 them serene in spirit ? No ; as my letters to you will testify. 
 And now, dear Sister, you come, you who have not yet done 
 anything, and you, too, cry "tachles"; where is my profit, 
 where is the human sympathy ? Go to ! You are no 
 prophetess and I am no prophet. Or we would neither of 
 us look for reward ! 
 
 Go you now at once to "small talk"; talk cards, talk 
 shop, talk parties, talk village rot, but enter not, as I have 
 done, in the sacred precincts of God's work for pay. 
 
 Do you want the pay? Can you stand it ? Do you want con- 
 tempt, falsehood, injury, disappointment and hatred ? Then 
 serve God as a God-child should and your spirit will be serene. 
 
 Do you want applause, human sympathy and the fewest 
 disappointments ? Then be as realistic as a butcher, prac- 
 tical as a plumber, and crafty as an everyday Jew, and you 
 will have all these.
 
 "LET THERE BE LIGHT" 163 
 
 I advise you, with all the earnestness of a well-wisher, to 
 abandon your idealism for ever; banish it as a pestiferous 
 plant from the garden of your heart ; become practical and 
 real and you will be what the world calls happy. 
 
 Dare to go into the ideal world and unless you are armed 
 for the combat you sink under the first few blows. And now, 
 if after all I have said you, knowing yourself, are still in- 
 clined to be a God-child, I would be justified in taking up 
 your clauses (not any longer as a harsh critic but as loving 
 brother and willing disciple). You say that : " talk about a 
 united brotherhood, a common humanity, is a phantastic 
 vision ; the real man's attitude to his brother is that of en- 
 mity." You do God a great injustice in the above sentence, 
 not intentionally but unwittingly, as you shall see. 
 
 There is a God or there is not. If not, there is no purpose, 
 end, or aim in whatever we do or in whatever is done in the 
 universe. But if there is (and I am of the firm opinion 
 that I am more sure of God's absolute existence than I am 
 of my own), then we must admit that objects are but mani- 
 festations of His will. Now this will is symbolized in types, 
 and the highest type of man is the "real man." Now the 
 "real" man is God's ideal man ; His son, His child. And is 
 this "real" man's attitude to his brother one of "enmity"? 
 On the very contrary ; it is that of amity. Amity in spite 
 of the crown of thorns, in spite of hate and torments. 
 When the human soul is so great as to prefer these thorns 
 and torments for the sake of a united brotherhood, then is 
 that soul God's child, the champion of God, Israel. Do 
 you now understand ? 
 
 And these God's-children, do not the butchers, the plumb- 
 ers, the " practical " people, worship them as they worship God ? 
 
 And now, sweet sister, I had another dream, and I am 
 again in the practical work of disappointment. I dreamt 
 that one of Israel's daughters was to come, and like Ben 
 Hur of old, hold up the hand of Moses during the time of 
 the battle. But God wills it otherwise. I must alone take 
 up the cross and bear it, and, oh, how hard the task. For 
 my path is in the gloom of the forest, and the hope of sun- 
 shine inspired me to call you.
 
 164 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 But now I would rather you would not come. 
 
 . . . Stay where you are and banish every vestige of 
 desire for a field so fraught with peril and sorrow, and choose 
 that easier, happier, and more profitable road incidental to 
 the life of an ordinary woman. This is the path which will 
 give you least physical pain and which will come nearer 
 fulfilling the desires of your parents. May God bless and 
 protect you. Farewell. 
 
 So, dreaming dreams and awakening to realities, Lubin 
 worked his way manfully along the path he had set him- 
 self. "What right have I to complain?" I have often 
 heard him say, when failure or disappointment rewarded 
 his efforts. "The good Lord made no bargain with me. I 
 was not compelled to take up this work ; no one asked me 
 to do it." And he was invincibly strong in this : when he 
 saw that he had failed he would never waste time quarreling 
 with a vicious or stupid world ; never lay the blame on his 
 environment. He would come rather to the conclusion 
 that the fault was his, that he had not used the right means 
 to ends. "The world demands service, and pays cash for 
 real service, and is quite anxious to be served," he wrote to 
 his son; "and the man who has spurious ideas for sale 
 must be prepared to receive the same treatment as is given 
 to the man with spurious merchandise." 
 
 Of course the latter part of the remark is not applicable 
 to the ideas Lubin set forth in his book ; he was convinced 
 that those ideas were sterling gold which would stand the 
 acid test. But as his purpose was not to add one more book 
 to the many more powerful than his own in which such ab- 
 stract truths were set forth, but to translate them from the 
 realm of the abstract to that of the concrete, he saw that he 
 must approach the task from an angle different from those 
 hitherto attempted. 
 
 This was what he did when, in the autumn of 1904, he 
 set out for Europe.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 
 
 On the fourth of October, 1904, David Lubin reached 
 Rome. 
 
 He had left New York toward the end of August, after a 
 long period of bad bronchial trouble which he attributed to 
 "nervous strain" and his wife to the fact that he had passed 
 much of his time in a damp cellar experimenting with the 
 soil pulverizer of his invention. Probably there was some 
 truth in both explanations. 
 
 Doctor Shelby, the physician who attended him in New 
 York, remembers Lubin as a very odd patient who claimed 
 he had no leisure to waste on illness as he had a great work 
 to perform for which he must go to Europe. He urged the 
 doctor to hurry up the treatment to meet these exigencies. 
 He was advised to pass the winter in Egypt, and set off, 
 anything but cured, suffering from a most distressing cough 
 which gave him little rest by day or night, complicated by 
 heart trouble. This made the task of mounting a few steps 
 or walking fifty yards a physical strain of the severest kind. 
 Long years of incessant work, severe mental strain, and 
 spiritual and emotional stress had told on an unusually 
 robust constitution, and it was a man in broken health who 
 reached the Italian capital. But the shattered physique 
 was domineered by an iron will, determined that the body 
 should be servant and not master. 
 
 For twenty years David Lubin had striven to achieve in 
 the path of reform; for twenty years he had striven to 
 materialize through concrete action in the field of agriculture 
 the aspirations instilled into him as a boy by his mother, 
 aspirations which had recurred to his mind and sunk deeply
 
 166 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 into his soul in the deserts of Arizona, taking shape and 
 gaining definite expression during his travels in the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 He had so far worked from the sectional, then from the 
 national standpoint, and from the bottom upwards. Now he 
 would enter the international field and would start from the 
 top. His endeavor would be to convert a ruler to his point 
 of view. 
 
 The idea he now set out to realize was that first roughly 
 outlined in his speech in Budapest in 1896. Agriculture 
 could only hold its own through international action, and 
 to make possible such international action the farmers of 
 the world must be able to secure through a World Chamber 
 of Agriculture that knowledge of world conditions which 
 they required in order to hold their own in the economic 
 arena. But if they were still, in most cases, too individual- 
 istic to combine for effective national action, it was surely 
 preposterous to expect such heterogeneous elements as the 
 American farmer, the European peasant, the Russian mou- 
 jik, the Egyptian fellahin, and the inarticulate agricultural 
 masses of Asia and South America to create anything com- 
 parable to the international economic organizations at the 
 service of commerce and finance. If this was to be done 
 the initiative must come from above. 
 
 Before setting out to seek in Europe for the initiator, 
 Lubin had not neglected to place his ideas, still in a tentative 
 stage, before the Secretary of Agriculture. At Washington 
 he had encountered nothing but hostility. His hard-fought 
 fight for equity in protection had not made him popular with 
 orthodox Republicans, and twenty years ago the idea of 
 international action was looked upon as a Utopian notion, 
 unworthy of practical politicians. Lubin was regarded as a 
 crank, told that there was nothing international in agri- 
 culture, that however much the United States might have 
 to teach they certainly had nothing to learn, and that they 
 wished to have as little to do as possible with the "pauper 
 countries" of Europe. Then Lubin approached the Grange.
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 167 
 
 "No other great industry in the country stands to-day in 
 as defenseless a position as does the industry of agriculture. 
 It stands defenseless against the action of a discriminative 
 protective tariff; ... it stands defenseless in shaping the 
 price for agricultural staples; it stands defenseless against 
 the action of innumerable trusts," he said in the first of a 
 series of articles addressed to that body, which he wrote 
 before leaving for Europe. He urged the Patrons of Hus- 
 bandry to live up to their claim to represent American 
 agriculture in its effort to secure economic betterment. He 
 pointed out what Europe had done through the cooperative 
 credit movement to improve the status of agriculture, and 
 suggested that they should take the initiative in forming a 
 traveling committee to take up this and other cognate 
 studies. His article was read by many with interest and 
 aroused a good deal of comment, but he could see that 
 nothing practical would come of it. 
 
 His mind was now made up. He would set out and find 
 the Chief Executive of a nation, Emperor, King, or 
 President as the case might be. He would place before him 
 the idea. He would show the need of strengthening the 
 conservative countryman as a bulwark against the revolu- 
 tionary progressive forces of Finance, Commerce and Labor ; 
 he would show the need of equity in the price formation 
 of the staples as the basis for securing equity in economic 
 relations ; he would show that the Ruler who would call 
 the peoples of the world to act along these lines would be 
 entitled to an enduring place in history. He felt sure of 
 success if he could only place his premise clearly before the 
 right man, and with the courage of simplicity he set out to 
 find the statesman of vision and power who would material- 
 ize this dream. 
 
 Lubin's first stopping place was in London, but there 
 he seems to have made but little impression. He tried his 
 luck in France, and met the few people of importance in 
 the world of politics or economics to be found in Paris in 
 September. He was told to wait, but counsels of patience
 
 1G8 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 were never palatable to him. He tried what he could do 
 with those he saw, among whom was M. Yves Guyot, the 
 well-known economist. But he was unfortunate in his 
 interpreter. A Cook's guide is hardly the person one would 
 select to explain such a proposition as Lubin's to an econo- 
 mist of note. Mr. Lubin always suspected that guide of 
 being a radical of sorts ; he said he got into a debate with 
 Yves Guyot, of which he (Lubin) understood nothing beyond 
 the fact that the French professor got very angry ; anyhow, 
 his effort came to naught. He tried to interest the Ameri- 
 can Chamber of Commerce, but to no purpose. Nothing 
 daunted, he packed his grip and set out again; his next 
 stopping place was Rome. 
 
 The fascination of a great name, the imminence of a 
 mighty past, the seal of universality which the Roman 
 Empire and the Catholic Church have set on the Eternal 
 City, made it singularly auspicious for his purpose. He 
 was determined that here he would not rest until he got at 
 the King himself. 
 
 To the average American the idea of bringing such a pro- 
 posal as Lubin had in mind to Italy, of all places in the world, 
 seems incongruous. Italy is thought of as the country of 
 art, of poetry, of music ; or as a poverty-stricken land whence 
 come unlettered laborers to perform the hard manual work 
 of the world. Few realize what an important factor she 
 has been and still is in modern thought and development 
 along scientific, economic and sociological lines. Yet it was 
 from Italy that trade and banking and industry first spread 
 to the rest of Europe ; if the names of Dante and Michel- 
 angelo and Verdi are famous, so are those of Galileo and 
 Galvani, Volta and Marconi ; and of late years Italian 
 writers have produced many more notable works on econom- 
 ics and sociology than in the realm of fiction. The imagi- 
 nation of the Italian enables him to dream dreams; his 
 traditions enable him to think internationally. More- 
 over, the Italian and the American temperaments have a 
 notable point of contact, both are characterized by
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 169 
 
 practical idealism. Pick up the works of modern Italians 
 on such subjects as hydraulics, land reclamation, engineer- 
 ing, agriculture, and while severely scientific they yet breathe 
 the spirit of romance. Not only is it financially profitable 
 but it is great and wonderful to bend the forces of nature 
 to the service of man, to convert deserts into smiling corn- 
 fields and orchards, to see the feeble powers of puny indi- 
 viduals multiplied in geometric ratio by cooperation and 
 combination, to see order evolve out of chaos. Undoubt- 
 edly the imaginative and poetic faculty has inspired Ameri- 
 can business enterprise no less than a desire for returns in 
 dollars and cents. 
 
 But while the marvelous opportunities of a new land give 
 the American confidence and optimism, the Italian staggers 
 under the weight of his great past. Yet that same past 
 makes him ambitious for the future; lack of opportunity 
 has made him frequently skeptical and pessimistic, but the 
 divine fire is there, beneath the ashes, ready to flame up 
 if fanned ever so little by a favoring breeze. The Italian 
 has none of the stolid conservatism of the English, or the 
 traditionalism of the French. The fact that an idea is new 
 is no reason in his mind for it to be bad. Indeed, modern 
 life is everywhere grafted on Italy's still living past. Her 
 medieval towns and villages are lit with electric light; 
 they use the telephone and electric street car. Italy thinks 
 dynamically. 
 
 Such a people is not averse to new ideas, and as the Italian 
 rarely suffers from "swollen head", he is quite willing to 
 take them from a stranger if they strike him as having merit. 
 In fact, no people more fully and more generously acts on 
 the assumption that in the world of thought there are no 
 frontiers. 
 
 Thus it was no mere chance, but a rare intuition which 
 led David Lubin to Rome. 
 
 He had not been in the city an hour before he started work 
 by a search for an interpreter, and it was in that capacity I 
 met him, and took down from dictation a letter to the editor
 
 170 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of the American Agriculturist of New York. I quote from it, 
 for not only does it show what he did in France, but sets 
 forth his point of view in the way in which he placed it 
 before the leaders to whom he addressed himself in Italy : 
 
 Hotel Bristol, Rome, Italy 
 Oct. 6, 1904. 
 
 This letter contains observations I made while in France ; 
 the next will deal with conditions as I find them in Italy. . . . 
 
 While reports and interviews indicate a notable divergency 
 of opinions and conclusions, nevertheless they all agree 
 on one point, i.e. that an agricultural question exists in 
 France. 
 
 French thinkers all agree in saying that this question 
 must be solved, but no one seems to know just how to solve 
 it. 
 
 The concentration of Capital and Energy, so general in 
 the United States, is beginning to make itself felt in the Old 
 World, and in this new factor, this new phenomenon, the 
 European thinkers note a serious danger for the independent 
 landowning farmer. 
 
 Finance, Commerce, Manufactures, Labor, each of these 
 forms a distinct group, closely united, guided and directed 
 by Manufacturers' Councils, by Chambers of Commerce, by 
 Federations. 
 
 This concentration, this conservation of Capital and 
 Energy, this new Power, has but one aim, Advantage. And 
 where can this organized Power gain Advantage more readily 
 than by exploiting unorganized Agriculture ? 
 
 It is not difficult for the Organized to take advantage of 
 the Unorganized. This is so evident that it is accepted 
 as a law, a law well understood by the Organized but only 
 dimly guessed at by the Unorganized. 
 
 And this law is beginning to be generally understood in 
 Europe. A great number of independent agricultural asso- 
 ciations exist in France, many of which are for the purpose 
 of securing loans through Government aid at a nominal rate 
 of interest. 
 
 But all this does not give real strength ; the heterogeneous 
 agricultural associations of France, numerous as they are,
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 171 
 
 cannot be compared to the compact and united forces of 
 Capital and Energy struggling for Advantage. The land- 
 owning farmers of France begin to understand this, and they 
 have asked their House of Deputies for a law providing for a 
 National Advisory Council for Agriculture. This Council 
 should be the guiding power behind the several independent 
 agricultural associations, and should place the industry of 
 agriculture in France on a footing of equality with the con- 
 centrated forces of Capital and Energy. 
 
 This bill has been introduced several times but so far has 
 failed of acceptance. . . . 
 
 The reasons given for its rejection are the following : 
 
 1. It would endanger the Republic by affording the Socialists 
 the means of getting at the farmers, through the proposed 
 National Advisory Council. 
 
 2. The united forces of Agriculture would incline toward the 
 restoration of the Monarchy. 
 
 3. The Church would make use of unified Agriculture to the 
 injury of the Republic. 
 
 To all of which the landowning farmers of France reply : 
 "Our wishes are rejected, not so much because it is feared 
 that we shall become Socialists, or Monarchists, or tools of 
 the Church. We must remain as we are, because such is 
 the will of the exploiters. Otherwise how could we be ex- 
 ploited?'* 
 
 Whatever may be the result of the efforts of the French 
 landowning farmers it is evident that, in substance, they are 
 in the right. The time has come when it is essential that 
 they unite their scattered forces, and they can only do this 
 through a National Advisory Council. Nor is this all : 
 the time is here when each nation should have its National 
 Advisory Council, and at the head of these National Coun- 
 cils there should be an International Agricultural Advisory 
 Council. Thus organized, the farmers of the world would 
 be able to hold their own against local, national and inter- 
 national exploiters. 
 
 But if it is impossible for the French farmers to unite 
 in a central federation, how would it be possible for the 
 farmers of other countries to do so ?
 
 172 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 
 
 If the French farmers cannot, at present, unite under 
 the auspices of their Government, could they not unite in a 
 voluntary association ? And could not this be done by the 
 farmers of any other nationality ? 
 
 At fixed dates, bodies known as "International Agricul- 
 tural Congresses" meet. Do I refer to such meetings as 
 those ? No ; I do not mean those ; I mean National Cham- 
 bers and an International Chamber of Agriculture, and not 
 a temporary convention before which delegates make set 
 speeches and then adjourn. 
 
 But why such national and international institutions for 
 Agriculture more than for Finance, for Commerce, for Manu- 
 factures and for Labor ? 
 
 Not " more " than for them, but equally with them. There 
 are hundreds of thousands of Trade Committees, Chambers 
 of Commerce, Labor Exchanges, Federations, etc., both 
 national and international. Are they of value ? 
 
 Most certainly they are. They are the directing eye and 
 ear and brain of Finance, of Commerce, of Manufactures, 
 and of Labor. And if these exist in the interest of those who 
 live in the crowded cities, how much greater the need of the 
 people who live in isolation on the farms ? 
 
 But what difference can it make to the nation as such 
 whether national wealth belongs to one group of citizens 
 rather than to another so long as the wealth exists ? 
 
 It makes this difference so far as the farmers of a free 
 country are concerned. Given a sufficient number of in- 
 dependent, landowning farmers, and the conservatism of 
 the country and the progress of the city is insured. Re- 
 place these independent, landowning farmers by renters 
 and you have converted men into beasts of burden in the 
 country, and free men into slaves in the city. 
 
 This is the most obvious law of human history, so obvious 
 that those who ignore it may well be called "ignorant." 
 
 Here, where I am writing this letter, this city, this " eter- 
 nal " Rome bears solemn witness to the aforesaid truth. Here 
 in "eternal" Rome a republic arose, a republic of farmers; 
 and as long as those farmers were landowners the republic 
 endured and prospered and was a blessing. But when the 
 free, landowning farmers departed, liberty also departed;
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 173 
 
 and when the render came, there came with him slavery and a 
 curse. And why did the landowning farmer go? Because 
 he was turned out. And who turned him out? Organized 
 militarism and organized usury. 
 
 But why did not the farmers of old Rome unite? Be- 
 cause they "hadn't got the time", because they were " too 
 busy." And thus, in the end, the Roman farmers became 
 beggars and received largess of grain and oil in the plaza not 
 far from where I am now writing. And so it will be with the 
 American farmer if he also "has not got time", if he also is 
 "too busy" to organize. For the law of concentration acts 
 now as it acted two thousand years ago. 
 
 The farmers of Old Rome were "weighed in the balance 
 and found wanting." How will it be with the American 
 farmer ? Has not the time come for him to organize ? 
 
 Having written this letter, Lubin started out on the work 
 which had brought him to Rome. His first move was to 
 call on the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
 whom he had consulted eight years before, when collecting 
 European opinion on the tariff as a means of protecting 
 agricultural exports. 
 
 To this typical bureaucrat, a stout elderly man of jovial 
 appearance, courteous but skeptical and gradually amazed, 
 Lubin briefly set forth his views, stating that he had come to 
 Rome to see if the Chief Executive of the Italian nation 
 would become the sponsor to his proposal. 
 
 "The Chief Executive of the Nation? Does he mean 
 the King ? " Commendatore Siemoni asked me, taken aback 
 at the audacity of the proposal. 
 
 I translated. "Yes, that's it. The King of Italy. Ask 
 him how I can see the King." 
 
 The Commendatore was almost shocked. "Certain 
 names should not be lightly mentioned." Then, resuming 
 his easy, courteous manner, he went on: "Anyhow, it is a 
 proposal entirely outside my province. Of course, it may be 
 a good one. I would suggest that you talk the matter over 
 with Professor Montemartini."
 
 174 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Giovanni Montemartini was a young man of notable 
 talent who already occupied an important administrative 
 post, and who would undoubtedly have become a primary 
 factor in Italian life had not death ended his career pre- 
 maturely in 1911. The famous economist and financier, 
 Luigi Luzzatti, then Minister of the Treasury in the third 
 Giolitti Cabinet, had noted his unusual gifts and had been 
 instrumental in having him placed at the head of the Labor 
 Bureau of the then Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and 
 Commerce. A brilliant man of progressive ideas and a 
 Socialist to boot, it had become the habit of his colleagues 
 to railroad in to him any one whom they considered a crank 
 with a bee in his bonnet. 
 
 But before going further in interviewing Department 
 men, Lubin thought it his duty to place his ideas before the 
 Minister of Agriculture himself, and having called on the 
 American Embassy and obtained from the chargS d'affaires 
 a note requesting an audience in his behalf, we climbed up a 
 long flight of stairs Lubin stopping to take breath at 
 almost every step and sat in the Minister's anteroom. 
 The line from the Embassy secured prompt admission ; 
 the interview was short and decisive. The Minister Luigi 
 Rava, a short, fussy, self-important man, had evidently 
 had a trying morning. A general election was imminent, 
 and such times are apt to try the souls of Cabinet ministers. 
 He was nervous and hurried and wanted Lubin to tell him 
 quickly what was up ; and Lubin wanted to make a deliberate 
 statement of the case; if there was one thing he disliked 
 more than another it was to be interrupted : he always said 
 it crossed wires and got his mind off the track. When, at 
 the Minister's urgency, he briefly stated that he wished to 
 see the King with a view to Italy taking the initiative in a 
 movement for the international organization of agriculture, 
 Rava thought he had no time to waste on cranks, and say- 
 ing to me in Italian: "Ma queste sono americanate" (But 
 these are American ideas) he summarily showed us out. 
 
 Montemartini was the next step in the endeavor. He gave
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 175 
 
 a very different reception to the matter. He listened 
 attentively to Lubin. 
 
 "This is no crank," Montemartini said to me in Italian 
 when Lubin had concluded his statement: "he is right, 
 and his proposal is most important." Nor was he alarmed 
 when Lubin expressed the wish to place the matter before 
 the King. He suggested as the best mode of approach 
 Luigi Luzzatti, the veteran statesman who had done so 
 much to retrieve Italian finances, the apostle of cooperation, 
 whose keen intellect and vivid sympathies made him ever 
 ready to assist in the realization of progressive or philan- 
 thropic ideas. As Minister of the Treasury he was in a 
 position to help Lubin if he would. 
 
 The Treasury Department was our next goal. We were 
 received by Comm. Concini, Luzzatti's private secretary, 
 who informed us that the Minister was out of Rome; the 
 forthcoming elections absorbed the energies of public men, 
 and the time was inopportune for calling their attention 
 to matters such as that which Lubin briefly outlined. "Tell 
 him there is no such thing as an opportune or an inopportune 
 time," replied Lubin. "If the matter is valueless, then all 
 times are inopportune ; but if it is of supreme importance, 
 as I believe, then no time is so opportune as the present." 
 And he brushed aside the idea that the general elections were 
 a sufficient impediment. "In a few years' time who will 
 remember there ever was a general election in Italy in 
 October, 1904 ? Whereas the matter of which I speak will 
 make history." 
 
 And he handed the Secretary a short typewritten state- 
 ment of the case. "Hand this to your Minister when he 
 returns, and tell him if he wishes to be a great man to 
 give it a careful reading," and with the assurance that on 
 Luzzatti's return he would be afforded an opportunity to 
 place the case before him, Lubin left. 
 
 Some days elapsed during which I heard nothing more of 
 the matter; then one evening about nine o'clock a young 
 man appeared at my door, saying he had been sent by Mr.
 
 176 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Lubin to fetch me straight away to the Hotel Bristol. When 
 I demurred at the hour he became very urgent ; he had im- 
 perative orders to bring me back in a cab which waited be- 
 low. I went and found Lubin seated on a box in his small 
 room in the Bristol Hotel, anxiously awaiting my arrival so 
 as to speak to a journalist who knew no English. It turned 
 out that the gentleman was the sporting editor of the 
 Tribuna, a not very hopeful approach to the end in view, but 
 silence in other quarters was making Lubin desperate. He 
 obtained a promise that no newspaper "copy" was to be 
 made of what he had to say a promise most hono- 
 rably kept and Signor Lionelli, who turned out to be 
 intelligent on much besides sports, quite came under the 
 spell of Lubin's eloquence. 
 
 The fact is that those who were privileged to come in 
 contact with Lubin during those months all experienced 
 the same impression. The man was inspired ; his whole 
 being physical, mental, spiritual was bent in con- 
 centrated effort toward achievement. The Italian mind is 
 temperamentally suspicious, and our age is one of self- 
 seeking; but to speak with Lubin for half an hour was to 
 come away with the absolute certainty that no shade of self- 
 interest stained the purity of his endeavor. The Italian is 
 an idealist but has scant toleration for cranks ; but Lubin's 
 ideas were so lucid, his facts so sound, his deductions so 
 logical that he could not be placed in that category. More- 
 over, there was a religious fervor about him, an entire con- 
 secration to a lofty ideal, which commanded respect even 
 from the skeptical. In those months he was at the very 
 zenith of his powers. One felt, moreover, that it was the 
 spirit which kept the body alive. He hardly ate ; his nights 
 were so broken by a racking cough that the hotel guests 
 in neighboring rooms complained and had to be accommo- 
 dated elsewhere. Yet he was ever ready for whatever effort 
 the work might demand. Out in all weathers, up at all 
 hours, dragging himself up the endless flights of Roman 
 stairs; arguing, persuading, coaxing; generous in praise
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 177 
 
 to all who helped him, more than modest in his own regard. 
 Direct, unornate, somewhat abrupt in manner, the courtesy 
 that comes of natural sensitiveness and good feeling was his 
 and soon won him fast friends among the Italians with whom 
 he was brought in touch. At times but in those months 
 only rarely and with the few he would sit back, and with 
 closed eyes as though to concentrate on the inner vision, 
 would give a glimpse of the dreams he dreamed, summoning 
 up to the almost awe-struck listener the grandeur and no- 
 bility of the theme of Israel's sages, the dream of a Messianic 
 age, of nations exalted by righteousness, of swords beaten 
 into plowshares, when knowledge shall cover the earth 
 as the waters the sea, when the Lord's House shall be es- 
 tablished on the summit of the mountains, and all nations 
 shall flow unto it. 
 
 "All nations"; he had left far behind particularism, 
 sectionalism, "my nation right or wrong." The univer- 
 sality of Rome, of the city which has twice been the 
 capital of the world, once by armed might and then by 
 the still mightier power of the spirit, matched his mood. 
 
 On one of those days of waiting he drove down to the 
 Forum, and standing by the Arch of Titus suddenly asked 
 me, " Who won the struggle between Rome and Jerusalem ? " 
 "Rome," I replied, somewhat startled by the inquiry and 
 failing to follow the train of thought. "You think so," he 
 said ; " and this arch shows us the seven-branched candela- 
 brum of the Temple carried in the triumphal procession of a 
 Roman Caesar. But look there," pointing in the direction 
 of St. Peter's dome, "and tell me now. Is it a Roman 
 Emperor whose foot is worn away with the kisses of the 
 people ? " 
 
 But Lubin was determined to see the King. Could 
 Lionelli help ? Lubin always had the faculty of making his 
 co-workers feel that the word "impossible" must have no 
 place in their vocabulary, and so the journalist remembered 
 that he had made the acquaintance of the King's aid-de-camp, 
 General Brusati, at the races at Naples. He therefore
 
 178 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 suggested that Lubin go with him to San Rossore near Pisa, 
 where the King was then staying, when he would recall 
 himself to Brusati, introduce Lubin, and see if the audience 
 could not be brought about that way. Nothing better 
 offering Lubin consented, and he, the sporting editor, and 
 my humble self as interpreter arranged to leave, Lionelli 
 trying to impress Lubin with the need of correct attire, 
 Prince Albert coat, stovepipe hat, and light-colored kid 
 gloves. "Well, well, I will get the proper traps when I am 
 sure of the audience," was Lubin's reply. The silk hat of 
 diplomacy evidently inspired him with alarm where the idea 
 of laying down the law to a King seemed to him perfectly 
 natural. 
 
 But the Fates willed that he should be introduced under 
 other auspices. On the very morning of the day fixed for 
 our departure a summons came from Luzzatti. 
 
 The veteran statesman, as much of an idealist in those 
 latter years as he had been in his youth when preaching the 
 gospel of cooperation, had found time to read Lubin's paper ; 
 it had impressed him as a sound combination of the ideal 
 and the practical ; he grasped its significance in the inter- 
 national field. "Such an organization could become a more 
 powerful instrument for peace than the Hague conference," 
 he said, and inquired what he could do to help. "Get me 
 an audience with the King," came the prompt reply, and 
 there and then Luzzatti dictated a letter complying with 
 Lubin's wish. 
 
 When I met Lubin to catch the two p.m. train I found 
 him radiant. The only cloud on the horizon was the sport- 
 ing editor. "We really don't need him now, and he may be 
 rather in the way ; but he 's a right good fellow and I wouldn't 
 hurt his feelings for the world, so he must just come with 
 us," was Lubin's comment on the situation. However, 
 even that slight drawback was to be removed ; for, just as 
 we were preparing to start, a message came from Signor 
 Lionelli stating that he had sprained his foot and deeply re- 
 gretted his inability to come.
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 179 
 
 David Lubin's knowledge of kings was derived from 
 history books, and the title was associated in his mind with 
 a degree of personal power far exceeding that exercised by 
 the constitutional monarch of our days. If he knew little 
 of royal prerogatives, he knew still less of court etiquette 
 when, armed with Luzzatti's letter, he set out to see Victor 
 Emanuel III. I had urged him to send the letter to General 
 Brusati and await results, but he had scant belief in my 
 knowledge on the subject (and I am free to admit that I was 
 not in the habit of calling on Royalty) and insisted on follow- 
 ing his own judgment, which was to get into the first cab 
 (or wagon as he always called such vehicles), drive to San 
 Rossore, and inquire at the gate of the little shooting box if 
 the King was in. He was told that His Majesty was out 
 shooting with General Brusati, so he handed in Luzzatti's 
 letter and with it (again acting against my advice) a black- 
 bound scrap-book containing a number of letters "to all 
 whom it may concern", from friends and well-wishers in the 
 United States which he was in the habit of producing in 
 evidence of his identity and respectability when calling on 
 strangers. Saying that he would return in two hours' time 
 for an answer, he drove off. He came back, once, twice, 
 thrice; he returned again the next morning, but always 
 to get the same answer : "His Majesty is out," and the last 
 time his book was returned to him and with it the letter. 
 He looked blank indeed ; but on opening the envelope failure 
 was explained. He had inadvertently handed in a trans- 
 lation of Luzzatti's letter instead of the original ! 
 
 "If we keep on driving back and forth like this, asking 
 for the King, we shall be taken for anarchists and arrested," 
 I said. "Let us return to the Hotel, send the proper letter 
 by post, and await the answer which cannot fail to come in 
 due time." 
 
 Lubin reluctantly acted on this suggestion and passed a 
 restless day, waiting and wondering. He called on the 
 Mayor of Pisa and solicited his help ; he spoke with the 
 hotel proprietor; by the evening he had almost given up
 
 180 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 hope. Then, at nine p.m., the call came. His Majesty 
 would receive Mr. David Lubin on the morrow, Sunday, 
 24th October, at nine a.m. 
 
 "We must leave at 7.30," he said to me. I demurred, 
 for the drive from Pisa to San Rossore takes little more than 
 half an hour. "Everything depends on the outcome of this 
 conference ; we must run no risks," he replied. " The wagon 
 might break down on that country road and I should have 
 to go on foot, and I cannot walk fast." 
 
 And the tall hat and gloves ? He had meant to buy them 
 when the call came, and here it was nine o'clock at night 
 and the audience for Sunday morning. "Well, we must 
 just do the best we know how." I pointed out that there 
 was no need for me to accompany him. "Oh, yes," he re- 
 plied, "you must come. If the King does not speak English, 
 or only pidgin English, you must be there to interpret." 
 
 So attired in the Prince Albert coat dear to Bureaucracy, 
 but wearing his broad-brimmed felt hat and with hands un- 
 cased in gloves, Lubin set forth the next morning in a ram- 
 shackle cab with a very shabby driver, the first he had struck 
 in Pisa. I had suggested hiring a more stylish turnout, but 
 he said no, the man was a good fellow and he would not do 
 him out of the job. 
 
 The spirit in which Lubin started off on this culminating 
 effort of long years of work was that in which a prophet of 
 old may have addressed a King in Israel. He was not in the 
 least dazzled or unduly impressed at the idea of meeting 
 royalty, but with almost childlike simplicity and directness 
 and with an unsophisticated belief in the power of the man he 
 was to address, he concentrated all the faith and earnest- 
 ness and exaltation that was in him on the task in which 
 he felt that he was but a humble instrument in the hands of 
 Providence. 
 
 Many stories have been current on this interview between 
 a rough man of the "wild and woolly West" and the King 
 of Italy ; anecdotes in which fancy has been free to run riot, 
 for Lubin sternly refused to give interviews or make cheap
 
 A MISSIONARY IN ROME 181 
 
 newspaper copy out of an event which he believed to be of 
 great historic significance. One thing stands out as solid 
 fact amidst much fiction ; a man utterly unknown in Italy, 
 with no official backing of any sort, presenting himself in 
 the most modest and unconventional way, went in and stood 
 before a king, and by sheer force of logic and by the nobility 
 and earnestness of his presentation secured in half an hour's 
 time from the Head of a great nation the promise to 
 take the initiative in materializing the project he had at 
 heart. 
 
 Lubin was closeted with Victor Emmanuel for some 
 three quarters of an hour while I sat in the little anteroom 
 where the prefect, the mayor, and the Bishop of Pisa were 
 waiting their turn to go in and pay their respects to the 
 Sovereign on this the first day on which he was giving 
 audience since reaching San Rossore. Such audiences 
 usually last for some ten minutes, and as the clock hands 
 went round, marking a quarter, and then half -past nine, and 
 still Lubin's loud, booming voice could be heard through 
 the thin partition, the assembled dignitaries looked at one 
 another, evidently wondering what was up. Then the door 
 opened and Lubin came out, his face wreathed in smiles. 
 It was evident at a glance that his mission had been crowned 
 with success. 
 
 As we drove away, he gave me some account of this strange 
 conference. He had told the King that as the success of a 
 merchant is reckoned at the end of a year by the amount 
 of dollars he has been able to accumulate, so the success of a 
 ruler is determined by the work of historic importance he has 
 been able to perform. "I bring you the opportunity to 
 perform a work of historic importance, which will entitle you 
 to more enduring fame than the Caesars ; they earned fame 
 by wars, you would earn it by working for peace, the peace 
 of righteousness. You are of course a very important person 
 here, but remember, you are a small potato in the world, the 
 monarch of a third-rate country. Take up this work in 
 earnest and at one leap Italy can head the nations in the
 
 182 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 great fight of our day, the fight for justice in economic 
 relations." 
 
 Speaking to a statesman, he pointed out that the principal 
 function of good government is the maintenance of the 
 equilibrium between the progressive tendency of the city 
 man and the conservative tendency of the man of the coun- 
 try, and he emphasized the importance to the State of 
 the independent, landowning farmer by pointing to the 
 history of Old Rome. "And now the world is once more 
 facing a similar condition to that which led to the downfall 
 of the Roman Empire; unorganized agriculture is vainly 
 trying to hold its own against the organized forces of the 
 cities ; its position is much the same as that of the prisoner 
 of old, sent into the arena with a reed and told to defend 
 himself against a gladiator fully armed. Trusts and price 
 manipulators are slowly crushing the life out of the conserva- 
 tive element in the body politic, and as a result you are living 
 on the edge of a volcano which may at any moment break 
 into eruption, and you know it. Governments seek to 
 protect the status quo by armaments ; to discontent they 
 reply by ever more soldiers, and more policemen, and more 
 prisons ; they go for the agitators in the red shirts and red 
 ties and fail to see that these are harmless when compared 
 to those arch radicals of commerce and finance, the trusts, 
 the speculators, and the manipulators. How can these be 
 fought ? Anti-trust legislation is but dust in the eyes of the 
 people; it is powerless to change the condition; the con- 
 centration of capital is a product of modern conditions; 
 its evils can only be fought by using its own weapons, by 
 organizing the unorganized, by replacing ignorance by 
 knowledge, anarchy by order, by providing the conservative 
 forces of agriculture with an international organ which 
 would be for them the ear, the eye, and the directing brain 
 which merchants, financiers, and city labor have provided 
 themselves with in their national and international under- 
 standings, organizations, Chambers of Commerce, Federa- 
 tions."
 
 A MISSIONARY EST ROME 183 
 
 And even while Lubin was setting forth his case his eye 
 suddenly noted the broad-brimmed felt hat he had in- 
 advertently brought in and placed, as was his wont, on the 
 table before him. It struck him as out of place ; it annoyed 
 him; he tried to get it out of the way without attracting 
 undue attention. The King, noting his uneasiness, inquired 
 its cause. "The fact is, Your Majesty," Lubin replied, 
 "I was trying to get this hat off the table. Your men in 
 Rome told me before I came here that I ought to get a tall 
 hat to come to see you, but I had never worn one they 
 are n't exactly fashionable in Sacramento so I meant to 
 buy it here. But when your call came last night there 
 was n't the time, and now I fear this looks disrespectful." 
 
 "But the King only smiled and told me to go on with my 
 story," Lubin said in telling quaintly of this incongruous 
 anti-climax. 
 
 Put once more at his ease, he proceeded to show that the 
 initiative for such an organization must be taken by a king. 
 Why not the King of Italy ? Why should not Rome once 
 more say the word which the nations of the earth would 
 obey? Why should she not regain her erstwhile spiritual 
 supremacy and raise the temple to Righteousness, to right- 
 eousness in economic relations ? He concluded by reminding 
 his royal listener of the old Greek Fable which told that the 
 Goddess Fortune knocks at each man's door, taps very 
 gently, and but once. If the call is heard and the door 
 opened, she steps in; if not she passes on and returns no 
 more. Would the King hear? And all unconscious of 
 royal etiquette it was the Californian who rose to leave. He 
 left with the promise that Victor Emmanuel would read the 
 paper he had brought, in which these ideas were briefly re- 
 capitulated, would have the matter examined by his min- 
 isters, and, if they thought well of it, that he would himself 
 take the initiative towards founding a World Chamber of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 The incredible was accomplished. Within twenty days 
 of reaching Italy, David Lubin had won the first battle in
 
 184 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 what was to be a long campaign. He had induced the 
 King to champion the cause of the international organization 
 of Agriculture. His mother's prophecy, so oft repeated to 
 the wayward boy in Polish ghetto and East-side tenement 
 house, "You shall sit at table with Kings," had come to 
 pass.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 
 
 "Will you make history with me?" 
 
 These were the words with which, an hour or two after 
 his audience with the King, Lubin greeted the friend who 
 during the next few months was to be his devoted aide-de- 
 camp in launching this world work. 
 
 Gian Francesco Guerrazzi, nephew of the famous Italian 
 patriot and author,. Francesco Domenico of that name, 
 himself an ardent worker in all movements for national 
 progress, had come down the night before to his farm near 
 Pisa. On leaving San Rossore, Lubin wished to follow up 
 his first success, and I brought Guerrazzi to him as well 
 suited to advise on a course of action. In some recollec- 
 tions written shortly after Lubin's death, he tells of that 
 interview in the following words : 
 
 "It was at the Hotel Nettuno at Pisa that I first met a 
 middle-aged man, dark-complexioned, clean-shaven with 
 kindly smiling eyes deep set in a lean and worn face, with 
 an abundant crop of stiff black hair just turning gray grow- 
 ing well back from a tall forehead. His appearance at once 
 denoted a man of no common stamp. Without further 
 preliminaries he handed me a scrap-book in which were 
 pasted letters and recommendations 'to all whom it may 
 concern' from eminent persons in the United States. 
 When I had satisfied his wish by glancing over these, David 
 Lubin addressed me with friendly familiarity. 
 
 "'My boy, are you fond of history?' To my smiling 
 assent he rejoined : ' Well, then, will you make history with 
 me?' 
 
 "This sudden invitation rather took my breath away, 
 but my curiosity and sympathy were aroused and as I 
 listened I became both fascinated and interested.
 
 186 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 "He started from way back, and in a rambling talk, re- 
 lieved by singular and picturesque expression, traced down 
 the ages the everlasting struggle between town and country, 
 between the industrial and the rural population, showing 
 how the latter, though more numerous, more virile, and the 
 economic and military backbone of the State, has, never- 
 theless, been the 'under dog' in the struggle, politically out- 
 witted and economically exploited more or less everywhere. 
 This was the substance which I deduced from a presentation 
 in which he summoned up images and suggested thoughts 
 by quaint unexpected expressions and comparisons, rather 
 than by direct statements. The ideas were not new to me, 
 but he spoke with such warmth of conviction, his eyes shot 
 such fiery glances, that all diffidence which the eccentricity 
 of the person or of the approach might have inspired melted 
 away. Indeed, I felt strongly attracted to this man, ob- 
 viously moved by a deep sense of injustice to be righted, of 
 good to be accomplished. And he won my assent more 
 and more when, analyzing the phenomena, he assigned the 
 cause of the inferiority complained of to the defective organ- 
 ization of the agricultural classes. He was speaking to a 
 convert." 
 
 After this lengthy preamble, David Lubin explained his 
 proposed remedy, pointing out that the King of Italy was 
 well fitted to take the initiative toward its realization. A 
 country of preponderating weight either as exporter or im- 
 porter would be likely to arouse in others suspicion and jeal- 
 ousy. The Head of an insignificant country would not carry 
 sufficient weight. Italy, being neither a great buyer nor 
 seller of the staples, was admirably suited for the purpose, 
 and the attraction of a great name would confer dignity 
 on any movement coming from Rome. 
 
 Then and there, while lunching with Lubin in the restau- 
 rant of the "Nettuno", opening on the sleepy Lungarno 
 basking in the October sun, Guerrazzi drew up a list of econ- 
 omists, agrarians, and statesmen who might assist his new
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 187 
 
 acquaintance in working out the details of the idea. The 
 name of Professor Maffeo Pantaleoni headed the list. 
 
 That same afternoon Lubin left Pisa, and the next morning 
 by ten o'clock we stood on the doorstep of the famous 
 professor of political economy of the Rome University. 
 
 "What 's the argument?" exclaimed Professor Pantaleoni 
 in his abrupt, incisive manner, pacing up and down his 
 library, evidently somewhat put out at the intrusion. 
 
 "Argument? There's no argument; I haven't yet 
 spoken," rejoined Lubin, and settled down to tell his story. 
 
 His mode of presentation was always disconcerting to 
 those who did not know him. Instead of the stereotyped 
 talk on agriculture, interlarded with statistical data and 
 political and economic platitudes generally expected from 
 agrarian reformers, this strange looking Westerner would 
 start with the history of old Rome or Palestine, illustrat- 
 ing his contentions with Biblical texts, with parables and 
 illustrations, and while the amazed listener was getting 
 ready to dismiss a crank, if not a bore, he would gradually 
 find himself interested by the picturesque and forcible 
 language, and then seized and impressed by the logic of 
 this man who stated abstruse economic truths in the lan- 
 guage of a Bret Harte miner, and drew from his wide ex- 
 perience as merchant and farmer generalizations and de- 
 ductions as accurate and incontrovertible as they were 
 striking and novel. Hesitating and awkward at the start, 
 Lubin, if allowed to speak without interruption and he 
 would generally stipulate for this privilege would grad- 
 ually warm to his subject and become eloquent and impres- 
 sive. 
 
 So it was on this occasion ; and as I sat by, I saw on the 
 keen intellectual features of the Italian the gradual change 
 of mental attitude toward his unexpected visitor. When 
 we came in he looked as if ten minutes were all the time he 
 could spare. When Lubin had finished some two hours 
 had elapsed. 
 
 "You are right; the conditions you point to are here;
 
 188 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the trust has come to stay and can only be fought success- 
 fully if the agricultural interest is organized, is no longer 
 the lamb facing the two ravening wolves of which you have 
 spoken. And you state an economic truth when you point 
 out that this organization to be effective must be inter- 
 national. The idea is right, but it will take long years to see 
 it realized ; perhaps our children's children may do so ; we 
 shall not." 
 
 "Oh," replied Lubin, "but I have the promise of your 
 King that if the proposition is a sound one he will take the 
 initiative." 
 
 " You have seen the King ? When ? " 
 
 " Yesterday ; and I come to ask you to help me draw up 
 the definite propositions to be submitted to your Govern- 
 ment for action." 
 
 "How long have you been working on this? When did 
 you reach Rome ? " 
 
 "About three weeks ago," said Lubin in a matter-of-fact 
 way. Twenty days seemed to his impatience a very long 
 period. 
 
 "And you have the King's promise? " 
 
 "Yes; if his Ministers approve. It is now up to us to 
 convince them. Will you help ? " 
 
 The Professor's surprise was immense. Here indeed was 
 no idle dreamer but a man of action and achievement, a 
 general in whose ranks one might well enlist. 
 
 A little group of ardent workers was soon formed. Panta- 
 leoni, Montemartini, Guerrazzi, my husband, Antonio 
 Agresti, Professor Bosco, a gifted young man who died not 
 long after, Professor Colletti, these were the men who for 
 several weeks labored indefatigably to shape and refine and 
 give practical effect to the ideas Lubin had brought to Rome. 
 
 With American vim and energy Lubin allowed no time 
 to elapse before setting to work, and that very same evening, 
 October 25th, the little group held the first of many meet- 
 ings in his room in the Bristol Hotel. 
 
 The proposal, as elaborated by debate and study, was
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 189 
 
 indeed pregnant with possibilities. The associations of 
 concentrated capital and energy resulting in trust, merger, 
 and combine, were to be countered by organizing the agri- 
 cultural interests through the influences exerted directly 
 and indirectly by an International Chamber of Agriculture. 
 This Chamber was to be semi-official, the initiative for its 
 foundation being taken by the governments on the invita- 
 tion of the King of Italy. In effect, it would be an economic 
 parliament with advisory and consultative powers, through 
 which the farmers of the world could express their needs and 
 wishes. Its primary function would be to gather and dis- 
 seminate, on a world-wide scale, dynamic, price-forming 
 information on the condition and prospects of the growing 
 crops and on the world demand for them. Such information, 
 gathered by each nation and assembled, summarized and 
 published telegraphically by the Central Chamber, would 
 place the farmers in possession of that inside information 
 on crop conditions and stocks, on transport facilities and 
 market needs which had hitherto been gathered by private 
 interests and used as the stock in trade of the astute specu- 
 lator and price manipulator. 
 
 This dynamic, statistical information could not, however, 
 be secured by the concerted action of farmers alone. In all 
 countries the collection of such data on a systematic and re- 
 liable scale is the province of government, which, represent- 
 ing the conflicting interests of both buyers and consumers, 
 alone affords the requisite guarantee of impartiality. There- 
 fore, not only must the governments take the initiative in 
 starting the Chamber, but they must be directly represented 
 on its committees. 
 
 Lubin conceived of this Chamber as formed of an Upper 
 and a Lower House, the former to consist of one government 
 delegate for each country, the latter of members elected 
 by the voluntary agricultural associations, proportionately 
 to their number and importance. Thus the live economic 
 forces of the men actually engaged in farming, both as land- 
 owners and tenants, would be associated in permanent and
 
 190 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 continuous effort with the representatives of governments 
 to endow agriculture with ears, eyes and directing brain. 
 
 The possibilities for development under such a scheme 
 were vast indeed. Not only could this International Cham- 
 ber of Agriculture act as a world crop-reporting bureau, but 
 it could also be the recognized center for studying and ad- 
 vising on the international aspect of all questions in the field 
 of agricultural economics. Joint action for the control of 
 diseases of plants and animals ; international reinsurance 
 of agricultural risks; the international problems involved 
 in the regulation of forests and watersheds ; the protection 
 of agricultural products against fraud by international agree- 
 ments in the field of pure food legislation; international 
 regulation of the migration of farm labor so as to direct it 
 when and where required ; the upbuilding of the science of 
 agricultural meteorology through concerted government 
 action; the rapid clearing of information on developments 
 in the field of agricultural cooperation for credit, insurance, 
 production and marketing, placing the experience acquired 
 by one at the service of all, these were all problems which 
 the Chamber would deal with. It would have authority 
 to propose to member governments draft agreements for 
 collective action in the interests of agriculture ; it would be 
 in a unique position to promote agricultural organization. 
 
 Nor was this all. Under its auspices one might expect 
 exchanges to be opened in the world's market centers in 
 which the agricultural associations would themselves place 
 on sale the products of the farm, and it might well be that 
 in time the insurance and transportation of the staples would 
 come within the purview of the activities of organizations 
 which would grow up as a result of the Chamber's labors. 
 It can be readily seen how powerful an instrument it could 
 thus become in fighting the trust. 
 
 "But could not governments, through legislation, abolish 
 detrimental mergers, combinations and trusts ? " Lubin was 
 asked in one of the debates at the Bristol Hotel, and he re- 
 plied :
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 191 
 
 "No; absolutely no. In order to do so the Government 
 would first have to possess the power to abolish the right in 
 personal property and substitute in its stead the right of 
 the State to dictate what shall be done with personal prop- 
 erty. Any legislation under the present social system in 
 the direction of prohibiting the right of incorporation or of 
 combination must necessarily prove useless for the end in 
 view. The way to abolish detrimental trusts, combinations 
 and mergers is to prevent them from getting hold of the 
 product in the first place. The International Chamber of 
 Agriculture, as trustee for the welfare of the world's agri- 
 cultural producers, would be able to indicate to the farmers 
 how their products could be disposed of outside of the harm- 
 ful influences of such trusts." 
 
 At the time Lubin was talking thus in Rome, Wash- 
 ington was ringing with stirring denunciations of the trusts, 
 culminating in the Sherman and Clayton laws. Time and 
 experience have shown which side was the exponent of the 
 truest statesmanship in this matter, and if the organization 
 which Lubin advocated has never yet been given a fair 
 chance to show all it could do in this direction, the other 
 policy has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. 
 
 In all this Lubin was far from advocating State intrusion 
 in the domain of trade ; he always looked upon such experi- 
 ments with suspicion. The developments he foresaw as 
 likely to arise from the activities of the Chamber were to 
 be the result of free association, initiative, development; 
 they were to be no parasitic growth dependent on govern- 
 ment subsidies. A small percentage on the business done 
 by produce exchanges operating under the auspices of the 
 International Chamber, or the sale of "seats" therein, would 
 provide the means of meeting any expense, however con- 
 siderable, which the formation and working of the Inter- 
 national Chamber might entail. Government was only to 
 set the ball rolling; to coordinate effort; to supply the 
 machinery for collecting the data on crop areas, conditions, 
 prospects, and results ; to act as impartial umpire ; to exam-
 
 192 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 ine and, if deemed advisable, give effect to draft conventions 
 prepared by the Chamber for collective action. 
 
 If their heads were in the clouds, Lubin and his coad- 
 jutors had their feet firmly planted on Mother Earth. They 
 carefully guarded against the error of attributing the func- 
 tions of a super-government to this vast international eco- 
 nomic association. National sovereignty was in no wise to 
 be challenged. "How would the proposed International 
 Chamber of Agriculture affect tariff questions and the 
 internal economic policy of the nations?" was a question 
 put to Lubin in one of the debates. He replied: "The 
 sovereignty right is vested in each nation. The Inter- 
 national Chamber of Agriculture would not have the power 
 to interfere with that right. The nations would be free, as 
 now, to legislate on and protect their agricultural interests 
 as they may see fit. The proposed International Chamber 
 would be consultative and deliberative, it would come to 
 conclusions, and it would advise that these conclusions be 
 adopted." 
 
 Such was the concrete form in which the ideal David 
 Lubin had been groping after for so many years was taking 
 shape. A work which might well be deemed worthy of a 
 "Fighter for God" was dawning on his sight. It was no 
 effort to seek special advantage, but an effort toward the 
 higher synthesis. The International Chamber would be 
 the lofty economic observatory from whose summit the 
 several lines of the particular would be seen merging into 
 the Universal. What greater work for peace than to make 
 men realize that a loss to one is a curse to all, a benefit to 
 one a blessing to all ; and to teach this lesson not from the 
 pulpit as an abstract theory, but by affording an enlightened 
 view of actual facts in the business world? Was not this 
 work truly paving the way for the time when swords should 
 be beaten into plowshares ? 
 
 In the debates of those first eager, hectic weeks the essen- 
 tial solidarity of economic interests was constantly enforced. 
 
 "As the staples of agriculture are governed by interna-
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 193 
 
 tional prices, price depression caused by detrimental combi- 
 nations must affect farmers adversely, not only in the 
 territory of such combinations but also in other territories 
 where no such combinations exist." 
 
 "Would not the proposed association enable the un- 
 developed nations to profit at the expense of the developed ? " 
 
 "They would undoubtedly profit, but not at the expense 
 of the developed nations. Increased prosperity of the less 
 fully developed would tend to increase their imports of 
 manufactures and thus equalize the benefits in all direc- 
 tions." 
 
 "Would it not seem that the more highly organized and 
 developed agricultural nations would not desire to see their 
 less developed rivals organize?" 
 
 "Not at all, for the highly organized countries are intelli- 
 gent enough to understand the benefits they can derive from 
 the progress of the less developed. In the first place, the 
 abnormally low prices in undeveloped countries tend to 
 make the world's price for agricultural products, and if 
 these abnormal prices are raised to the normal level this 
 would advance the world's price and hence advance the 
 price in the developed countries. Secondly, the increased 
 agricultural prosperity of undeveloped countries would 
 correspondingly tend to increase the exports of manufac- 
 tures from the more developed into the less developed, and 
 thus there would be ample compensation." 
 
 The almost mystic fervor which inspired Lubin was re- 
 flected in his collaborators. They were developing that 
 faith which can move mountains. But every now and again 
 a cold douche of skepticism would give a shock productive 
 of wholesome reaction. 
 
 In his eagerness to carry the work to a successful con- 
 clusion, Lubin would sally forth occasionally on his own 
 initiative to win new converts, and in this connection he 
 had some amusing experiences. When the purpose is to 
 speak on matters of public importance to public men, he 
 could see no need for the formality of introductions, and
 
 194 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 very generally this worked out all right. Anyhow, acting 
 on this theory, he never hesitated to present himself, accom- 
 panied by his book of recommendations, at the house of 
 the people he wished to see and ask for admittance. I 
 remember on one occasion driving with him to the palatial 
 residence of the Marquis Cappelli, then President of the 
 Society of Italian Agriculturists. He sent up his card and 
 his book by the porter, and in a few minutes word came that 
 the Marquis wanted no wines and could not receive him. 
 
 " Wines ? Does the d d fool think I want to sell wines ? " 
 Lubin said to me when I explained the situation. "Tell 
 him I have nothing to sell but come to speak to him on a 
 matter of public interest.' ' 
 
 After some going back and forth, we were shown into 
 a magnificent room where a handsome, elderly represent- 
 ative of the European landowning aristocracy received us 
 very stiffly. As interpreter I had to explain the situation. 
 " What do you want?" was the testy query; in answer to 
 which Lubin, nothing daunted, handed the Marquis a type- 
 written statement (the same which had secured him the sup- 
 port of the King) with a request that he look it over. As 
 the old gentleman rapidly turned the pages, he kept mut- 
 tering the equivalents in Italian of "Stuff", "Nonsense", 
 " Preposterous ", and then handing the paper back, he said : 
 " There is nothing in your idea ; nothing at all. You grow 
 lemons and oranges in California; we grow lemons and 
 oranges in Sicily ; we are rivals ; there is no basis for 
 international action in agriculture," and he showed us 
 out. When some three weeks later the King's letter was 
 published, taking the initiative, one of the first congratula- 
 tory messages was that sent by Marquis Cappelli, who was 
 to become the second President of the International Insti- 
 tute of Agriculture and a firm convert to its ideas. 
 
 On another occasion it was to a student, a historian as 
 well as a large landowner, that Lubin introduced himself. 
 Count Pier Desiderio Pasolini received the stranger with 
 all the courtesy of the pld-time gentleman, though with
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 195 
 
 some undisguised amazement. He made him sit down and 
 listened carefully to his statement, calling in his son, as 
 representing the ideas of the younger generation. The 
 young man was inclined to scoff, but his father reproved 
 him: "The iq'ea is noble, generous; its promulgator de- 
 serves respect; but look here," he said, leading Lubin to a 
 window commanding a wide view over the great city, "you 
 come from a young country to which all things seem possible ; 
 but remember, you are in Rome, and Rome is a great lady, 
 but she is very very old ; she is weary with the weight of 
 her history ; she is of the past ; your idea is of the future ; 
 you must take it elsewhere." 
 
 And many too were the pitfalls narrowly avoided. It was 
 essential to keep the whole matter from the press, for if 
 the King's name had been bandied about in half-cooked 
 newspaper reports, the proposal would have been turned to 
 ridicule and dropped like a hot potato by those responsible 
 before the Sovereign ; then too Lubin's complete ignorance 
 of the wheels within wheels in Italian and Roman politics 
 laid him open to the risk of appealing to the wrong as well 
 as to the right people. 
 
 For instance, in one of his moments of depression,' when 
 weeks seemed to him years and hours days, and when he 
 feared that after all nothing would come of his endeavors, 
 Lubin appealed for help to a fellow countrywoman, married 
 to an Italian Count, a lady of volcanic energy and no little 
 ability. She suggested taking him to the Pope. To Lubin, 
 with his mystic vision of the Church Universal as by right 
 the educator of the peoples, the idea appealed strongly. 
 Leo XIII had issued the Encyclical on Labor, why should 
 not Pius X issue an encyclical on agriculture ? On her side 
 the Countess rather fancied playing the part of mediator 
 between Church and State, effecting a reconciliation be- 
 tween the Quirinal and the Vatican with international agri- 
 culture as the olive-branch. Of course, such a step would 
 have been fatal. It would have been looked upon as an 
 insult by the King and his Government who had the proposal
 
 196 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 under consideration, and would have been received with 
 suspicion by the Vatican. But Lubin's frankness and 
 loyalty enabled him to thread his way safely through the 
 mazes of political situations which he could not be expected 
 to understand. He would take no step before consulting 
 his "pioneers", as he called the little band of the first days, 
 and on this occasion Guerrazzi was soon able to show him 
 how things stood. "I see: it would be like trying to sit 
 on two stools and falling between them," he replied, and the 
 matter was settled so far as he was concerned. 
 
 By a mixture of daring and prudence, of shrewdness and 
 simplicity, Lubin succeeded in winning important friends 
 to his cause, among them a professor of finance, an influential 
 member of Parliament, and a prominent figure in the social 
 life of Rome, the Marchese de Viti de Marco. Essentially 
 skeptical and critical, de Viti's was not a temperament 
 readily susceptible to humanitarian enthusiasms, and he 
 saw more clearly than the others the many rocks and shoals 
 ahead, but he could also see that from an economic stand- 
 point Lubin had logic on his side, and what the Marchese 
 lacked in enthusiasm was supplied by his American wife. 
 They became prominent among the little band of workers 
 through whom Lubin's dynamic force found expression. 
 
 During these weeks of work the group kept in touch with 
 Luzzatti, who watched the elaboration of the idea with 
 interest, and Guerrazzi, who had easy access to the King, 
 saw that His Majesty was kept informed of developments. 
 
 By December the proposal had developed into shape. A 
 report was drawn up by professors Pantaleoni and Monte- 
 martini ; it was now the turn of the Government to act. 
 
 Lubin's anxiety and impatience knew no bounds. His 
 education in the rights and privileges of constitutional 
 monarchs had been sadly neglected, and it was hard to per- 
 suade him that a king could not say "Do", and it would 
 be done; "Go", and they went. It took no small effort 
 to make him realize that the King of Italy has less power 
 than the President of the United States.
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 197 
 
 So restless was he during the inevitable weeks of waiting 
 that early in December he went to Palermo to await the 
 decision in a climate more favorable to his severe bronchial 
 trouble. "But he could not stay away from Rome" (I 
 quote from Guerrazzi's recollections) "and before Christmas 
 he was among us again, more impatient than ever. The 
 days went by and still no answer came ; Lubin was in despair. 
 He was constantly urging me to seek information and put 
 pressure on influential quarters. So poignant was his 
 anxiety that he would break through his usual discretion and 
 thoughtfulness for others and drive up to my door very late 
 at night to inquire for the hundredth time whether I really 
 believed that the initiative would be taken. And when I 
 once more assured him that it could not fail to materialize, 
 he would go off comforted, and the next day a beautiful 
 flowering plant or a huge box of candies for my wife and 
 children would be delivered with his card." 
 
 Thus in alternatives of hope and despondency the weeks 
 went by. Lubin spent much of his time in his room, read- 
 ing the Bible ; then strong in the conviction that he was 
 working on lines consonant with Universal Law, he would 
 sally forth to work for the idea. I found myself intrusted 
 with the most unlooked-for tasks. Lubin would give me 
 orders to see to it that a Cabinet meeting was held by a 
 certain date, and I would rush off, get this one to write, 
 the other to go, and somehow or other the thing would be 
 done. Luzzatti was the power behind the throne, and the 
 King himself let it be known that he wished for a decision. 
 
 At last the Ministers examined the proposal and ap- 
 proved of it. Giolitti, then Prime Minister, could see that 
 Italy had nothing to lose and much to gain by placing her- 
 self at the head of a movement consonant with the role of 
 teacher and moderator in the international sphere for which 
 geographical position, tradition, and her recent history have 
 prepared her. 
 
 It was decided that the initiative should take the form 
 of a letter addressed by Victor Emmanuel to his Prime
 
 198 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Minister, inviting him to call an international conference 
 to consider Lubin's proposal. 
 
 The last steps had now to be taken. The instructions 
 to Italy's diplomatic agents in foreign countries, which 
 must accompany the King's letter, had to be drawn up. 
 This task was intrusted by the Government to the Marchese 
 de Viti. 
 
 Lubin watched over every step with the anxiety of a 
 parent for a loved child. He dreaded any delay, and pro- 
 crastination was characteristic of de Viti. Lubin was lunch- 
 ing at their house. He risked all on a throw: "The 
 American people as a rule do not look with favor on American 
 women who marry foreign titles," he did not hesitate to 
 say to the Marchesa, "but you have a great opportunity to 
 change prejudice into approval. It is in your power to 
 have this paper delivered within twenty-four hours : this 
 will insure the prompt issue of the Call, and the day will come 
 when the American people will honor you as one of the 
 pioneers in the fight for economic justice." 
 
 The Marchese looked up and asked when the paper was 
 wanted. "Let me have it to-morrow," Lubin said. On the 
 morrow it was delivered. In the ordinary course of events 
 two or three months might easily have elapsed before de Viti, 
 absorbed in multifarious occupations, would have attended 
 to this particular piece of work. 
 
 The time will come when this document will be hunted 
 up and studied carefully as the charter for progress in a vital 
 section of the economic field. It mirrors the vision which 
 Lubin had summoned up, which had struck the imagination 
 of the King and inspired his Italian collaborators. 
 
 By the middle of January all was ready, and the text of 
 the letter which the King was to sign was communicated to 
 Lubin. It gave rise to an incident characteristic of the 
 two chief actors in these events. 
 
 Lubin was a lion when his idea was at stake, but in personal 
 matters he was essentially modest and retiring ; he believed 
 himself to be just an "ordinary scrub", as he would phrase
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 199 
 
 it. The work was everything, his personality was absorbed 
 and lost in it. Therefore when he found that his name was 
 to appear in the King's letter he was seriously disturbed. 
 It would never do to intrude his personality on the scene; 
 it would detract from the dignity of a historic document. 
 He drove off with me on a Sunday afternoon to the Ministry 
 of the Treasury to see Luzzatti and have his name removed. 
 Luzzatti listened to his arguments unconvinced, but said he 
 would refer the matter higher up, and transmit the answer. 
 And the answer was that Victor Emmanuel thought it would 
 detract from the dignity of a king to take another man's 
 idea and not give him credit for it! There was nothing 
 more to be said. 
 
 On January 24, 1905, exactly three months to a day from 
 the audience with the King at San Rossore, and three months 
 and twenty days after Lubin's arrival in Rome, the press of 
 Italy and of the world was startled by the publication of the 
 following letter : 
 
 To His Excellency, Cav. Giovanni Giolitti, 
 President of the Council of Ministers, 
 Rome. 
 
 Dear President : 
 
 A citizen of the United States, Mr. David Lubin, ex- 
 plained to me with that warmth which comes from a sin- 
 cere conviction, an idea which seemed to me practical and 
 valuable and which, for that reason, I recommend to the 
 attention of my Government. 
 
 The agricultural classes, generally the most numerous, 
 and who exert everywhere a great influence on the destiny 
 of nations, live disunited and dispersed, and are consequently 
 unable to provide adequately for the improvement and 
 rational distribution of the various forms of agricultural 
 produce and to safeguard their own interests on the markets 
 which, in the case of agriculture, are becoming every day 
 more international. 
 
 For this reason an international institution, absolutely 
 unpolitical in its aims, which would have before it informa-
 
 200 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 tion on the conditions of agriculture in the different countries 
 of the world, which would notify periodically the quantity 
 and quality of the crops in hand, so as to facilitate their 
 production and render less costly and more rapid the trade 
 in same, and facilitate the attainment of a more favorable 
 settlement of prices, would be most highly beneficial. 
 
 This institution, acting in unison with the various national 
 associations already constituted for similar purposes, would 
 also furnish reliable information as to the demand and supply 
 of agricultural labor in various parts of the world, providing 
 emigrants with a safe and useful guide; it would promote 
 those agreements necessary for collective defence against 
 diseases of plants and live-stock which cannot be success- 
 fully fought by means of partial action ; and lastly, it would 
 exercise a timely influence on the development of societies 
 for rural cooperation, for agricultural insurance, and for 
 agrarian credit. 
 
 Such an institution, which would be an instrument of 
 solidarity for all the components of the agricultural classes, 
 and which would consequently be a powerful influence for 
 peace, would be capable of many beneficial developments. 
 Rome would be a worthy and propitious seat, and there 
 the representatives of the various States adhering to the 
 project, and the representatives of the principal associations 
 of the parties interested, should meet, so that the author- 
 ity of the various Governments and the free energies of the 
 tillers of the soil, may work harmoniously together. 
 
 I have faith that the nobility of the end in view will enable 
 the difficulties of the undertaking to be overcome, and in 
 this faith I am pleased to sign myself ( 
 
 Your affectionate cousin, 
 Victor Emmanuel \ 
 
 Lubin became a seven days' wonder. The press clamored 
 for interviews; fashionable salons were anxious to exhibit 
 the lion of the day. Who was this American who had 
 fallen like a bolt from the blue into the arena of world events, 
 with a King standing sponsor to his idea ? 
 
 1 As Knight of the Order of the Annunciation Giolitti is entitled to the com- 
 plimentary title of " cousin " of the King of Italy.
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 201 
 
 But if he had failed in securing anonymity, Lubin was 
 determined that his personality should remain in the back- 
 ground. "The idea could never have materialized with- 
 out the King ; mere ideas are of little value ; the credit is 
 due not to me but to the King of Italy." So he refused 
 all interviews, frustrated the efforts of photographers, left 
 his hotel by a back door to escape the ubiquitous reporter, 
 and clapped his hat over his face when an intruding kodak 
 nearly snapped him unawares. He would talk on the theme, 
 but nothing would induce him to touch on the "human in- 
 terest" side so dear to press-men. 
 
 Those days were not without their humors. I remember 
 one very stiff and starchy representative of an ultra-Tory 
 and extremely select London paper coming to seek for in- 
 formation. To Lubin its name stood for nothing, and he 
 suspected "yellow" journalism everywhere. "I am quite 
 willing to explain the proposition ; but I 'm not going to 
 tell you when I first sat up in a high chair or when I ate my 
 first pap." 
 
 "If you knew the standing of my paper you would realize 
 that it would accept no such trash," was the frosty reply 
 intended to crush the ignorant Yankee. 
 
 "That's all very well," Lubin went on serenely, "but this 
 is a question of economics. Now, I explain it to you, and 
 that's all right; but you send in your 'copy' to your paper, 
 and how am I to know what sort of a story will be given out ? 
 Perhaps the editor will want it cut down, and he calls in 
 Jones. Now, Jones is the man who writes up the dog-fights, 
 and you can imagine what sort of economics will be the 
 result," and, utterly unconscious of the sacrilege he had 
 committed, Lubin talked on to a listener well-nigh speech- 
 less with indignation, who afterwards remarked in an English 
 drawing-room that he didn't think any the better of the 
 King of Italy for taking up with that fellow Lubin ! 
 
 But even while receiving congratulations, Lubin realized 
 that this first step must be immediately followed by hard 
 work. Not only was his own reputation at stake, but the
 
 202 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 dignity of the King and Government which had honored 
 him so signally with their confidence required that the 
 initiative should be crowned by a complete diplomatic suc- 
 cess. 
 
 The news he received from America showed that the pro- 
 posal was meeting with a hostile reception from the De- 
 partment of Agriculture. From a Department point of 
 view Lubin was a rank outsider; what did he mean by 
 poaching on what should have been the Secretary's pre- 
 serves? Moreover, Secretary Wilson failed to grasp the 
 real crux of the question, i.e. that the price of staples with 
 a world market is a world price, determined by a knowledge 
 of world conditions, and that, therefore, the farmers need a 
 central world crop-reporting bureau. Secondary develop- 
 ments by-products of the proposed international organi- 
 zation such as collective action against plant diseases, 
 or international regulation of migratory farm labor, were 
 taken by him to be primary, and as their value was dis- 
 counted, the tendency was to look askance at the whole 
 scheme. In fact, Secretary Wilson's personal antagonism 
 to Lubin was such that the invitation to attend the confer- 
 ence would have been refused had not Secretary of State 
 Hay and President Roosevelt taken the decision into their 
 own hands as being primarily a diplomatic and not an agri- 
 cultural question. 
 
 And just as Lubin had shifted his primary action from 
 Washington to Rome, so his keen political instinct told him 
 not to train guns on Washington but to win the support of 
 the leading European countries. If they rallied to the flag 
 unfurled by the King of Italy he felt sure of overcoming an op- 
 position based so largely on misunderstanding and prejudice. 
 
 Budapest, where he had formulated the first vague out- 
 line of the idea which had now taken shape, and where he had 
 made firm friends in 1896, should be the first stage in his 
 effort. So towards the end of February, in severe winter 
 weather, his frame shaken by the racking cough which gave 
 him little rest, he left Rome.
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 203 
 
 Central Europe was well prepared to grasp the full signifi- 
 cance of the King's initiative, for it was keenly alive to the 
 political as well as the economic importance of the farmer. 
 On the other hand, the essential solidarity of agricultural 
 interests was a truth it failed to realize. Its own outlook 
 was so narrow and selfish that it deemed it incredible that 
 an American, a representative (even if an unofficial one) of 
 the farmers of the great continent which it looked upon 
 only as a dangerous competitor, against whose products it 
 was ever building up tariff walls, should come bearing 
 genuine gifts. And so the wiseacres felt sure that some 
 deep-laid plot to secure information as to European con- 
 ditions and markets with a view to strangling European 
 agriculture in the interest of transatlantic trusts must be 
 the motive Lubin concealed behind fair words. "Besides," 
 said the anti-Semites of Budapest, Vienna, and Berlin, "is 
 he not a Jew ? And what can you expect of such ? " 
 
 Moreover, how could anything good hail from shores 
 other than those of the Fatherland? And, sure enough, 
 at the meeting to which Lubin had been invited by the 
 agrarians to explain his proposal, the ubiquitous German 
 professor bobbed up serene with a claim to priority. Doctor 
 Charles Ruhland, accompanied by a satellite bearing the 
 significant name of Klapper, claimed the idea as his. 
 
 "Tell me, in what printed document you first set forth 
 the idea of an International Chamber of Agriculture ? " Lubin 
 inquired. "Give chapter, page, and line, and we will see." 
 
 "Everybody knows the idea is mine, and anyhow it was 
 in the air, l es war in der Luff" came the reply. 
 
 "Oh, in the air, was it?" Lubin replied, as he handed a 
 book, on which he had been sitting, to his interpreter. 
 "Please read out of this, and give the title, chapter, page, 
 and lines," he said. 
 
 He had procured from the Ministry of Agriculture a copy 
 of the proceedings of the 1896 congress, and the passage 
 read out contained his idea as enunciated in embryo nearly 
 ten years before. The claim of plagiarism was exploded,
 
 204 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and with characteristic generosity at the banquet offered 
 him that evening by men won over to warm support, Lubin 
 hunted out Doctor Ruhland and insisted on his sharing with 
 him the honors at the head of the table. 
 
 "Dear Mrs. Agresti," he wrote to me from Vienna on 
 March 7th, "it is all right! Every one is enthusiastic! 
 Not only in Italy and in Hungary, but also in Austria. So 
 you should be hard at work, and so should the rest of the 
 Committee. I suppose by this time the Proclamation in the 
 three translations is in circulation. Are you at work ? " 
 
 In Vienna he joined forces with the two representatives 
 of the Italian Committee appointed to prepare the pro- 
 gram for the conference, Prince Scipione Borghese and 
 Professor Giovanni Lorenzoni. 
 
 The suspicions of Machiavellian designs on the part of 
 the United States to subvert the tariff policy of Central 
 Europe were dispelled by contact with Lubin, but he could 
 see that the interpretation the agrarian party wished to 
 give to the King's initiative was narrow and selfish. 
 
 "It is quite manifest," Lubin wrote some months later to 
 Senator Lodge, "to those who have observed the matter 
 closely that the great landed interests in Central Europe 
 are very desirous that the United States do not become a 
 part of the Institute. In their absence the Institute is 
 almost sure to become a secret organization, when the 
 European nations will have the advantage of obtaining the 
 information we freely furnish, which together with that to 
 be gathered by the Institute would give them every advan- 
 tage over the United States." 
 
 Both in America and in Europe Lubin was experiencing 
 the suspicion and the hostility of the "practical" man. 
 
 "What will it put into my pocket? I want none of this 
 'righteousness' talk; I'm a practical man, I am. What's 
 there in it for me ?" * 
 
 And Lubin would patiently set to work to show that it 
 would benefit the farmer, because it would give him the 
 knowledge necessary to hold his own against the trust;
 
 THE ROMANCE OF AN IDEA 205 
 
 that it would benefit the merchant, because it would tend to 
 minimize price fluctuations ; that it would benefit labor, 
 because the staples of the farm are the raw material of the 
 factory and violent price disturbances endanger the secure 
 tenor of his job. 
 
 From Germany Lubin went to France and thence to 
 England. Meantime, Washington learned from the German 
 Ambassador that his country would be strongly represented 
 at the Rome conference. Where Germany was, France 
 could not be absent. England, although believing herself 
 but slightly concerned, would not say nay to the invitation 
 of the King of Italy. 
 
 In Paris, Lubin called on the Russian Ambassador, Mou- 
 rawieff. "My boy," he had said, slapping the distinguished 
 diplomat on the knee, "you know as well as I do that the 
 economic destinies of Russia are swayed at present by the 
 grain manipulators and that your government is powerless 
 to cope single-handed with this new and gigantic evil, the 
 trust. Russia cannot afford to be absent when such work 
 is being undertaken." And the Ambassador, surprised and 
 impressed, had written Lubin an emphatic indorsement of 
 the idea and had undertaken to urge his Government to be 
 properly represented. 
 
 Lubin's plan of action justified itself ; the Department of 
 State decided to be represented, selecting as its delegates 
 Mr. Henry White, then American Ambassador in Rome, 
 Doctor A. Wood, a plant pathologist sent by the Department 
 of Agriculture, and Mr. William F. Hill, Master of the Penn- 
 sylvania State Grange, who came as the representative of 
 the American farmers. 
 
 Lubin was ignored. In one sense this was right, as he 
 could not be judge and jury to pass on his own idea. 
 
 On May 25, 1905, seven months from the date on which 
 David Lubin had first reached Rome, the representatives 
 of forty nations assembled in the Eternal City to judge of 
 the idea which this American citizen had placed before the 
 King of Italy.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 When, on the 20th of May, 1905, the delegations of the 
 forty governments represented at the conference settled 
 down to their task in Palazzo Corsini, great uncertainty 
 mingled with much skepticism prevailed among them. 
 
 Not only was David Lubin absent from the sittings, but 
 the little group of pioneers which had worked with such ardor 
 to get the idea into shape had not been called to complete 
 its task. At the last moment Professor Pantaleoni's name 
 was added to the list of the Italian delegation, but he 
 was in a minority of one. 
 
 The usual thing had occurred. The daring which leads 
 to victory had given place to timidity ; devotion to an idea 
 to considerations of place and person. The bigwigs of 
 official agriculture, the same who had turned down Lubin 
 whenever he had approached them tentatively prior to the 
 publication of the King's letter, recovering from their first 
 speechless astonishment at the whole proceeding, now rushed 
 in, determined to "save" the King from the consequences 
 of the wild excursion through the realm of idealistic novelty 
 into which, in their opinion, he had been rashly allowed to 
 adventure. The "grocery man" was to have his innings. 
 
 The guiding of the labors of the conference, instead of 
 being in the hands of such practical idealists as Luzzatti, 
 Montemartini, Pantaleoni, de Viti de Marco, and others who 
 could all point to solid achievement in public finance, in 
 science, in organization, and in economics, was intrusted to 
 the mediocrity of titled parliamentarians, accustomed to see 
 their names on the membership of royal commissions, parlia- 
 mentary inquiries, and decorative official associations. All 
 were there
 
 INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 207 
 
 " to scramble at the feast, 
 and shove away the worthy bidden guest." 
 
 The foreign delegations were preponderatingly diplomatic, 
 each headed by its Ambassador ; nevertheless, many leading 
 experts on agricultural matters were present, and the Ger- 
 man, Austrian, and Hungarian delegations counted among 
 their members the leading exponents of their agrarian parties, 
 and some of the foremost authorities in the field of agri- 
 cultural cooperation and organization. 
 
 Undoubtedly, the perfunctory character of the American 
 delegation and the tepid support given by Washington went 
 far to endanger the success of the whole effort. Still, the 
 diplomatic element, of which Ambassador White, who 
 headed the United States delegation, was a prominent repre- 
 sentative, while little comprehending or caring for the 
 scheme, looked at it from a political standpoint and saved 
 the day. 
 
 The meeting had been called by the King of Italy; the 
 purpose if not valuable was certainly innocuous ; agriculture 
 is neither disarmament nor revolution; it is a subject to 
 which all feel bound to pay lip-homage ; and so long as it 
 was clearly understood that no inroads were to be made on 
 national sovereignty rights, it was desirable that the ini- 
 tiative should be crowned with a diplomatic success. 
 
 Venturing on the untried ground of international action, 
 the conference proceeded by way of exclusion. The first 
 anxiety of the agrarian parties was to make sure that the 
 future body would lay no claim to interfere with tariff legis- 
 lation. Then they saw a possible danger for themselves in 
 international action for the control of diseases of animals 
 which might hinder their policy of supplementing the tariff 
 by exclusions on the pretext of trichinosis. The big land- 
 owning interests were likewise determined that the function 
 of guiding the migratory currents of farm labor a pro- 
 posal to which the Italian and some of the South American 
 delegations attached special importance should not be one 
 of the duties of the new organ. These points were settled
 
 208 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to their satisfaction. As we have seen, it had been no part 
 of the original intent to encroach in any wise on national 
 sovereignty rights, and fears on this head were set at rest 
 by the formula: "All questions concerning the economic 
 interests, the legislation, and the administration of a partic- 
 ular nation shall be excluded from the consideration of the 
 Institute." 
 
 But the real struggle took place over the nature of the 
 proposed organization. In the intention of the founders 
 it was to be neither an academy, nor a bureau, nor a legis- 
 lative body. It was to be for agriculture very much what the 
 Chambers of Commerce are for trade a deliberative and 
 consultative body in permanent session ; which might be 
 expected to give rise to many autonomous developments 
 such, for instance, as the produce exchanges referred to in 
 the previous chapter the outcome of an organ which was 
 to focus, coordinate, and discipline the activities of the 
 agricultural world. 
 
 In the writings he circulated, Lubin, as we have seen, 
 advocated a permanent, semi-official Chamber, consisting 
 of an upper and a lower house. Central Europe wanted to 
 see the future organ in the hands of the agrarians and ad- 
 vocated a body elected by the agricultural associations, act- 
 ing independently of governments and aiming mainly at 
 organizing the agrarian as opposed to industrial and labor 
 interests. The Italians favored one house, consisting both 
 of elected delegates and government representatives, but as 
 to its duties they were decidedly vague. 
 
 These various views had been more or less fully discussed 
 in the preparatory period and the assumption was that a 
 compromise would be reached along these lines. But now 
 the French, who had taken little or no part in preliminary 
 discussions, came forward with a clear-cut plan of their 
 own. 
 
 France was at that time bitterly divided by the aftermath 
 of the famous Dreyfus "affair" and by fierce controversies 
 over the separation of Church and State. The internal
 
 INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 209 
 
 political situation made that government resolutely hostile 
 to the creation of any body which would confer prestige and 
 authority on representatives of free agricultural associations. 
 No one must be entitled to speak for French agriculture but 
 the French government, and the new institution must either 
 be exclusively a government institution or not be at all, at 
 least so far as France was concerned. On this point the 
 French delegation was unanimous and uncompromising, 
 as against the Italian delegation which was half-hearted, 
 and others quite willing to side in with whoever would pro- 
 pose a solution likely to bring the proceedings to a decorous 
 close, giving nominal satisfaction to the Royal Initiator, 
 while at the same time committing their governments to 
 nothing rash. 
 
 This point of view coincided with the instructions on which 
 the American delegation was acting, and soon the French 
 rallied to their side a majority in the conference. The 
 only stiff opposition came from the Central Empires, un- 
 willing to see international bureaucracy interfere in the field 
 of agricultural organization. They made a hard fight, 
 threatening to withdraw when they saw that their views 
 would be defeated. But here again the diplomatic character 
 of the conference saved the day. The Ambassadors of the 
 Central Empires could see that it would never do for the 
 Powers of the Triple Alliance to defeat a proposal sponsored 
 by the King of Italy, and their delegations reluctantly as- 
 sented to Article 2 of the protocol : 
 
 "The International Institute of Agriculture is to be a 
 government institution in which each adhering power shall 
 be represented by delegates of its choice." 
 
 The "two houses" idea was finally modified into that 
 of a Permanent Committee, on which each adhering govern- 
 ment should be represented by one delegate of its choice, 
 intrusted with the executive power of the Institute, acting 
 under the direction and control of a General Assembly. 
 This Assembly, meeting at stated intervals, would consist 
 likewise of government appointees, but it was pointed out
 
 210 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to the delegations favoring representation of the agricul- 
 tural associations that nothing prevented their governments 
 from choosing delegates from among such associations. The 
 number of representatives which each government might 
 send to the General Assembly was not fixed, but whatever 
 their number, each nation would only be entitled to a number 
 of votes determined by the group to which it belonged 
 five votes for the governments entering the first group and 
 paying sixteen units of assessment; four for those in the 
 second group paying eight units, three for those in the third 
 paying four units; two for those in the fourth paying two 
 units ; and one for those in the fifth paying one unit of assess- 
 ment. 
 
 When agreement had been reached as to the nature of 
 the Institute and as to what it was not to do, the functions 
 to be intrusted to it were soon settled. All agreed that its 
 main activity should be statistical and informative : 
 
 "Collect, study, and publish, as promptly as possible, 
 statistical, technical or economic information concerning 
 farming, the trade in agricultural products, and the prices 
 prevailing in the various markets. Communicate to parties 
 interested, also as promptly as possible, all the information 
 just referred to." 
 
 Besides this it was to : 
 
 "Indicate the wages paid for farm labor; make known 
 new plant diseases appearing in any part of the world, show- 
 ing the territories infected, the progress of the disease, and, 
 if possible, the remedies effective for its control ; study 
 questions concerning agricultural cooperation, insurance, 
 and credit in all their aspects ; collect and publish informa- 
 tion which might be useful in the various countries in the 
 organization of works connected therewith." 
 
 The final clause of this Article 9 of the protocol conferred 
 on the new body power to " submit to the approval of govern- 
 ments measures for the protection of the common interests 
 of farmers and for the improvement of their condition." 
 
 Thus, amid the indifference of the public, and the dif-
 
 INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 211 
 
 fidence of governments and agricultural associations, arose 
 an institution which was very truly a new departure in inter- 
 national life, a pioneer in the field of world organization. 
 That those who created it failed to recognize the significance 
 of the decisions to which they had come is, however, patent 
 from the total inadequacy of the means with which they en- 
 dowed it. Compromising even the future, they laid down 
 in an Article of the protocol that "in no event shall the con- 
 tribution due per unit of assessment ever exceed a maximum 
 of twenty-five hundred francs." 
 
 Yet even when whittled down and shorn of many of the 
 more striking features which Lubin had in mind, this Inter- 
 national Institute of Agriculture as it was officially 
 christened by the conference differed essentially from all 
 previous international bodies. It was no mere scientific 
 bureau; it was no occasional conference; it was totally 
 different from the international congresses which meet to 
 pass resolutions and then disperse, leaving no one to see that 
 their recommendations are carried out. Nor was it, as 
 many of the pioneers feared, a mere organ of international 
 bureaucracy. The representatives of all the adhering 
 governments were brought together in a permanent, de- 
 liberative body, in direct touch with the governments from 
 which they emanated; while the Assembly provided the 
 means of keeping this Permanent Committee in contact 
 with, and under the control of the living agricultural forces 
 of a country, provided the farmers woke up to the importance 
 of the Institute and brought the necessary pressure to bear 
 on their home governments. 
 
 Moreover, the Institute was to act not only as an inter- 
 national crop-reporting bureau, but it was recognized as 
 the legitimate organ through which the agricultural in- 
 terests in each country could voice their wishes in the inter- 
 national sphere, and it was empowered to formulate them as 
 draft conventions and to submit them to the several govern- 
 ments for approval. 
 
 In fact, we have here the first attempt in history to create
 
 212 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 an international parliamentary body. The protocol signed 
 by the plenipotentiaries of the forty governments repre- 
 sented at the conference on the seventh of June one 
 thousand nine hundred and five may properly claim to be a 
 historic document, for it created the first League of Nations, 
 a League of Nations for economic betterment. 
 
 But what of David Lubin during these weeks when the 
 success or failure of his life-work hung in the balance ? He 
 had returned to Rome about the middle of May. His posi- 
 tion was somewhat anomalous. His Government evidently 
 intended to ignore him, yet the letter of the King of Italy 
 left no doubt that the nations of the world had assembled to 
 discuss Lubin's idea, and the natural thing seemed to be to 
 find out from him what it was all about. Moreover, when 
 it was known that the membership of the conference would 
 be predominatingly diplomatic, the recently formed Unione 
 Agraria y of which a great landowner, Prince d'Antuni, was 
 president, decided to call a conference of the representatives 
 of agricultural associations to meet in Rome so as to submit 
 their views for the consideration of the official conference. 
 This was done, and the number and authority of the men who 
 attended the meetings in the Palazzo Ruspoli conferred no 
 small importance on their deliberations, which favored ac- 
 tion along the lines Lubin had advocated. Besides this, the 
 member of the American delegation who represented the 
 farmers, Mr. William F. Hill, Master of the Pennsylvania 
 State Grange, appointed at the eleventh hour as the result 
 of resolutions indorsing the initiative passed by the National 
 Grange and by the American Federation of Labor, naturally 
 gravitated towards Lubin, who, as we have seen, had for 
 long years been prominent among the patrons of husbandry. 
 
 Had personal ambition been an ingredient in Lubin's 
 make-up he would then have asserted his powerful per- 
 sonality. He would have shown resentment at the way he 
 was set aside and ignored, and stood up as a champion of 
 an influential minority, a minority which was, in fact, a 
 large majority. Had he done this, he could have had any
 
 INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 213 
 
 amount of publicity ; he could have counted on a powerful 
 following ; his views would have been widely discussed and 
 applauded. In fact, it was the lack of such "human in- 
 terest" as his personal action at this juncture would have 
 supplied which had deprived the initiative of the attention 
 it would otherwise have received. 
 
 It was a real disappointment to many of his stanchest 
 friends and supporters that he declined to take up this 
 attitude, for they believed that militancy on his part would 
 have won victory for a policy of dynamic action. And such 
 a militant attitude would have been natural to Lubin, who 
 was a born fighter. But he was adamant. 
 
 The King, by mentioning his name, had placed him 
 under a sacred obligation. By no action of his must 
 he lay himself open to the charge of using the honor as a 
 means of self-advertisement. He felt that in a certain 
 measure the dignity of a nation and of its Chief Executive 
 was in his keeping, and it was in safe hands. This was the 
 paramount consideration which made him determined to 
 lend himself to no noisy opposition. He would remain 
 strictly in the background, promoting the work by all means 
 in his power, but never obtruding his personality. 
 
 Already, in the early days after the proclamation, he had 
 written seeking advice of his Roman friends : 
 
 "My sole aim is so to shape my course as to have whatever 
 I do serve the best ends of your noble King, the honor of 
 your country and the promotion of the high ends we all 
 have in view. What puzzles me is this : if I display activity 
 in the work something within me seems to say 'Is it right 
 for you to court prominence in this work after the high 
 prominence given you by the chivalrous action of H. M. the 
 King?' Again, were I to sit down and do nothing, the 
 thought would surely come to me : ' You are a concrete 
 sample of the ungrateful and the lazy. Can you fold 
 your arms in idleness when there is so much work to 
 do?'" He would do the work, but he would avoid the 
 notoriety.
 
 214 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Moreover, Lubin had the long-range vision of the real 
 statesman. For all his volcanic energy no one realized 
 better than he the magnitude of the work he had set going, 
 a work which would now be shipwrecked by impatience. 
 Where others saw failure, he saw the tiny seed which with 
 careful husbandry might grow into a fruitful and wide- 
 spreading tree. 
 
 So he sat in his room in the Hotel Pincio waiting for news, 
 and those who wished to see him had to seek him out. And 
 they were many. 
 
 On his arrival in Rome the Italian Minister of Agricul- 
 ture, Luigi Rava, whom Lubin had approached in vain seven 
 months before, called officially on the man whom the King 
 "delighted to honor." He spoke no English and Lubin 
 spoke nothing else, and I was not present. Lubin sent for 
 the hotel porter as interpreter, made him sit down between 
 them, and, democratic fashion, offered him and the Minister 
 cigars. I well remember the look of relief with which His 
 Excellency saw me enter the room a few minutes later and 
 relieve him from what he evidently felt was an embarrassing 
 position. On another occasion it was the British delegation 
 the Earl of Jersey, Lord Minto, Sir Edward Buck and Sir 
 Thomas Elliott to whom Lubin explained his views, using, 
 I remember, to their evident surprise, a waste-paper basket, 
 which he placed on the table, and the several squares on the 
 carpet to which he kept pointing, to illustrate his point. The 
 squares were the several nations, the basket the Institute 
 into which they threw their crop-reporting information, and 
 which gave it forth in summarized form to the world. Lubin 
 never liked dealing in generalities ; his mind refused to grasp 
 them and craved for the concrete, Arizona, "This-er ", 
 "What-er", "That-er" mode of reasoning. With the 
 help of a rough diagram or an actual object to which he could 
 give a name, he would explain in kindergarten fashion the 
 idea he had in mind and make it so clear that he could not 
 be mistaken. "You never can tell what an Englishman is 
 thinking ; he just sits and listens and leaves you wondering
 
 INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE 215 
 
 whether he has understood or not," Lubin commented, after 
 the British had left. 
 
 Disappointment and discouragement had no part in him. 
 If surprise were expressed at the scant interest taken by the 
 press in a conference of such import he would say, "Yes, it 
 is much easier to interest the public in a dog-fight than in a 
 vital economic question, but then the dog-fight is soon for- 
 gotten." If difficulties were made much of, he would say, 
 "Of course all worth-while things are difficult. It is easy 
 enough to proclaim 'Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye: to-day is 
 Monday the 4th of June, 1905. ' Such a proclamation will 
 be true, and it will be easy ; but there will be no merit in it." 
 And to those who expressed disappointment with results, 
 he would tell a tale of two Russian moujiks who visit St. 
 Petersburg and stand open-mouthed before the cannon in 
 front of the Winter Palace, wondering how they are made. 
 At last one of them, scratching his head reflectively, says : 
 "I think I know how it's done. They take a hole and put 
 iron round it." "Well," Lubin would say, "that's just 
 what we must do. We must take a hole and put iron round 
 it. It is up to us to build this Institute." 
 
 He took up the program of work laid down by the 
 Treaty. Much of the original proposal had been eliminated, 
 but what he had always insisted should be its central func- 
 tion remained. The Treaty provided for an intelligence 
 office for gathering and disseminating crop-reporting and 
 statistical data "as rapidly as possible", an expression liable 
 to as many interpretations as there were points of view. 
 Should the static interpretation be adopted, it would mean 
 just one more bureau publishing red books and green books 
 and blue books, which would in due time find their way to 
 the paper mill. But if the interpretation were dynamic, 
 then a live crop-reporting center would be established in 
 Rome under the auspices of all the adhering governments, 
 in constant telegraphic communication with the producing 
 and marketing centers of the world, giving out data of com- 
 mercial, price-fixing value.
 
 216 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 It was toward the realization of such a service that Lubin 
 concentrated all his energies during the ensuing months. 
 
 Writing to Professor Pantaleoni on February 7, 1906, he 
 thus outlines the policy to be followed : 
 
 There should be no wild rush to dabble in multiform 
 directions; for the statistical labor, if properly performed, 
 will be quite sufficient. But I by no means refer to a mere 
 heaping up of figures which, when on good paper, is mainly 
 sought after by the "old junk man." What I mean are 
 figures valuable enough to tempt the thief to steal them 
 and the rogue to buy them. 
 
 If the International Institute of Agriculture can produce 
 figures sufficiently valuable to stand that test, there will be 
 sufficient reason why it will live and develop, but if it only 
 adds stuff for the "old junk man" it will only be permitted 
 to do so for a very short time. 
 
 It must necessarily be the case that up to the present time 
 the adherence of the nations is largely given as a matter of 
 courtesy at the request of your King, or as a matter of curi- 
 osity. Let the Institute simply gather up useless information 
 at high cost and the courtesy and the curiosity will cease at 
 short order. But let it prove to be a benefit, let it pay 
 twenty-fold for the outlay, and the nations will be quite 
 anxious to continue and strengthen it. 
 
 If Italy should be fortunate enough to guide this work 
 in the proper direction, in the direction of greatest potential 
 and practical gain not alone for herself but for all the nations 
 that have signed, if Italy can do this she takes her place, 
 with one bound, among the very few of the directing powers 
 in the history of the world, and will hold her place thus so 
 long as she performs this high duty in an acceptable manner. 
 
 Whence in olden times the Law went forth for a world ; 
 whence, after that, Religion was militantly promulgated; 
 thence shall go forth the fiat which shall decide the just 
 measure for Service among Men.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 
 
 For the next three years, until the Institute opened its 
 doors for the organizing session, David Lubin became its 
 peripatetic apostle. Officially the work of securing ratifi- 
 cation of the Treaty of June 5, 1905, was in the hands of the 
 Italian Royal Commission presided over by Count Eugenio 
 Faina. But Lubin well knew that perfunctory diplomatic 
 action would not secure support for an idea which had to 
 overcome the indifference of the many, the prejudice of the 
 conservative, the active but hidden opposition of "special 
 interests." 
 
 During the next few months David Lubin fixed his head- 
 quarters in Malvern, England, where he was joined by his 
 wife and three young children, Dorothy, Grace, and 
 Teddy. From this rural retreat he worked night and day, 
 elaborating his ideas in a series of letters, copies of which he 
 would send to an ever growing circle of correspondents. 
 Lubin found writing real, hard work ; he was not ready with 
 his pen ; and it must be borne in mind that he was an in- 
 novator, treading on untried ground, wrestling with grave 
 problems in economics which he was examining from a new 
 angle of vision. 
 
 The following letter to Doctor Bernat, Secretary of the 
 powerful Hungarian Agricultural Association, Magyar Gaz- 
 daszovetseg, is a sample of these propaganda letters. 
 
 Marlborough House, Malvern, England, 
 
 Nov. 26th, 1905. 
 Dear Dr. Bernat : 
 
 I have your letter of Nov. 24th as well as the letter you 
 sent me some time ago, and I will now reply to both.
 
 218 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 I confess that there was much cause for disappointment 
 in your previous letter. When I was in Budapest and in 
 Vienna there was great enthusiasm for the proposed Inter- 
 national Institute of Agriculture; especially so among the 
 Hungarians, but almost as short a time as it took to arouse 
 enthusiasm it took to dissipate every trace of it away. This 
 is contrary to my experience in England : here it was with 
 the utmost difficulty that the idea could be made to take 
 root, but as soon as it did take root it came to "stay." 
 
 But has not Hungary as much at stake in her agricultural 
 interests as England has? Surely. Then why this dif- 
 ference ? 
 
 You tried to explain it in your last letter by saying that 
 because the Rome Conference was not conducted on the lines 
 laid down by the meeting at Vienna the Hungarians would 
 have nothing to do with it. 
 
 Now, let us see how your conclusions will stand the test 
 of logic. 
 
 First of all, the Rome Conference was called by H. M. the 
 King of Italy, and the delegates were the high representatives 
 of the various governments. How, then, was it possible for 
 private individuals to intrude their will on the "floor" of 
 that Conference? 
 
 "But," say you, "that does not matter; just so long as 
 the Conference refuses to accept the ideas of our association 
 we will refuse to have anything to do with it." 
 
 Well, what else will you do? 
 
 "We will set up an international institute ourselves." 
 
 But is this practicable? Can you get another king to 
 make another proclamation, call another international 
 conference? Certainly not. But even if you could, what 
 guarantee would you have that just the ideas of your asso- 
 ciation would be adopted ? 
 
 "But we can create an international institution com- 
 posed of private agricultural associations, can we not ? " 
 
 But of what value would such an organization be? Of 
 no more practical value than evaporated naphtha would be 
 in running a motor-car. 
 
 "Well, if we cannot have our way then we will not favor 
 any other way."
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 219 
 
 No one can compel you ; but that need not prevent the 
 other way from being adopted, notwithstanding. And 
 would it be fortunate for your country if that were to be the 
 case? And it is quite likely to be the case; for Hungary 
 will either join as a pioneer country among the first, or it 
 will join as the "tail end", among the last. Which shall it 
 be? Please remember that the idea of international action 
 was presented by me at Budapest first, at the International 
 Agricultural Congress in 1896, and shall Hungary be the 
 last to join this Institute now, when it seems almost sure to 
 be materialized ? . . . 
 
 It is true that the Conference narrowed the outline of the 
 work of the Institute, but it is not true that the Institute 
 must, therefore, work on those narrow lines for all time to 
 come ! The farmers of the world ; the changing conditions 
 which the International Institute of Agriculture will bring 
 about ; all these will tend toward necessary modifications of 
 the original outline, and to much better advantage than if 
 more radical lines had been agreed upon at the outset. 
 
 What I most regret is this : that I was unable to have 
 the interview with His Excellency, Ignace Daranye, at the 
 time I was in Budapest. You remember that he was sud- 
 denly called to Vienna. Had our interview been held I am 
 sure that Hungary would have been among the first nations 
 to join. But it is by no means too late now. Hungary can 
 still hold a pioneer rank in the work, provided not a single 
 day is lost. And now, in order to make a beginning, I ask 
 you to send me a list of the flour-milling concerns of Hungary 
 and of Austria. If the Institute is to be of value to the 
 cotton spinners, it will for the very same reason be of benefit 
 to the flour-milling industry, so the intention is to bring them 
 in as soon as possible. Perhaps they are federated, and then 
 it will be easier to reach them. 
 
 Should you desire it I will be glad to send you other docu- 
 ments on the Institute and give you any information in 
 my power. 
 
 In closing this letter I would say that the realization of 
 the Institute is now an assured probability, and I feel it 
 very much that Hungary has so far left itself out in the cold. 
 So come in with a rush, but come in to "stay. "
 
 820 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 With my kind regards to His Excellency, the Minister 
 of Agriculture (Ignace Daranye), and hoping to hear the 
 good news that Hungary has been the very next nation to 
 sign adherence, I am, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 David Lubin. 
 
 Hungary did come in, and the first person to whom Minister 
 Daranye telegraphed the news was Mr. Lubin. But this 
 adherence was only secured after a long struggle in the course 
 of which Lubin, in June, 1907, again went to Vienna, this 
 time accompanied by Guerrazzi. The International Con- 
 gress of Agriculture was meeting in that city, and the Bund 
 der Landwirther of Berlin, backed by the Austrian and 
 Hungarian agrarians whose views had been turned down by 
 the Rome Conference, had prepared very unfavorable re- 
 ports on the proposed Institute, reports which, if indorsed 
 by the Congress, would have had a most injurious effect. 
 The Royal Commission in Rome, absorbed in building the 
 future seat of the Institute, never seemed to realize the need 
 for that active propaganda which alone can make a success 
 of an idea. It assumed that it was beneath the dignity of 
 governments to trouble to enlighten the "man in the street." 
 Had it not been for the assiduous labors of Lubin, which 
 were tolerated rather than encouraged, no effort to secure 
 ratifications would have been made beyond purely official 
 action through diplomatic channels, that is to say through 
 the very channels which could be least expected to under- 
 stand or care about the proposal. This inaction brought 
 Lubin almost to the verge of despair. 
 
 "If Italy had but half a dozen heroic helpers in behalf of 
 this work, it would bring victory ; it would bring your King 
 the highest historic renown, and the most lasting glory to 
 your nation. Has Italy such men? . . . The King has 
 done his share of the work, but where are the leaders who 
 should do theirs?" he wrote to the Marchese de Viti de 
 Marco in one of these fits of depression. But he would
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 221 
 
 quickly recover, and again set to work to "take a hole and 
 put iron round it." 
 
 To Prince Galitzin, the Russian Ambassador in Rome, who 
 had expressed surprise at the total neglect of publicity, 
 Lubin writes : 
 
 There may be good reasons for all this, but what they are 
 I do not know. However, this lack of publicity is not 
 material ; the real question is can we do without the 
 Institute? If we can, then it is not wanted, publicity or 
 no publicity. If it is wanted, if its need be imperative, we 
 must have it, publicity or no publicity. 
 
 And if there is one country more than another where the 
 needs are great, that country is Russia. Nor is it at all 
 necessary for me to supply the reasons, they are evident, 
 certainly evident to the Statesman. Were this a matter like 
 offering additional meats after dessert it could be waived 
 aside, but this matter is one of "food" or "starvation." 
 
 You know as well as I do that the manipulator and not 
 your government sways the economic destinies of Russia; 
 and you know as well as I do that single-handed your govern- 
 ment is no more powerful to cope with this new and gigantic 
 evil than is the United States or France. It is only through 
 the united efforts of all nations that the evil can be over- 
 come. . . . 
 
 It is now some twenty -five years since I began my study 
 of the manipulator, and those who think that he is beginning 
 to get tired of his control, that he is shortly going, of his own 
 will, to lay down his power, are doomed to sad and certain 
 disappointment. And the giant has by no means reached 
 maturity yet; he is still growing and gaining power from 
 hour to hour and from day to day, and, unchecked, he will 
 presently eat the life out of the nations with much greater 
 rapidity. . . . 
 
 And what gives the manipulator this power? This; 
 he is the "boss" of the figures which make and unmake the 
 prices of the staples of agriculture. Take this away from 
 him; give the figures to the world in a form accepted as 
 authoritative; and you have rendered him as Samson was 
 after his hair had been shorn from his head.
 
 222 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 That the matter under consideration is not yet generally 
 understood is evident. Only a short time ago, His Ex- 
 cellency W. Weschniakoff, a gentleman of high standing in 
 your country, wrote me saying that in his opinion Russia 
 kept statistics of her agricultural products and, therefore, 
 did not need the proposed International Institute of Agri- 
 culture. If Mr. Weschniakoff were to know the labor per- 
 formed by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in collecting 
 statistics for the cotton production of the United States, he 
 would begin to realize that no such kind of effort is made in 
 Russia, in Argentina, and in other grain-producing coun- 
 tries. And yet grain is grown in many more countries than 
 cotton, and how much more difficult would it be for any 
 one country to gather up throughout the world the essential 
 facts on the world's production, for, be it noted, the facts 
 of any one country are of no use in arriving at the world's 
 price, the price at which agricultural staples are sold. And 
 supposing it were possible for any one nation to arrive at 
 the facts, would the people of the other nations believe them 
 to be the facts? And here is just where the manipulator 
 obtains his power. 
 
 Once have each nation concerned devise and carry out 
 a system for collecting correct information within its own 
 borders, and let this information be summarized under the 
 auspices of the 1. 1. A., and disseminated by it, and the chief 
 stock-in-trade of the manipulator is gone. 
 
 It may be that the plan is ahead of the times ; but why 
 should a remedy so simple as the one proposed require the 
 experience of revolutions before its adoption, when, through 
 a few far-seeing agents, it can be adopted now ? 
 
 Thus in the absence of official propaganda Lubin took the 
 task on himself, and worked early and late at his corre- 
 spondence. He would write a letter of several pages setting 
 forth some aspect of the case, and send carbon copies to all 
 likely to be interested or whose support it was desirable to 
 win. 
 
 If in some of these letters there is a note of over-emphasis 
 it is the over-emphasis of a reformer vox clamantis in 
 deserto who knows he has a great truth to teach and every-
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 223 
 
 where meets contemptuous indifference; but there is also 
 much close, able reasoning. 
 
 But it was the force of personality in Lubin, his shrewd- 
 ness and skill in handling men, and the infection of his own 
 enthusiasm for a cause which carried the day. He had an 
 unerring instinct in these matters. For instance, when the 
 ratification of the treaty by Great Britain was under dis- 
 cussion, the trend was to discount the matter on the ground 
 that agricultural interests were only of subordinate impor- 
 tance for England. He made it clear that such ah attitude 
 was untenable, that the price of the staples interests the 
 buyer no less than the seller, and that tL^ interest of both 
 parties demands not so much high prices or low prices as 
 steady prices. He knew that the legitimate trader or mer- 
 chant has no love for sudden and violent fluctuations which 
 throw all exchange values out of gear. Guided by this in- 
 stinct a few months later on, when Secretary Wilson said 
 he would like the opinion of practical American business men 
 on the value of the Institute, it was to the Chicago Board 
 of Trade that Lubin turned. He had some difficulty in 
 getting a hearing. The Secretary, the late Mr. George F. 
 Stone, was a very busy man with little time for theorists or 
 cranks, such as he at first guessed Lubin to be. But per- 
 sistency won the day. Lubin left some papers for the Sec- 
 retary to go over, and was told to call again. When he re- 
 turned he found Mr. Stone pacing up and down his office. 
 "Do you know the importance of the matter you have sub- 
 mitted to me?" was the rather unexpected inquiry he was 
 met with ; and to Lubin's affirmative the Secretary replied, 
 "But do you know what this plan of yours would mean to 
 the world in dollars and cents if it were properly carried out ? 
 ... I will tell you. The crops of the United States are 
 valued for 1905 by the Department of Agriculture somewhere 
 around one billion dollars. At a very conservative estimate 
 the crops of the world are at least ten times those of the 
 United States, therefore a matter of over ten billion dollars. 
 The official world summary of crop conditions and yields of
 
 224 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 which you speak, if gathered and published rapidly enough to 
 be of commercial value, would steady the market in these 
 staples from five to ten per cent. Reckon that out in dollars 
 and cents, and you will get an idea of the importance of your 
 proposal." 
 
 "Will you give me a statement to that effect which I can 
 use?" asked Lubin, and Mr. Stone wrote out a strong in- 
 dorsement. 
 
 It was always thus with David Lubin; those who were 
 inclined to discount him as an idealistic dreamer were the 
 incompetent; the shallow politician, the decorative dip- 
 lomat, the superficial journalist, these would be repelled by 
 his emphasis over matters the vital importance of which was 
 not within their sphere of experience, while his fierce en- 
 thusiasm offended the sophist and the dilettante. He was 
 a bull in the china shop of their delicate sensibilities. But 
 he never feared contact with the really competent, the 
 real statesman, the shrewd, hard-headed business man, the 
 keen economist. He submitted his ideas to them time out 
 of number and the result was always victory. And just as 
 he had gone to the fountainhead of the grain trade in Liver- 
 pool and Chicago, so he took up the case in the stronghold 
 of manufacturing industry, and there again won unqualified 
 support. 
 
 The name "International Institute of Agriculture" sug- 
 gested to the English mind an academic body for promoting 
 the technic of farming. It might be all right for some 
 countries, but of what use could it be to a great industrial 
 community? He would show that an institution which 
 could affect the price formation of the raw materials of in- 
 dustry was on the contrary of paramount importance to 
 just such a community, and without waiting for introductions 
 or help he went straight to Manchester, to Mr. (now Sir 
 Charles) Macara, the president of the International Asso- 
 ciation of Master Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers, a 
 man second to none in his stalwart championship of inter- 
 national organization for economic progress. Macara dis-
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 225 
 
 covered that Lubin was a man striving to achieve in the vast 
 field of agricultural production what he himself had just 
 been organizing in the more limited field of cotton manu- 
 facture, and Lubin found he was speaking not to a convert, 
 but to a fellow pioneer. 
 
 And so they went immediately to London and had one of 
 Lubin's not infrequent and long conferences with that able, 
 experienced, patient, and eminently fair-minded adminis- 
 trator, Sir Thomas Elliott, then permanent Secretary to the 
 Board of Agriculture, now British delegate to the Inter- 
 national Institute. 
 
 Shortly afterwards Mr. Macara, in whom the Institute 
 from that day forth had a firm and influential friend, placed 
 the matter before the international cotton convention in 
 Paris, where it received strong indorsement; and not only 
 in England but in France also Macara did much to con- 
 vince the hesitating Treasury authorities of the advisa- 
 bility of providing the necessary funds for the Rome In- 
 stitute. 
 
 If diplomacy is intrigue or deceit, there never was a less 
 diplomatic man than Lubin. He either could n't or would n't 
 understand a hint, an innuendo, a whispered word ; when 
 he wrote a letter he would generally make six copies and send 
 it all round ; and he treated all communications on public 
 matters as addressed not to himself only but to all concerned. 
 He couldn't speak in a low tone of voice, he couldn't or 
 wouldn't understand anything but clearly enunciated 
 speech and clear bold handwriting. He was transparently 
 above board and direct, almost brutally frank, in all his 
 dealings. But if diplomacy calls for keen psychologic in- 
 sight which enables a negotiator to strike home, and to strike 
 at the right moment for securing results, then Lubin was a 
 born diplomat, and showed it time and again in the way in 
 which he conducted the campaign for the Institute from 
 the day he reached Rome until his death. 
 
 Take, for instance, this account I have often heard him 
 give of a meeting he attended at the Board of Agriculture.
 
 226 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Ratification of the Treaty was under discussion. Various 
 arguments had been made in favor, but he saw that the sup- 
 port was lukewarm. He asked permission to speak. " I can 
 see what's in your minds, gentlemen," he said. "You 
 think that England is a buyer not a grower of the 
 staples, and you fear that the activities of the Institute 
 would tend to level up prices, making it increasingly 
 difficult to secure 'deals' in the less highly organized 
 countries, such as Argentina or Russia or the Balkans. The 
 cheap loaf is good for the British workman, and may not 
 the Institute interfere with the cheap loaf? Now, the 
 cheap loaf may be all very well, but there is another side 
 to the story. You have some industries in England, you 
 sell your manufactures abroad your cotton stuffs, your 
 machinery, your boots, your valises, and suspenders, and 
 what not And you export capital. England holds bonds 
 and stocks and shares in those very countries. Now, if you 
 squeeze the life out of them, if you force down the price of 
 their staples through price manipulation, it may mean a cheap 
 loaf and a big stomach for the British workman to-day, but, 
 mind you, it may mean unemployment for him to-morrow. 
 That same workman will soon find his job gone, for such a 
 policy amounts to strangling your best markets ; your bonds 
 and shares will not be worth the paper they are printed on ; 
 you will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Help to 
 build the Institute up and make it a living force working 
 for equity in exchange, and you will be building up the 
 economic strength, the purchasing power of those great 
 agricultural countries which are the natural markets for 
 British manufactures." 
 
 In the spring of 1906, for the first time since entering the 
 international field Lubin returned to the United States. 
 
 As he embarked, he learned of the San Francisco earth- 
 quake which, according to the first reports reaching Europe, 
 had engulfed half California ! It is easy to imagine his feel- 
 ings during that crossing. Events called for his presence 
 in Sacramento, and there he went, but no private interests,
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 227 
 
 however urgent, could displace the Institute from the first 
 place in his thoughts. 
 
 In May, Lubin went to Washington to fight for ratification. 
 He took the proposal up with influential members of the 
 House and Senate, finding warm support in his old friends 
 Senator George C. Perkins and Congressman Julius Kahn 
 of the California delegation. The Secretary of Commerce, 
 Oscar Straus, was sympathetic ; he soon won friends among 
 the Department men, and even that fine, obstinate, old 
 Scotchman from Iowa, Secretary Wilson, had to confess that 
 there was more in the proposal than he had seen at first. 
 Lubin had, in fact, turned the tables on the Secretary very 
 neatly, hoisting him with his own petard. In his 1905 Re- 
 port to the President of the United States, speaking of the 
 crop -reporting service of the Department, Secretary Wilson 
 had stated : 
 
 "A knowledge which covers only parts of the area of 
 a given crop may be misleading. . . . Reports covering 
 the area definitely only in parts may be used by self- 
 interested crop-reporting agencies to mislead. The producer 
 and others interested need a knowledge of the crop of the 
 entire area expressed as a total." 
 
 This was pie for Lubin ; it was easy for him to show that 
 the entire crop area for such staples as cereals was not con- 
 fined to the United States. Hence the logical outcome of 
 the Secretary's own claim was the recognition of the need 
 of an international crop-reporting service. Assiduous work 
 prepared a ground favorable for ratification, and it was then 
 that for the first time he ran up against European bureau- 
 cracy, beginning that long and wearing experience which 
 some years later wrung from him the following outburst 
 with which he relieved his feelings, and then put it on file 
 where it has remained until now : 
 
 When the angel Lucifer rebelled against the Almighty, 
 there was nothing for it but to expel him from Paradise and 
 consign him forever to nethermost Hell. As the rebellious
 
 228 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and fallen angel fell down to the bottomless pit his heart was 
 full of rage and spite and he determined he would be even 
 on some one, and the easiest victim he could find was man. 
 Ha, ha, he thought, you shall pay me for this ; I will be even 
 yet on somebody ; and as the worst he could do, and the 
 heaviest burden ingenuity could contrive, he devised bureau- 
 cracy, and the nations still groan beneath the cruel load. 
 
 When I was in Austria in 1905 to bring the matter of the 
 proposed Institute of Agriculture before the leading agri- 
 cultural bodies in that country, I saw amongst others Count 
 Hohenbluhm. We had to talk through an interpreter as 
 I do not speak enough German to converse with him freely. 
 After the main outline had been set forth, and Hohenbluhm 
 gathered that Governments were likely to play a prominent 
 part in the proposed Institute, that it was, in fact, proposed 
 to make it a State institution, he began swearing and using 
 such unparliamentary language that even my scanty German 
 sufficed to gather that storms were raging. "What is he 
 doing ? " I asked of the interpreter. " Is he swearing at me ? " 
 "Oh, no," came the reply, "not at you; it is the bureau- 
 cracy, and do not ask me to translate ; his language is awful." 
 
 Well, I thought, the old gentleman evidently has some 
 grievance ; I expect he is something of a crank. 
 
 Since the Institute has been at work, I have learned much. 
 I have learned that Hohenbluhm was not such a crank after 
 all, that even the calmest might be betrayed into strong 
 language if they had much to do with the animal known as 
 bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is the biggest eater and the 
 biggest loafer that ever oppressed the sons of man, and the 
 Socialists might well pause and learn from Hohenbluhm 
 before they advocate that all the complicated machinery 
 of modern life be controlled by an enlarged and inflated 
 bureaucracy. The experience in the Institute has been 
 enough to settle my opinion on the value of bureaucracies. 
 
 Before any official action could be taken toward ratifica- 
 tion, the authenticated copy of the protocol had to be trans- 
 mitted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the 
 Department of State. To Lubin this transaction repre- 
 sented nothing more than placing a document in an en-
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 229 
 
 velope, registering it, and mailing it, all of which could 
 surely be done within half a day of receiving a request, 
 especially when that request showed excellent reasons for 
 the use of dispatch. The sacred traditions of bureaucracy 
 which make it little short of treason for a high official (and 
 a whole series of small officials too) not to let so weighty 
 a document slumber the regulation number of days or weeks 
 or months, as the case may be, on their several desks before 
 it at last gets launched on its journey, were incomprehen- 
 sible to him and he started a regular bombardment of letters 
 and cables to get at that protocol. Here are two from a 
 dozen such which he sent the round of the friends and work- 
 ers : 
 
 Washington, May 31st, 1906. 
 
 Dear Mrs. Agresti : 
 
 As you may remember, it was my motto always to try 
 to wring victory from the jaws of defeat. But here is a new 
 phase ; victory is in sight, but but but .... Now, 
 it may not be too late yet (watch the papers on the adjourn- 
 ment of Congress) and if still in time when you get this, 
 take it to all our friends and see whether they can roll the 
 logs away so that we can proceed. Whatever be the case, 
 it will be necessary to reach me by cable. So if the official 
 Convention or Protocol is or is not on the way, let me know. 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 David Lubin. 
 
 Washington, June 20th, 1906. 
 
 Well, the Protocol is not here yet, and the Secretary of 
 State telephoned for it ; but what can be done ? Every hour 
 that we lose now brings us further away from the possibility 
 of success. 
 
 Most certainly you are in no way to blame, nor are any of 
 our friends and co-workers to blame. However, I shall not 
 leave the field until the fighting chance is absolutely gone. 
 
 One thing is sure, the field so far as the Administration is 
 concerned is completely won. To-day I happened to visit
 
 230 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the statistical department, when the Chief told me that he 
 had been asked to make a report on the Institute for the 
 Secretary of Commerce and Labor. I was then given to 
 understand that the report favored the Institute in the very 
 strongest terms. Well, the next few days will decide whether 
 ratification is possible at this session. Had the Protocol 
 been sent on the 2nd, as promised, it would most likely have 
 been ratified by this time. 
 
 One thing is sure ; they are beginning to see here that the 
 King of Italy and his advisors were not the "back numbers" 
 in taking up this matter that they at first thought they were. 
 . . . Should the miracle occur and ratification still be 
 possible during this session, I will cable. 
 
 As these letters show, Lubin had so stirred things up that 
 by now the Administration was on the "qui vive", telephon- 
 ing and inquiring what had become of that protocol. It 
 arrived on June 24; on the 25th, Secretary of State Root 
 transmitted it to President Roosevelt; on the 26th the 
 President transmitted it to the Senate, and on the 27th it 
 was ratified and made public. 
 
 And now came the question of the appointment of the 
 delegate. Reluctant as Lubin was to put himself in evidence 
 and seek for office, not only the urgency of his Italian friends, 
 but his own experience of the past few months had shown 
 him that the cause demanded that he should fill that place. 
 He alone had devoted a lifetime to the study of the questions 
 involved; he alone was prepared to dedicate himself ex- 
 clusively time, energy and means to its promotion ; he 
 alone had the apostolic fervor which could make a success 
 of so difficult a task. Certainly, had he consulted private 
 and family interests, he would have retired on the laurels 
 he had already won, and once more devoted his unparalleled 
 energies to business. Though still a man of means, he had 
 no longer the wealth his earlier efforts had secured him ; 
 he had spent it unhesitatingly on the causes he believed in ; 
 he always looked upon money as an excellent servant but a 
 detestable master. But he could no longer doubt where
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE PROPAGANDIST 231 
 
 duty lay. After his hurricane campaign for ratification, 
 his friends in California took up the case of his candidacy, 
 and when he left the United States for England in October 
 of that same year, he had been appointed delegate to the 
 Permanent Committee by President Roosevelt.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 
 
 The following quotation from a letter David Lubin wrote 
 to his sons in April, 1917, embodies the lesson he learnt and 
 acted on during the years of patient upbuilding which fol- 
 lowed his appointment as delegate to the Institute, years 
 which proved his true worth more than the brilliant and 
 rapid success which he achieved in a first time. 
 
 I believe that you have too much common sense to feel 
 irritated at a just complaint, nay, as you have doubtless 
 read and digested the writings of Seneca and Epictetus you 
 will not even be offended at unjust criticism. 
 
 From these writers you will have learnt that the difference 
 between the intelligent man and the unintelligent is this : 
 the intelligent takes a given environment as a status quo. 
 It is a fact. There are some incongruities and shortcomings 
 with his ideal, and he endeavors, partly by accommodation 
 and partly by efforts, to bring the environment nearer to 
 his ideal. The unintelligent takes the stand that the en- 
 vironment should, of its own accord, embody his ideals; 
 but of course no such thing can happen. ... So it comes 
 to pass that the unintelligent are always awry with their 
 environment. 
 
 The chief characteristic of the intelligent consists in 
 taking for granted that there is a diversity, that there must 
 be a diversity, and that this diversity must be respected. 
 And, if there be necessity for it, this diversity must be won 
 over by logic, by right; patiently and above all graciously 
 put forward. "Ohine voo-chessed" , grace and mercy, should 
 be your sword, and not scorn or ridicule. The former makes 
 the strong man, the latter is of the ass. That I am not far 
 from the truth in this you may well see for yourselves by 
 rereading the books I quoted above (Seneca and Epictetus).
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 233 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that I have in my career oft times 
 acted the part of the unintelligent, but the older I get, the 
 clearer I see that the unintelligent mode is extravagant even 
 to destruction. If you can get hold of the defect for good, 
 put it into a pocket-handkerchief and throw it into the sea, 
 you will have accomplished very much to be thankful for. 
 
 His vision led him far ahead of his environment; where 
 he saw a first step toward evolving rational order out of 
 chaotic, anarchic fortuity in international relations, his very 
 colleagues and supporters saw at most a well-organized 
 statistical bureau, while to many of those prominent in the 
 work, the foundation of the Institute was the rather rash 
 act of a young and inexperienced monarch which must be 
 safely guided into the harbor of somnolent obsolescence. 
 The beautiful building erected by the King of Italy amid 
 the grove of stone pines on an eminence in the grounds of 
 Villa Borghese would make a charming international club 
 where kid-gloved diplomats could sip tea, find sinecures for 
 satellites, and talk polite platitudes about the "backbone 
 of the nation" and "Nature's nobleman." This, Lubin was 
 determined, should not be. 
 
 And while some looked on him as an uncouth dreamer of 
 dreams, others, and among them prominent members of 
 Congress, did not hesitate to express harsher judgments : 
 "This Institute is a pure fake ... a private snap over in 
 Rome. ... It is not in the interests of agriculture; . . . 
 it is for a particular individual, the man who represents the 
 Government over there, drawing the salary." These were 
 words pronounced in the House of Representatives when the 
 appropriations for the Institute were under discussion in 
 February, 1909. 
 
 But David Lubin neither quarreled with the environment 
 nor submitted to it. The life of the still puny infant, born 
 of his brain, nurtured with his life-blood, was at stake, and 
 unselfish devotion to an ideal gave him strength to resist. 
 
 Conciliatory or aggressive as the needs of the case de- 
 manded, he had the cause too much at heart to be touchy or
 
 234 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to resent the supercilious airs of superiority of the official 
 jack-in-office, or the many petty annoyances to which he was 
 subjected. So concentrated was he on the work before him 
 that he became oblivious to all else. By nature passionate 
 and impatient, he became in this work long-suffering as a 
 teacher amid presumptuous boys. But he aged much under 
 the strain, and the reaction in the home would be sleepless 
 nights, a racking cough, and nervous irascibility which would 
 flare up, fierce and sudden, but easily placated. 
 
 We see, he wrote to his old California friend, William H. 
 Mills of the Central Pacific Railroad (March 10, 1906), 
 that very many people prefer a Dime Museum to the British 
 Museum ; that men marvel at a sleight-of-hand trick more 
 than they do at a snowflake or the leaf of a tree; and so 
 they find it easier to invent some plan of Socialism or of 
 Anarchism rather than to follow the easier and more 
 practicable plan of trying to straighten out the kinks in our 
 present system. A Persian setting up a factory with Amer- 
 ican machinery tries to operate it. All goes well for a few 
 days, but after that things go contrary, and in the end all 
 stops. An American mechanic is sent for and soon puts 
 things to rights by having the journals at the bearings sup- 
 plied with the lubricating oil that was wanted before. And 
 so with the social structure : its basis for stability is in equi- 
 table exchange, but when its very "staples" are permitted 
 to become the most "speculative" of commodities, what 
 wonder then that the "bearings" run hard? 
 
 Lubin secured appointment as a delegate well ahead of the 
 inauguration of the Institute so as to work with the several 
 governments to secure ratification and to prepare, in col- 
 laboration with technical experts, a tentative plan of action. 
 On his return to Europe he took up this work in dead earnest. 
 
 Towards the end of November, 1906, he paid a flying 
 visit to Rome, thence to Budapest, Vienna and Berlin. 
 From Budapest he wrote me : " Work here is quite important. 
 There seems to be a deadlock between Hungary, Austria and 
 Germany. If one will ratify, all will. So I am trying to 
 break the deadlock."
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 235 
 
 In Berlin he had one of his characteristic experiences. 
 Under the impression that it was a Federal department, 
 he called on the Minister of Agriculture for Prussia. He 
 found himself in the presence of a pompous, arrogant bureau- 
 crat whose manner clearly showed that he considered the 
 American an intruder. In response to a curt inquiry Lubin 
 began to explain his mission. 
 
 "Oh, we know all about that; we know your American 
 crop reports and the scandals and swindles to which they 
 give rise," the Prussian Excellency interrupted, referring to 
 the cotton report scandals of the previous summer (1905) 
 when it was claimed that a speculator, by paying seventy- 
 five thousand dollars, had obtained from a dishonest em- 
 ployee an advance copy of the cotton report which enabled 
 him to corner the market. 
 
 Lubin listened for a time, and when he had heard enough 
 of this talk, he brought his fist down on the table and as- 
 tounded the Minister by saying, "Have n't you sense enough 
 to see that you are making out the strongest possible case 
 for the United States Department of Agriculture? If it 
 can give figures which a thief will pay seventy -five thousand 
 dollars to get hold of, what better proof do you need of the 
 value of its work? That's all the difference between its 
 figures and yours ; you need n't worry about thieves. Why, 
 you 'd have to hire a thief to steal any of your German statis- 
 tics ; they 're only piling up paper for the junk-shop." 
 
 And he walked out, leaving the Minister entirely non- 
 plused, and took himself off to the Ministry of the Interior, 
 where Count Pasadowsky gave him a thoughtful and favor- 
 able reception, assuring him that he would appoint a dele- 
 gate who would cooperate effectively in the work. 
 
 Lubin had an exalted idea of the duties of the press. He 
 believed that its role in a democracy comes next to that of 
 the Church as an educator of the people, and he looked 
 upon the London Times with that respect which most for- 
 eigners feel for what they firmly believe to be the official 
 organ of British public opinion. Why should not The Times
 
 236 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 champion the cause in its broadest aspect as a fight for 
 economic equity? 
 
 He called on the then editor, the late Mr. Moberly Bell. 
 The impetuosity of his effort may be gathered from the 
 following : 
 
 The Timesy London, June 14th, 1907. 
 Dear Mr. Lubin, 
 
 I was much interested in the subject of our conversation 
 this afternoon, but I want to show you why it was im- 
 possible for me to do more than show an interest in it. 
 
 You have no doubt made a study of the subject for some 
 years. You have come to some definite opinions on the 
 subject which you hold very strongly. 
 
 You come to England for a day or two, you see me, and 
 you want me, after a conversation of half an hour, to commit 
 myself and The Times to all the conclusions at which you 
 have arrived after years of study. 
 
 Is this reasonable? Would it have been reasonable if 
 I could have given you two hours or even two days ? 
 
 Either the matter is important or it is not and the more 
 important it is the more necessary it is that time should be 
 taken to study it. You must not expect the Walls of Jericho 
 to fall at the first blast. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 C. F. Moberly Bell. 
 
 Lubin replied, and a voluminous correspondence ensued 
 which was mimeographed and circulated as part of the am- 
 munition in the fight. By now he could state his case 
 clearly, forcibly, concisely. He had seized on that portion 
 of the work prescribed in the protocol susceptible of powerful, 
 dynamic developments, and on it he concentrated all his 
 efforts. The uncertainties and vagueness of the earlier 
 pioneer stage had gone. There is nothing diffuse or rhetor- 
 ical about such a statement as this, which I quote from a 
 letter addressed to Walter James Brown, then Editor of 
 the Toronto Globe :
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 237 
 
 The prices of the staples compose, as it were, the primary 
 wages of the nation. "Times good with farmers, good all 
 round." But this does not necessarily mean high prices, 
 nor do low prices bring this about. Bad times come from 
 disturbance in the ratio of exchange. When dollar shirts 
 remain at a dollar and dollar wheat remains at a dollar, all 
 is well, there is equity in exchange. But when dollar shirts 
 remain at a dollar but dollar wheat falls to fifty cents, it is 
 then that the inequity has come in the exchange. 
 
 And what causes the rise and the fall in the prices of the 
 staples? Is it the relation between Supply and Demand? 
 And what determines this relation ? Is it the quantity of the 
 supply? And who determines this quantity? Can it be 
 Mr. Broomhall of the Corn Exchange of Liverpool, or Mr. 
 Stone of the Chicago Board of Trade? . . . But the bulk 
 of the producing nations at the present time keep no tally of 
 their production. How can there then be an authoritative 
 world's summary? But even if there were, it would be no 
 good, so long as such a summary is not given out by some 
 international and authoritative body. And not even then, 
 for the present mode of quotations omits to state an essential 
 and fluctuating factor, and that is the cost of transportation 
 from the place where quoted to the world's market center. 
 All this is not done at the present time ; hence it follows that 
 the disposition of the staples of agriculture is a matter of 
 speculation. 
 
 We have devoted hundreds of years and thousands of well- 
 balanced minds to the development of clocks and watches, 
 but we have had no time to devote to the much more im- 
 portant matter of the equities in exchange. 
 
 This clear-cut logic made headway. Lubin had but to 
 get a quiet, impartial hearing, and he was practically sure 
 to carry his point. 
 
 From his lodgings in Brighton where he stayed with his 
 family, when in England, from 1907 until the opening session 
 of the Institute in 1908, Lubin soon found himself conducting 
 a large international correspondence. He had urged time 
 and again on the Italian Royal Commission that it should 
 take up this preliminary work in real earnest, organize a
 
 238 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 publicity campaign, keep in close touch with the several 
 governments, educate them on the purpose of the work, and 
 prepare with the assistance of experts preliminary plans to 
 be submitted at the opening session of the Permanent Com- 
 mittee, but no such action was taken. He realized that in 
 the absence of all publicity, of all such preliminary effort, 
 a body of men would meet with very vague notions as to 
 what they were expected to do ; that there would be as many 
 ideas as there were heads, with consequent confusion, dis- 
 persion of energy, and waste of much precious time. To 
 realize his feelings we must remember that he brought to 
 this work a spirit of religious fervor ; he never tired of saying 
 that it was no secular but a truly sacred task ; to him every 
 opportunity lost seemed well-nigh sacrilege. As the months 
 went round and the day of inauguration approached, inac- 
 tion on the part of Rome forced him into the alternative 
 of doing the work himself or leaving it undone. He 
 wrote to me from Brighton : 
 
 As you can fully realize, my hardest work is to sit idle, 
 and here I am at a loss just what ought to be done. I am 
 sure that there is any amount of work that can be done at 
 this time, that ought to be done, but the trouble is in the 
 peculiar phase of the situation as I understand it. 
 
 In the past I have occupied much of my time in sending 
 out various articles, much of which were copies of corre- 
 spondence. But I seem to feel that it may be counter to the 
 wishes of the Royal Commission for me to exert myself in 
 that direction, or, indeed, in any direction tending toward 
 publicity. 
 
 There have been calls for "literature", and it seemed to 
 me that there should have been at least some pamphlet 
 to supply that demand, but the question is under what 
 auspices should that be published ? If I were to understand 
 that it should be done by me, I would have had the same 
 published. I could probably have been in the position to 
 have done some service in foreign countries, but it may be 
 that the Commission may be opposed to any effort in this 
 direction. . . .
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 239 
 
 I realize fully that just so long as there is the Royal Com- 
 mission it becomes my duty to do nothing contrary to the 
 spirit of their intent, but just so long as I am unable to deter- 
 mine what that spirit conveys, I am, of course, at a loss to 
 know what is best to be done. 
 
 All this so perplexed me that about a week ago I wrote to 
 California asking for information as to renting of a house 
 so that I could go there pending the call. But I would 
 not care to go there pending that time if I could devote my 
 time here to the Institute for some purpose, and would know 
 just what I should do and what I should not do. 
 
 Inquiries of the Royal Commission elicited only expressions 
 of polite approval ; direct requests would be answered in the 
 affirmative, but vice versa, action would be so long delayed 
 as to negative the intent. 
 
 Driven by the Call to Service, which grew ever more 
 urgent within him, Lubin forged ahead with the work ; he 
 soon found himself corresponding with a very large number 
 of governments. 
 
 Replies came in from all over the world, from France to 
 China, from Peru to Denmark ; rarely indeed can a private 
 man have conducted such a correspondence. 
 
 To the Russian Ambassador at Vienna, Prince Leo Ou- 
 rousoff, he wrote : 
 
 ... As you have been informed, the Institute opens 
 its sessions on the 23rd May, and I trust that Russia will, 
 in addition to its Delegates, be represented by an efficient 
 Board of expert and practical advisers ; for it is at that session 
 that the plan for the working of the Institute will be devised, 
 and that, of course, is a very important step. When you 
 come to consider that at the present moment Russia, as well 
 as the remainder of the producing nations, have substan- 
 tially no voice in the distribution of their products, so 
 far as the staples of agriculture are concerned, but that 
 under the Institute this static condition will be changed into 
 a mobile and dynamic one, then you can, as a Statesman, see 
 that it is in the best interests of Russia that her Statesmen, 
 worthy of that name, should not wait until some lucky
 
 240 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 chance mould the Institute properly and set it upon its feet, 
 but that the best gifted men in all Russia should be sent to 
 Rome for the first meeting, and by their presence, ability, 
 and wisdom help shape it so that it become a living instru- 
 ment toward permanent economic betterment. 
 
 Thus his energy and zeal supplemented the apathy of 
 officialdom, but just when these efforts were arousing wide- 
 spread interest likely to materialize in constructive pre- 
 liminary action, Lubin was to learn that one can be too 
 zealous, too successful ; that this very zeal and success will 
 so irk the incompetent, the cynical, the self-satisfied, the 
 indolent, as to arouse their hostility : dwarfs forever under- 
 mining the work of giants, as Victor Hugo phrases it. 
 
 Lubin came to Rome in the latter half of March, 1908. 
 The Institute was to open its doors on the twenty-third of 
 May. He hoped to utilize the intervening weeks in working 
 out with the Royal Commission and with the delegates of 
 adhering governments a tentative preliminary program 
 to be placed before the Permanent Committee for action. 
 He called on the President of the Royal Commission, Count 
 Faina, and at the American Embassy, and found apparent 
 approval of and consent to his action. For one week all 
 doors seemed to be opening before him. He visited the 
 several Embassies and was given a most attentive hearing. 
 
 One of the places he went to, with me as interpreter, was 
 the Chinese Embassy, where we were solemnly received by 
 the old Ambassador, his young son, and a Secretary who 
 stood respectfully by, dressed in his black silk robes (in those 
 days costume and pigtail still made the Chinese picturesque 
 exceptions to the uniformity of modern costume), tablets in 
 hand, noting down the conversation. Mr. Lubin, with the 
 help of rough diagrams, speaking slowly and loudly, set to 
 work tg explain the purposes of the Institute, giving, as he 
 would phrase it, a "kindergarten lesson in economics", 
 setting forth the mysteries of price-formation and price- 
 manipulation of the staples to these representatives of the 
 Far East. He showed that China, even though neither
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 241 
 
 a large exporter nor importer of the staples, came neverthe- 
 less within the sphere of influence of the world's price, for 
 prices, like water, find their own level and the home price is 
 affected by the world price, however much a country may 
 hedge itself in with tariff restrictions or special legislation. 
 
 The Turkish Embassy was another visited, and there 
 again a simple and direct statement of the issues involved 
 in the little understood initiative of the King of Italy aroused 
 a prompt and sympathetic response. 
 
 Nor was his action less effective with the representatives 
 of the Great Powers. The Austrian Ambassador wrote : 
 
 Austro-Hungarian Embassy, 
 Palazzo Chigi, Rome, 20th March, 1908. 
 
 Dear Mr. Lubin : 
 
 I wish to thank you most particularly for the most in- 
 teresting information which you were kind enough to give 
 me, both verbally and in writing. Your definition of the 
 Agricultural Institute as the Clearing House of the world 
 for all agricultural produce brings the matter home even 
 to the mind least acquainted with the technical side of the 
 question. I have already written to my Government on 
 the subject of moving up into the first class. I hope they 
 will not fail to see it. . . . 
 
 Believe me, very sincerely, 
 
 H. Lutzow. 
 
 Great Britain and France were sending out special rep- 
 resentatives to attend the preliminary meetings Lubin had 
 arranged, which were already attended by the represent- 
 atives of Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Rumania, 
 China. Once more, as in those early days before the issue 
 of the King's proclamation, it looked as if the deep impor- 
 tance of the work in its broader aspects, as a step toward 
 international organization, were about to get effective recog- 
 nition from the governments of the world. 
 
 We were driving back from a long conference Lubin had 
 had with the Russian charge" d'affaires, and all looked as if 
 it would now be fair sailing. Lubin was for once feeling
 
 242 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 really happy. "It seems too good to be true," he said to 
 me. On reaching the Bristol Hotel a letter was handed him 
 from the United States Embassy ; he opened it and he read 
 as follows : 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I have to inform you that on the afternoon of Saturday 
 last, the 21st inst., I received the following cable from the 
 Secretary of State at Washington : " The President has 
 appointed you member permanent Committee Agricultural 
 Institute in the place of David Lubin. Inform Italian 
 Government and Mr. Lubin, if you can ascertain his where- 
 abouts. Root." 
 
 I am, dear Sir, your obedient Servant, 
 
 Lloyd C. Griscom. 
 
 It was a staggering blow, for not only was the form of the 
 dismissal humiliating, the reason unexplained, but it undid 
 at one stroke the work of months, casting discredit not only 
 on the man but on the cause he stood for. 
 
 But Lubin had not been a frontiersman for nothing ; he 
 could put up a fight with the best. Nor had he for years 
 championed the cause of the American farmers to be for- 
 gotten and cast aside ; nor was he one of the most respected 
 personalities in the business world of California for such a 
 slight to be put upon him without arousing indignation and 
 resentment. The California Senators and Congressional 
 delegation took the matter up ; the press gave more atten- 
 tion to this dismissal than they had to the Institute. Nor was 
 Lubin without powerful friends in Rome of whom Luzzatti 
 was the most prominent. The King let it be known how 
 deeply he regretted the action of the State Department ; Mr. 
 Griscom himself and Mr. Henry White, the Ambassador in 
 Paris, voiced the feelings of many prominent Americans in 
 Europe in disapproving of the action and more especially 
 of the mode of notification. In America the farmers and the 
 press began to talk freely of "special interests", and the pull 
 they had in high quarters, for it was known that Lubin's
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 243 
 
 fight was a fight against the trust and the manipulator. 
 Within a month he was reinstated, his position in a sense 
 securer than it had ever been, in spite of the rather slurring 
 official reference to "indiscretion arising from an amiable 
 enthusiasm for the object in which you are so much en- 
 gaged." "Amiable enthusiasm" was indeed a euphemism 
 for the fierce zeal of David Lubin in the service of righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 But, for all that, unintelligent officialism and petty jeal- 
 ousy on both sides of the ocean had inflicted a real injury to 
 the cause. They had succeeded in putting a stop to all ef- 
 fort to make the purposes of the Institute clear to those who 
 were shortly to meet to bring it into effect, and when at 
 last it was solemnly inaugurated on May 23, 1908, in the 
 presence of the King and Queen of Italy and the whole 
 diplomatic corps, official eloquence barely concealed the lack 
 of a real grasp of the purpose aimed at. 
 
 David Lubin again set patiently to work to "take a hole 
 and put iron round it." 
 
 The lesson taught by his dismissal was not wasted on him. 
 In his own words he took the environment as a status quo 
 to be won over, partly by accommodation and partly by 
 effort. He realized that the originator of an idea is always 
 looked at askance by its official commentators, or inter- 
 preters; that his presence among them is, consciously 
 or subconsciously, resented. He did not quarrel with the 
 situation, but accepted it as inevitable. He often felt 
 tempted to retire, to enjoy the pleasures of family life to 
 which he was keenly sensitive, but he realized that his work 
 was necessary to the cause, that withdrawal would have 
 been desertion ; and he remained at his post, working early 
 and late with untiring energy. 
 
 Two names were frequently on his lips in those months, 
 those of United States Senator Bailey, and of Sir Edward 
 Buck, the delegate for British India. He used to tell me 
 that Senator Bailey had wielded more influence in the Senate 
 than almost any other single member, yet he seldom spoke,
 
 244 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 generally sitting with half-closed eyes, seemingly dozing 
 and taking little part in the proceedings. His power con- 
 sisted in unobtrusively winning others over to his views in 
 such wise that they came honestly to believe that those views 
 originated with themselves and would give expression to 
 them as such, when the Senator would look up to indorse 
 them and express approval. He would thus win his point 
 without apparent advocacy. 
 
 Rather to the surprise of his colleagues, who had feared 
 undue loquaciousness, Lubin seldom spoke in the committee 
 meetings and then but briefly. But however much he might 
 wish to keep his personality in the background, it was too 
 forceful, too original not to emerge. If he were slow and 
 hesitating with the pen, he was a born orator; a powerful 
 voice and impressive delivery seconded the gift of ready, 
 quaint and striking image relieved by homely wit, and his 
 innate religious fervor imparted solemnity and nobility to 
 his utterances. They could not but command attention. 
 
 For Sir Edward Buck, who Had held high administrative 
 office in British India, Lubin had a deep, almost affectionate 
 regard. In manner Sir Edward was the very antithesis 
 of the Californian; a gentle-mannered, wary official, well 
 versed in diplomatic caution. Lubin relied greatly on his 
 judgment, and whenever he had a chance he would show 
 Sir Edward his reports and writings and ask for criticism. 
 And Sir Edward would alter assertion into suggestion, and 
 would tone down superlatives, substituting "I am rather 
 inclined to believe", or "it seems not improbable", for 
 Lubin's bold affirmatives. "We must Buckicise this" 
 became a familiar expression with him. But in spite of all 
 good intentions the "old Adam" would flare up occasionally, 
 as in the following letter (May, 1909) to his staunch friend, 
 Congressman Kahn : 
 
 . . . The surprising thing is the dense ignorance of 
 the average Congressman on the subject of the factor which 
 largely determines the price of the staples of agriculture,
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 245 
 
 of which the United States alone produce about eight billion 
 dollars annually (see Secretary Wilson's Report in the "Year 
 Book"). 
 
 Is there a question greater than that ? Is the question of 
 our Army, of our Navy, of greater importance? And yet 
 read the enclosure, and note from the Congressional Record 
 of February 20th the debate in the House, and the action 
 taken by the House as a result of that debate, and you cannot 
 fail to come to the conclusion, either that the Senate of the 
 United States deliberately ratified a Treaty for carrying 
 on "nonsensical work", or that there must be a large number 
 of "nonsensical" members in the House of Representatives, 
 all lying about loose. 
 
 Is it essential that the members of the House, before being 
 in a position to act sensibly on so vital a question be first 
 educated by the delegate in Rome of this Institute? Is it 
 not natural to suppose that the members of the House under- 
 stand this question as it should be understood? What are 
 the members for if they do not understand a question as im- 
 portant as this, a question of such vital interest to every 
 man, woman, and child of the United States ? 
 
 Can you point to a vantage-ground more susceptible to 
 manipulation, to trust formations, to dislocation of values, 
 to the disturbance of commercial and industrial interests, 
 than the furnishing of the summary of the world's supply 
 of the staples of agriculture as it is now furnished? Is 
 this a small matter? Is it "nonsensical"? 
 
 Well, let us be thankful at least that the Senate of the 
 United States is better informed. It was the Senate that 
 ratified the Treaty adhering to the Institute; it was the 
 Senate that voted the necessary appropriation for lawfully 
 carrying out that Treaty; but it was the House (see Con- 
 gressional Record, Feb. 20th) that called this appropriation a 
 "private snap", a "fake." 
 
 Now, what does the House mean? Does it mean that 
 the Delegate of the United States at this Institute intended 
 unlawfully and cunningly to absorb Government money from 
 the funds of the United States for his own personal use? 
 These Solons could have easily learned that while I was 
 permitted to draw during the past two years $3,500 a year
 
 246 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 salary (and the position is worth that, and double that, and 
 treble that, and other nations are paying their delegates, and 
 the delegates are accepting the salary) that I accepted but 
 one hundred dollars salary for the past two years, eighty dol- 
 lars of which were paid by Mr. Morrison, clerk of the State 
 Department, for the Portraits of Washington and Lincoln, 
 now in the American Room in the Institute, and the twenty 
 dollars remaining of the one hundred dollars are still in the 
 Treasury of the United States, or in the safe of the clerk 
 of the State Department, subject to my order. 
 
 But supposing I had accepted a salary for my service 
 as a delegate of the United States at this Institute ? Would 
 that have been wrong? Would it have been any more 
 blameworthy than for the members of the House to accept 
 a salary ? 
 
 But is this a question of salary at all? Is it not a ques- 
 tion that transcends in importance, in practical importance, 
 every other question before the people of the United States ? 
 The defence of the Flag is a vital question ; it is the defence 
 of Liberty. But, after all, the Flag is but a symbol of ideal 
 Liberty. Take a dollar and cunningly and unjustly abstract 
 from its value twenty-five cents, and you have thereby dimin- 
 ished the purchasing power of that dollar by one quarter of 
 its value; you have practically deprived its owner of the 
 liberty to procure what ought to have been his. You have 
 deprived him of liberty. If it is essential to maintain the 
 symbol, the Flag, in its integrity, is it not equally essential 
 to maintain the evidence of practical liberty, the purchasing 
 power of the dollar, in its integrity? And yet the world's 
 supply, the summary of the supply of the staples of agri- 
 culture determines the purchasing power and the selling 
 power of every dollar's worth of those staples in the United 
 States as well as in the world. 
 
 And how is the summary, the necessary world's summary 
 of the staples of Agriculture arrived at to-day? Is it not 
 almost altogether furnished by private self-interested par- 
 ties ? Please answer ! 
 
 If it is not arrived at in that way, if all the nations of the 
 world have the method which prevails in the United States 
 for obtaining an authoritative summary, and if the various
 
 THE MASTER BUILDER 247 
 
 national summaries are united into one authoritative world's 
 summary, then, of course, there is no use for the International 
 Institute of Agriculture. Then it would be "nonsensical." 
 
 But the Senate of the United States has decided otherwise. 
 In ratifying the Treaty for the Institute, it has decided that 
 it is essential to have a disinterested and authoritative 
 world's summary of the staples, and how else can that be 
 done other than by a world's Department of Agriculture, 
 the International Institute of Agriculture ? 
 
 And what the Senate of the United States so clearly saw 
 was likewise seen by the governments of the forty-eight 
 adhering nations which ratified this same Treaty. So, then, 
 it is a question between the debaters in the House on this 
 measure on the one hand, and the Senate of the United States 
 and the Governments of all the other nations that have ad- 
 hered to the Institute on the other. 
 
 I think I am right in believing that had you been in the 
 House while this discussion was up, you would have taken 
 the floor and shed some light on this question. However, 
 the opportunity may be again afforded at some future time. 
 
 If this letter is forcible, it is certainly not egotistic ; there 
 is an absence of "I" in treating a case in which he had been 
 personally and most unjustly attacked which is a refreshing 
 and characteristic feature of all Lubin's correspondence. 
 
 The great "I am" never obsessed him. He had far too 
 exalted a conception of the work he was engaged on; the 
 motive which actuated him was too lofty, too abstract, for 
 petty vanity to intrude. Crop reporting and the world 
 summary of the staples might be the burden of his cry, but 
 the "Kingdom on earth" was the goal. 
 
 This is clearly expressed in a letter written to Doctor 
 Stephen Bernat, Secretary of the Hungarian Agrarian 
 League, who asked him for an account of his life work. As 
 usual with such statements from Lubin, his individuality 
 becomes merged in the theme, and after giving a brief out- 
 line of his work in the field of agricultural economics, he 
 concludes :
 
 248 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 The nations will presently begin to understand that the 
 theory of Macchiavelli is not nearly as profitable as the 
 teachings of the prophets of old ; they are beginning to un- 
 derstand that "righteousness exalte th a nation"; and that 
 pure egotism, whether of an individual or of a nation, works 
 toward ultimate ruin. They will begin to learn that disas- 
 ter for one country means disaster for other countries ; that 
 prosperity for one means prosperity for many. It has taken 
 the world centuries to learn this ; it may take centuries more 
 to learn it ; but it is learning, and presently it will know. 
 
 The building of this Institute may go into decay but the 
 lesson which it tries to teach will live. And so the work 
 in this field in which you and I and other pioneers have 
 given of our time and energy will not be lost. It is now in 
 the world and it is here to stay; and you and I and the 
 workers for the idea for which the Institute stands may feel 
 satisfied that we have not worked in vain.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 
 
 When David Lubin returned to Rome in October, 1908, 
 from a visit to Washington, accompanied by the United 
 States' delegates to the first General Assembly of the In- 
 stitute, he could fairly claim that he had won a fiercely con- 
 tested victory. The "first international parliament", as 
 William T. Stead had called it in the Review of Reviews, was 
 safely launched on its course. Many were the rocks and 
 shoals ahead, but it was no longer necessary to speak of the 
 Institute in the future tense. Forty-six nations had ratified 
 the Treaty, the Governments had voted the requisite funds, 
 the munificence of the King of Italy had provided handsome 
 headquarters. The United States had been won over to 
 the idea, and henceforth the Department of Agriculture was 
 to cooperate closely and cordially with the International 
 Institute of Agriculture. 
 
 Lubin watched over the infancy of this creature of his 
 brain with all the solicitude of a parent who already sees in 
 the feeble babe the stalwart man. Many were the problems 
 which arose in those early days. 
 
 The great war has created such a break between the pres- 
 ent and the past of ten or fifteen years ago, and we have all 
 heard so much during the last three or four years of inter- 
 national action, Leagues of Nations, international bureaus 
 for this and that, it is difficult to realize that so recently as 
 1908 permanent international cooperation in any field but 
 that of abstract science was almost without precedent, and 
 that the Committee in outlining the organization and program 
 to be carried out by its international staff, was treading 
 on untried ground.
 
 250 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Under such circumstances, the tendency is always to 
 follow the line of least resistance, which, in this case, meant 
 the static and the academic. But David Lubin was ever 
 on the watch to steer the ship clear of the shoals of innocuous 
 desuetude. He worked quietly but persistently to get the 
 organization of the crop-reporting section intrusted to an 
 American from the Department of Agriculture, so that it 
 might profit by the traditions of the one statistical bureau 
 then giving out reports of commercial value. After a hard- 
 fought fight the appointment was secured for Doctor C. C. 
 Clark, then Assistant Chief of the Crop-Reporting Bureau 
 at Washington. 
 
 In the spring of 1909 the Patten corner in wheat had con- 
 vulsed the Chicago exchange and involved in its violent vi- 
 brations the wheat markets of the world. The Institute, 
 still in the organizing stage, had not yet begun its world 
 service, but Lubin felt that it should, without further delay, 
 seek and publish information on world crop-conditions. The 
 bureaucratic element in the Institute, with its dread of 
 action, urged prudence. "Let us study; let us appoint 
 commissions," was its advice. "While you are studying, 
 the Governments will get tired of paying, and the Institute 
 will die of inanition," was Lubin's cry of alarm. 
 
 His proposal was the subject of eager debate in the Per- 
 manent Committee. One of the most powerful manipulators 
 on the European wheat market, Mr. Louis Dreyfus, thought 
 it worth while to run down to Rome and see what the talk 
 of an international crop-reporting bureau amounted to. 
 When consulted, he was eloquent in advocating prudence. 
 "Remember, the eyes of the world are on the Institute, and 
 you must do nothing, give out no statements, no information, 
 until you can be sure that it is absolutely reliable," was the 
 burden of a conversation he had with Lubin. He talked of 
 ten years' study as a necessary preliminary to the work. 
 
 "Yes, we must remember that the eyes of the world are 
 upon us, and it is for that very reason that we should begin 
 the work without any delay ; if we sit with folded arms, the
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 251 
 
 'eyes of the world' will see in us consumers of funds and 
 nothing more," was Lubin's answer. Mr. Dreyfus quoted 
 Russia as an instance of the impossibility of securing the 
 kind of information required : 
 
 "The Russian individually is a clever man, but as a 
 nation they are terribly backward. There is practically 
 no organization in that country. Why, the Government 
 does not even know what the population is, whether it be 
 one hundred and forty or one hundred and eighty mil- 
 lions. The only branch of their agricultural service which 
 is well-organized is the statistics on exports. They could 
 supply you with those figures, all right, but as for the con- 
 dition of growing crops well, you might try, but it is 
 very doubtful what you would get. Go to St. Petersburg, 
 and you will see how matters stand there. It is Oriental." 
 
 At the close of this conversation Lubin returned to the 
 American room in the Institute and wrote the following 
 letter to Mr. A. Yermoloff, a former minister of Agriculture, 
 who had attended the General Assembly as Delegate of 
 Russia : 
 
 | Rome, May 28th, 1909. 
 
 Excellency : * 
 
 The delegate of France, Mr. Louis Dop, intimated to me 
 some little time ago that an important visitor from France 
 would be calling at the Institute with whom he would like 
 me to have some conversation. This morning this gentle- 
 man came. He is the Hon. Louis Dreyfus, member of the 
 French Chamber of Deputies, one of the principal grain 
 merchants of Europe, and in the course of our talk the posi- 
 tion of Russia in relation to the Institute was taken up, and 
 I deem the matter worthy of being brought to your atten- 
 tion. Enclosure Number 1 is a report of this morning's 
 conversation. . . . 
 
 Were I under the impression that the economic condition 
 of your country is a matter of indifference to you, you can 
 rest assured that I would not trench upon your time or waste 
 my energies in addressing you. I am under the impression 
 that you are a serious man, and in a position to reach others
 
 252 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 in your country equally serious for the consideration of the 
 question before us. It is true we have an Institute, that 
 each nation has its permanent delegate, and what more do 
 we want ? A great deal more, as you will presently see. 
 
 If the Institute is to make Russia an important factor in 
 determining the world's price of the staples of agriculture, 
 then Russia will have to do more than the perfunctory work 
 of leaving a Permanent Committee man here and putting 
 the results on his shoulders. Little effort accomplishes 
 little, and this is a big work ; and Russia cannot accomplish 
 what she should accomplish by present methods. And 
 what applies to Russia applies to other countries as well. 
 Russia should take off her coat and roll up her sleeves, and 
 see that the Institute performs the work for which it was 
 organized. 
 
 More than that; Russia has the reputation of being the 
 rarest diplomat among the nations of the world. And it is 
 a comparatively easy thing, if Russia is in earnest about this 
 work, for her to shape matters through her diplomatic 
 channels so as to ensure effective development. The very 
 report of this morning's conversation which I enclose, shows, 
 in the words of one of the biggest operators of the grain mar- 
 kets of the world, how defenceless Russia is at the present 
 moment, and what a field she offers for the work of the 
 manipulator. 
 
 Some of your Statesmen would be inclined to answer the 
 question "What is Russia's greatest need?" by the reply 
 "Her Army and Navy." But is there not a probability that 
 it would be more correct to say : "to become a world factor 
 in determining the price of the staples of agriculture?" 
 Now, surely the Army and Navy are not left in the hands 
 of one man like the Permanent Committee man. 
 
 Please let me hear from you, when I will have something 
 else to say on this matter. 
 
 With high esteem, I remain, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 David Lubin. 
 
 From the very start, the importance of Russia as a factor 
 in any movement which had for its purpose the steadying
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 253 
 
 of the price of agricultural staples was keenly appreciated 
 by Lubin, appreciated not only as an economic fact, but also 
 in connection with the inner motive, the actuating power 
 which moved him. The desire to return "for every blow 
 a benefit, for every curse a blessing", made him work with 
 special zeal in an effort to free the Russian producer, the 
 moujik, from exploitation by the cosmopolitan price-manipu- 
 lator. He spared no efforts to bring the matter to the at- 
 tention of their statesmen, as the following note he made 
 shows : 
 
 "At the time of the initial advocacy of the Institute, it 
 made but feeble headway with Russians. They seemed to 
 be as impenetrable to the significance of this work as the hide 
 of a rhinoceros. The first progressive step was the result of 
 an afternoon's chat in Rome with two Russian ladies, the 
 Princess Bariatinsky and the Princess Narischkin, who 
 seemed more than usually intelligent for women on matters 
 of political economy. At the conclusion of our conversation 
 both ladies were so favorably impressed with the idea em- 
 bodied in the Institute that they promised to send a courier 
 to Russia to arrange for a representative Russian to meet me. 
 This meeting was held in Paris a few months later, when I 
 met the late Nicholas Mourawieff, afterwards Ambassador 
 in Rome." 
 
 As a result of much effort Russia joined the Institute, ap- 
 pointed a delegate to the Permanent Committee, was duly 
 represented by a strong delegation at the General Assemblies, 
 but still failed to supply reports other than purely static 
 figures published long after her crops had been marketed. 
 At the General Assembly in May, 1911, strong representa- 
 tions were made to convince Russia that if the work was to 
 be dynamic she must, in compliance with her treaty ob- 
 ligations, send in her figures in due time. A world summary 
 of the supply could have no serious value if it failed to give 
 the data for Russia. But all representations to this effect 
 fell on deaf ears. The Russian delegates smiled and wisely 
 remarked that Russia was a very big country and that the
 
 254 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 requisite organization would entail heavy expense, neither 
 of which items of information were exactly news. Lubin 
 packed up his valise and left for Petersburg. 
 
 His intention was to place the matter before the Imperial 
 Chancellor, Stolypin ; but Stolypin was cruising in the 
 North Sea and could not be reached. Inquiry showed that 
 the next best man was his substitute, Kokovtsof, Minister 
 of Finance. Lubin wrote asking for an audience, and re- 
 questing that it might be in some place where they could 
 confer without interruption. He received an invitation to 
 call on the Minister at his home in Eleguina Island in the 
 Gulf of Finland. 
 
 The American Ambassador, Mr. Curtis Guild, was just 
 leaving his post at Petersburg, and so could not act. Lubin, 
 anxious for official support, turned to the Italian Ambas- 
 sador, for whom he had letters. Count Melegari willingly 
 agreed to Lubin's request, and suggested that as he was 
 better acquainted with the modes of approach in Russia, it 
 might be as well if the case were stated by him. This was 
 agreed to, and on June 22, at 6 p.m., the conference took place. 
 
 Kokovtsof listened politely to the statement of the Italian 
 Ambassador, and after about a quarter of an hour glanced at 
 the clock as though to signify that all had been said. Lubin 
 could see that the opportunity so anxiously sought was 
 slipping through his fingers. He had not gone all that way 
 to be "skunked", as he phrased it. He broke through 
 diplomatic reserve, and addressing the Minister said : 
 
 "Our friend the Italian Ambassador advised me, when we 
 came here, to be very diplomatic ; I have been so diplomatic 
 that I have said nothing, and I think that you have under- 
 stood nothing. Now, I am not accustomed to diplomacy, 
 but if you will allow me to speak plainly I think I can make 
 this matter quite clear to you. You must however promise 
 that no offence will be taken where none is meant." 
 
 The Ambassador and Kokovtsof glanced at each other 
 and smiled and the Russian gave Lubin the required assur- 
 ance.
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 255 
 
 They were seated round a table and Lubin, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, said : 
 
 "I see a group of men seated round this table, playing 
 a game of chess. They are deeply absorbed in the game ; 
 and one will scrutinize the board and make a move, and then 
 another will pause in thought before moving his piece. So 
 intent are they on the game that they appear oblivious to 
 all else. But every now and then it seems as though some 
 one under the table were making a feeble effort to claim 
 their attention, pulling them by the leg; and the players 
 give an impatient kick under the table, and sometimes they 
 spit under the table, and then go on with their game. Now," 
 said Lubin, raising a corner of the tablecloth, " I am going to 
 see who is under the table," and he peered underneath. 
 "I see your Czar under the table," he exclaimed dramati- 
 ally. "He's getting all the kicks and the spits; and the 
 men seated round the table playing the game, they are the 
 price-manipulators, the manipulators of Chicago, and Liver- 
 pool, and Antwerp; and the pawn on the board, that's 
 Russia, that 's your product, the economic strength of 
 your country. You think yourselves very great and very 
 powerful, with your army, and your navy, and your Czar, 
 and Siberia, and all the rest ; and you don't know that you 're 
 just a pawn in the hind pants' pocket of the speculator. 
 Now what I want to do is to take your Czar out from under 
 the table, give him a seat at the table, and let him share in 
 playing the game. Let Russia play her part in the Institute, 
 and let it be Russia, and not private crop-reporting agencies, 
 who gives out to the world the figures for Russia's crops." 
 
 "Oh, that's what you want, is it?" exclaimed Kokovtsof, 
 whose attention had been riveted by the unusual mode of 
 presentation. "That's quite interesting." 
 
 "Yes; that's it," said Lubin; "and I came here to ask 
 you to see that Russia plays the game squarely. You think 
 you are very clever when you boost up your bonds in Paris or 
 London by giving out figures for a big crop ; but you don't 
 realize that by so doing you are ruining your own producers,
 
 256 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 depressing the price for the Russian farmer, and incidentally 
 depressing it for the American farmer and for the farmers 
 all over." And he went on to show that the claim made 
 that Russia was too poorly organized to supply information 
 on her crop conditions and supply was untenable. 
 
 "You are Minister of Finance," he said, addressing 
 Kokovtsof . "Now, I have never been a minister, but I have 
 been at the head of a business house, and I know that I 
 could not conduct my store for one week if I could n't ascer- 
 tain at any moment the state of the business. And how 
 could you maintain your budget or draw up your estimates 
 if you didn't know the state of the crops which are the 
 wealth of Russia ? It would be an impossibility. Why, 
 such a fact is known to a certain extent even in so feebly 
 organized a country as Morocco." 
 
 He left with a promise that Kokovtsof would take the 
 matter up in the Council of the Empire. And sure enough, a 
 month or two later an ukase was issued, reforming the agri- 
 cultural statistical services in Russia, and from September of 
 that year, until the revolutionary collapse, the figures for the 
 Russian supply appeared regularly in the Institute's reports. 
 
 We have heard much talk of late years of the need of 
 applying business methods to government ; David Lubin's 
 work affords a notable instance of what can be achieved by 
 applying the simple and direct methods of the intelligent 
 business man to international affairs. He used often to say 
 that altogether too much mystery and respect surrounds 
 governments. His experience was that when you get 
 through all the pomp and circumstance you find just or- 
 dinary men, who frequently have but a very vague notion 
 of the matters over which they are supposed to preside. 
 To presume that they know all about them and to talk as if 
 they did is to court failure. Lubin would preface his re- 
 marks by "of course, you know better than I", but for all 
 that he would never be so careful to give a clear and com- 
 plete though concise statement of the case as when he 
 was talking to men in high position.
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 257 
 
 While such direct, dynamic action won victory it also 
 frequently aroused opposition. Lubin spent the summer of 
 1909 in Germany with his family and from there conducted 
 a lively campaign to secure a United States delegation to the 
 second General Assembly which was to convene in November 
 of that year. Congress had failed to make the requisite 
 appropriation, and Lubin was informed by the State De- 
 partment that there could be no delegation unless, indeed, 
 people could be found willing to go to Rome at their own 
 expense. Officialdom evidently thought that the last word 
 had been said in the matter. But Lubin did not understand 
 it that way. He took this information as equivalent to 
 authorization to seek for such persons. He requisitioned the 
 aid of his wife and daughters in the actual task of penman- 
 ship and addressed a personal letter to every Governor, to 
 every Mayor, to every club of any importance in the United 
 States, requesting that they should forward to the State 
 Department the names of suitable persons willing to serve 
 as delegates. The result was an indignant letter from the 
 State Department stating that "this Department has been 
 simply flooded with letters" from representative men offering 
 themselves for appointment. The over-zealous delegate 
 was curtly warned not to take upon himself the "duties 
 of Secretary of State." Anyhow, Lubin won his point; 
 to avoid invidious discrimination among the many volun- 
 teers, the Department decided to send its own men, and the 
 United States was represented at the General Assembly. 
 
 Lubin felt that the Balkan States could afford evidence 
 of the value of his contention that even primitive countries 
 could supply information on their crop conditions if the 
 reason of the inquiry were made plain to them and the ques- 
 tions submitted in simple form. Moreover, he would test 
 out his contention with the Secretary General of the Institute, 
 Commendatore Koch, who considered that when an inquiry 
 had been duly sent out all that was needed had been done. 
 Inquiries on crop conditions had been sent to Serbia, Bulgaria 
 and Rumania ; no replies had been received ; and there the
 
 258 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 matter ended so far as Commendatore Koch was concerned ; 
 whereas Lubin, applying to this case the same policy he would 
 have followed in hunting up a customer who owed a large 
 bill for goods delivered, was a strong advocate of a policy 
 of "follow-ups." The dignified Foreign Office officials who 
 at that time were at the helm, were always reminding Lubin 
 that the Institute was not a "business house" : Lubin, who 
 looked for results and cared little or nothing for etiquette, 
 thought he would take this opportunity to test the soundness 
 of their relative positions. The Balkan countries were all 
 in arrears with their dues ; and here also Lubin believed that 
 the right means had not been used to achieve the end in view, 
 that more was needed than a mere official notice to pay. 
 Demonstrate to those governments that it was in their in- 
 terest to pay, and the money would be forthcoming, was 
 his claim. 
 
 Accompanied on his mission by the delegate of the Argen- 
 tine Republic, Mr. Julio Llanos, by myself as interpreter, 
 and with his daughter Eva to make up a quartette, this 
 unusual diplomatic mission left Rome for Belgrade as its 
 first goal. 
 
 In those days the capital of Serbia was a small, straggling 
 town with much of the overgrown village about it, but it 
 boasted a handsome, modern hotel, the Mosca, where we 
 put up. Lubin drove up and down its rough-paved streets 
 in ramshackle cabs which were regular bone-shakers, and 
 between his official calls on Ministers enjoyed sampling 
 Serbian cookery, which was much to his taste, in the local 
 restaurants; watching the picturesquely dressed crowds; 
 and listening to the remarkable playing of gypsy fiddlers 
 who are a feature of those parts. He also took in the sights, 
 among which was the citadel commanding a view of the 
 neighboring Hungarian Zemlin. I remember the Serbian 
 officer, who accompanied us, shaking his fist at it and de- 
 claring that all Serbia men, women, and boys would 
 have risen that summer as one man to fight the hated Aus- 
 trians had they not been betrayed by the Russians. (It was
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 259 
 
 the year of the arbitrary annexation of Bosnia and Herzego- 
 vina, when Franz Joseph started the fatal fashion of treating 
 solemn treaties as scraps of paper.) We were also shown as 
 the most notable historical sights the town could boast the 
 spot where the Turks used to impale their prisoners, and the 
 paving stone, outside the cathedral, under which lie the re- 
 mains of the murdered King Alexander and his Queen Draga. 
 
 But Lubin had come to demonstrate that the age of the 
 kid-glove diplomat was making way for that of the economist, 
 and his time was busily occupied in a round of official con- 
 ferences. Presenting themselves in their official capacity 
 as delegates of the United States and the Argentine Republic, 
 Lubin and his colleague readily gained access to the President 
 of the Council. Lubin took up the question of arrears, 
 showed that by the payment of a small sum Serbia placed 
 herself on a footing of equality in the matter of securing 
 world information on the supply of the staples with countries 
 such as the United States which spend millions of dollars 
 annually on organizing crop-reporting systems, and obtained 
 a promise, duly kept, that the money would be paid up. 
 With the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Yacha Predanovitch, 
 Lubin drove his lesson home, illustrating his meaning by 
 the example of a "surprise party." Each guest is supposed 
 to bring a contribution. One comes with the chickens, 
 another brings the pie, others the bread, the whiskey, the 
 fiddle, and so forth. "But," he said, "it sometimes happens 
 that some one says to himself, ' Who '11 notice whether I 
 bring a contribution or not ? I '11 sneak in and get my share 
 of the good things and no one will be any the wiser.' Well, 
 this is what Serbia is doing in the Institute. You're there, 
 all right, to get any advantage you can out of the reports, 
 but where is your contribution? Where are Serbia's re- 
 plies to the Institute's inquiries?" 
 
 This plain speaking produced the desired effect ; there was a 
 considerable flutter in the Ministerial dovecotes, but inquiries 
 showed that the Institute's communications had gone astray. 
 Here was evidence of the need of Lubin's follow-up plan.
 
 260 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Bulgaria and Rumania were visited with similar results, 
 and Lubin was able to report to the President of the Institute 
 that delegates would be sent to the General Assembly, that 
 the contributions would be promptly paid, and that the 
 Balkan States would have effective representation on the 
 Permanent Committee. 
 
 As to this last matter, I remember the consternation 
 the word is none too strong Lubin produced when he drew 
 the attention of the Rumanian Ministers to the fact that the 
 representation of their country had been intrusted to the 
 delegate of Abyssinia ! They doubtless pictured a swarthy 
 Ethiopian representing the France of the Balkans in an inter- 
 national assembly. As a matter of fact, the Abyssinian 
 delegate was a learned Italian phytopathologist, but Lubin 
 left them to find that out for themselves. The matter was 
 immediately remedied, and on our return to Rome we found 
 a Rumanian on the Permanent Committee. 
 
 Bukarest in those days was indeed a gay city. Unlike 
 the other Balkan States, where all seemed poor and none 
 poverty-stricken, Rumania was a land of great contrasts of 
 wealth and destitution. In the good restaurants nobody 
 seemed to drink anything less costly than champagne ; 
 the women were as elegantly dressed as in Paris, the music 
 played by gypsy orchestras was as good as it was character- 
 istic. The Government Departments were marble palaces 
 on a scale of magnificence which seemed quite beyond what 
 the wealth and importance of the country justified. In 
 Serbia and Bulgaria you had the sensation of a democracy, 
 primitive, but genuine. I remember Lubin being much 
 impressed by seeing that a large percentage of the members 
 of the Skupshtina wore peasant costume and were the genu- 
 ine "horny-handed" sons of toil. In Rumania you felt 
 the vicinity of Russia ; wealth and luxury superimposed on 
 ignorance, and ruthless exploitation of the many by the few. 
 
 While in Bukarest a conference was arranged between 
 Lubin and Take Jonescu, then out of office, but no less a 
 power in the land for that. To this man, in whom Lubin
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 261 
 
 recognized at sight a statesman with whom it was not neces- 
 sary to confine himself to the "pork and cabbage" aspects 
 of the case, he spoke with all the fervor of a prophet, pro- 
 ducing a profound and lasting impression. He also had an 
 audience with the Queen, Carmen Sylva. 
 
 Lubin gave up the idea of going to St. Petersburg, but 
 before leaving the Balkans he ran down to Constantinople, 
 managed through the good offices of the Italian Ambassador, 
 Marchese Imperiali, to get an audience with the Grand 
 Vizier, and secured from His Highness, Hilmi Pasha, ratifi- 
 cation of the Treaty, a permanent delegate, and payment 
 of Turkey's dues as a first-class power. Such an impression 
 did Lubin make on the Grand Vizier that on reaching Rome 
 he was informed by the President of the Institute that the 
 Turkish Government had remitted the two years' contribu- 
 tion for which it was in arrears, by telegraphic draft ! 
 
 Of this reception by the Grand Vizier Lubin, on his return 
 to Rome, wrote to the Marchese Imperiali (December 1, 
 1909) : 
 
 You will not have failed to notice the significance, from 
 a diplomatic point of view, of the favorable reception ac- 
 corded to the presentation you made . . . there was a 
 genuine ring of sincerity when the Grand Vizier arose towards 
 the close of your presentation and, grasping both your hands, 
 poured forth his heartfelt thanks. As an onlooker and an 
 observer, I could not fail to note the significance of this 
 result of your effort, due to the fact that it was an effort 
 prompted entirely by disinterested motives. I remember 
 drawing your attention to this, pointing out that no more 
 powerful instrument for cordial entente between the nations 
 exists than that which can be exercised by the diplomats of 
 Italy everywhere, who in promoting the interests of the In- 
 stitute disinterestedly promote the best interests of the 
 countries to which they are accredited. 
 
 But while Lubin's every faculty was concentrated on the 
 effort of convincing all whom he approached of the vital 
 importance of a world summary of the staple crops "ex-
 
 262 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 pressed as a single numerical statement", the fiery energy, 
 the enthusiasm, which he brought to his task are accounted 
 for by the fact that he never forgot that this prosaic work 
 was a link in a chain, a step toward insuring world conditions 
 favorable to a lasting peace, peace which would allow of the 
 gradual evolution of that ultimate Commonwealth of Nations 
 which he believed it was the mission of Israel to bring about. 
 This faith that was in him was the saving grace which pre- 
 served him from becoming a bore, just as his business train- 
 ing turned his energies toward concrete action and saved 
 him from becoming an idle dreamer. A whole vast plan of 
 world organization was maturing in his mind ; the pro- 
 vincialism of Sacramento, the particularism of America, were 
 left far behind : he thought internationally. Into this, the 
 real inner man, we get a glimpse in the following letter to 
 the Queen of Rumania : 
 
 Rome, 14th November, 1909. 
 To Her Majesty 
 
 The Queen of Roumania. 
 Your Majesty : 
 
 You were good enough to express the wish that I should for- 
 ward to Your Majesty some further literature on the subject of 
 the International Institute of Agriculture. In compliance I 
 have the honor to enclose herewith some documents, mainly 
 correspondence, bearing on the subject. I also enclose a 
 copy of the report of the journey that Seflor Llanos and 
 myself have just taken in the interests of the Institute. 
 
 What particularly impressed itself upon my mind was the 
 interest Your Majesty took in the Institute in its aspect as 
 promotor of Peace, Peace among the Nations. It was this 
 phase of the question which mainly prompted His Majesty, 
 the King of Italy, to take the initiative in the movement. 
 
 At the first glance it may seem that Disarmament is the 
 road to Peace, but it is evident that Disarmament is one 
 thing and Equity in Exchange is another. So long as dis- 
 armament would not remove the inequities in exchange 
 which now exist, then so long would disarmament bring no 
 Peace ; it would, on the contrary, bring War. 
 
 Perhaps the most far-seeing political economists that the
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 263 
 
 world has ever produced were the prophets that speak to us 
 through the Scriptures. They spoke to us of " swords being 
 beaten into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, when 
 nation shall not lift up arm against nation, when wars shall 
 be no more." But when? When "Knowledge shall cover 
 the earth as the waters cover the sea." And toward this 
 end it is absolutely necessary that there shall be an author- 
 itative summary of the world's agricultural supply, and that 
 this supply be known to all the world, and this is what the 
 Institute stands for, and it therefore stands for the World's 
 Peace. Whatever jealousies, diverse usages, or selfish in- 
 terests there be that may tend to divide the nations, we have 
 at last in this Institution a unifying factor upon which all 
 can agree, all must agree. The reward of agreement is 
 increased national life; the penalty for disagreement must 
 ultimately be national decay ; the decay hastened in propor- 
 tion to the rapid growth of manipulation, which rapid growth 
 is only too plainly evident in our day. And what is its 
 keystone ? What but the private knowledge of the world's 
 supply of the staples of agriculture ? 
 
 But it is not sufficient that the work has been begun. 
 Your Majesty may remember the fears that I expressed; 
 fears which have facts for foundation. These fears are that 
 the powers of evil are at work, silently and of ttimes potently, 
 to destroy the edifice which it is attempted to rear. This 
 power is as crafty as Satan himself and almost as powerful. 
 The pioneers of the Institute stretch forth their hands 
 appealingly for help; help that will dispel the destroyers, 
 help that shall aid us with the one hand to build and with 
 the other to wield the sword. Upon the coins of England 
 we see the effigy of St. George slaying the Dragon. Here in 
 Rome is Guido Reni's Michael overcoming the Devil. Al- 
 most all the heroic nations have some such representation, 
 the representation of Right overcoming Evil, and in the mat- 
 ter we are now discussing we have a vivid materialization of 
 what was mainly meant by the Prophets of old in their cry 
 " Righteousness." 
 
 I have the honor to remain, 
 
 Your Majesty's most humble servant, 
 David Lubin.
 
 264 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 His views on this aspect of the work were further de- 
 veloped in a paper he wrote in 1911 for the International 
 Races Congress, from which I quote the following : 
 
 But a most important function of the Institute has yet 
 to be stated, the International Institute of Agriculture is 
 destined to become the World's Temple of Peace. . . . 
 
 There are any amount of fine speeches delivered on Peace 
 and ever so many excellent articles on disarmament, but 
 the real road towards peace between the nations is through 
 an international parliament, a parliament on the lines of the 
 International Institute of Agriculture, on lines of economic 
 betterment. 
 
 Speeches are made, papers are written showing how in- 
 creased armaments all work toward increased armaments 
 (a vicious circle indeed) ; thus we arrive at the reductio ad 
 absurdum of armaments. But we too often overlook the 
 fact that there is also a reductio ad absurdum of disarmament. 
 Shall the United States and England form a coalition stipu- 
 lating for the disarmament of both ? There are, no doubt, 
 half a dozen other Great Powers that would be pleased with 
 such an arrangement. But what guarantee would there be 
 that under such limited disarmament they would not both 
 presently be overwhelmed and swallowed up by inferior 
 civilizations ? 
 
 There is but one practical avenue toward ultimate and 
 lasting peace, peace among the nations, and that avenue is 
 through a permanent International Parliament, a parliament 
 for economic betterment. . . . 
 
 That the time is close at hand when the permanent, con- 
 tinuous existence of such an economic parliament will be 
 an imperative necessity is evidenced by the following : 
 First, the increase of population; second, the spread of 
 general intelligence ; third, the general demand for a higher 
 standard of living; fourth, the increase in the power of 
 corporate bodies ; fifth, the decrease in the economic avenues 
 open to individual initiative; sixth, the decrease of time in 
 transmission and transit ; seventh, the gain through cooper- 
 ative systems, and the need of applying these systems on 
 international lines. . . .
 
 RUSSIA THE BALKANS PEACE 265 
 
 The sages and prophets of our day find their task easier 
 than of yore, for the time has come at last when it is be- 
 ginning to be understood that robbery, covetous greed, or 
 disorder is not nearly so profitable as Equity, Service and 
 Order. It is now beginning to be understood that the eco- 
 nomic gloom of one country casts its dark shadow of loss and 
 suffering on all other countries, and that the sun of prosperity 
 which* shines in one country casts its beneficent rays abroad, 
 blessing all other countries. 
 
 Through what seas of blood and tears the human family 
 was to pass before that truth would be brought home to it 
 with a tragic force which each month since the signing of 
 the Peace of Versailles only emphasizes, Lubin then had no 
 glimmering, but it is certain that the man who wrote this 
 paper in May, 1911, is entitled to be considered a pioneer 
 of the movement for a League of Nations. Writing a few 
 months later (November, 1911), he says in a paper published 
 in the American Israelite under the title "The Mission of 
 Israel and a Commonwealth of Nations" : 
 
 The maximum measure of economic benefit may no longer 
 be attained by confining economic activity within .the 
 boundaries of any one nation . . . the maximum measure 
 of economic benefits demands the unhampered operation 
 of economic laws throughout the whole world, and such 
 unhampered operation can only be secured by a Confedera- 
 tion of the Nations. 
 
 Happily evidences are at hand indicating that the trend 
 of events is towards the realization of such a Confederation. 
 . . . Reviewing this phase in the historic life of mankind, 
 it would seem as though the illuminated minds of the Proph- 
 ets had seen far ahead, right through the intervening ages 
 which have led up to the civilization of our time; and be- 
 yond our time to the realization of the evolutionary progress 
 which is now working itself out, and which is yet to cul- 
 minate in the great World Commonwealth. 
 
 The Government of a nation is, after all, but an organ- 
 ization carrying on its business by means of a number of 
 departments, such as the Department of Foreign Affairs,
 
 266 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of Home Affairs, of Finance, of the Treasury, Commerce 
 and Labor, Agriculture, Education, Justice, the Post-office, 
 the Army and the Navy. It is the union of these depart- 
 ments under the direction of the presiding officer in the 
 Cabinet which constitutes the executive branch of Govern- 
 ment. Now, international bodies, organized to render 
 similar services, would, when federated, constitute an inter- 
 national government. 
 
 The Institute, in Lubin's mind, was but the first of these 
 International Departments.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TEN TEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 
 
 David Lubin used to compare the International Institute 
 of Agriculture to an Eiffel Tower, an observatory whence 
 you could secure a bird's-eye view of the surrounding agri- 
 cultural landscape, note its features, make comparisons, draw 
 deductions and generalizations. And he interpreted the 
 duties of a delegate as twofold : when in the assembly halls 
 and committee rooms he was an internationalist, viewing 
 things from a general and not a particularist standpoint; 
 when in his private office, under his national flag, he became 
 American, Spaniard, Japanese, English, as the case might be, 
 and worked to promote the interests of the farmers of his 
 own country. 
 
 So for ten long years in that "American Room", hung 
 with portraits of his pioneer co-workers in the early days of 
 the struggle, with the characteristic stone pines of Rome 
 peeping in at the windows, looking down on the lovely wooded 
 grounds of the Borghese gardens, the majestic dome of 
 St. Peter's in the distance, a constant reminder of the dream 
 of Unity in University and of Catholicity, David Lubin 
 worked unceasingly for the American farmers. 
 
 While he felt that they had much to teach and he would 
 point with pride to the splendid marketing organization 
 of the fruit growers he also knew they had much to learn, 
 especially in the field of agricultural economics. In those 
 years the great trusts in farm products the meat trust, 
 the dairy trust, the egg trust, the tobacco trust, the many 
 combines organized to buy cheap and sell dear were the 
 subject of constant comment and criticism in the press, and 
 proposals for restrictive legislation to curb their activities 
 were brought forward both in and out of Congress.
 
 268 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Lubin felt that the evil complained of was essentially the 
 result of the financial helplessness of the American farmer ; 
 that the remedy lay in strengthening him rather than in 
 fighting the trust. The farmer should be not only the pro- 
 ducer but also, to an extent, the merchant of the crops he 
 raised ; no less than the manufacturer he should have a voice 
 in determining the price and mode of distribution of his 
 product. But to make this possible he must possess an 
 organization able to advise him where and how to sell, and 
 a system of rural and land credits enabling him to finance 
 his business on terms of equality with the merchant. His 
 assets must be rendered liquid and available for reinvestment 
 in his farm in the form of improvements. Surveying the 
 situation from the elevation of the Institute, Lubin saw that 
 this desideratum was no idle dream but well within the 
 bounds of possibility, for the European farmers, and more 
 especially the farmers of Central Europe, had, to a con- 
 siderable extent, attained all this, in a large measure through 
 cooperative organization. 
 
 It seemed to Lubin that in America the emphasis had so 
 far been placed too exclusively on the need of increasing 
 and improving production. "Raise two ears of corn where 
 one used to grow" is a good cry, provided that the farmer 
 who raises the ears is enabled to market them profitably; 
 otherwise the increased yield may become a real injury to 
 the producer without any compensatory benefit to the con- 
 suming public, for the ruinously low prices forced on the 
 farmer are rarely if ever reflected in low prices to the ul- 
 timate buyer; while poverty on the farms reacts at once 
 on the towns by reducing work in the factories. 
 
 These ideas were not new to David Lubin. As we have 
 seen, he was trying, before he left America in 1904, to edu- 
 cate the Grange along these lines; but the experience he 
 gained in Europe and the publications of the Institute on 
 cooperative credit and organization, confirmed by the 
 evidence of positive data beliefs which had previously been 
 largely intuitional. As early as 1907, when in Washington
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 269 
 
 for the ratification of the Institute Treaty, he had tried to 
 bring the question of rural credits to the attention of Pres- 
 ident Roosevelt, to whom he wrote on October 29 of that 
 year: 
 
 I am on my way to Rome and wish to consult you con- 
 cerning the work of the International Institute of Agri- 
 culture, which private advices inform me will have its first 
 meeting in April, 1908. ... I wish also personally to thank 
 you for the honor of making me the delegate to the Per- 
 manent Committee of the Institute. 
 
 My studies and observations in Europe make me feel 
 that the Raiffeisen and Schultze-Delitsch systems of coopera- 
 tive credit associations would lift the Southern producer of 
 cotton and tobacco from the payment of ten to one hundred 
 per cent, interest entailed by the crop lien credit system, 
 and give him money at six per cent. Your assistance is 
 needed to aid in causing associations to be started in each 
 cotton and tobacco State. 
 
 His persistence in this matter with the members of the 
 Administration, more especially with the Under-Secretary 
 of State, Mr. Robert Bacon, during the months he spent 
 in Washington in 1907, attracted some attention ; "but 
 veiled hostility of "special interests" combined with the 
 tendency to deal with such matters along sentimental rather 
 than purely economic lines, so frequent in the American 
 treatment of rural problems, got the upper hand. A twist 
 was given to the movement, shunting it off the line of sound 
 economic betterment through good farm finance on to the 
 semi-rhetorical and dilettante track of the "rural life move- 
 ment", tacked on to that for the conservation of natural 
 resources ; a question, this latter, of vast import, and one 
 to which, as we have seen, Lubin had devoted no small 
 amount of thought in the early nineties, when it was still 
 a neglected issue. 
 
 Lubin's mental make-up rendered him impatient of all 
 tinkering with effects while neglecting causes. He was 
 convinced that all the American farmer needed was help and
 
 270 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 guidance in securing for himself a sound system of farm 
 finance and a really national i. e., nation-wide organization 
 which would keep him informed on profitable channels for 
 marketing his produce, just as the merchant is assisted in 
 his business by the guidance afforded by Chambers of 
 Commerce and similar organization. Give him these and 
 all the rest a better rural community life, pleasant and 
 healthy surroundings, etc. would be added unto him. 
 
 "There is no need to teach the farmer to blow his nose 
 or his wife to dance a polka ; make the business of farming 
 profitable and there will be no need to worry about the rural 
 exodus," I have often heard him exclaim. 
 
 If his efforts had so far failed to arouse the interest which 
 the subject deserved, Lubin was not discouraged. It only 
 meant that he had not yet used the right means to ends. At 
 one time he thought help might come from the cotton manu- 
 facturers, directly interested as they are in the prosperity 
 of the cotton-growing industry. He wrote to his friend, 
 Sir Charles Macara, who had sent him the report of the 
 International Cotton Association : 
 
 Please bear in mind the following : The Southern 
 cotton grower is an exception ; among all the farmers of the 
 United States he alone can only buy at "six cents cash or 
 twelve cents credit." And who, in the end, must pay for this 
 crooked, curious, hazardous, wasteful, and absurd system? 
 The producer ? Yes ; but not he alone but the consumer, 
 the poor consumer of cotton. And so we see that we are 
 our brother's keeper if only we mean to "keep" ourselves 
 and to do it rationally. 
 
 . . . You will have to take a direct interest in the wel- 
 fare of the Southern cotton grower. You will have to fur- 
 nish him with many millions of dollars and at the lowest 
 possible world's rate of interest. You will have to introduce 
 in the Southern States the Raiffeisen and the Schultze-De- 
 litsch Credit systems, and you will have to see that there 
 is no manner of exploitation in all this effort, and then you 
 may not alone have what you want (cotton at a reasonable 
 price) but you will have what you cannot otherwise have;
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 271 
 
 you will then have "steady" cotton. And in this way only 
 may you provide the necessary supply of raw material and 
 with a minimum of unnecessary fluctuations, and thus 
 render your fifty million spindles steady interest earners, 
 and redeem your Labor from the mood of radical agitation 
 and its suggestive evils. And in doing all this you will be 
 doing something besides ; you will show that the theory of 
 Machiavelli, the theory of the "rule of the fist", is profitless ; 
 that we may serve ourselves best by serving others. Perhaps 
 I have not made myself sufficiently plain ; perhaps your 
 people are not yet prepared to act on this mode of procedure, 
 but the time will surely be here when Reciprocal Service 
 shall be the highway to means towards economic ends. It 
 may take a month, a year, a century, or many centuries to 
 realize this, but some day it will as surely be realized as the 
 thousands of other developments upward, evolved from the 
 impulse towards progress. 
 
 Persistent tenacity was the outstanding feature of Lubin's 
 character, and though he got scant response, he never ceased 
 urging the need for a sound system of farm finance. Other 
 questions might, for the time being, have the right of way, 
 but he always came back to this fundamental problem. 
 
 In 1911 the publications issued by the cooperative bureau 
 of the Institute, then under the direction of Professor Loren- 
 zoni, once more ri vetted his attention on this phase of eco- 
 nomic development. In the spring of that year he had taken 
 up the question in Washington with the State Department 
 and on his return to Rome he issued a leaflet : " The Raif- 
 feisen System, what does it mean ? The Peasant Farmers of 
 Germany are sufficiently intelligent and capable to do a 
 cooperative banking business of over One Billion Six Hun- 
 dred Million Dollars a year. How about the American 
 Farmer?" which brought him letters of inquiry from every 
 section of the United States. 
 
 Most people, when they wish to spread an idea, use the 
 medium of the press. They write a book or publish articles 
 in the reviews, or get space in the columns of the daily 
 papers. Such modes never seemed to suggest themselves
 
 272 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to Lubin's mind. True, he was anxious to interest the press 
 in the causes he advocated. As we have seen, he wanted the 
 London Times to take up the advocacy of the International 
 Institute of Agriculture. But the delays incident on writing 
 up a subject in essay form, sending it for acceptance to an 
 editor, running the chance of refusal, and at best waiting 
 your turn for publication in the crowded pages of an in- 
 fluential monthly, did not fit in with his love of rapid action. 
 Lubin came from a business house and not from a University, 
 and his experience had been with the preparation and dis- 
 tribution of catalogues rather than with the publication of 
 books; even in the case of his one book, "Let There Be 
 Light", he had brought it out at his own expense, and himself 
 attended to its distribution. So it was along the lines of the 
 business catalogue that he carried on the advocacy of his 
 ideas during the next few years. 
 
 He equipped himself with the rosters of State and Sub- 
 ordinate Granges, Farmers' associations, business organiza- 
 tions, with press and congressional directories, and compiled 
 a regular mailing list of some fifty thousand addresses. He 
 employed a boy by the year copying these addresses on to 
 envelopes. Then he would prepare a short but striking 
 statement, frequently in the form of a letter to some corre- 
 spondent whom he used as a peg on which to hang the "case", 
 or else in dialogue form which lent itself to his love of con- 
 crete colloquial expression. With laborious effort he would 
 get his matter into shape and send it to the printer, himself 
 paying minute attention to such details as headlines, sub- 
 titles, display type, etc., just as he would have done in the 
 case of an advertisement for his business house. Then, when 
 all was ready, the "American Room" would become a regular 
 work shop, with some ten or twelve boys working at long tables, 
 filling envelopes, pasting on stamps, tying up parcels, and 
 Lubin sitting in the midst like a foreman, keeping an eye 
 on every detail, reading back addresses, counting out leaf- 
 lets, and every now and again thrusting his hand into his 
 pocket for two or three hundred lire notes to be expended on
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 273 
 
 stamps. In a few hours' time his fifty thousand edition would 
 be out in the mails, and he would count the days which would 
 elapse before the pamphlets would be in the hands of Worthy 
 Master Jones, or Farmer Brown, who would wonder how 
 their names and addresses came to be known in Rome, and 
 would read over with interest the brief statement expressed 
 in language which they could understand. The leaflet 
 would be accompanied by a note suggesting that they take 
 it down to the next meeting of their Subordinate Grange 
 and read it over with the brothers, agree on a line of action, 
 and write back comments and criticism to the Rome office. 
 In this effort Lubin took the farmer into his confidence, as 
 partner in the enterprise ; the farmer was to take hold and 
 become part and parcel of the work. 
 
 He persisted in this line of action for some eight years, 
 during which time he repeatedly addressed this large circle 
 of readers on rural credits, a national organization for the 
 marketing of farm products, on ocean freight rates, on a 
 system for direct dealing between producer and con- 
 sumer through the parcel post, on a National Chamber of 
 Agriculture, and as the war went its destructive way, on the 
 need for a Confederation of Democracies under a Constitu- 
 tion as a basis for permanent Peace. Gathered together, 
 these leaflets form a thick volume of closely printed pages, 
 each representing days and weeks of anxious thought. Add 
 to these the volumes of correspondence on these subjects, 
 mostly letters of which he took a dozen or more carbon copies 
 to circulate among a group interested in the particular sub- 
 ject dealt with, and we get a truly formidable body of work. 
 One begins then to realize how it is that so many of the ideas 
 which Lubin originated or elaborated have come to be, so 
 to speak " in the air ", have taken root and sprung up in 
 many quarters, giving rise to movements of truly national 
 importance in connection with which his name, however, is 
 mentioned only by a small inner circle who know the power- 
 ful part he played as agitator, educator, organizer. He 
 sowed ideas broadcast in thousands of directions, addressing
 
 274 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 himself to the farmer "with mud on his boots" in the little 
 townships and rural free delivery districts all over the 
 United States. 
 
 He had already aroused in Grange and Farmer circles a 
 very widespread interest in the rural credit problem when, 
 in the autumn of 1911, a letter reached him from the Secre- 
 tary of the Southern Commercial Congress, inviting him to 
 take part in the Convention to be held that May in Nash- 
 ville, Tennessee. 
 
 Lubin was a past master in the art of seizing a straw and 
 converting it into a solid prop. He was at that time search- 
 ing for a means of focussing the interest aroused in co- 
 operative credit and directing it into channels of achieve- 
 ment, and he saw in this letter Providence supplying the 
 means. He at once replied, suggesting that the Southern 
 Commercial Congress should take the lead in this work. 
 A correspondence ensued which resulted in his attending 
 in May, 1912, the Nashville Convention where a special con- 
 ference discussed under his leadership the question of farm 
 finance. After a week's debate a resolution was adopted 
 instructing the Southern Commercial Congress to assemble 
 a Commission to inquire in Europe into the systems there 
 in force. 
 
 A year of intense labor followed. Cooperating with 
 Senator Duncan U. Fletcher, then president of the South- 
 ern Commercial Congress, and with its Managing Director, 
 Doctor Clarence J. Owens, in their task of assembling dele- 
 gates from as many States as possible, Lubin from the In- 
 stitute sent out at his own expense edition after edition of 
 leaflets, written by himself or prepared under his super- 
 vision by the Institute, to every nook and corner of the 
 United States. On the other hand he took up the work of 
 preparing the ground for the inquiry with the governments 
 of Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany, France and England. 
 Sub-committees were to visit Denmark, Holland, Belgium, 
 Spain and Russia. Through his colleagues on the Permanent 
 Committee he got into touch with all these governments,
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 275 
 
 and worked to such good effect that when the Commission 
 reached these several countries it was overwhelmed with 
 honors and placed in the way of getting at the required in- 
 formation with the least possible loss of time. 
 
 Meantime, the American bankers, under the leadership 
 of Myron C. Herrick, whom President Taft had just ap- 
 pointed Ambassador to France, were taking up the inquiry 
 from their end, and much correspondence took place be- 
 tween them and David Lubin. 
 
 In all this what distinguished David Lubin's effort from 
 that of others was the steadiness with which he kept the 
 ultimate purpose in view. It was no class interest of farm- 
 ers as farmers for which he strove; he strove to place 
 Democracy on a firm and permanent foundation. Writing 
 in December, 1912, to his son, Sie, he says : 
 
 As you will no doubt understand, this is not merely a 
 question of cheapening the rate of interest, for many farmers 
 would remain uninterested even if the interest were a quarter 
 of the rate it now is. They have what they call a principle 
 of "keeping out of debt", for they fear that debt, especially 
 a mortgage, must ultimately lead to foreclosure. Hence 
 they are satisfied to go along and do their banking with the 
 storekeeper, let the storekeeper be their banker, and let it 
 go at that ; which is just the same as if a department store 
 man rejected cheap money from a bank and bought on a 
 year's credit from the jobber. The purpose of the rural 
 credit system, when understood, is to place a farmer in a 
 position to avail himself of "dynamic" dollars; but this is 
 the least of its benefits, for under the cooperative method 
 these "dynamic" dollars will free him from the "Trust." 
 The farmer himself becomes the Trust ; and this is the long- 
 range benefit, for it is not merely an economic benefit con- 
 ferred upon the farmer, but this system, in its general adop- 
 tion, will mean much for the United States and very much 
 for the world, for its chief significance consists in its political 
 benefit. We are apt to think that liberal Government is 
 established throughout the world because it has such firm 
 roots in the United States. Stop and think for a moment,
 
 276 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and you will see that this is by no means the case. It is 
 still an experiment, and the bubbling over of liberalism in 
 the United States is largely due to economic opportunity 
 of initiative, so rigorously limited in the Old World. It is 
 this which has brought liberal tendencies to the surface. 
 Nor is this the first time in the history of the world for such 
 a state of affairs. And everywhere and at all times a de- 
 teriorating force has been at work, slowly undermining the 
 structure of liberalism, and this force gradually absorbed 
 and eliminated the independent, landowning farmer, brushed 
 aside by lords of great estates. Thus the conservative of 
 the land was converted into a renter and into a radical. And 
 then the whole State toppled over. Remove this cause in 
 the United States and you have removed the cause of the 
 failure of former democracies. As liberal governments of 
 the world at the present time take their cue from the United 
 States, it must follow that the decline of the American con- 
 servative, the American farmer, the independent, landowning 
 farmer, means the decline of the American Republic; and 
 conversely the conservation of the American conservative, 
 the American landowning farmer, must mean the conserva- 
 tion of the American Republic and of liberal government 
 throughout the world. 
 
 I have not the figures before me as to the number of farm 
 renters in the United States at the present time. I am told 
 from various publications that they are increasing slowly but 
 surely. From some loose proof sheets sent me by the Direc- 
 tor of the Census Bureau from the coming census report, it 
 would seem that about one third of the farmers are already 
 renters, and this in face of the fact that in the older European 
 countries every endeavor is now being made by the govern- 
 ments to break up the great estates and to convert the renter 
 into a freehold farmer. In these older European countries 
 every government is striving its utmost to conserve the 
 landowning farmer, to conserve the conservative. Hence 
 they give him a protective system which protects, and a co- 
 operative credit system which gives him dynamic dollars, 
 and this makes the European farmers the Trusts of Europe. 
 Remove these advantages from the farmers of Germany and 
 you render these present conservatives of the German sys-
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 277 
 
 tern German radicals who, joined with the urban socialists, 
 w r ould overturn the government at one fell sweep. 
 
 And now you have my reason for giving up days, weeks, 
 months and years of my life and my energy and my means 
 in this work. It is not because I want to be a Count or a 
 Duke, or to receive a medal, or to receive applause, or to 
 receive thanks ; these are of no value, not at least to me. It 
 is because your great-great-grandfathers and mine started 
 out on this work centuries ago. It is the heredity of these 
 ideals and ideas which urges me on in the work, in spite of 
 the many efforts I have made to escape it. I wish to go to 
 Tarshish ; but there is an overwhelming spirit which says : 
 "Go to Nineveh." 
 
 Lubin knew the value of a "cry", and he always liked 
 "authority" and "precedent" for his work. He saw all 
 this ready to hand in the German system of cooperative 
 rural credits known by the name of its founder, Raiffeisen. 
 So he talked in a general way of the Raiffeisen system, but 
 the American adaptation from European systems which he 
 was working for was really something very different from the 
 small cooperative loan societies devised to meet the needs 
 of peasant farmers. He wished to make liquid the vast 
 volume of wealth represented by the land assets of the Amer- 
 ican farmer, and to set every dollar of this potential wealth 
 at work creating actual wealth. To use his own words : 
 
 The question before us is not merely one of cheap money ; 
 it is a question of money in a dynamic form in the place of 
 money in a static form. Let me make clear what I mean. 
 Money in a dynamic form is in a position to multiply itself ; 
 whereas money in the static form is immobile, dead. . . . 
 If money is to be employed to advantage, every dollar 
 should find a constant dynamic use. If only the minor 
 portion of these dollars is thus employed, while the major 
 portion remains idle, the major portion will soon eat up any 
 profit earned on the minor portion. With the ordinary com- 
 mercial account every dollar may be placed on the active 
 line of engagement, and the dollar not so engaged may be 
 immediately returned to the bank and ceases to pay interest
 
 278 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 for the time it is not wanted. A mortgage, on the other 
 hand, gives a fixed amount for a fixed period and this is 
 contrary to the commercial usage which permits the free 
 engagement of every dollar in current business. . . . Dy- 
 namic dollars can be compared to the gilded balls manip- 
 ulated by a juggler who keeps each ball in motion and as 
 many at a time as he desires, each ball moving according to 
 the character of the unit of impelling power. The static 
 use of money may be compared to the same juggler's balls 
 in the hands of a novice ; if he attempts to throw them in 
 the air he may only engage one at a time ; the others fall to 
 the ground. 
 
 The difficulties to be overcome in getting together the pro- 
 posed American Commission were formidable, first and 
 foremost the difficulty of getting the requisite funds to 
 enable two farmers from each State to travel for three months 
 in Europe. Lubin wrote endless letters suggesting ways and 
 means, urging the farmers not to have the work done for 
 them vicariously but to do it themselves. Writing to 
 Mr. L. S. Herron, Editor of the Nebraska Farmer (September 
 26, 1912), he says : 
 
 It takes no prophet to foretell that if the farmers remain 
 home, singing pessimistic songs and doing nothing else, 
 they will presently have cause to accentuate their minor 
 key, to exchange their singing for howling. If the farmer 
 is a man, if he is a fighter, let him show it. Here the fight 
 has scarcely begun when the sensitive ear of the banker has 
 caught the drift, and sent advance committees abroad in 
 order to get hold of the lines. Where has the farmer been 
 all this time ? At home, droning that he does n't know where 
 to get the twelve hundred dollars for a delegate on the Com- 
 mission, and he wants Congress to give it to him, and he 
 wants some one else to give it to him, and then he grumbles 
 that he may not be put on the Commission, that he will be 
 left unrepresented. All this while he takes another chew of 
 tobacco, and gives another skilful big spit, and drones and 
 groans at the "exploiting financier" and the "exploiting 
 trust man."
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 279 
 
 But his efforts, seconding those of Senator Fletcher and 
 Doctor Owens, had their effect. Lubin reached every 
 section of the United States, and soon the press began fairly 
 to bristle with articles on rural credits and farm finance. It 
 was the presidential campaign year, and Lubin realized his 
 ambition of seeing the question made a plank in the plat- 
 forms of the Republican, Democratic and Progressive parties. 
 The Wilson Administration took the question up and ap- 
 pointed a Committee of seven United States delegates to 
 join the American Commission in its European inquiry. 
 
 In May, 1913, Lubin welcomed in Rome some one hundred 
 and twenty Americans who, under the auspices of the 
 Southern Commercial Congress, and with the cooperation 
 of the Institute, came to hold juries of inquiry in half a 
 dozen European countries on the subject at issue. 
 
 The almost triumphal progress of this Commission through 
 the European capitals bore eloquent evidence to the re- 
 markable work Lubin had done and to the unique position 
 which he had won for himself in the estimation of foreign 
 governments. 
 
 Little did the company then realize, as it traveled from 
 country to country with the ease, rapidity, and economy of 
 pre-war days, that the prosperous lands whose agriculture 
 could then make such a splendid showing would, within 
 a year, be devastated by war and many of them be on the 
 highway to permanent ruin and bankruptcy. But thus it 
 was, and the American farmer has to thank David Lubin if 
 he secured a picture of the European credit and cooperative 
 systems before the curtain fell on a phase in the world's 
 history. The special piece of work then accomplished could 
 never be performed again. 
 
 A book could be written on Lubin's views on this whole 
 subject of farm finance ; but in this biography the question 
 can only be dealt with briefly in its relation to the man. 
 As with so much else of his work, his efforts fructified in 
 action which only partially realized the purposes he had in 
 view. True, the Federal Farm Loan Act, which became law
 
 280 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 in 1916, makes liquid for purposes of land purchase and im- 
 provements some forty billion dollars' worth of wealth rep- 
 resented by agricultural lands in the United States ; but 
 the farmer has not yet got the "commercial rating" or the 
 current accounts at business rates of interest which Lubin 
 claimed were needed to place the farm on a sound com- 
 mercial basis. 
 
 Side by side with his campaign for rural credits, and 
 supplementary to it, Lubin urged the need for nation-wide 
 organization of the farmers, through a system of chambers 
 of agriculture beginning with the unit, the township, and 
 ending with the nation. 
 
 Let the townships elect this local chamber, the local 
 chambers the county, the counties the State, the States the 
 National Chamber of Agriculture, all equipped with card 
 index, long-distance telephone, night-letter telegrams; all 
 in touch, from the base to the apex and from the apex to the 
 base ; let the main purpose of the organization be to direct 
 the produce of the farm to the markets where it is in de- 
 mand, avoiding gluts and scarcity, detecting right away 
 obstacles due to defective transport facilities, defective 
 credit facilities; let it have power through the National 
 Chamber to call attention to such defects and secure their 
 removal, and soon not a single product would be grown for 
 which there would not be an eager purchaser at a fair price. 
 The paths of exchange would be smoothed, the machinery 
 oiled, and Democracy, through wise economic organization 
 would become a fact, a real government of the people, by 
 the people, for the people and not a government of special 
 interests, by special interests, for special interests. 
 
 In the last years of his life, Lubin spent time, energy and 
 means on the advocacy of these chambers of agriculture 
 sending out literature, traveling from place to place in the 
 United States, urging and explaining the idea. He had it 
 up in hearings before congressional committees, in con- 
 ferences with officials of the State Department and the 
 departments of Commerce and of Agriculture. He agitated
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 281 
 
 it with Congressmen and Senators, in the Grange, in the 
 Farmers' Educational and Cooperative Association, with 
 the agricultural colleges, through the Southern Commercial 
 Congress. He succeeded in having bills drafted and in- 
 troduced into the House and Senate for the creation of such 
 a system. 
 
 The European war came and the overwhelming events 
 diverted people's minds from such problems, but months 
 before impending famine made food supply and food con- 
 trol second in importance only to armaments, not only for 
 belligerents but for neutrals, Lubin had sensed the situation. 
 
 He realized to the full the importance of the American 
 farmer as a factor in winning the war. Food was a basic 
 need, almost taking precedence of munitions even during 
 the conflict, and would be the one main essential during the 
 period of reconstruction. With the granaries of Europe, 
 Russia, Hungary, Rumania devastated, the world would have 
 to rely first and foremost for its food supplies on the Amer- 
 ican farmer. But if that farmer were to do his best he must 
 have his task facilitated by easy credit ; not only long-time 
 land credit but commercial credit in the form of open ac- 
 counts with commercial banks wherewith to finance his cur- 
 rent business expenditure. 
 
 And again, organization must obviate the destructive waste 
 which allows food to rot on the farms for lack of a market, 
 while city workers are driven to revolutionary councils by 
 the high cost of living, and whole countries starve for lack 
 of that of which there is a glut elsewhere. He could see 
 that the importance of measures which would allow of mobi- 
 lizing the agricultural resources of the country was only 
 enhanced by the war, and he urged their passage as war 
 measures. 
 
 Though he did not succeed in this effort his work was not 
 in vain. Action has been taken on lines somewhat different 
 from those he then laid down, and has come about as the 
 product of such widespread agitation that it appears the 
 natural outcome of a condition rather than of any one man's
 
 282 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 work. Lubin did not live to see the almost miraculous 
 growth of the Farm Bureau movement, yet from letters he 
 received in the autumn of 1918 he concluded that the move- 
 ment he had so insistently urged was taking root and 
 developing under another name, and that a force was at 
 last at work which would soon make the American farmers 
 an organized power to be counted with politically no less 
 than economically. 
 
 In the summer of 1915 Lubin returned with his family to 
 the United States to work in connection with these various 
 movements. He remained on, at the request of the State 
 Department, until the autumn of 1916, when he returned 
 to Rome. One of the matters which claimed his attention 
 during these months was an effort along the lines to which 
 he had devoted so much time nearly thirty years before. 
 The parcel post had been working for some ten years, but 
 the laborious process of getting into touch through letters, 
 money orders, and so forth had prevented it from becoming 
 a real factor in promoting direct dealing between the farmer 
 and the housewife. Now, Lubin's long training and ex- 
 perience in building up a mail-order business had given him 
 an insight into all these difficulties, and he devised a plan for 
 reducing the routine involved to its simplest expression. 
 The briefest way of describing it is by quoting the statement 
 he made (December, 1915) to a little committee of members 
 of Sears, Roebuck and Company of Chicago, representatives 
 of the American Express and the Wells-Fargo Express Com- 
 panies, Mr. Gilford Pinchot, and others whom he invited to 
 look into the practicability of his proposal : 
 
 Briefly, the postmasters in the larger cities are to pro- 
 vide a separate room, a sub-post office for the transaction 
 of this particular business. The post-office clerk in that 
 room is to be provided with racks of different colors, each 
 color representing a certain kind of farm product : white, 
 for instance, to represent eggs ; pink, chickens ; yellow, 
 butter ; etc. In beginning this system the farmer registers 
 his name and address at the post office and is given a number.
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 283 
 
 This farmer is, say, "No. 40." "No. 40" buys a quantity 
 of cards or tags, each representing a certain quantity of a 
 given product ; each egg card would stand, say, for a dozen 
 eggs ; each butter card for a pound of butter ; each chicken 
 card for one chicken. He also provides himself with con- 
 tainers or carriers, some of which would be collapsible or 
 "knocked down." Now, farmer "No. 40" has for sale, say, 
 ten dozen eggs, five chickens and sixteen pounds of butter. 
 He writes the price of each dozen eggs on ten cards, one 
 dozen for each card, and inserts the cards in a printed en- 
 velope to be mailed to the sub-post office. He writes the 
 price of each chicken on five cards for the five chickens, and 
 inserts the cards in the same envelope. He writes the price 
 of a pound of butter on the fifteen cards for the fifteen pounds 
 of butter, putting them in the same envelope, which he seals 
 and delivers to the rural mail carrier. 
 
 The envelope containing the cards from "No. 40" arrives 
 at the sub-post office. The clerk slips them alongside their 
 corresponding numbers on the space in the rack, the white 
 cards in the egg rack, pink in the chicken rack, yellow in 
 the butter rack. 
 
 In the meantime the housewife has provided herself with a 
 post-office "purchasing book", similar in form to the mileage 
 books used by the Pennsylvania Railway Company, con- 
 sisting of perforated coupons for stated amounts. And now 
 we are ready to proceed with the transaction. 
 
 The housewife, taking her purchasing book with her, pro- 
 ceeds to the sub-post office. Having heard favorable re- 
 ports of farmer "No. 40", she asks the clerk whether this 
 farmer has any butter, eggs or chickens for sale that day, 
 and what the prices are. The clerk, pointing to the racks 
 says: "There are the racks; you may see for yourself. 
 Select what you wish and hand me your purchasing book." 
 The housewife selects a dozen eggs, a chicken, and a pound 
 of butter, and writes her address on the back of the cards 
 or tags, handing them to the clerk, who tears out from the 
 purchasing book the coupons corresponding to the amount 
 of the purchase and hands the book back to the housekeeper. 
 
 The clerk now proceeds a step further ; he incloses in an 
 envelope printed with the name and address of "No. 40"
 
 284 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the cards taken from the racks, together with the coupons 
 torn out of the purchasing book. He will insert in the same 
 envelope the cards and coupons for any additional sale from 
 the same farmer, and at the time of closing he seals the en- 
 velope and mails it. 
 
 During this interval farmer "No. 40" has placed his 
 products in the containers. On receipt of the envelope 
 from the post office he will deposit the coupon slips, which are 
 his money orders on the post office, in a box or in his bureau, 
 and proceed to fasten the returned cards to the several con- 
 tainers, when they are ready for the rural mail carrier. The 
 next step delivers the package in the home of the housewife. 
 
 The final step is the farmer's listing of the week's coupons 
 by number and amount of purchase on a listing slip in 
 original and duplicate which he hands with the coupons to 
 the rural mail carrier who will sign and detach the duplicate, 
 handing it to the farmer. He will then send the original 
 together with the coupons to the postmaster, who will send 
 the money for the week's transactions to the farmer through 
 the rural mail carrier, who, in handing it to the farmer, will re- 
 ceive the duplicate just spoken of. On receipt of this dupli- 
 cate, the auditing clerk at the post office cancels the trans- 
 actions for the week. 
 
 This plan was tried out experimentally in the spring of 
 1916 in California with great success, and, through the ef- 
 forts of Senator Fletcher, Congress was induced to make a 
 small appropriation for the purpose of an official trial through 
 the mails. But this was a case of "Congress proposes and 
 the profiteer disposes." So great was the outcry raised by 
 the latter, so assiduous the propagation of totally inaccurate 
 statements and gross misrepresentations and even of per- 
 sonal attacks on Mr. Lubin and the leading supporters 
 of the plan, that the proposed experiment was silently 
 dropped and the appropriation allowed to revert to the 
 Treasury. And here again it behooves the American farmer 
 not to allow himself to be deprived of the advantages he 
 could derive from the general adoption of this plan. As 
 Lubin used to say, the parcel-post service is now almost
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 285 
 
 exclusively of advantage to the city merchant ; this adapta- 
 tion would make it of equal value to the farmer. 
 
 As the devastation of war proceeded, Mr. Lubin clearly 
 saw that alone of the belligerent nations America would 
 issue from the struggle stronger than ever, a world-power 
 in the fullest sense of the word. It was his hope and belief 
 that she would avail herself of this great opportunity to 
 play her part in the work of reconstruction in no mean spirit 
 of narrow nationalism ; that first among the nations she 
 would realize that she could best serve her own interests by 
 serving those of others. He foresaw a break-down in the 
 credit and currency systems of the world, and he knew that 
 such a break-down would weigh heaviest of all on the growers 
 of staple crops, the American farmers, who produce for an 
 international market. In June, 1918, he sent out from the 
 Institute a little leaflet calling attention to this matter : 
 
 At the clf>se of the war international commerce, freed from 
 artificial barriers, will begin once more to flow in its usual 
 channels; there will be a resumption of the ordinary im- 
 port trade. These imports and the duty on them will have 
 to be paid for in gold, perhaps at a high premium, hence 
 a corresponding depreciation of paper money. Such a state 
 of affairs, unless efficiently controlled, will be sure to perturb 
 the stability of the financial and commercial world, for not 
 only will the paper money be depreciated but it will be sub- 
 ject to constant fluctuations, hence it will be sure to bring 
 on widespread- panics and crises. 
 
 . . . The modern international sweep of the dollar, its 
 interlocked status, and the magnitude of the interests in- 
 volved would render the Federal Reserve Board inadequate 
 to cope with the new conditions ; these new conditions de- 
 mand an institution on wider and broader lines; they de- 
 mand an international Reserve Board. 
 
 And here again is an idea which conditions have more 
 than justified, although the world has not yet attained the 
 pioneer's clear vision of its true interests. 
 
 "A 'Sally in her Alley' outlook on things, surviving in a
 
 286 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 world which has grown into the international stage of de- 
 velopment, is responsible for most of the evils of our day," 
 Lubin used to say. The several interests, thinking them- 
 selves so smart in gaining advantage, fail to see that in a 
 very real sense all are "members of one body", that for good 
 or for evil solidarity is a fact which we can no more afford to 
 disregard than we can afford to disregard the law of gravita- 
 tion. This was the truth which Lubin deduced from the 
 high generalizations of the Prophets, the truth involved in 
 the fundamental doctrine of monotheism, a truth which had 
 so permeated his mind that he had grown incapable of 
 thinking in terms of the particular. An appreciation of the 
 inter-relation of events, of the reaction of cause and effect, 
 had become instinctive with him and enabled him to see far 
 ahead, divining situations and the needs to which they 
 would give rise. He could never conceive of farmers' in- 
 terests as distinct from those of labor, commerce, indus- 
 try; the prosperity of each was essential to that of all. 
 Looking forward to America's role in the economic era which 
 would follow the war, he conceived that she would best 
 serve her interests not by engaging in a fierce competitive 
 fight for existing markets, but by pursuing a policy which 
 would indefinitely enlarge those markets. 
 
 America's part should be to build up industrial development 
 in the more backward countries. To those who objected that 
 such a policy would be equivalent to building up competitors, 
 he replied that while it might raise up competitors it would 
 also, and to a much greater extent, raise up customers. 
 
 "No one in the United States is lying awake nights worry- 
 ing about the competition of Morocco, but then Morocco 
 is of precious little good to the United States," he would say ; 
 and he would point out that if Great Britain were America's 
 most powerful competitor, Great Britain was also her best 
 customer. 
 
 More particularly did he advocate this policy in the case 
 of trade relations with Italy. He could see that with the 
 conclusion of the war a new condition would prevail in the
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 287 
 
 Mediterranean Basin, the dead hand of the Turk would 
 be removed from large tracts of populous territory which 
 had for centuries been kept outside the pale of modern 
 progress ; and Italy with her large population of intelligent 
 and industrious men and women would be in a most favored 
 geographical position for developing up that trade. 
 
 But Italy, in the words of one of her statesmen with whom 
 Lubin consulted, "is too young a country and too short of 
 capital to exploit by herself all her resources and to develop 
 industries and commerce along rational and organic lines." 
 She needs a business partner, and David Lubin believed 
 that such partnership between the United States and Italy 
 would be to the very real advantage of both countries. A 
 prosperous Italy would be a large consumer of American 
 staple products, machinery, semi-manufactured goods; 
 Italy could be an industrial base for American trade ex- 
 pansion in the Mediterranean Basin. Nor would he have 
 limited action along these lines to Italy. In Russia, in 
 Siberia, in South America, dormant potential wealth could 
 be fertilized and stimulated to activity by American capital 
 and knowledge; backward countries and peoples could be 
 helped to development, and America, prospering with the 
 prosperity of others, would stand forth, the cornucopia of 
 the Nations, blessing and blessed. 
 
 Lubin saw here a whole field for constructive work along 
 the line of "euconomics", a word coined at his instigation 
 by his friend Professor Giglioli, to express the union of ethics 
 with economics. It was for this union that he had worked 
 from the days when he had hung out his sign in Sacramento 
 "D. Lubin, One Price", to the days when as an old man he 
 spent his last summer in Sorrento (July-September, 1918), 
 urging economic solidarity among the nations as the most 
 effective way for repairing the devastations of the great 
 struggle then slowly drawing to an end. 
 
 "If the economists of to-day are at all derelict in duty, 
 it is because they fail to insist on the need of following out 
 economics on ethical lines;" he wrote in December, 1912,
 
 288 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 to Felix Adler. "In this department they have permitted 
 the Prophets of the Bible, those heroic pioneers in the propa- 
 ganda of economics on ethical lines, to stand in isolation on 
 a plane high and exalted, the most unique, the most worthy 
 of veneration in the social history of man." 
 
 This was the esoteric doctrine, if I may so express it, 
 which he would talk over with those who "having ears 
 hear." 
 
 When in London in July, 1913, with the American Com- 
 mission on Rural Credits, Lubin had driven off one morning 
 with me to call on one such, a man personally unknown to 
 him but for whose works he felt great admiration, the Scotch- 
 Canadian philosopher Doctor John Beatie Crozier. Though 
 the visit was entirely unannounced and unexpected, there 
 was no need of introductions or preliminaries between the 
 two men ; each recognized the other's worth. Crozier was 
 no "grocery man", but one who could appreciate the motive 
 and see the vision. Poor, old, and nearly blind, he sat for 
 some two hours while this strange latter-day prophet, with 
 worn face and flashing eye, preached the gospel of righteous- 
 ness to be attained for the everyday man in an everyday 
 world of wheat pits and stock exchanges, banks and farms 
 and labor unions; spoke of the "just weight" and the "just 
 measure" to be secured by applying the measuring rod of 
 equity not only to men in their individual relations, which 
 Lubin maintained was the Christian branch of forward en- 
 deavor, but also to the nations in their collective relations, 
 which he believed to be the Mission of Israel. And then he 
 spoke of Israel, summer-fallowed two thousand years that he 
 might at last arise the stronger for his final task, the task of 
 bringing the nations collectively under the yoke of law that the 
 foundations for the ultimate Commonwealth of Nations might 
 be laid. As he spoke, stopping every now and then for an 
 instant as a spasm of pain due to his heart trouble gave him 
 pause, the shabby little room with its ugly furnishings and 
 all the dingy prose of life became unreal, and the passion for 
 righteousness, expressing itself through his impassioned
 
 TEN YEARS OF WORK FOR AMERICA 289 
 
 eloquence seemed the one reality. And Lubin spoke on, 
 describing his work toward this end of economic equity, il- 
 luminating with the flashlight of idealism the dry details of 
 crop statistics, rural credits, marketing organization and so 
 forth. When he rose to go, Doctor Crozier, visibly moved, 
 accompanied him to the door. "Keep up the flag and go 
 down with the ship," were his parting words to his strange 
 visitor. They never met again.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 DAVID LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 
 
 As we have seen, David Lubin did not conceive of the 
 Institute as an ultimate, but as a link in a chain, the first 
 International Department of a World Administration. 
 Economic activities have outgrown the national isolation 
 within which they first developed; they know nothing of 
 frontiers ; but while private business has adapted itself 
 to this new condition, the nations in their public adminis- 
 trations have failed to keep abreast of the times, each still 
 behaving as though it were a self-contained unit. Now, 
 Lubin was no believer in an international government at 
 the present stage of human evolution ; he believed that the 
 nations are not yet prepared to renounce any substantial 
 portion of their sovereignty rights ; but he thought the age 
 was ripe for international administrative organization. In 
 fact, he believed it was the most urgent need of the day, if 
 collective interests were not to be sacrificed to the predatory 
 instincts of cosmopolitan trusts and combines. 
 
 A clear insight into this need guided his action in the 
 Institute, where he devoted his efforts to several correlated 
 lines of work, all steps towards the ultimate an organized 
 world. 
 
 For instance, he noted the new conditions which lead 
 large bodies of labor to migrate from country to country, 
 not to seek permanent homes, as did the early settlers of the 
 era of national formation, but to meet the economic needs 
 of the present international phase of development ; and here 
 again he saw waste and suffering caused by leaving the 
 movement to fortuity instead of bringing to its guidance 
 knowledge and organization. Driven by conditions, the
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 291 
 
 migratory currents crossed the oceans in spite of all artificial 
 obstacles placed in their path, but results, in themselves 
 beneficial, were attained at the cost of heavy loss to all con- 
 cerned, loss which rational planning could greatly reduce 
 if not eliminate. The Institute, at the dictation of the 
 Central Powers, had practically ruled out the question of 
 emigration from its program, but Lubin felt that their 
 word could not be final. Writing on this subject in April, 
 1909, to the then delegate of Argentina, Doctor Roque 
 Saenz Pena, who afterwards became President of that 
 Republic, Lubin says : 
 
 As to your proposal for the regulation, by means of in- 
 formation published by the International Institute of Agri- 
 culture, of the migratory currents of labor, I wish to say 
 that I am at a loss to find logical arguments against it. We 
 see here in Europe that these migrations have taken place 
 during many centuries, and are taking place now ; and that 
 within the past thirty or forty years well-defined streams of 
 migratory farm-labor have included within their sphere of 
 migration the South American countries. It is safe to say 
 that this migration will continue, and with the development 
 of countries it will increase in volume. The question re- 
 mains, shall it be permitted to continue fortuitously, without 
 design, without direction, or shall it come under the guidance 
 of that intelligent and authoritative information which it 
 would be possible for the International Institute of Agri- 
 culture to evolve and disseminate ? 
 
 Clearly fortuity in this instance would be a lamentable 
 economic error, an error which would make the blundering 
 of one section the seed-germ of loss and suffering in many 
 sections. . . . The intelligent guidance and direction of 
 migratory field labor would be to the world in the sphere of 
 economics what a "governor" is to a boiler and engine. 
 
 Not alone are the South American Republics interested 
 in the question of migratory farm-labor, but the United 
 States is equally interested in the question. At stated pe- 
 riods the great Western and Southern sections of the United 
 States require large bodies of field labor ; these are required
 
 292 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 at one time to prepare the soil and put in the crop, and at 
 another to harvest the same. This labor must be performed, 
 it must be performed if the purchasing fund is to be pro- 
 vided for acquiring the products of the skilled labor of the 
 factories. The less friction in the provision of necessary 
 farm-labor, the more work there will be for the skilled labor 
 of the factories. And where is this big body of farm-labor to 
 come from for the short periods when it must perform its la- 
 bor in the fields ? Where should it go after it has performed 
 these several short periods of labor ? Would it not be of the 
 highest economic benefit to have it come from the surplus 
 labor countries of the world, perform its task, and leave, 
 rather than to have it remain to swell abnormally the supply 
 of labor in the factories? "But," say some, "would it be 
 an economic advantage to have these laborers deplete the 
 wealth of a country by taking away, in the form of wages, 
 the great amount of wealth that they do?" The answer 
 is that the carrying away of their wages by migratory farm- 
 labor is not to be considered an economic loss, not any more 
 than the payments made for the imports of raw material. 
 
 It may be that the United States at this writing has certain 
 geographical disadvantages which prevent the systematic 
 employment of migratory farm-labor ; but with the comple- 
 tion of the Panama Canal this disadvantage will be removed. 
 It will then be found possible and advantageous to regulate 
 by law the incoming and outgoing of this migratory field- 
 labor for the uses of the Western and Southern sections of 
 the United States. 
 
 And here are his comments on this subject to the President 
 of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers 
 (April 27, 1909) : 
 
 At the first glance the proposal may seem antagonistic 
 to the interests of organized labor. Some reflection may 
 show that it is, in reality, a protective measure in the in- 
 terests of organized labor, much more efficacious than pro- 
 tection by a tariff on imports. This mass of labor comes and 
 then leaves, and the avenues perforating upward in the scale 
 towards skilled labor maintain their equilibrium. Omit 
 that labor, and the primary purchasing fund for the products
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 293 
 
 of skilled labor is diminished. Admit it and let it remain, and 
 it disturbs the equilibrium of all labor. Therefore, to have 
 it come and go meets the requirements and is of economic 
 advantage to organized labor. The question, however, oc- 
 curs, will not this labor once in the country remain there ? At 
 the present time and in the United States, it does ; but under 
 the Argentinian system it comes and goes on a round-trip 
 contract for travel, and this takes it home again. In course 
 of time bands of these migratory laborers may start from 
 Southern Europe, land at the Atlantic side of South America, 
 and work their way by certain fixed stations up toward the 
 Pacific, and then up to the Pacific Coast States, and through 
 them into British Columbia, consuming in all half a year, 
 and then return to Europe. 
 
 In the autumn of 1909 Mr. Gompers, returning from the 
 International Trade Union Congress, made a stay in Rome 
 as Mr. Lubin's guest. As we have had occasion to see, 
 Lubin's attitude was always sympathetic towards organized 
 labor. He was a great believer in the "balance of power" 
 as the most effective means of fighting injustice and op- 
 pression. Labor, agriculture, commerce, finance, all 
 alike organized nationally and internationally, would hold 
 each other in check, securing equity in economic relations. 
 He never hesitated to appeal to labor for support in his 
 efforts on behalf of agriculture, as he considered their in- 
 terests complementary to each other, each affording the 
 other its main market. So now he willingly did all in his 
 power to make Mr. Gompers' stay in Italy valuable both to 
 himself and to Italy, which, as a country with a large current 
 emigration towards the United States, was interested in an 
 exchange of views with the leader of the trade-union move- 
 ment in America. 
 
 Commenting on this visit to Europe, Lubin wrote to Gom- 
 pers (November 22, 1909) : 
 
 You and I are perhaps a little in advance of the great 
 army composing the human family. But it is a good thing 
 to be in the van ; it gives a satisfaction to fife, and a more
 
 294 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 rational one, than the many ciphers, with their significant 
 commas, following a unit designating dollars. And this is 
 the reason, my dear friend, that I pray to the Almighty that 
 Samuel Gompers shall die a poor man, for wealth and labor- 
 leadership are as far apart as Satan and the Lord ; and when 
 you have ended your career here on earth, that career of the 
 poor man will outshine all the Vanderbilts and the Astors 
 and the Rockefellers and the Stewarts, all of them; and 
 when their millions shall have vanished from remembrance 
 the work which you have done, which you are doing, shall 
 remain, a mighty landmark for the human family. 
 
 And again he writes on December 28, 1909 : 
 
 With reference to the proposed publication of your letters 
 on your European trip, I like the idea ; I think the publica- 
 tion of same will be likely to give life to a dormant idea; 
 to the idea that the real "Labor Leader" is not merely a 
 grub-worm for higher wages and short hours, but that he 
 is, first of all, a man in the full sense of the term and not 
 merely a plug to stop up a hole for sundry and particular 
 shoemakers, tinsmiths, or butchers. 
 
 When the day will be here when the Labor Leader will 
 speak wisely on the relations of Labor as a vital entity in 
 the body politic, it will then begin to be understood that the 
 struggles of Labor are as essential to the welfare of Mankind 
 as is the struggle for the maintenance of Liberty. 
 
 You and your colleagues owe it as a duty to the cause you 
 represent vitally to influence the mass of your constituency 
 to learn the value of generalizations derived from wide 
 travel. Will you and your friends give a monopoly of this 
 powerful knowledge to the Banker, the Merchant, and the 
 Manufacturer, and yourselves pass it by ? As sure as you 
 do you give them a monopoly the monopoly of knowledge ! 
 
 In October, 1912, Mr. J. B. Howard, Chief of the Micro- 
 chemical Laboratory of the United States Department of 
 Agriculture, was passing through Rome, studying Italian 
 pure food legislation, and met Mr. Lubin who gave him some 
 assistance in approaching the Italian authorities. Here 
 again Lubin saw a field where international action would be
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 295 
 
 valuable ; here again the facts of world trade had outgrown 
 the theories of national particularism, and the failure to 
 recognize this new condition was creating waste and con- 
 fusion, leaving open loopholes for unfair competition, sowing 
 the seeds of those economic conflicts which slowly but surely 
 mature ill-will in the political sphere. The Institute had 
 been founded to deal with just such problems, and Lubin, 
 with the eloquent assistance of Luigi Luzzatti, brought the 
 matter before the Permanent Committee. As usual, he was 
 miles ahead of his colleagues ; the food was too rich for their 
 stomachs, and nothing came of the effort, at that time ; but 
 as Lubin then said, that has not ended the matter. 
 
 He did not suffer from the fond delusion that a few govern- 
 ment delegates in the Institute could bring about the era 
 of an organized world. The Institute was but a point on 
 which to focus the concerted effort of all concerned. From 
 the early days of his advocacy he had urged the need of 
 making the common man, the farmer with mud on his boots, 
 the trade-union workman, the people at large, feel them- 
 selves part and parcel of the effort, realize that it was essen- 
 tially their fight. When he talked of a "Lower House" as 
 part of the proposed organization, he meant this and no 
 less. The diplomats in their wisdom had ruled out this 
 feature of the work, but he did not recognize their decision 
 as final : it was simply the short-sighted view of men who 
 would gain breadth of vision, he believed, as the work itself 
 evolved and taught them its lesson. 
 
 In a series of letters addressed in the spring of 1911 to the 
 Ministers of Agriculture of Spain, Rumania, Peru and Chili, 
 Lubin urged the formation in each adhering country of a 
 committee of representative merchants, financiers, econo- 
 mists and farmers to study the reports of the Institute and 
 interpret their meaning into terms of action for the farmer. 
 
 "If such organization is to be effective," he wrote to the 
 Minister of Agriculture of Peru, "it should not merely be 
 by individual nations, but the nations adopting it should
 
 296 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 form into groups and the various groups should have a more 
 or less defined unity of action. . . . Such unions could be 
 made fruitful in economic benefits. As you know, at the 
 present time much of the product of South America is con- 
 trolled by individuals and trusts in the United States and 
 England, and some on the Continent of Europe. That is 
 largely owing to the greater ease of coalescing capital with 
 its concomitant energy, than of coalescing the products of 
 agriculture so long as they are in the hands of the producers. 
 The plan proposed here is calculated to balance the power of 
 concentrated capital on the one hand, by the products in the 
 hands of the producers on the other. 
 
 "You are, of course, aware of the power of conserved 
 capital and of the rapid increase in the number and volume 
 of such concentrations, aided largely by the modern facilities 
 of communication and carriage. The meat trusts of the 
 United States, for instance, have not alone obtained control 
 of the meats of the United States, but they have extended 
 their operations to the control of that product in South Amer- 
 ica, and lately I saw in the London Times that these meat 
 trusts were endeavoring also to control the meat product of 
 Australia, to prevent which the Commonwealth of Australia 
 is attempting legislation. But, in my opinion, legislation 
 can hardly afford a remedy ; there must be created a balance 
 of power between conserved capital on the one hand, and the 
 products in the hands of the producers on the other, and this 
 is the purpose of the organization proposed in this commun- 
 ication." 
 
 The esoteric doctrine all this held for the initiated can be 
 gathered from the following letter addressed from Washing- 
 ton in May, 1910, to the late WiMiam T. Stead : 
 
 . . . Nations are dynamically active on one of two lines ; 
 in seeking advantage and in avoiding disadvantage. Mere 
 abstract equity is, to them, of no importance. Thus it 
 follows that effective direction may only be exercised within 
 the limitations of this boundary. If this be assented to, 
 what must follow ? This : that we must approach the 
 Peace question on that line, and when we do . . . what 
 follows ? What but Equity ? For an advantage to all is a
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 297 
 
 special advantage to none; it is simply Equity. And the 
 same is the case with the removal of disadvantage. . . . 
 
 How may this be attained ? Why not through some such 
 way as the International Institute of Agriculture? Not, 
 of course, as it is to-day, but as it can become by the direc- 
 tion of science and genius. And even then that would be 
 but the beginning . . . there can be an international cham- 
 ber of commerce, an international department of land and 
 sea transportation, an international bureau of labor, an inter- 
 national commerce commission, an international initiative 
 and an international referendum. 
 
 Here, then, we have a possible way of realizing the much 
 desired United States of the World, the world where swords 
 and spears will be beaten into plowshares and pruning hooks ; 
 where every man shall sit under his own vine and figtree 
 with no man to make him afraid. 
 
 From the first Lubin had clearly seen that the activities 
 of the International Institute of Agriculture would need to 
 be completed by those of an International Commerce Com- 
 mission. Years of work on the transportation phase of the 
 agricultural problem in California had taught him that 
 rates of carriage exercise a controlling influence over the 
 price which the farmer can get for his crop. And here again 
 he saw a field in which anarchic fortuity must give way to 
 design if equity in exchange is to prevail. Even before the 
 Institute opened he had taken up this question in Washington 
 with some of the Department men and with Secretary Wil- 
 son, but had been misunderstood. He soon learned that to 
 get a reputation for having "too many ideas" is to be looked 
 upon with suspicion. He had taken it up in London in 1908, 
 just before the Institute convened, in a conference with 
 Major Webb, the President of the Baltic Shipping Exchange. 
 Again when in Washington in 1910, he had reviewed the 
 commercial aspects of the case with Secretary of Commerce 
 Nagel, and the then Director of the Census, Doctor Dana 
 Durand. In the Permanent Committee he had frequently 
 called attention to the need for data on ocean freight rates,
 
 298 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 but the subject had been brushed aside as irrelevant to an 
 institution which dealt with agriculture. 
 
 Yet those very same years were witnessing the application 
 to the merchant marines of the world of those principles of 
 concentration of capital and energy which had made the 
 great industrial trusts so formidable. In 1913 these phenom- 
 ena were the objects of exhaustive study by government 
 commissions both in the United States and in Great Britain. 
 Their findings showed the existence of great Anglo-German 
 shipping rings and agreements, practically controlling the 
 freight markets of the world and driving competition out of 
 existence. Now, Lubin could see that in many directions 
 these combines marked a progress ; they made for efficiency 
 and regularity of service, they stood for organization against 
 anarchy ; but he also saw the danger noted in the British 
 Report : " the disadvantages of the system are those which 
 are usually inseparable from a monopoly not subject to 
 control." When he came to look closely into the system as 
 it affected farm staples, the magnitude of the evil and the 
 possibilities it left open for price manipulation by irrespon- 
 sible shipping trusts appalled him and seemed to call for 
 immediate action. The great shipping companies of the 
 leading countries had formed into rings which gave them a 
 practical monopoly of international ocean carriage, and 
 while those rings gave fixed rates of carriage for package 
 (i.e. manufactured) goods, the rates for the carriage of the 
 staples of agriculture, cereals, cotton, wool, etc., fluctuated, 
 in the words of the Secretary of the New York Chamber of 
 Commerce, "from day to day and from hour to hour." 
 Lubin saw that this afforded an opportunity for control, 
 through fluctuating charter rates, not only of the export 
 but also of the home price of the staples in the great producing 
 countries ; for the price of a staple may be said to vary in 
 inverse ratio to the cost of carriage from the producing point 
 to the world market center, Liverpool. Thus the eco- 
 nomic status of such countries as Russia, the Argentine, 
 Canada, and so forth were practically placed at the mercy
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 299 
 
 of the shipping rings. By differential tariffs and prefer- 
 ential treatment they could make or unmake the prosperity 
 of ports and countries; they could cause the price of the 
 food and clothing of the world to vibrate in sympathy with 
 arbitrarily imposed fluctuations in the rates of carriage. 
 Surely this was placing in the hands of private and irrespon- 
 sible companies a dangerous power, a power which they 
 should not have. 
 
 He saw here one of those obscure causes, little if at all 
 understood or realized by the world at large, which disturb 
 and distort economic relations, jeopardizing the stability and 
 safety of States and Nations, giving rise to depressions 
 and crises which the mass who suffer most therefrom attrib- 
 ute to causes which in reality are but effects of a condition 
 which escapes their ken. "The really dangerous anarchist 
 is not the man with the red tie who spits on the sawdust- 
 sprinkled floor and talks revolution ; the arch-anarchist 
 is the manipulator, the trust, the shipping ring, usurping 
 power, subordinating collective to individual interests," he 
 used to say. 
 
 The more he studied the question, the more firmly Lubin 
 was led to believe that on the solution of the problems of 
 carriage, almost more than on any other single factor, de- 
 pended the possibility of rendering the price of farm staples 
 stable instead of highly speculative. But he also saw that 
 their solution called for joint action by the nations through 
 an international organ, for shipping rings and combines, 
 residing in one country and doing trade the world over, 
 could never be effectively regulated by national legislation. 
 
 He believed that ocean carriage as affecting directly and 
 indirectly interests far transcending those which can be 
 legitimately left to private control should be considered as a 
 "public utility" no less than the railways, which, from an 
 early date in their history, have been subject to control in 
 the interests of the public at large; that the problems in- 
 volved in ocean carriage called for regulation by an Inter- 
 national Commerce Commission which should be for the
 
 300 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 world what the Interstate Commerce Commission was for 
 the United States. 
 
 He now saw that the International Commerce Commission 
 which he had long felt to be a need, was a vital necessity if 
 the carrier was to be the servant and not the master of the 
 product, and nothing daunted by the cool reception his pro- 
 posal received within the Institute, he set out in the late 
 spring of 1914 for Washington to fight his case out there. If 
 he could get the American farmer to realize that the uncertain 
 factor of the cost of ocean carriage necessarily made the trade 
 in the staples of agriculture a highly speculative one, if he 
 could get the Congress of the United States to indorse the 
 need for an international inquiry into the whole question, 
 he felt that a new and important step would have been taken 
 towards the upbuilding of an organized world common- 
 wealth. 
 
 Physically, David Lubin was visibly growing old. In- 
 tense "mental pressure", as he phrased it, had told on his 
 powerful physique. It aggravated the cough which never 
 left him, breaking into his rest and putting his whole nervous 
 system on the "ragged edge." Periods of illness which 
 confined him for weeks to his room grew more and more 
 frequent, but his spirit was indomitable, and he worked from 
 his sick bed as long hours and as intensely as when in his 
 office. Indeed, as he felt his lease of life slipping from him, 
 the urge to accomplish became a feverish anxiety. He was 
 like a man working against time, "for the night cometh when 
 no man can work." He grew impatient of all trifles that 
 interfered with or distracted him. Never have I come across 
 any one who united so well-balanced a brain with the faculty 
 for such intense, exclusive concentration on a self-appointed 
 task. 
 
 As I look over these pages with their constant reference 
 to such dry, prosaic subjects as tariff, transportation, sum- 
 mary of the world's visible supply, ocean freight rates, 
 etc., and think of David Lubin as I knew him and as 
 he impressed all with whom he came into close contact, I
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 301 
 
 wonder whether the reader will get even a glimpse of the 
 real man. The real David Lubin lived a great, an entrancing 
 romance ; the work to him was sacred. For all his apparent 
 dogmatism and self-assurance, he approached it in a spirit of 
 humility and prayer. I remember that before starting on 
 the composition of one of the little tracts in which he set 
 forth his views on ocean carriage, he got me to read him 
 through the book of Isaiah. It was to such works that he 
 went for inspiration, while Blue Books furnished the data. 
 To him the work was a greater "Marseillaise" hymn, as 
 he used to phrase it. The purpose was Emancipation; 
 emancipation from the chains which man's ignorance and 
 greed have forged for him. He was working for the Messi- 
 anic age none the less truly because the subjects he dis- 
 cussed were those familiar to the wheat-pit operator and the 
 shipping agent; and he brought apostolic fervor to their 
 solution. 
 
 He would have fits of deep despondency, but he would 
 come out of them, pull himself together, and rejoice in his 
 work. "To do such work is the greatest joy and privilege 
 a human being can aspire to," he has often said to me, and he 
 held himself ready, like a soldier, to leave whenever marching 
 orders came. No considerations of health or comfort or 
 personal happiness were allowed to stand in the way of what 
 the cause demanded. 
 
 And thus in June, 1914, David Lubin rose from a sick bed, 
 and accompanied by his young daughter, Dorothy, set off 
 for Washington to place the ocean carriage proposal before 
 the people of the United States. 
 
 "We have a Monroe Doctrine when no crown is permitted 
 to enlarge its sphere an inch further on the great North and 
 South American Continent," he had written some years 
 before to his friend, Sam Gompers, "but there is a greater 
 Monroe Doctrine than this. The great, inextinguishable 
 son of liberty, our beloved Uncle Sam, is to take possession 
 of every inch of land and water and air on this habitable 
 globe. Not territorially, mind you, but spiritually. The
 
 302 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Law went forth from Sinai ; but the modern Law, the law 
 of humanizing and civilizing and uplifting, is to go forth 
 from within the domain of the United States for the whole 
 world." He went to spread this broader Monroe Doctrine, 
 to get the United States to point the path with significant, 
 outstretched, index finger. 
 
 He soon collected round him in Washington a group of 
 influential men deeply interested in the case he placed be- 
 fore them. The Chairman of the House Committee on 
 Merchant Marine, Joshua W. Alexander, whose report on 
 shipping combines had furnished Lubin with most of his 
 ammunition; Mr. Flood, Chairman of the Foreign Af- 
 fairs Committee ; Senators Duncan U. Fletcher and Morris 
 Shepherd ; his old friend Julius Kahn ; Congressman Good- 
 win and many others in the House, with the support of State 
 Granges, Farmers associations and the Southern Commer- 
 cial Congress, introduced a Joint Resolution into Congress 
 favoring action by the International Institute of Agriculture 
 towards calling a conference of the several governments with 
 a view to the foundation of an International Commerce 
 Commission. This commission was to have deliberative, 
 consultative and advisory powers and was to consider the 
 whole question of ocean carriage in its bearing on the staples 
 of agriculture. 
 
 On August 30 Lubin wrote me: "When I came here I 
 started in and seemed to make such gratifying headway that 
 it looked as if a week would be sufficient. I arrived here 
 on the tenth of July, and no action yet. However, there is 
 some hope that it may come up to-morrow, and if not then, 
 I will have to try for some other day. It would be more than 
 foolish to be peevish and to grumble, especially so when Con- 
 gressmen tell that they, as members, with months of labor, 
 were not able to get for their own measures the attention that 
 this has succeeded in having, so you see that it is all a ques- 
 tion of 'praying hard and keeping the powder dry.*' On 
 the second of September, inclosing the text of the Joint 
 Resolution just adopted by Congress, he writes: "Well,
 
 LUBIN THE INTERNATIONALIST 303 
 
 from the enclosed you will see that ocean carriage has won 
 out, and a great big victory it is for the Institute. Other 
 nations can no longer dismiss this matter with a wave of the 
 hand. Presently it will be up in every country in the 
 world." 
 
 Meanwhile, as the dates show, the almost incredible had 
 happened, and Europe was convulsed by a great war. An 
 interval of five years of unparalleled suffering and dis- 
 aster opened in the life of the nations. The phenomena of 
 economic life, enlarged as by some giant magnifying-glass, 
 more especially those connected with the production, distri- 
 bution, and carriage of farm staples, forced themselves on 
 the attention not only of the statesman and the economist 
 but of the man in the street. Much that David Lubin had 
 been urging for years on apparently deaf ears came to be 
 accepted as self-evident truth ; the world witnessed the par- 
 adox of war bringing about unity and cooperation among a 
 whole series of nations in a degree which would have seemed 
 wildly Utopian in times of peace. But of course it was im- 
 possible during such times to carry into effect the proposed 
 world conference on ocean freight rates ; and when the tragic 
 interval was ended and the times were ripe for just such 
 action, the Pioneer had ended his term of service on earth. 
 
 The torch is handed on ; the work in which David Lubin 
 was so faithful and diligent a worker is being performed by 
 many agencies which have since arisen, mostly centering 
 around that League of Nations which with all its blunderings, 
 limitations and defects yet contains the nucleus of future 
 greatness. Several of the departments of a World Ad- 
 ministration which Lubin named in May, 1910, in his letter 
 to William T. Stead, are now accomplished facts : the Inter- 
 national Chamber of Commerce, the International Labor 
 Bureau with its section for the regulation of migratory labor, 
 the International Transport section of the League. One day, 
 some day, in our time or centuries hence, the rest will follow. 
 But in an age when, as David Lubin himself phrased it, the 
 tendency is to attribute "primary honors to secondary
 
 304 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 persons", when "commentators, sleek and fat", are crowned 
 with the laurel wreath and the "original promulgator re- 
 ceives for reward scorn and a crown of thorns", it is well to 
 remember. As one of his active cooperators of later years, 
 Doctor Clarence J. Owens well said in a singularly penetrat- 
 ing appreciation written shortly after Mr. Lubin's death : 
 
 "David Lubin's vision carried him far beyond agricultural 
 organization in the International Institute. He was the 
 Father of the first League of Nations, a League that held 
 fast through the period of the world war, the only body from 
 which the belligerents never recalled their delegates, so that 
 the one tie that held through the military conflicts and dark- 
 ness of the war was the force brought into existence under 
 the leadership of this great Calif ornian Jew."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 
 
 When David Lubin had got through with his seven or 
 eight hours' day of work in the Institute he would go home 
 to the rooms he occupied in the Hotel de Russie, get out of 
 harness, and relax with wife and children for two or three 
 hours, before picking up his book and reading hard, often 
 into the small hours of the morning. 
 
 He was a remarkable educator and delighted in the com- 
 pany of children. He could enter into their fun and win 
 their confidence, and prided himself not a little on the fact 
 that children took to him. He would read Mother Goose 
 rhymes with the wee ones, and tell wonderful stories of ad- 
 venture which they would follow with breathless interest. 
 His absorption in his work did not prevent him from de- 
 voting a great deal of time and thought to the education of 
 his three young children, Dorothy, Grace, and Teddy, during 
 the years in Rome. 
 
 He had no love of precocity in the child, but just as he 
 never "talked down" to an uneducated man, believing that 
 all minds are capable of interest in serious and worthwhile 
 things if clearly stated, so he never "talked down" to chil- 
 dren. The child responds readily to nobility in thought and 
 expression, and Lubin believed that most real fundamental 
 truths can be so clearly and simply stated as to appeal to the 
 child's mind. 
 
 A quick brain reveals itself in a quick eye, a sharp ear, 
 a rapid, skilful hand no less than in mental gymnastics, and 
 he was a great believer in games as a means of training the 
 senses. He attached great importance to clear enunciation, 
 deeming it an index to clear, as opposed to muddy and in- 
 volved, thinking. Harmony in sound and form he conceived
 
 306 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of as the resultant of balance, a manifestation of imminent 
 justice; therefore an appreciation of music, singing, and 
 beauty in design he held to be an essential part of moral 
 training. For him education consisted essentially in train- 
 ing the senses to receive accurate impressions, the mind to 
 observation, deduction and generalization on the basis of 
 said impressions, when the character will be formed to re- 
 ject the unethical and to act with decision and rapidity along 
 the lines of the ethical. 
 
 Such were the lines on which he trained his children. 
 Lots of fun and games, an atmosphere of warm, demonstra- 
 tive affection he was very fond of coaxing and being 
 coaxed by the young ones an early awakening of the re- 
 ligious instinct, so closely allied in the child to the imagin- 
 ative and the emotional. 
 
 He made a point of reading to them aloud, passing from 
 nursery rhymes to fairy tales, to books of adventure and 
 travel, to popular science and history, and by the time the 
 girls were thirteen and fourteen they were ready for richer 
 food. During a whole winter he made a regular practice of 
 reading with them Plato's Dialogues. Engaging in regular 
 debates he would add zest to the proceedings by awarding 
 prizes for every apt answer and independent deduction or 
 generalization. He was a great believer in debate and 
 criticism, which he considered the very basis of Democracy, 
 and he would bring home the papers he prepared in the 
 Institute on the various questions which engaged his atten- 
 tion and read them with wife and children and get the opin- 
 ions of one and all. 
 
 Ill-health had deprived him of the possibility of walking, 
 but whenever he had a breathing spell he would drive round 
 by the hour with the children in the rickety Roman cabs, 
 choosing by preference the busy streets of the poorer quarters 
 of the town. He never mastered the Italian language, yet 
 in spite of this he gained no small insight into the Italian 
 character and temperament. He came to have a very high 
 regard for the nation in whose midst he lived so many years.
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 307 
 
 He considered the people essentially kindly and humane; 
 noted the decorous, modest demeanor of the average woman ; 
 the fondness for children ; the sobriety, industry and thrift 
 of the working classes ; the keen intellectual insight of the 
 cultured. He believed that what held Italy back from 
 taking the preeminent position so many qualities entitled 
 her to was a strong tinge of intellectual pessimism and skepti- 
 cism which paralyzed the Italians for action, resulting in the 
 failure of the educated to give adequate leadership to the 
 peasantry and the workers in progressive development, and 
 he believed that this defect could be largely modified by 
 closer relations with the younger, more dynamic democracies 
 of the new world. 
 
 Next to driving, his favorite relaxations were the opera 
 and the cinematograph. He did not indulge in them fre- 
 quently, but when he did he liked to have a full dose, to 
 start at the beginning and sit the show out to the very end, 
 and if he had his way, he would go to three sets of moving 
 pictures in succession. A procession of two or three cabs, 
 taking Lubin and his family and all the friends he met and 
 could press into the party to the cinematograph, would often 
 leave the Hotel de Russie on a Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Nor had he forgotten his early love of his old fiddle. He 
 brought it to Rome and would play the "Arkansas Trav- 
 eller", "Dixie Land", "Old Black Joe", and other such 
 classics, and laugh at himself heartily for his pains, wonder- 
 ing how much of an audience he could get if he were to pay 
 them fifty cents apiece to attend. 
 
 In those latter years he hardly ever went out to see people, 
 but many interesting persons would look him up in the course 
 of a year. Doctor Felix Adler, Professor William Roscoe 
 Thayer, Mr. Oscar Straus, the painters Elihu Vedder and 
 Charles Walter Stetson and his gifted wife, the sculptor 
 Ezekiel, the historian Guglielmo Ferrero, Will Irwin and 
 his wife, Miss Rose Cleveland, Professor Dana Durand, are 
 a few of the names that occur to me. Mrs. Rhys Davids, 
 the great student of Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy, was one
 
 308 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of those of whom he saw much during the winter of 1912- 
 1913, and many were the talks they had on their favorite 
 philosophic themes. 
 
 "Since I saw you the Montessori methods have become 
 a household word in England, and that always brings up 
 before me your little granddaughter and her mother. And 
 then I 'm back in that room with the piano and the violin 
 and the dangling string and the old melodies and the great 
 D. L. in his shirt sleeves my best Roman memory!" 
 Mrs. Davids wrote to him in June, 1913. 
 
 The following letter, of an earlier date, written to his son 
 Sie when a student at Harvard (October, 1900), is character- 
 istic of his mode of training : 
 
 Your two letters received. I have gone over your list 
 of appropriations for the $1,200. ... If you desire to 
 benefit by any financial experience I may have, I would say 
 that your list does not permit the outcome most conducive 
 to freedom ; that freedom of mind at once the concomitant 
 of the design and act of a philosopher. For to begin with 
 show me the philosopher whose financial arrangements 
 are at the start void of philosophy and we may conclude that 
 such a person is not on the track of philosophy at all. Phi- 
 losophy above all things is involved in a state of freedom from 
 any and all perturbation of mind, and no one is or can be a 
 philosopher who can not, like Richelieu in the play, mark 
 a circle around himself and say : "Any and all kinds of per- 
 turbation of the mind shall remain outside of this circle." 
 Doing this, and the pupil is on the high road to that blessed 
 state known as philosophy. Not being able to do this, and the 
 person is simply an everyday clown in cap and gown. . . . 
 Taking all in all, the philosopher will so arrange his affairs 
 as to reduce any and all probable mind perturbation to the 
 lowest denomination. And to push these into a corner 
 unto a day of reckoning is not philosophical, but the very 
 reverse. 
 
 The following extracts are from his correspondence with 
 his three younger children, when the two girls were in Bryn
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 309 
 
 Mawr and the boy in Charterhouse, England. Though 
 never expert with the typewriter, he used to devote each 
 alternate Sunday morning to thumping out these letters 
 slowly and laboriously on his Underwood, as writer's cramp 
 had for many years crippled him for handwriting. The 
 material difficulty of the task is undoubtedly reflected in the 
 style ; the cramped hand hinders the flow of thought. But 
 then, smooth facility was as alien to him in thought and 
 speech as in writing. He dug his way slowly and painfully 
 from certain fixed principles to closely reasoned conclusions 
 by lines of argument often highly original and unexpected. 
 A biography which failed to give a glimpse of him in the 
 character of paterfamilias and educator would be incomplete. 
 
 Hotel de Russie, Rome, March 18th, 1917. 
 
 My dear Dorothy, and 
 My dear Gracie, and 
 My dear Teddy : 
 
 I am disposed to supplement my several letters to you on 
 the subject of "learning", or rather how to learn. . . . 
 In my previous letters I compared the operation of the mind 
 to that of a kaleidoscope, the mind storing impressions just 
 as the kaleidoscope's colored and angled pieces of glass are 
 stored in their respective receptacles. By turning the 
 kaleidoscope we assemble the stored pieces of glass in certain 
 combinations, which, seen by the aid of some small mirrors, 
 result in producing certain designs. 
 
 But the action of the mind is much more wonderful, for 
 the stored impressions in the mind can be made to combine 
 into an endless number of combinations, forming, if we would 
 have them do so, our ideas of an idea, our conclusions and our 
 opinions. This action is so regularly, so easily, and so un- 
 erringly performed that we seldom are sufficiently spurred 
 on to perceive its mode of operation. 
 
 Are we not mistaken when we say "unerringly", for if 
 this were the case without any qualification between one 
 mind and another, would it not be equal to saying that all 
 minds are of equal quality? No, there is no mistake, nor
 
 310 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 need it follow that " all minds are of equal quality." The law 
 of thought, like all other law, operates "unerringly"; and 
 just as imperfectly colored or imperfectly angled pieces of 
 glass in a kaleidoscope would produce an imperfect design, 
 so defective or deficient impressions on the mind would pro- 
 duce imperfect conclusions or opinions. 
 
 Another illustration is afforded in the action of the films 
 in a moving picture, where we see that pictures are repro- 
 duced in combination with other pictures, and thus intended 
 to form conclusions and opinions. But how infinitely more 
 wonderful the action of the mind ! 
 
 Is it not wonderful to see that during the time we are 
 awake our mind acts as a receiver, ever making and storing 
 films, and yet at the same time that this is going on, the 
 "show" of combination, conclusion, and opinion-making 
 is going on right along at the same time ? 
 
 "But the conclusions and opinions may be untrue, worth- 
 less." 
 
 "To be sure they may, they can be no better than the 
 thousands of films and millions of pictures stored in the mind 
 will let them be." 
 
 "Who then wants to be weak and who desires to be strong ? 
 . . . Do we wish to be mentally weak ? No ; we do not ! 
 But is there nothing to be done in order to become mentally 
 strong?" 
 
 "Yes, certainly." 
 
 "Well, what?" 
 
 "To be careful to avoid lumbering up the storeroom of 
 the mind with poor, worthless mind-films, but to store up the 
 very best possible for us to obtain and as many of them as 
 possible." 
 
 "Yes, that is good as far as it goes, but that is not enough, 
 for we may store and store, and yet be as weak mentally as 
 ever. See: supposing the caretaker of the library in the 
 British Museum were to devote all his spare time among the 
 hundreds of thousands of books there, would it follow 
 that he would become a mentally strong man?" 
 
 "No; the mere storing of the films makes no money for 
 the moving-picture show; it is the showing of the pictures 
 that earns the money. And so in the case of the mind. It
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 311 
 
 is not the storing of the mind-films alone that makes the 
 strong mind, but the storing and the using does that. 
 
 "And the using is nothing else than thinking. And as we 
 know, there is nothing done more constantly than thinking. 
 In fact, we do thinking all the time we are awake, for we 
 cannot stop the mind from thinking, even if we want to. 
 It just thinks on its own hook. 
 
 "And yet there are but very few that do any thinking 
 that is worth while, and so long as we do that kind of useless 
 thinking, we had better not do any at all." 
 
 "But," you say, "it was shown above that we cannot 
 help thinking ; that the mind 'just thinks on its own hook. ' " 
 
 "Yes, it does ; but these are the weak, the feeble, the crip- 
 pled minds that 'just think on their own hook.' The other 
 kind of minds do some work when they think. They assemble 
 from among the mind-films stored in their minds/those pictures 
 that have a bearing on the matter they wish to decide on, 
 and they are so adroit through experience that they can 
 handle with ease a vast number of pictures at once, and re- 
 ject some and accept some, then place them in proper juxta- 
 position, and presto, they come to a conclusion and an opin- 
 ion that is worth while. And such minds are strong. But 
 all this is real hard work." 
 
 "But what is the use of sweating and working just for 
 the sake of a different way of thinking, when you can do 
 thinking anyway, without all this hard work?" 
 
 And here we have the philosophy of the tramp and the 
 loafer, who believe that the "world owes them a living", 
 and that it is the business of the man that thinks to provide 
 them with this living, and no wonder that they often find 
 themselves being kicked and in jail. 
 
 So then, we can each and all of us take our choice. We 
 can start down as low as the level of the tramp and loafer 
 and shirk all work in thinking, or we can just do a little 
 thinking and be satisfied with a subordinate place, or we 
 can start out and do some real good thinking, even if it is 
 hard work, and pull ourselves up to a place of esteem and 
 service, of service to ourselves and to others. 
 
 Nor need this labor be so unattractive as it may seem to 
 be; it may seem hard and unattractive at the start. As
 
 312 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 the work goes on it will be found to be easier and easier, 
 and in time it will be as easy for the real thinker to think 
 as it seems to be for the loafer not to do so. 
 
 Do as he will, the poor "slacker" that shirks thinking has 
 a whole lot to be sorry for, and what he fails to do by real 
 honest labor he is compelled to do in misfortunes, per- 
 plexities, and sorrow. So we can all see how important it 
 is for us to get ourselves accustomed to do real good honest 
 thinking. 
 
 But before dismissing the subject let us understand that 
 mere storing of impressions is one thing ; to do thinking as 
 it is here understood is quite another. Mere lesson learning 
 is not the end, it is but a means. Lesson learning is but 
 one of the ways of storing away the mind-films, as it were ; 
 but the work of generalizing through the medium of these 
 stored mind-films is the point ; in this way we do the think- 
 ing. 
 
 So then it is first of all storing good mind-films constantly, 
 and as constantly assembling these mind-films into good and 
 useful combinations, and by combining and recombining 
 them to arrive at conclusions and opinions, and to reshape 
 these conclusions and opinions as we go along in the upward, 
 progressive steps of this work. 
 
 This will make us strong. 
 
 Affectionately, 
 
 Papa. 
 
 International Institute of Agriculture, 
 Rome, July 19th, 1917. 
 
 My dear Dorothy, and 
 My dear Gracie : 
 
 I am reminded by the last letter to you from Mama that 
 I may have been derelict in not having sent you a series of 
 letters enjoining a certain mode of conduct. You are now 
 growing out of mere childhood and entering the sphere of 
 young womanhood. And it would seem that this state more 
 than any other requires and demands injunctions and guid- 
 ance. Then why were they not sent on ? 
 
 As you proceed with your studies you will in time, no doubt, 
 perceive the difference between the stand of the Greek
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 313 
 
 philosophers and the stand of the Bible heroes on the nature 
 of God and the nature of Man. In relation to God the 
 former believed in the eternity of matter as well as in the 
 eternity of the Spirit, whereas the latter believed in the 
 eternity of the Spirit only. In relation to Man the former 
 believed in determinism, whereas the latter believed in free 
 will. 
 
 In opposing the Greek stand on the first point the Bible 
 heroes reasoned that the co-existence of any two eternals 
 would be self-contradictory, for the totality of such two 
 eternals would necessarily be one. But any such dual- 
 mono-eternity would render matter a necessary and deter- 
 minate part of God, which theory is pantheistic and un- 
 scriptural, for God would then be no God at all. Necessity 
 would then be ruler of both Spirit and matter, thus narrow- 
 ing all things within the bounds of determinism, of fatalism, 
 and of pessimism. The pure monotheism of the Bible, 
 however, gives us the eternal, all-ruling, all-pervading free 
 will, God. 
 
 But it is with the second point, the question whether man 
 is governed by determinism or by free will that we are con- 
 cerned here. 
 
 If we are to hold by determinism, as the Greek philosophers 
 did, there would, of course, be no use for injunctions as to 
 what is already determined. In fact, under such a con- 
 dition the very injunctions would also have been determined. 
 We should, in that case, be as pebbles on the seashore acted 
 upon by the waves ; and under such a condition I would have 
 no free-will power to injoin, nor would you have free-will 
 power to act upon or reject such injunctions. 
 
 But as we are governed by free will, what about the in- 
 junctions ? 
 
 Here again we come to a seeming stop, for an unqualified 
 acceptance of such injunctions would imply determinism; 
 your actions would then be "determined" by my injunctions, 
 and such "determination" would be opposed to free will. 
 
 Such being the case it would logically follow that my 
 service in the premises should be limited to bringing out 
 the thoughts latent in your minds, to bringing before your 
 mind's eye such adjustments and readjustments of these
 
 314 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 thoughts as may tend to produce those generalizations and 
 conclusions which will aid you in rejecting any feebler opin- 
 ions in favor of the stronger and the better. Hence my 
 letters of the past, as well as this present one, are more on the 
 lines of advice and reason than on that of imperative in- 
 junctions. 
 
 And this mode of procedure is in line with what Socrates 
 teaches. He would have us teach as if it were a "remem- 
 bering" of thought already in our mind. The thought may 
 be latent ; it is the art of the teacher to awaken within our 
 minds the details of an idea already there, and by assembling 
 these details in various juxtapositions to allow the pupil to 
 draw the logical generalizations and deductions therefrom 
 which should crystallize into opinions, opinions which should 
 govern conduct. 
 
 Let me give an illustration. Let us suppose two men, 
 Mr. Herbert Spencer and Mr. Jim Burglar, in a dimly lighted 
 room filled with costly objects. Mr. Burglar, covetously 
 eyeing the valuables, is prompted to say to his neighbor, 
 "Say, Boss, let us pack up a lot of this stuff and skip away by 
 the back door." 
 
 Now, what effect would this have on Mr. Spencer ? Would 
 Mr. Burglar be able to win him over to this project ? You 
 say, "Certainly not." But why not? Clearly because the 
 thoughts stored in Mr. Spencer's mind do not respond to 
 Mr. Burglar's suggestion, reasoning, opinion, or conclusion. 
 And Mr. Spencer would further conclude that no immediate 
 argument or reasoning other than a show of sufficient force, 
 would convince Mr. Burglar that his proposal was a bad one. 
 
 "But," you say, "this is determinism; it seems to knock 
 down the whole theory of free will." 
 
 So it does, but in reality it is a strong argument for free 
 will. It teaches that our choice of to-day, our free will of 
 to-day, determines the character of our free will of to-morrow. 
 In that way each person is said to be the "architect of 
 his own fortunes." More than that, not merely of his 
 own fortunes but of his own soul. And this is the first and 
 principal lesson that each student should learn and master. 
 If you have learnt this you have learnt much, and are on the 
 road to learn much more.
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 315 
 
 It would then be unnecessary to enjoin on you the caution 
 to be observed in the selection of your friends, and how to 
 avoid making enemies. You would not have to be enjoined 
 that it is hazardous in the extreme to accept random in- 
 vitations to theatres, to teas, or to meals, especially from 
 male strangers, or to countenance a random show of friendli- 
 ness by designed or undesigned chance approaches. You 
 will then intuitively know all the dangers attending this; 
 and you will be as free from the dangers of this sort of con- 
 tagion as Mr. Spencer would be from the influences of Mr. 
 Burglar. 
 
 All this, you may see, demands not merely intuition but 
 strength of character, force of will, and, when required, 
 instantaneous decision. So much for avoiding evil. But 
 this in itself does not constitute all that goes to make a lady. 
 Here the graces are wanted as well as the virtues, and with 
 these service, and again service, and again service. 
 
 And now let me hear from you both on this subject. Have 
 your say, give and take, pro and con, all purely on the line 
 of free will, when some day we may have the matter up 
 again. 
 
 Affectionately, 
 Papa. 
 
 And here he is in a lighter vein : 
 
 My dear Dorothy, and 
 My dear Gracie, and 
 My dear Teddy : 
 
 It frequently feels as if we had you all with us here, and 
 we wish it were so. The other evening found me reviewing 
 a number of Mother Goose songs, and it seemed to me that 
 you were all here, with Teddy on my lap, and Gracie on 
 one side and Dorothy on the other, just as it used to be when 
 you were "wee" little folks. And then I started in on my 
 high notes with "There was a man in our Town who was 
 wondrous wondrous wise", but what was my surprise when 
 I was invited to postpone the rest until I had sent my notes 
 to the blacksmith's to be sharpened a little. . . . 
 
 We have our "meatless days" regularly, and as we are 
 something of philosophers, we take things as they come, so
 
 316 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 we take macaroni a la gratin, or spaghetti a la neapolitaine, or 
 beets, or anything we can get. Mama says it is good as 
 "dieting" and so we are all getting very healthy. It has 
 gotten down to matches, and matches are matches now-a- 
 days, and so is writing paper at the Hotel where not a sheet 
 can be had without an aristocratic price. But then, it's 
 no better in England, as Teddy perhaps knows. . . . 
 
 We nearly had a smelling match, Mama and I, of the 
 fern and pine sprig, and it reminded us of New England, which 
 Mama no doubt thinks belongs to Old England. But when 
 we get ready to annex that Island, Mama will then see the 
 error of her way. . . . 
 
 Dorothy dear, I think that you should rather get some 
 suitable piece of jewelry with the money we sent you for 
 that purpose. While I would not care to see you or Grace 
 behung with jewels, it is just as bad taste to be too bare of 
 any. Too bare of any would make you as conspicuous as 
 too many, so follow Confucius and adopt the "happy me- 
 dium." . . . 
 
 Then there comes Teddy with the announcement that 
 he was in a "Hydro." When I first read his statement that 
 he was stopping at a "Hydro" I was somewhat alarmed, for 
 I had an idea that a hydro was a sort of "home" for gouty 
 people, or rheumatics, people that wallowed around in wet 
 sheets, groaning and moaning. So I looked up the diction- 
 ary, but the nearest word to it is "hydra", but that is a 
 "water serpent." However, on reading further I find (on 
 generalizing) that a "hydro" is no longer a "hydro" but it 
 is a sort of jolly semi-hotel boarding house. And that there 
 are ever so many appliances for having fun. Accordingly I 
 am, as the Britishers say, 'appy ! ! ! 
 
 Lovingly, 
 
 Papa. 
 
 Rome, December 2nd, 1917. 
 
 . . . Before taking up your dear letters (Dorothy and 
 Gracie) let me jot down a paragraph or two on the subject 
 of determinism and free will. It is a theme well worth your 
 while, for in the first place, you will soon have it directly in
 
 4 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 317 
 
 your studies, and indirectly throughout life's experience. 
 When a little boy, my mother taught me on the subject in 
 the striking and peculiar manner customary to the " Mother- 
 in-Israel", as mothers of standing among orthodox Jews were 
 designated at the time when I was a boy. This was her 
 lesson. 
 
 "When a boy goes to sleep (or girl), and after they are 
 soundly sleeping, the Angel Michael conducts the soul of 
 that child to Heaven and to its Record Room. In that room 
 there are heavy silk curtains, which cover the walls, and the 
 room is lit by a tiny but incandescent light above a desk 
 on which are two books, with their pages open. The Angel, 
 pointing to these books, says : ' See, child, here are the two 
 books of Record. One is the Book of Life, the other is the 
 Book of Death. The first is the golden book of Love, the 
 other is the leaden book of Hate. And now it is time to 
 record your actions of to-day, so give me your hand.' 
 Then the Angel takes the child's little finger and records his 
 deeds of the day. The deeds of love and right in the book 
 of Life, and the deeds of hate and falsehood in the book of 
 Death. After which the Angel accompanies the soul back 
 to the body and then departs. And this the Angel does all 
 the days of the child's life until the child has grown into an 
 aged person, and until the last day of earthly life. And after 
 life, when the soul stands before the Supreme Judge, the 
 pages from the Book of Life and those of the Book of Death 
 are detached from their books and placed upon a scale; 
 on the right side the pages from the Book of Life, on the 
 left side those of the Book of Death. And then comes the 
 sentence." 
 
 I think you will see quite clearly that through the dis- 
 guise of a simple and pleasing story a great truth was in- 
 tended to be conveyed. Each act was recorded and re- 
 mained recorded until the Day of Judgment. At that time 
 the good and bad were weighed in the scale, and the pre- 
 dominance of the one side or the other led to Life or to 
 Death. 
 
 This is the story of determinism, but the " incandescent 
 light " in the " Recording Room " is the spiritual will, which 
 is our " free will ", to be exerted just at the opportune time,
 
 318 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 which, when strong enough, has the power to set the "de- 
 termined" aside. And this Light is within us. 
 
 I do not of course expect my dear little girls to understand 
 all about determinism and free will, since there are many 
 great, big, learned men that do not understand it. But I 
 do think that you two girls have as good a grasp of some of 
 the rudiments of this subject as the average girl students 
 (Fresh-men ! !) of course, and perhaps more so. And that 
 is something to be proud of. 
 
 And now to the pleasing task of commenting on your 
 dear letters. To me and to Mama your sweet letters were 
 as a rich bunch of precious flowers. There you were with 
 your cap and gown, a-marching in solemn procession, and 
 when we came to the song part we both felt like joining in 
 with a hearty, "Three cheers for Bryn Mawr College; 
 three cheers for our dear girlies ; and three cheers for Jane 
 Latimer, and three cheers for Lois Parsons ! ! ! ! Rah ! ! 
 Rah!! Tiger!!" 
 . With an awfully tight hug and a dozen kisses, 
 
 Affectionately, 
 Papa. 
 
 Writing to the children on the subject of their excellent 
 college reports, he says : 
 
 The mistake is that one takes reports as the end, whereas 
 they are a means. And as a means it may happen that 
 the study may have served to a greater purpose by the stu- 
 dent receiving the dull report than by the student receiving 
 the high report. . . . The primary thing is not how to 
 work out a high report for the sake of obtaining the high 
 report, but the primary thing is to study so as to render the 
 spirit nobler. Let me try to make clear what I mean by an 
 illustration. 
 
 Let us compare the spirit of man to a jar of mixed chem- 
 icals. On the table there is an empty jar into which pour 
 some quantity of chemicals from among the thousands of 
 different chemicals before it, then stir, heat or cool the mix- 
 ture, and what have you as a result ? 
 
 The jar may be compared to the circumference of the
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 319 
 
 soul, and the chemicals to the ideas which are taken in. 
 But the question is, what kind of ideas were taken in, how 
 were they assimilated, and what was the effect of the assimi- 
 lation on the soul in its totality? 
 
 If we could see the operation of the soul in all this we 
 would witness one of the most wonderful phenomena in the 
 psychic domain of the universe. It is God alone who under- 
 stands this as it really is, but it is sufficient for our under- 
 standing if we can make use of our imagination in the en- 
 deavor to grasp the idea through symbols, more or less 
 artistic and rational. . . . 
 
 Now, what the General is to the soldiers, the "Will" is 
 to the individual, and the will is known under the terms of 
 "Spirit", "Soul." Now, this Spirit, Soul, or Will is the top 
 force of all our stored-up thoughts, and we have no right to 
 expect a better "General" to will for us than the mass of 
 thought-stuff we have stored in the mind. Nor is this all ; 
 for we may have a goodly quantity of first class foodstuff, but 
 it has not been digested, and it just lays there subjecting us 
 to spirit ache, to soul ache, or to will ache, just as unas- 
 similated or undigested food gives rise to stomach ache or 
 indigestion. 
 
 And from all this, my dear children, you will see that a 
 mere high report is by no means the highest evidence of 
 learning, but it is, of course, evidence. The highest use of 
 learning is not merely to take in new formulas and ideas but 
 to assimilate them with the ideas already there, and to adjust 
 our ideas constantly to the varying standard which the higher 
 process of thought will admit. 
 
 All this involves labor, and labor means effort, and 
 thought-effort requires as much exertion as labor at the bench 
 or in the ditch, and your ease-loving party would not care 
 to lower themselves to labor, and they mean to be Ladies 
 and Gentleman without this trouble. Well, may be they 
 are right, may be they are wrong. What do you think ? 
 
 He never tired of impressing on the children his belief 
 that the acquisition of knowledge is not an end in itself, but a 
 means to an end. "The constant use of the hammer by the 
 blacksmith gives his right arm great power," he writes in one
 
 320 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 of his fortnightly chats. "This power comes by degrees, and 
 in proportion to the uses the arm is put to. And so with the 
 mind. We can make a normal mind strong by exercise 
 as well as we make the body strong by physical exercise. 
 And the best manner of exercising the mind is by criticising. 
 Any mere storing of the mind with facts is for the purpose of 
 laying in a supply of raw material, so that we have the stuff 
 to employ in the act of criticising. Taking in facts without 
 employing them in criticism is as useless toward gaining 
 strength as eating but not digesting." 
 
 Build up a strong body by exercise, a strong mind by de- 
 bate and criticism, store that mind with well-digested facts 
 acquired from books and from travel, experience and ob- 
 servation, use those facts as the basis for generalization, 
 and have as the goal of all this effort Service and you will 
 have the men and women required for successful Democ- 
 racy. Lubin believed that in a degree each and every 
 human being was capable of development along these lines, 
 that direct observation from facts was just as good a school 
 as the University, so long as the mind had been trained to 
 think. I have often heard him attribute the rapidity 
 with which the Jews from Eastern Europe make their way 
 to success, when they once get into the favoring environment 
 of more enlightened countries, to the training in debate and 
 criticism which they receive in the beth-medrash, even though 
 the textbook be nothing more modern than that strange 
 medley of medieval Jewish lore, the Talmud. 
 
 The following letter, the last I will quote, is an epitome of 
 many of David Lubin's views on education. 
 
 Hotel de Russie, Rome, February 24th, 1918. 
 
 My dear Dorothy, and 
 My dear Gracie, and 
 My dear Teddy : 
 
 Here we are assembled again for our fortnightly chat, 
 and it almost seemed to me as if it were in days gone by, 
 when we had our memorable talks. I wonder whether you
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 321 
 
 remember them? But of course you do, for some of our 
 debates were no doubt so impressed upon your minds that 
 they have helped to shape the trend of your thoughts. 
 
 Do you remember Dorothy, with her hat on the floor, 
 ready to receive her ten centimes for a near approach toward 
 the goal intended to be reached by our debate ? And Gracie, 
 how full of alacrity in reaching out her hand for the prize 
 as soon as she saw indications on my face that she had made 
 " a hit ? " And as for Teddy, he seemed at times to be super- 
 ciliously indifferent to the whole proceeding, as if it were 
 beneath his cultured dignity to take such matters seriously, 
 but now and then, to vary his bearing by an electric jump, 
 as it were, blurt out an answer, and just reach out his hand for 
 the prize, which he seemed sure he could easily have by the 
 slightest mental effort of his superior mind. 
 
 But what then; this is just about the way all boys act 
 when in mental competition with girls. I am inclined to 
 think that I was an exception to the rule when I was a boy ; 
 but then, this is excusable, since I do not remember having 
 been placed in such competitive juxtaposition. 
 
 I am glad, my dear Teddy, to note from your letter of the 
 10th that you are now using your "dictionary much more 
 than before", and I hope that you will continue to do so. 
 You will find, on the line of my former letter, that all study 
 is definition, which can be divided into two divisions : the 
 definition of a word and the definition of an idea. For the 
 word we go to the dictionary, for the idea we go to other 
 ideas that have a bearing on the subject before us. This 
 second is generalization. 
 
 And what is generalization ? It is a marshalling of ideas 
 stored in the mind. Thus we see that each person, so far 
 as ideas are concerned, is a dictionary to himself, defining 
 whatever he defines through his own dictionary, which is 
 part of himself. In fact, it is his very own self. 
 
 So then, study is for the purpose of making one's self a 
 dictionary which is to serve for all purposes of life. And 
 mark, if this "dictionary" is a poor one, it must be a foregone 
 conclusion that our ideas are going to be poor. But suppos- 
 ing it is a good one ? Ah, that is the point ! And the next 
 one is, what degree of good ? Clearly, if very good the per-
 
 322 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 son will be very good and great, and all that, until we reach 
 the superlative, right up to Moses, Plato, Isaiah, Jesus, 
 Socrates, Confucius, and Sakya Muni. 
 
 And so, we see, we have it in our power to build ourselves 
 on a high plane if we convert ourselves into our very own 
 dictionary on the highest plane possible. But in all this 
 there is much to be gained by the habit of constant reference 
 to the dictionary that Teddy refers to. 
 
 . . . Some people appear to doubt prophecy, saying that 
 there is no prophecy, but then, I can show you that there is, 
 for I can give you a concrete example of it, and in a manner 
 that you can test by yourselves. 
 
 Says "A" : "I want to be happy; I want the love and 
 the respect of all the people in my environment, at least of 
 those in it whose love I crave." And how is he to get it? 
 And now prophecy ! Are there terms and conditions under 
 which you can have that love, or can it be had by a wave 
 of the hand, because you want it? There are terms and 
 conditions, otherwise people could compel me to love them 
 whether I would care to do so or not. 
 
 Do you or can you love persons whether you care to do so 
 or not ? No, certainly not. 
 
 Whom do you love? Persons who seem lovable to you, 
 persons that serve you or that you wish should serve you. 
 Could you love any that would neither serve you nor wish 
 to serve you? No; therefore it follows that others could 
 not love you whom you did not serve or did not wish to 
 serve. And this is one prophecy. 
 
 What must you do to win the love of those persons whom 
 you wish should love you ? You must be of service to them. 
 And this is the second prophecy. 
 
 Supposing that you neither serve other persons nor care 
 to serve them, could you expect to be happy? No. And 
 this is the third prophecy. 
 
 Does this law apply to individuals only? No, it applies 
 to nations and peoples as well. That is the reason why I, 
 as an individual, work for the happiness of the world, in 
 order that the world may learn presently to love Israel. 
 
 Try as I would, however, I cannot serve to higher purpose 
 than my very own dictionary will permit me, but if I employ 
 that to its highest possibility, then I may make a very modest
 
 DAVID LUBIN AS EDUCATOR 323 
 
 stock of ability go a very great distance to accomplish much 
 more than others with greater store of ideas but with lesser 
 endeavor of accomplishment. 
 
 But why all this effort? Because I wish to win the love 
 of the gentiles for the House of Israel. 
 
 But has not Israel of old done ever so much service to 
 the gentiles of the world through Israel's Bible? Why, 
 then, all this base return to the Jew by the nations for this 
 great service ? 
 
 But Israel has had his equivalent return, since all the world 
 has adopted nearly all his teachings and presently he will 
 purify it all of its pagan admixture. And as to Israel's 
 seeming suffering as a result of a labor of love, the suffer- 
 ing is not nearly as harrowing as it seems to be. How is 
 that? You know that Socrates and Plato and the Sages 
 of Israel teach that the only real suffering is that which 
 each individual brings on himself by his own actions, not 
 by what any one else does to him. They taught that it is 
 the persecutor that suffers, not the persecuted. | 
 
 This seems a hard point to grasp, but after you give it time, 
 and think the matter over, you will see that this is correct. 
 
 And now I am very much pleased that Teddy took for 
 his own the nineteenth Psalm, and is to memorize it. And 
 Gracie also took the 19th and the 23rd and the 123rd ; but no 
 one has yet taken the 104th, a most noble psalm. I am still to 
 hear from Dorothy as to her choice. Perhaps she has made 
 it and given the announcement in one of her former letters. 
 
 And while on this point, you, dear children, know that it 
 is very hard for me to write by pen on account of cramp in 
 the wrist, and so I use the typewriter machine, but this is 
 slow work for me. It takes some several hours for me to 
 write a letter like this, and Sunday is about the only day in 
 the week that I allow myself any time off from my regular 
 work. So I have but little time to go over your letters in 
 detail. I have been thinking that it would be convenient 
 if you could underscore in ink each line of the letters you 
 send on that you would care to have me see or comment. . . . 
 
 Mama and I could well wish that each and every one of 
 our dear ones were here, when we could be so very happy to 
 clasp them to our hearts. God bless each and all of you. 
 
 Affectionately, Papa.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE GREAT WAR AND THE GREAT PEACE 
 
 We have followed David Lubin nearly to the close of his 
 life adventure, which was to end when, with the termination 
 of the great war, the curtain was rung down on an era in 
 human history. This indefatigable worker in the cause of 
 international justice was to pass the last four years of his 
 life in the Valley of the Shadow and die as peace dawned. 
 But the unconquerable optimism which enabled his ancestors 
 of old to stand the test of persecution, proclaiming to the 
 end that "God is Just", enabled Lubin to keep his bearings 
 amid the wreckage of high hopes and dreams. 
 
 As we have seen, Lubin was in Washington when the 
 war broke out. The echo of the terrible events necessarily 
 reached him somewhat attenuated by distance, yet for all 
 that it was overpowering. But it only strengthened in him 
 the conviction that if civilization were to endure it must 
 be along the very lines of economic organization on a world- 
 wide scale for which the International Institute of Agri- 
 culture stood. At this crisis his faculty for intense concen- 
 tration on the work in hand stood him in good stead. 
 
 Whatever occurred, the world must be fed and clothed, 
 and to do this under war conditions implied forethought, 
 organization, and a husbanding of resources on a scale hither- 
 to undreamt of. A prerequisite for this was knowledge: 
 knowledge of the available and prospective supplies and of 
 the means of increasing them, knowledge of all the factors 
 determining price and the possibilities of carriage, knowledge 
 of the demand and of the means of meeting it with the 
 least possible waste through ignorance and unnecessary 
 friction. And this was the very knowledge which the Inter-
 
 WAR AND PEACE 325 
 
 national Institute of Agriculture had been created to supply. 
 Would the Institute survive the shock of war, or, where so 
 much else was perishing, would it not also shipwreck ? 
 On August 17, 1914, he wrote me from Washington : 
 
 And now in this trying time in the life of the Institute, 
 what is to be done? "Nothing," says the jackass; "let 
 us wait until the war is over and then when the 'stuff' comes 
 in we will publish it." And if I had my way I should just 
 grab such jackasses by the nape of the neck and kick them 
 right into a bootblack stand, and compel them to black 
 boots for a living. Such heroes do not belong to the In- 
 stitute; they are parasites pure and simple. There is as 
 much opportunity to do real valuable service right now during 
 the time of war as at any other time. The question is upon 
 the exertion of the mind and the genius to see what ought to 
 be done. Well, I feel almost certain that you for one will 
 not have to wait to be told before you will know. You will 
 know, and perhaps some of the others may know. Let us 
 see! 
 
 And he saw. Far from falling asunder, the Institute stood 
 this trial by fire and came out of the ordeal strengthened. 
 
 Indeed, the terrible events of the next four years were to 
 emphasize the vital importance of Lubin's contention. The 
 need for rapid, regular, reliable information on supplies 
 was brought home so forcibly to all that it is difficult now 
 to believe it could ever have been sneered at. As the months 
 went by and the situation grew ever graver, with one half 
 of the world threatened with starvation and the other half 
 striving to meet the deficit, the importance of the statistical 
 organization which the Institute had induced the nations 
 to build up or perfect, each for itself, completing it by its 
 own work in assembling, coordinating, and summarizing, 
 won the recognition of governments. It came to be of vital 
 assistance to the food controllers of the several countries in 
 their Herculean task. It emphasized amidst the " alarums 
 and excursions of war" the essential solidarity of the nations 
 of the world.
 
 326 DAVID LTJBIN 
 
 This was the immediate service to which Lubin devoted 
 all his energies, and as we saw when reviewing the Amer- 
 ican side of his labors he did all in his power to supplement 
 the work of the Institute by national measures to assist the 
 American farmer in doing his share to feed the world. An 
 article on "Food Control and Democracy" which he con- 
 tributed to the Atlantic Monthly (August, 1917) states his 
 position on this whole question, while the columns of the 
 American press of those years bear eloquent witness to the 
 active part he played in calling attention to the Institute's 
 data forecasting the imminence of a great food shortage. 
 
 But a mind so speculative, so prompt to generalize as 
 Lubin's could not fail to react powerfully in more directions 
 than one to such a stimulus as the world war. 
 
 Taken unawares, scarcely able to credit the events of the 
 first months of the great struggle, Lubin concentrated at 
 first on the immediate duty of the hour. President Wilson 
 had enjoined on all Americans strict neutrality ; he was not 
 only an American but one holding an official position in an 
 international institute on which all the belligerents sat as 
 members. 
 
 On his return to Rome in December, 1914, he took an 
 active part in the labors of the Permanent Committee; 
 placed before it the Congressional Resolution on his ocean 
 freight-rate proposal, got the action endorsed, and the ques- 
 tion placed on the order of the day for the next General 
 Assembly of the Institute. But when would that be ? The 
 Committee met regularly ; the delegates of Germany, 
 Austria, Hungary, Turkey, were still active members. The 
 contagion of politics had never tainted the work of the In- 
 stitute ; proof positive of this was afforded by the fact that 
 even in those tragic hours French and English and Germans 
 and Russians and Belgians could sit on the same committees 
 within its walls and discuss the best way of drawing up a 
 half-yearly world balance-sheet of supply and demand of 
 the cereal crops, one of the useful developments of the work 
 elaborated to meet the crying needs of the hour in the spring
 
 WAR AND PEACE 327 
 
 of 1915. Yet the war had hit the Institute hard ; its staff 
 had been depleted by mobilization. When hostilities were 
 declared French, Germans, Austrians, Belgians had met to- 
 gether for a last time under the clear skies of Rome, had 
 raised their glasses to the future of peace and amity and 
 cooperation for which they had worked in the Institute, 
 and had left for the irrespective armies. The English and 
 Italians were to follow a few months later, leaving the few 
 not fit for service at the front to "carry on." 
 
 During the winter and spring of 1914-1915 Lubin saw the 
 Italian people gradually unraveling the tangled skeins of 
 diplomacy and treaty obligations, and preparing to throw 
 its weight into the scale. He lived through those critical 
 days of May, 1915, when all over Italy the people rose as one 
 man to proclaim its solidarity with Right against Might, 
 and to demand of its government a declaration of war. He 
 was in Rome when the news came that the Lusitania had 
 been sunk, and never doubted that the outrage would be 
 followed by immediate hostilities with the United States. 
 His expectations were disappointed; official neutrality had 
 still to be observed, but the inner significance of the great 
 struggle had now grown clear to him. 
 
 In those radiant evenings of late spring David Lubin, 
 worn with the strain of the great issues at stake, would often 
 drive with me for an hour or so on leaving the Institute in 
 the gardens of Villa Borghese or along the banks of the Tiber. 
 The stillness and serenity of the sunset hour was strangely 
 in contrast with the tumult of alternate hopes and fears in 
 which all lived, with the passion of the Italian people strain- 
 ing to break loose from considerations of prudence and selfish 
 ease and fling themselves into the sacrificial fire. Yet Lubin 
 would talk during those drives, not of the tragic events of 
 the day proclaimed from every news-stand and forming 
 the subject of every conversation but, looking through 
 the transient to the eternal, to the great fundamental prin- 
 ciples which underlay these phenomena, he would merge the 
 particular in the general, and the tragedy enacted around
 
 328 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 him would appear but as an act in the great world drama 
 which started with the dawn of history. 
 
 Again as in the days when he wrote "Let There Be Light" 
 he felt the all-important thing to be the ideas behind actions, 
 the cause leading to the effect. Was not the struggle then 
 being fought out on the blood-soaked fields of France and 
 Flanders and Italy and Poland the result of the impact 
 between two conflicting principles, two opposite modes of 
 thought ? 
 
 He saw it not as a war waged by Germany on France 
 and England but as a struggle between the conflicting 
 principles of autocracy and democracy. 
 
 On his return from the United States in November, 1916, 
 it was this aspect of the question which most impressed him, 
 and he was quick to see the possible outcome. The democ- 
 racies had been forced into a defensive alliance, aligned 
 against the autocracies; the United States had not yet 
 joined, but every day made it clearer that their entry into 
 the war could not be long delayed. Organized effort on an 
 international scale both for armaments and supplies had been 
 the inevitable outgrowth of the alliance. Why, with the ad- 
 vent of peace, should not the alliance develop into a perma- 
 nent Confederation ? The idea of a Commonwealth of Na- 
 tions, which had looked visionary when he wrote of it in 1911, 
 seemed almost within the field of practical politics in 1917. 
 
 Lubin elaborated these ideas in dialogue form in a pam- 
 phlet entitled "An International Confederation of Democra- 
 cies under a Constitution", of which he printed and distrib- 
 uted some hundred and fifty thousand copies, and of which 
 editions appeared in Chinese, in French, and in Italian. 
 
 In this pamphlet he claimed that the old pre-war cry of 
 the pacifists for disarmament offered no solution ; armaments 
 are not a cause but an effect, an effect of a state of mind rep- 
 resented by autocratic governments. Such fundamentally 
 incongruous forces as democracies and autocracies he held 
 could never be lastingly welded together under treaties for 
 disarmament.
 
 WAR AND PEACE 329 
 
 Speaking through the mouth of one of the persons in the 
 dialogue, Lubin outlines his proposed mode of procedure : 
 
 White : As I see it now I would say that the first thing 
 to be done at the close of the present war will be to issue a 
 call for an international convention of the democracies, for 
 the purpose of drawing up a constitution for an international 
 confederation. 
 
 Smith : Why an international constitution ? Do you 
 mean a treaty ? 
 
 White : No, I do not mean a treaty, I mean a constitution 
 a constitution voted on by the people and ratified by the 
 government of an adhering nation would be more binding 
 than a treaty. 
 
 Jones : Are we to understand that this international con- 
 federation would stand for disarmament ? 
 
 White : No, not for disarmament. On the contrary, 
 there would be a normal average armament which the ad- 
 hering nations would be required to keep up. . . . Each 
 of the adhering nations would contribute a just and adequate 
 quota to the total military strength of the confederation, 
 partly in money, partly in territorial strategic advantages, 
 partly in man-power, and partly in actual and potential 
 military and industrial resources. In this manner there 
 could be a systematic, adequate, and just contribution of all 
 the nations concerned. . . . 
 
 Smith : But why should the labors of such a confederation 
 be confined to armaments ? Why could it not also have its 
 administrative departments, like those of a national govern- 
 ment? . . . Why could there not be international de- 
 partments of the Treasury, of the Post Office, of Agriculture, 
 of Commerce, of Labor, of Transports? Would there 
 not be room for departments like these to deal with the 
 international phases of production and distribution? 
 
 White : I think there would be. For instance, the re- 
 duced outlay on armaments rendered possible under the 
 confederation might permit the formation of a Federal or 
 International Reserve Bank under the Department of the 
 Treasury of the Confederation. In this case each of the 
 adherents could periodically deposit in this bank a sum
 
 330 ' DAVID LUBIN 
 
 equivalent to a given proportion of the excess amount of its 
 former military and war expenditure. The funds of this 
 bank could then be used for moving crops, for obviating 
 panics, for regulating international exchanges, for construct- 
 ing international canals, and for other purposes of inter- 
 national public utility. The International Institute of 
 Agriculture and the International Postal Union are already 
 here, ready to serve the purposes of the confederation, 
 perhaps with added powers and increased duties. Similarly, 
 departments could be formed to deal with the international 
 phases of commerce and labor, when reciprocal commercial 
 and industrial treaty measures could be placed in their hands, 
 while the Department of Transports could be entrusted with 
 the international phases of ocean carriage. 
 
 After thus outlining the nature of the proposed confedera- 
 tion, Lubin went on to show that the huge war debts, the 
 crushing taxation, the obstacles in the way of international 
 trade, the break-down in international currencies and credits 
 which he foresaw must be the inevitable aftermath of war, 
 would force the nations to favor such a confederation as the 
 best means of strengthening and restoring credit, indeed 
 as the one alternative to bankruptcy and revolution. 
 
 Two or three weeks after Lubin had completed this ex- 
 position of his views, President Wilson's famous Message in 
 which the League of Nations was first announced as a live 
 political issue, came to add strength to his conviction that 
 the times were now ripe to take this proposal up as a prac- 
 tical work. 
 
 In March, 1917, war was complicated by revolution. 
 Looking backwards, it is pathetic to remember the high 
 hopes, the sense of glorious liberation with which the Rus- 
 sian Revolution was greeted in the democratic countries. 
 Alliance with the Tzar had always been felt as a sore misfit 
 by those who were praying and working that this might be 
 a war to end war. 
 
 Lubin shared in a special manner in the general rejoicing, 
 and he celebrated the Passover of 1917 in the belief that 
 Israel had again been delivered from the Egyptian bondage.
 
 
 WAR AND PEACE 331 
 
 Once more the long-cherished hope rose in his breast, 
 the hope that the People of the Book might again be the 
 banner bearer, the "Champion for God", in the great fight 
 for World Confederation. As we have seen, this was no 
 new idea with him. 
 
 Writing in 1912 to Colonel Weinstock on "Israel and his 
 Ideal" he had said: 
 
 The real mission of Israel is work toward the "just weight 
 and the just measure" between the nations, work that 
 shall sterilize the pride of chauvinism, that shall neutralize 
 the poison of racial hate, work that shall bind all the nations 
 with the golden links of individual advantage so equally dis- 
 tributed as to transmute this advantage into general equity, 
 work that shall lay low Machiavellian arbitrament and 
 realize throughout the earth in all its grandeur and beauty 
 the divine standard of life dreamt of and promulgated by 
 the prophets of Israel. . . . 
 
 Let Israel but be Israel, let him be the "Fighter for 
 God", narrowed to the lines in which he can serve, in 
 which he should serve, let him but be that, and the 
 world will do more than tolerate, it will get down on its 
 knees and worship. It is this work, or degeneration and 
 death. There is no halting ; no, not for one so powerfully 
 charged as is the Jew with the conserved energy of ages, 
 so charged with doctrines that underlie social evolution in 
 its broadest aspects. 
 
 Let the Jew stand still, divested of his orthodoxy and 
 naked of idea and ideal, and you will presently have good 
 cause to complain of "rishes" (hatred). . . . Yet give 
 these same Jews an idea and an ideal and they become the 
 prophets, the seers, the upbuilders of the new world, the 
 world dreamt of by our Isaiahs and our Micahs. And they 
 will need no begging for toleration, for the world will then 
 love them, worship them. . . . 
 
 It is only a parliament of nations, with law and power, 
 the power and majesty of the people, that will make possible 
 the just weight and the just measure on earth; that will 
 make possible that higher Marseillaise hymn which shall 
 bring on earth the rule which is in heaven, the rule of equity
 
 332 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 And you have the presumption to ask this poor carica- 
 ture of a man, this poor, hump-backed, knock-kneed, curly- 
 headed, timid, outlawed, ostracised pawnbroker and pedler 
 to engage in this occupation, in this world-uplifting fight ? 
 
 I certainly have, and am warranted in my belief by the 
 fact that within this material, within this structure, are the 
 ingredients of power adapted to do just this work. The 
 Jew needs but to be awakened. Let the breath of the 
 spirit he was nurtured on during the centuries of his cradling 
 overshadow the valley of dry bones, and the dry bones 
 will arise men. The hair will grow long again, and Israel 
 will again be the Nazarite of the Lord, and there will be no 
 cords strong enough to bind him, for he will be invincible. 
 
 The acid of war, acting as a reagent, had precipitated 
 much that had hitherto been held in solution in the 
 body politic. The time had come for Israel to act or, as 
 Lubin wrote, "for ever after hold his peace." 
 
 He was well aware that individually many Jews were, 
 like himself, already working along such lines, that the con- 
 tribution of the race to American and World civilization and 
 progress was individually high ; but he wanted more than 
 this; he wanted to see Israel as a people reawaken to his 
 Messianic Mission, and joining hands with all those of other 
 races entitled by their works to that proud name of "Fighter 
 for God", place himself in the vanguard of progressive action 
 towards the realization of Universal Democracy, the United 
 States of the World. 
 
 He knocked at many doors with his message but always 
 in vain. Among others he approached the Intercollegiate 
 Menorah Association, which set forth as its purpose "the 
 promotion of Jewish ideals." In August, 1917, he wrote to 
 its Chancellor, Mr. Henry Hurwitz : 
 
 Two distinct and conflicting forces actuate the nations 
 in their international feelings and policy. Of these forces 
 one is represented by the belief in the " Allmacht" of natural 
 selection, based on a violent and fatal competitive struggle 
 ... a struggle bitter and ruthless among the different
 
 WAR AND PEACE 333 
 
 human groups (as Mr. Vernon Kellogg expresses it in his 
 article "Nights at Headquarters" in the August Atlantic 
 Monthly). The other is the force evolved through the life of 
 Israel; the force which wishes to establish law, the law of 
 justice and equity among the nations. 
 
 And these two forces, represented on the one hand by the 
 autocratic, on the other by the democratic nations, have 
 locked horns ; they are engaged in combat, a combat having 
 for arena the world. The fight is now going on, with the 
 combatants equally matched in power and temper, clasped 
 in deadly embrace, swaying backwards and forwards, now 
 one uppermost and now the other. Which shall prevail? 
 Shall it be the force of violence, the struggle of the brown rat 
 against the black, the force of the ruthless "Allmacht?" 
 Shall it not be the force of law and solidarity, of justice and 
 equity among the nations ? 
 
 And right here is the long-sought opportunity for Is- 
 rael. . . . 
 
 His eagerness was again met by incomprehension and 
 indifference, incomprehension and indifference which most 
 readers may feel inclined to share ; yet Lubin was moved in 
 all this not only by romantic mysticism but by the realiza- 
 tion of a very real need arising from a new condition. 
 
 He dreaded for the Jew the dangers of rank materialism. 
 Old-fashioned orthodoxy was losing its hold, and unless it 
 were replaced by an ideal in line with the spirit and traditions 
 of the people the very qualities which made them a potential 
 power for good bold speculation, realism, logic, rare 
 ability in seeing means to ends might make them a poten- 
 tial power for evil. 
 
 On his return from America in the autumn of 1916, Lubin 
 had made a brief stay in London, mainly to talk over his 
 views on ocean freight rates with leading English shipping 
 authorities, Sir Owen Philips, Sir Norman Hill, the Rt. 
 Hon. Walter Runciman and others. On this occasion he 
 also met Mr. H. G. Wells. "I have been interested in the 
 International Institute of Agriculture for some years," 
 Mr. Wells had written to me in the summer of 1916, "and it
 
 334 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 was that which made me give Italy a kind of central part in 
 the world pacification in my 'World set Free.'" The meet- 
 ing between the writer and the man of action was graphically 
 described in an article by Wells on whom Lubin's personality 
 and work made a deep impression. They met only this 
 once, but that they kept in touch the following letters show : 
 
 Easton Glebe, Dunmow, 
 Oct. 1916. 
 
 My dear Mr. Lubin, 
 
 I have read your Let There be Light with great care and 
 interest. I am now returning it to you with the two typed 
 papers you asked me to return. I find in myself a very com- 
 plete understanding of your line of thought and a very warm 
 sympathy. You will see that in my God the Invisible King I 
 take up a more Christian attitude than yours. I am agnostic 
 in regard to your God and I use the word "God" to express 
 the divine in man. You will have to allow for this proper 
 difference in terminology when you read what I have to 
 say. We are at one in looking to a world in which mankind 
 is unified under God as King. 
 
 I should be very interested to know more of the history 
 of your thought and the particulars of your life. I do not 
 think they would be satisfactory material for a novel but I 
 have in mind a book The Kingdom of God which might 
 possibly be written round your work and the personalities 
 of yourself and your mother. 
 
 I wish by the bye you could get me a copy of Let There 
 Be Light to keep. I would like it by me. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 H. G. Wells. 
 
 Rome, Nov. 4th, 1916. 
 
 Dear Mr. Wells : 
 
 I have received your welcome letter and intended to an- 
 swer it right then and there, but it is only by a mere scratcl 
 that I am writing now, some weeks after the time of its re- 
 ceipt.
 
 WAR AND PEACE 335 
 
 I have been at work on my merchant marine report al- 
 most constantly from the time that I arrived ; have put in 
 fourteen days and have only some seven poor little pages 
 brought out. And so, for the time being, all correspondence 
 of whatever nature is in abeyance until my report is out, 
 when among the first few copies will be one for yourself, and 
 let me say for Mrs. Wells. 
 
 I have disappointments and regrets every day; this old 
 town will persist in striking out, in clanging aloud, 12 o'clock 
 when it ought not to be more than 10.15, and then the six 
 
 'clock proposition is about the same. So much to be done, 
 and so precious little done, and the family so large (about 
 one billion eight hundred million). But, hullo, I am using 
 up time now, so I must quit, but not before I tell you that 
 
 1 thank you for the pleasure I have had from your valuable 
 books. Will tell you more about them when I get my report 
 off the table. Last night it was after twelve when I got 
 through with you and Teddy and Derick, and Britling. 
 Bully for you. But say throw your finite God overboard, 
 please. If he were rubbed on the stone and the acid poured 
 on, he would turn, green. 
 
 Did it ever strike you that the "under-dog" may have 
 something to say, and perhaps in the near future, that may 
 set a thing or two straight ? Oh, no ; how could you think 
 of any such thing, for in common with all the sons of Esau 
 you have a big stick for the "under-dog", and this Esau 
 crowd have been so busy spitting and cursing and burning 
 and despising and hooting and tooting that they have got 
 to believe it all. But never mind, some day they will be 
 treated to a surprise party, and they will know better. 
 
 Howsomed' ever, as the old sailor used to say, " what 's 
 the matter with Britling ? " " Oh, he 's all right ! " " Who 's 
 all right?" "Britling! Hurrah! hurrah!! hurrah!!! 
 Tiger!" 
 
 And now, good-bye for the present. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 David Lubin 
 P. S. "Let There Be Light" has come back, and I will 
 take pleasure in sending it back to you again "for keeps."
 
 336 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 International Institute of Agriculture, 
 Rome, May 21st, 1917. 
 
 Dear Mr. Wells : 
 
 I thank you very much for the copy of your illuminating 
 book "God, the Invisible King", which I have already gone 
 over hastily during some of my spare moments. I hope 
 some time to go over it in greater detail. 
 
 You say that you send it "in the hope of a speedy con- 
 version." Conversion to what? Evidently to the ideas set 
 forth. First of all there are quite a few of these to which 
 there is no need of my conversion, for, in common with you, 
 I hold to them. Such are the oneness of God and the exalted 
 duty of service. But when it comes to your "Finite God", 
 and to the deductions which one may draw from your book 
 as to the part played and to be played by Israel in the field 
 of service, it is quite clear to me that I cannot be with you, 
 that I cannot be converted to such views. 
 
 As to the Finite God, it seems to me that such a god 
 would be a stranger in the universe, more of a stranger than 
 you or I. He could only come as a creature of the infinite. 
 The infinite, then, would be God, and the finite god would be 
 no god at all. If I were tempted to give a definition of God 
 I would rather say that Infinite Space is God, the great 
 Noumenon, and that all things in space are phenomena, 
 things acted upon by the Infinite Noumenon. 
 
 "But," says the grocery-man, "empty space is just 
 nothing. You can 't lift it nor weigh it, so how can empty 
 space be God?" 
 
 But is the grocer-man's opinion final ? By no means ; 
 for he is so chock-full of his experience of lifting and weigh- 
 ing that he fails to realize that his analysis is empirical. 
 
 He fails to see that his reasoning process is limited by the 
 laws of phenomena as they appear to him ; he fails to see 
 that beyond his range of vision there are the higher laws, 
 higher and still higher, until they approach the Absolute, 
 the Infinite. He seems to know one pound, ten pounds, 
 sugar, candles, soap, as a reality, and as the end of reality. 
 He fails to see that from the point of view of the absolute 
 his knowledge is limited to a set of symbols, and judging by
 
 WAR AND PEACE 337 
 
 these symbols he jumps to a conclusion that space is just 
 nothing at all, that God is only real if he can be lifted, 
 "hefted" as it were. 
 
 But let the scholar bring this grocery-man to the laboratory 
 and show him the particles constituting his sugar, candles, 
 soap, and the laws governing their properties, and the re- 
 lations of these laws stretching out far beyond his vision 
 until they pass from our knowable world of phenomena into 
 the vast universe of the Noumenon, and it would then be 
 reasonable to expect that his opinions would shift, would 
 undergo a marked change, bringing his mind closer and closer 
 to a truer apprehension of the relations of things, of his 
 relation to the universal Noumenon, of his relation to 
 God. 
 
 But the reverence engendered by this larger view of re- 
 lations bids us be modest and stop short in postulating defini- 
 tions or personifications of that God. This, as Maimonides 
 tells us, was the teaching of the sages of Israel. These sages 
 taught that it was more rational and more reverent to appre- 
 hend God through negations rather than through affir- 
 mations. They taught that we approach closer to the truth 
 by affirming that God cannot be unjust, that he cannot be 
 unmerciful, that he cannot be limited in knowledge or power, 
 and that we reach a truer conception of God through such 
 negations than through their opposites, through affirmations. 
 So far for the God idea. 
 
 And now, my dear Mr. Wells, let me say in conclusion 
 that my contention is not with the substance of your teach- 
 ing on the subject of service; on the contrary, I heartily 
 agree with you. My contention is with your postulates 
 and definitions of God. Just how you can come to the con- 
 clusion of service on your postulate is beyond my compre- 
 hension, for as the true marksman must have a given point at 
 which to aim, so the effective teacher must have a logical 
 postulate from which to draw his deductions. Do you not 
 think so ? With high esteem, I am 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 David Lubin
 
 338 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Easton Glebe, 
 
 Dunmow, (May 1918) 
 
 My dear Lubin 
 
 A Noumenon cannot "act upon" Phenomena. Phenom- 
 ena are the aspects of Noumena in the time-space system of 
 conscious life : This rather affects your general argument. 
 And as for the mission of the Jewish race, that is manifestly 
 an affair for that race which is not mine. Except for your 
 race restriction you speak of "Israel" very much as I speak 
 of God. What 's in a name ? Your God of negatives, the 
 God of Maimonides and Spinoza I define not by negatives 
 but by polite doubts and call the Veiled Being. My "God" 
 is the Israel of all mankind. Unless you translate these 
 terms you will keep at loggerheads with my work. Really 
 there is a close parallelism between "God" as I understand 
 Him, your "Israel" and (except for the association with the 
 man Jesus) the "Spirit-Christ" of Pauline Christianity. 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 H. G. Wells. 
 
 Thus while battles raged on every side and the sands of 
 his life ran low, David Lubin worked on at his self-appointed 
 task. 
 
 Will Irwin in the Saturday Evening Post gave a picturesque 
 glimpse of him in the summer of 1917 in Sorrento. There, 
 sitting on a broad, arcaded terrace opening out of a room in 
 the Hotel Victoria, overlooking the wonderful beauty of the 
 Bay of Naples, beauty rendered psychic by the age-long his- 
 tory which has soaked into every nook and cranny of the 
 landscape, the famous war correspondent met "the world's 
 greatest internationalist." 
 
 "A face both strong and whimsical a wide mouth, firm 
 yet humorous ; a full head of unruly iron-gray hair ; a short 
 straight nose, rounded at the point. His frank and candid 
 blue eyes gaze at you from under eyebrows as thick and as 
 white as rolls of cotton wool. His broad and stalwart figure 
 belies his real condition ; for he is not in robust health is
 
 WAR AND PEACE 339 
 
 in fact harnessed to one place at a time. Now and then as 
 he talks his words die away ; he closes his eyes and breathes 
 heavily for a minute one of his heart spasms has caught 
 him. Two minutes afterward, as likely as not, he is bursting 
 out on some folly of his times with a vehemence of voice and 
 gesture that gives his listener an uneasy concern lest he in- 
 jure himself." Such was Will Irwin's impression of David 
 Lubin. And here is a snatch of their conversation in those 
 September days, when the long-drawn-out struggle with its 
 alternatives of success and defeat had made the world's 
 heart grow sick with hope deferred. 
 
 "You know Spencer, I suppose," he said, holding up a copy 
 of First Principles. "Do you know anything of Maimon- 
 ides ? No ? Let me tell you about him. This Maimonides 
 was a Jew. Therefore he had, of course, a crafty disposition. 
 Spencer had finished the first hundred pages of his book. 
 Somehow I don't exactly know what trick he used, but 
 he was a Jew and crafty, as we say Maimonides sneaked 
 into Spencer's study, stole those first hundred pages and 
 plagiarized them. There they are in his 'Guide to the 
 perplexed ' ; read them when you have time. The circum- 
 stantial evidence seems absolute. There is only one thing 
 about the story that puzzles me" Lubin leaned forward, 
 transfixed me with his clear blue eyes, and smiled "Mai- 
 monides died seven hundred years before Spencer. Still, 
 I suppose you can explain that little discrepancy, how 
 Maimonides came to know so much of what is contained in 
 Herbert Spencer's First Principles. 
 
 "Maimonides was the mentor of Spinoza, but look what 
 Spinoza has written !" He opened another book, and I read 
 from the Tractatus Theologico-politicus, which I quote from 
 memory : 
 
 "Therefore the sovereign state is not under the moral 
 law. Acts immoral or punishable in an individual may be 
 considered moral when performed by the state." 
 
 "And there you are !" said Lubin. "And there you are ! 
 The creed of the pagan state, the creed of the beast ! But
 
 340 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 it 's logical, mind you, that. A missionary just arrived asked 
 a heathen chief ' What 's good ? ' ' That I may take my 
 neighbor's wives and oxen,' said the chief. 'And what is 
 evil?' 'That my neighbor takes my wives and oxen.' 
 In the beginning the world was void and there were no 
 morals. The strongest savage went out with a club and 
 brained his neighbor and took away his ox and his woman. 
 'Well,' said people, 'we can't get along like this; it's too 
 disturbing. If this keeps up there won't be anything left 
 of us but just that fellow.' So they got together and had a 
 pow-wow and passed rules of conduct. Then they agreed 
 that the first fellow that broke the rules should have the 
 whole tribe on his neck. So we began to have morals ; and 
 then came Israel and the law and the commandments. Thou 
 shalt not kill ! And if you do, society will take care of you. 
 But get this it couldn't exist without the agreement of 
 society. It needed force, corporate force, every one 
 getting together and agreeing that if John was wronged by 
 James all the rest would come down on James hard. We had 
 the law inside the nations ; but in the relations between nations 
 each was sovereign there was anarchy, anarchy ! . . . 
 "Christianity is all right," he added, running suddenly 
 up one of those little intellectual bypaths that, with him, 
 always come back to the main track. "There is nothing 
 to criticize in Christianity whenever it is grandly Christian, 
 for then it is also Hebraic. But it is often otherwise in some 
 of the applications of Christianity. It 's when they trot out 
 the banners of a king who 's going to conquer some innocent 
 little country and bless them bless robbery and murder in 
 the name of Christianity that the reasonable Jew objects. 
 It's when some upper class, in the name of a perverted 
 Christianity, says to the poor : ' Oh, yes, I know you 're 
 miserable ; but think of the glorious time to come ! If you 
 thank God that things are as they are and behave yourselves, 
 and leave us the fine clothes and the champagne and the 
 leisure and the glory of this world, you '11 be rewarded eter- 
 nally in heaven.'
 
 WAR AND PEACE 341 
 
 "Israel's prophets and teachers always tried to bring the 
 Kingdom on earth as well as in heaven. And that 's what 
 I 'm getting at when I talk of a confederation of the democra- 
 cies creating the Kingdom. That is Jewish ; that is Chris- 
 tian ; it is not pagan. We 've made progress within the 
 nations. A man can't kill his enemy because he feels like 
 it. If he does all society gets together and jumps on him 
 sees that he doesn't do it again. The nations ought to do 
 and can do the same thing. They couldn't have done it a 
 century ago, maybe. They weren't in touch. They 
 couldn't understand each other. Now they are they can 
 understand each other if they will. . . ." 
 
 But the blackest days of the world war were yet to come. 
 Shortly after Mr. Lubin's return to Rome in the autumn of 
 1917 the tragic defeat of Caporetto sent a shock throughout 
 Italy. Starving, homeless refugees came pouring into the 
 capital, while silent but resolute crowds of women, children, 
 and the aged or infirm watched the recruits of the 1900 levy, 
 the boys of seventeen and eighteen, march through the streets 
 on their way to hold that line of the Piave which military ex- 
 perts declared to be untenable, but which the youth of Italy 
 held in despite of all : "Here we stay or die." 
 
 Lubin's reaction to the general dismay was startling; he 
 declared that this overpowering misfortune was "a blessing 
 in disguise." "Hitherto there has been an Allied front and 
 an Italian front ; this was wrong ; Italy is as essential to the 
 success of the Allied cause as France ; the Allies have failed 
 to see this ; now it will be brought home to them." 
 
 He felt strongly that the United States should assist Italy, 
 if not with fighting men, at least with supplies and funds. 
 
 "Substantially the case seems to be this : the American 
 people have already placed on one side of the scale some 
 fifteen to twenty billion dollars, they are placing on the same 
 side of the scale a million American men, with more dollars 
 and more men to follow until the indicator on tne scale points 
 to victory, and a victory of high moment.
 
 342 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 "Hitherto, there have been the Immortal Three : Judaea, 
 Greece, Rome. Classic events are now shaping the fourth 
 America. 
 
 "And now a psychologic moment has come, a moment 
 which demands the instantaneous employment of a billion 
 or two of dollars to remove overstrained tension on the 
 Italian end of the Allied front. Can we afford to hesitate ? 
 Can we afford to brush this need aside and trust to chance 
 to overcome the peril ? 
 
 "What a great risk ! A risk not merely of millions of men 
 and billions of dollars, but a risk which may spell defeat ; a 
 risk which would jeopardize the life of Freedom. Can we 
 afford to take that risk?" 
 
 Thus he concluded a statement embodying the result 
 of a confidential inquiry he made into the urgency of the 
 need, a statement which was cabled on to the State Depart- 
 ment by the Ambassador. In this he summoned up a pic- 
 ture of those tragic days when, as the Minister of Supplies, 
 Crespi told him on January 7, "Our supplies of grain will 
 only last to the end of January ; we have come to the end 
 not only of our stocks of cereals, but also of such foods as 
 rice, potatoes, and beans;" when Signor Galenga, Under- 
 Secretary of State for the Interior, summarized the situation 
 in the following words : "The fighting spirit of the army is 
 splendid ; the spirit of the people is good, as good as we could 
 wish ; but the food and coal questions border on the verge 
 of disaster." Those who were not in Italy in the winter of 
 1917-1918 fail to realize the severity of the privations which 
 the Italian people accepted while preparing for the rally 
 which in June, 1918, led to the first victory of the 
 Piave. s 
 
 One ray of light, almost symbolic of the liberation to come, 
 illumined the gloom of the Christmas of 1917. General 
 Allenby entered Jerusalem ; the Holy Land was freed from 
 Turkish rule. 
 
 The intention of the British Government as announced 
 by Mr. Balfour, to establish in Palestine "a national home
 
 WAR AND PEACE 343 
 
 for the Jewish people" could not fail to evoke a responsive 
 thrill of emotion in David Lubin. 
 
 "Thus, all of a sudden as when the brilliant sun emerges 
 from behind a thick bank of black clouds, there comes light, 
 and at last there is held out for the Jewish people the glorious 
 prospect of emancipation, of freedom ... it seems that the 
 age-long dream is about to be realized ; Palestine is again 
 to become the Land of Israel," he wrote in an eloquent letter 
 addressed to Justice Louis Brandeis (March 20, 1918). 
 
 In this letter he explained his change of attitude on the 
 question of Zionism. Referring to an article he had written 
 in 1916 in the American Israelite, in which he had argued that 
 the spiritual mission of the Jewish people could best be carried 
 on if they remained dispersed among the nations rather than 
 under an autonomous government in Palestine, he says : 
 
 Subsequent thought and some personal experience have, 
 however, modified my opinion on this point. I now see that 
 Israel under dispersion may be compared to a force reduced 
 to a number of heterogeneous points moving in heterogeneous 
 places, and such heterogeneity is unsuited as a means for 
 the end in view. I now see that the promulgation of the 
 Mission of Israel demands a world center, a world authority 
 whence the forces actuating it could radiate in every direc- 
 tion. . . . Given such a national home, and the Jewish 
 people would awaken from the comatose inactivity into 
 which it has been forced by twenty centuries of continuous 
 persecution. It could then begin the labors of its appointed 
 jtask. . . . Part of this task has already been accomplished. 
 It is now some two thousand years since the ethics of Israel 
 were promulgated to the Gentiles, and the world was Chris- 
 tianized. But the nations, in their assumption of the right 
 of absolute sovereignty rule, are still under the sway of 
 paganism. Such an assumption of absolute sovereignty 
 is pagan. It is protested against by the Jewish people. 
 In the Jewish prayer-book we read: 'Our Father and our 
 King we have no Sovereign but Thee.' Protest against 
 absolute sovereignty has been made by the Jewish people 
 from time immemorial to the present day. Such sovereignty
 
 344 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 is protested against from cover to cover of the Old Testament. 
 . . . We cherish as our most exalted hope the belief that 
 the day will come when Israel will be called upon to take up 
 his mission for the abolition of such absolute sovereignty 
 rule upon earth ; to insure the acceptance of the ethics taught 
 by the Prophets; to bring the nations, collectively as well 
 as individually, under the yoke of law, the law of justice, of 
 equity, of righteousness. And this rule of law, of the law 
 of righteousness, must in the end culminate in the democrat- 
 ization of the nations and in the formation of a Confederation 
 of these Democracies under a Constitution. 
 
 Has it not been this idea, this ideal that has, through the 
 centuries, given Israel almost superhuman strength, strength 
 to withstand the terrors to which, as bearer of this message, 
 he was subjected ? Is not the ideal of this high service con- 
 sciously or potentially in the mind and soul of the Jew to- 
 day? Has it not come down to him through some forty 
 centuries of transmitted heredity ? Has it not thus become 
 a rooted psychic force in Israel? It has indeed; a force 
 which no power in the world can now eradicate. 
 
 And is there not room for this force as a necessary supple- 
 ment to Christianity ? As is well known, Christianity deals, 
 in the main, with certain matters of the soul and its trans- 
 lation to heaven, whereas Judaism, in the main, concerns 
 itself with matters of righteousness upon earth. Judaism 
 is concerned with political righteousness, with social right- 
 eousness, with righteousness in exchange, with economic 
 righteousness. There is thus room in the world, side by side, 
 for a dynamic and militant Christianity on the one hand, 
 and for a dynamic and militant Judaism on the other. 
 
 Therefore, the announcement by the British Government 
 for the establishment in Palestine of a "national home for 
 the Jewish people" is welcomed as an earnest that Israel 
 will soon be in a position to take up this mission. And for 
 this reason Jews everywhere, and at all times, must ever be 
 grateful, must ever be under obligations to England for the 
 noble initiative she has taken, furthering the labors of the 
 Zionists the world over in this matter which so deeply con- 
 cerns Israel and his mission. 
 
 Our earnest prayers go up to the Almighty for the success
 
 WAR AND PEACE 345 
 
 of General Allenby and of the British and Allied arms in 
 Palestine, and the world over, now battling, in this great 
 struggle of Democracy against Autocracy for Jehovah, the 
 Power of Righteousness, against Odin, the power of brute force. 
 
 Thus in those bitter days, while defeat stared the Allied 
 armies in the face on the battle fields of France, while Bolshe- 
 vism was negotiating the peace of Brest-Litovsk, this son of 
 a martyr people, undaunted by the dangers of the hour, 
 looked steadfastly ahead, and with the eyes of faith saw the 
 ultimate triumph of that Righteousness which he had humbly 
 served all the days of his life. 
 
 And gradually the tide turned; victory smiled on the 
 Allied armies, and with victory a still greater hope dawned 
 for the war-worn peoples of Europe. For years David 
 Lubin had worked in the cause of world organization in an 
 environment which looked askance at such Utopias; now, 
 suddenly, it looked as if the reaction from war would result 
 in a sudden jolt forward in the direction of internationalism. 
 The words "League of Nations" had already become fa- 
 miliar, but what they exactly implied no one knew. Deeply 
 imbued as he was with the international spirit, Lubin did 
 not delude himself into the belief that the world was ripe 
 for a super-government; he feared that the League by at- 
 tempting too much might achieve too little; might end, 
 perhaps, in a conference of the Hague type, in speeches and 
 resolutions. He wanted the world organized for peace, 
 and hoped that the course taken might be that of rendering 
 permanent and widening from allied to international the 
 several organs for cooperation in the economic field which 
 had made victory possible. Solidarity in finance and in the 
 use of raw materials and national resources he felt to be 
 essential to rapid economic recovery. 
 
 These ideas found expression in a resolution he drew up, 
 and which was unanimously adopted by the Permanent 
 Committee of the International Institute of Agriculture at 
 its meeting on November 25, 1918, the last, as it turned out, 
 which David Lubin was to attend.
 
 346 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 Whereas we see that during the war the Allied Nations 
 have confederated their activities in the handling of agri- 
 cultural production and distribution of raw materials, trans- 
 portation and finance, thereby promoting the general wel- 
 fare ; and 
 
 Whereas the International Institute of Agriculture, 
 founded by the far-seeing initiative of H. M. the King of 
 Italy has, during the whole period of the war been the center 
 of world-wide information and data needed for the solution 
 of the agricultural problems which the governments had to 
 deal with, and has been established to ensure economic 
 benefits to all the adhering countries, and is empowered 
 under letter (f), article 9, of the Treaty to take up measures 
 for the protection of the interests of farmers and for the 
 improvement of their conditions ; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved : that the International Institute of Agricul- 
 ture draw the attention of the adhering Governments to 
 the fact that in addition to the services it now renders them, 
 the Institute could be availed of by the League of Nations 
 as one of the organs of the aforesaid federated activities ; 
 and it respectfully suggests to the adhering governments to 
 bring this to the attention of the Conference for the forma- 
 tion of the League of Nations. 
 
 The last weeks of his life were lived intensely. The atmos- 
 phere was electric with hopes and fears, to which this veteran 
 worker responded with every fiber of his being. Already 
 there were premonitory symptoms of what was to be the 
 tragic disillusionment of the Peace Conference. Lubin 
 sensed the hostility of the American people to the unduly 
 personal tone which President Wilson was giving to his 
 policies ; he thought his decision to come to Europe an un- 
 qualified mistake. Several things had been accomplished 
 in the two terms of the Presidency which had won his sym- 
 pathy : the liberal revision of the tariff, the Federal Re- 
 serve Act, the adoption of a system of rural credits, the 
 effort to throw off the yoke of " special interests." When the 
 war came he accepted the policy of neutrality, though strain- 
 ing at the leash as the Lusitania and other atrocities made
 
 WAR AND PEACE 347 
 
 clear the nature of the struggle. But his fervent belief in 
 democracy and in the wisdom of counsel made him increas- 
 ingly suspicious of the autocratic attitude the President was 
 assuming. 
 
 Death spared him the sorrow of witnessing the loss of the 
 greatest opportunity ever afforded a man or a nation. 
 
 In the autumn and winter of 1918 death was reaping a 
 heavy harvest in Italy. The influenza, striking a nation 
 worn by the anxieties and privations of four years of war, 
 made in a few weeks more victims than the five hundred 
 thousand whom Italy lost at the front. Lubin had a pre- 
 monition that his end was imminent and worked on as one 
 who has much to do in little time. The cause that claimed 
 most of his effort in those last weeks was that of close eco- 
 nomic relations between Italy and the United States. 
 
 "There is perhaps no other country in Europe that can be 
 placed quicker on the road to rapid recovery from the burden- 
 some costs of the war than Italy. More than that, her vast 
 stores of latent wealth, when properly put to play their great 
 part, can place Italy in the forefront among the leading 
 industrial and commercial nations of the world ; and if the 
 question be asked where is ' that vast store of latent wealth ' 
 the answer can be readily given : Italy's latent wealth con- 
 sists in the millions of her intelligent, industrious and sober 
 men and women." 
 
 Thus he wrote in the first of a series of three articles which 
 he contributed on this subject to the Qiornale (Vltalia Agri- 
 colo in August, 1918. His views, to which I have referred 
 in a previous chapter, were also expressed in various articles 
 published in the Tribuna and the F route Interno in Italy, 
 and in the New York Evening Post and other American 
 papers. They attracted no inconsiderable degree of atten- 
 tion in both countries. In Rome a committee of Italian 
 statesmen, economists, and business men was formed, and 
 had Lubin lived there is little doubt that early in 1919 a 
 representative Italian Commission would have visited the 
 United States to enter into direct relations with the business
 
 348 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 and financial world with a view to making Italy an industrial 
 base for developing the whole commerce of the Mediter- 
 ranean Basin. Lubin attended the first meeting of the 
 committee. The second was called for December 29. On 
 December 28 he was seized by a violent attack of the pre- 
 vailing epidemic. 
 
 From the first it was apparent that the illness would 
 have a fatal termination, but to the end his thoughts were 
 of the work to which he had dedicated his life. On the last 
 day he kept repeating the word "cornucopia"; the nurse 
 thought his mind was wandering, but it was the vision he had 
 summoned up in talking to me only a few days before that 
 was haunting his dying thoughts, that vision of America 
 as the cornucopia of the nations, blessing and blessed. His 
 friend the American Consul, Mr. Francis Keene, came to see 
 him, and though his strength had almost ebbed, it was of 
 Italy's need and America's opportunity that he spoke. 
 
 As the bells rung in the New Year which all hoped was to 
 inaugurate a new era of peace and good will among men, 
 David Lubin passed away. For the first time this strenuous 
 worker was at rest. For him the Great Peace had dawned.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 SALVE ATQUE VALE 
 
 Rome was looking its brightest on January 3, 1919, when 
 a few friends and fellow workers accompanied David Lubin 
 through flag-bedecked streets to his last resting place. 
 
 The Eternal City had turned out in her thousands that 
 day to welcome the President of the United States, the 
 promulgator of that League of Nations which had aroused 
 such high hopes in war-worn Europe. The press and the 
 public had ears and eyes for nothing else. 
 
 In the flurry and excitement of the President's arrival, 
 the United States Embassy forgot to send a representative 
 to the funeral, and the only official recognition of this long life 
 of service was a beautiful floral tribute from the King of 
 Italy. With the same simplicity with which he had lived, 
 this Pioneer of organized international life went to his well- 
 earned rest. And this was as David Lubin would have 
 wished it. 
 
 "Just an ordinary scrub man," but one privileged to be 
 an instrument toward achieving a great purpose ; a simple, 
 plain citizen of a democracy, but one who realized that no 
 nobler title could be conferred on him than that of "citizen 
 of the United States" by which the King of Italy had pro- 
 claimed him the originator of an idea which holds in germ 
 much that the years to come will fructify. 
 
 I have endeavored in these pages to tell what David Lubin 
 accomplished. Recapitulation is needless. His long life 
 had in it much of romance ; it knew the pangs of disappoint- 
 ment and deep sorrow, the isolation and loneliness of the 
 pioneer, the vivid joys of achievement following on long 
 and anxious effort. By sheer hard work he had risen from 
 poverty to affluence, from ignorance to knowledge, from
 
 350 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 obscurity to eminence. The faith that was in him had 
 worked the miracle. In an age of skepticism he retained 
 his belief ; he shed many of the exteriorities but held fast 
 to the inner essence of Religion. 
 
 And with all he was a man ; with a full share of a man's 
 weaknesses, but none the less made "in the image of God." 
 
 Incapable of falsehood or meanness, steadfast in friend- 
 ship, loyal to his fellow workers, his transparent sincerity 
 and honesty disarmed hostility : he had opponents, not 
 enemies. 
 
 By the poor and by those in humble positions he was much 
 loved, both for his abundant charity, and still more for the 
 spirit of brotherly fellowship which marked his bearing 
 towards them. The servants in the hotel he lived in, the 
 Roman cabmen with whom he was a well-known figure, the 
 subordinates who came in touch with him at the Institute, 
 all mourned his death as a personal loss. 
 
 Ever ready to give a helping hand to the young with whom 
 he was brought in contact, he was looked up to by them and 
 trusted as a leader. His broad sympathies enabled him to 
 form firm friendships with people of all nations. In Italy 
 his memory is beloved by all who knew him. 
 
 It was my privilege to work under David Lubin and with 
 him for over fourteen years. If his tone was often emphatic, 
 sometimes dictatorial, it was never pompous ; he was exact- 
 ing but never tedious or dull. Generous in recognition of 
 service rendered, he encouraged independence of thought 
 and expression, treating all who worked for him as collabo- 
 rators in a great cause. He was alike free from vanity and 
 from adulation. 
 
 Wherever he set up his lares and penates abundant hos- 
 pitality reigned. He had a ready wit and keen sense of 
 humor, could laugh heartily and make others laugh ; could 
 see a joke against himself and take it in good part. He took 
 life neither as a tragedy nor as a sport, but as a battle to be 
 fought manfully, joyfully, thankfully, keeping the goal of 
 Service ever in sight.
 
 SALVE ATQUE VALE 351 
 
 Perhaps the deepest lesson his life teaches is that man need 
 not be the sport of circumstances, that he can indeed be the 
 Captain of his own Destiny. What David Lubin achieved 
 was not so much the result of brilliant intellect as of character 
 and determination ; of sheer hard work ; of reasoning from 
 cause to effect ; of observation, comparison and generaliza- 
 tion. 
 
 His mother had built up the boy's character in early 
 childhood, impressing for ever on his plastic mind the basic 
 principles of integrity. As he grew up he hungered and 
 thirsted after Justice. He looked around him, and his 
 mind marveled at the wondrous justice displayed in a 
 universe where the principle of balance, of equilibrium, of 
 attraction and repulsion, holds suns and worlds and solar 
 and stellar systems in one harmonious whole. From the 
 macrocosm he turned to the microcosm and saw social 
 justice dependent on a like balance between the several 
 forces in the body politic. He yearned for ideal justice, 
 and recognized that its foundations are laid in economic 
 justice, in the just weight and the just measure. He real- 
 ized that justice knows nothing of races or frontiers, that 
 justice for one is contingent on justice for all, and this was the 
 basis of his internationalism. The International Institute 
 of Agriculture, as he conceived it, was the concrete result 
 of such abstract reasoning. 
 
 And he had the faith and vision of the Seer. The ultimate 
 triumph of justice was to him a certainty, and this certainty 
 gave him strength. With this note of confident assurance, 
 as expressed in a letter written in March, 1918, to a relative 
 then fighting with the British army in Palestine, let me close 
 this record of his life : 
 
 "The life of Israel, the teaching of the Prophets has served, 
 is serving, and is still to serve in establishing the rule of 
 justice among the nations, among the nations individually 
 and the nations collectively. 
 
 "And it is this rule which we commonly designate by the 
 name of Democracy. This Democracy, starting as a ray of
 
 352 DAVID LUBIN 
 
 light emanating from the very throne of the Almighty, pro- 
 jected on a world steeped in deep darkness, has made for 
 itself a pathway of freedom, a pathway growing ever broader 
 and broader. Slowly and painfully this Democracy has 
 made room for itself, gaining ground inch by inch. 
 
 "The signposts along the path it has pursued are many, 
 and stretch back into the dim ages of the past. We dis- 
 cern them in the signing of Magna Charta, in the rise of the 
 City Republics of the Middle Ages, in the rise of the Hansa 
 towns. We discern them in the birth of Parliaments, in 
 the limitations placed on Monarchical Rule, in the overthrow 
 of Feudalism, and in the emancipation of the Slave. And 
 now we behold this force, Democracy, strong enough to 
 stand erect and challenge to the death the still surviving 
 powers of Autocracy. . . . 
 
 "In this fight there is no line of demarcation; in this 
 there is a complete * at-one-ment * ; in this service there is 
 no Jew, no Gentile ; all the forces of Democracy are Israel. 
 
 "And victory will come in the end ; if not in our day then 
 in the days to come. We believe this as we believe that 
 God is the God of Justice, that He is 'The Lord our Right-
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX 
 
 Adler, Doctor Felix, 307 
 
 letter to, 288 
 Adotte, Mr., 82-83 
 
 Agitation of political parties in America, 115 
 Agresti, Signora 
 
 letters to, 204, 229, 234, 238-239, 302, 325 
 
 Lubin's meeting with, 169 
 Agresti, Signor Antonio, 188 
 Agriculture, as considered by Lubin, 4-5, 6-7 
 
 decline in staples of, 133 
 
 depressed condition of, 115, 133-135 
 
 House Committee on, 125 
 
 influenced by transportation and tariff, 112, 117, 119-120 
 
 in France, 170-173 
 
 International Institute of, in Rome, see International Institute 
 
 Lubin's efforts to secure protection for, 119-129 
 
 system of chambers of, 280-281 
 
 world organization of, 5, 166, 183, 184, 189 
 Alexander, Joshua W., Chairman of House Committee on Merchant 
 
 Marine, 302 
 Alexander, King, 259 
 Allenby, General, 342 
 Alia California, 83 
 
 Altman, Miss Rebecca, letters to, 154-164 
 America, see United States 
 American Agriculturist, 6, 170 
 American Chamber of Commerce in France, 168 
 
 American Commission to investigate credit system, 278, 279-280, 288 
 American Cultivator, 113 
 American Express Company, 282 
 American Federation of Labor, 124, 212, 292 
 American Israelite, 265, 343 
 American Protective Tariff League, 122, 124 
 "American Room" in Institute of Agriculture, 267, 272 
 Amsterdam, 35 
 Antin, Mary, 13, 18 
 Argentine, delegate of, 258 
 
 economic status of, 298-299 
 wheat in, 115
 
 356 INDEX 
 
 Arizona, Lubin's adventures in, 28, 30-33, 60 
 Arnold, Matthew, 9 
 Atlantic Monthly, 326 
 Austria, forestry laws of, 104 
 schools and museums of, 104 
 
 Bacon, Robert, Under Secretary of State, 269 
 
 Bailey, Senator, influence of, 243-244 
 
 Balfour, Arthur, quoted, 342-343 
 
 Balkan States, 257, 258, 260, 261 
 
 Behar, Nissim, 74 
 
 Belgrade, 258 
 
 Bell, Moberly, letter to Lubin, 236 
 
 Berlin, 104, 134, 135, 234 
 
 Lubin's experience in, 235 
 Bernat, Doctor, letter to, 217-218, 248 
 Bible, 9, 44 
 
 Bonnheim, Mrs. Fanny, sister of Lubin, 34 
 Borghese, Prince Scipione, 204 
 Bosco, Professor, 188 
 
 Brandeis, Justice Louis, letter to 66, 343-345 
 Brest-Litovsk, peace of, 345 
 Brigham, J. H., letter to, 134 
 Brighton, England, 237 
 Brown, Walter James, letter to, 237 
 Brusati, General, aide-de-camp to King, 177, 178, 179 
 Bryan, Mr., eloquence of, 124 
 Bryn Mawr, 308 
 Buck, Sir Edward, 214, 243, 244 
 Budapest, 135, 166, 234 
 Bukarest, 260 
 Bulgaria, 257, 260 
 
 Bund der Landwirther, reports of, 220 
 Bureaucracy, European, 227-229 
 Business, Lubin's start in, 38-42 
 
 California Citrus Fruit Exchange, 93 
 California Fruit Growers' Exchange, 4, 86, 105 
 California Museum Association, 96, 106 
 California, 37 
 
 competition of Oriental labor in, 136 
 
 development of, 60 
 
 exhibit of early relics in, 107-108 
 
 farm labor situation in, 82 
 
 foreign market for fruits of, 105
 
 INDEX 357 
 
 California (Continued) 
 
 fruit-growing in, 85-93, 106, 117 
 
 gold mine prosperity, 25, 84 
 
 pioneer days in, 26-27 
 
 resemblance to Mediterranean countries, 97, 106 
 
 richness of soil, 84 
 
 State Grange of, 122 
 
 wealth of, 84 
 Canada, economic status of, 298-299 
 Cannon, Frank, Senator from Utah, 141 
 "Capital", 25 
 Caporetto, defeat of, 341 
 
 Cappelli, Marquis, President of the Society of Italian Agriculturists, 194 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 25 
 Carmen Sylva, 261 
 
 letter to, 262-263 
 Central Europe, at Rome conference, 208, 209 
 
 outlook of, 203 
 Central Labor Union, 140 
 Central Pacific Railroad, 99 
 Chandler, Senator, of New Hampshire, 122 
 Channing, William Ellery, 24 
 Charterhouse, England, 309 
 Chicago, great fire of, 34 
 Chicago Board of Trade, 125 
 Chicago Exchange, 250 
 Cicero, 9, 43, 96 
 Civil War, 21-22 
 Clark, Doctor C. C, 250 
 Cleveland, Rose, 307 
 Colletti, Professor, 188 
 
 Colusa County, Cal., Lubin's farm in, 81, 110 
 Commonwealth of Nations, Lubin's idea of, 328-331 
 Concini, Commendatore, 175 
 Conservation of natural resources, 269 
 Constantinople, 261 
 Covent Garden Market, 93, 105 
 Cracow, Poland, 15 
 
 Crespi, Signor, Minister of Supplies, quoted, 342 
 Crocker, Judge, 99, 100, 101 
 Crocker, Mr., 60 
 
 Crocker, Mrs. Margaret, 97, 100, 101-102 
 Crocker Art Gallery, 100, 108 
 Crozier, Doctor John Beatie, interview with Lubin, 288-289
 
 358 INDEX 
 
 Davids, Mrs. Rhys, 307 
 
 letter from, 308 
 D'Antuni, Prince, 212 
 Daranye, Mr., Hungarian Minister, 220 
 Darwin, Charles, 24 
 
 Department of Agriculture (U. S.), 249, 250 
 Dingley Tariff Bill, 141 
 
 amendment to, 141 
 Dollar a symbol of liberty, 2-3 j 
 Draga, Queen, 259 
 Dreyfus, Louis, quoted, 250, 251 
 Durand, Doctor Dana, 297, 307 
 
 Earl, Mr., commission merchant, 86 
 
 Earl of Jersey, 214 
 
 Education, Lubin's views on, 305-306, 320-323 
 
 Elequina Island, 254 
 
 Elliott, Sir Thomas, 214, 225 
 
 Ely, Professor, University of Wisconsin, 122 
 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 24 
 
 Enelow, Doctor H. G., 76 
 
 Engels, Mr., 25 
 
 Ethnological Museum at San Diego, 108 
 
 European war, 281-282, 303, 324 
 
 result of, 285-288, 303 
 Ezekiel, M. J., sculptor, 307 
 
 Faina, Count, President of Royal Commission, 217, 240 
 Farm, Lubin's, 81-84, 110 
 Farm Bureau movement, 282 
 Farmers, American, 267-268 
 
 an organized power, 282 
 
 importance in winning war, 281-282 
 
 land assets of, 277 
 
 Lubin's opinion of, 6-7 
 
 Lubin's work for, 267-279 
 
 nation-wide organization of, 280 
 Federal Farm Loan Act, 279-280 
 Federal Reserve Act, 346 
 Ferrero, Guglielmo, 307 
 Fletcher, Duncan U., 7, 274, 279, 284, 302 
 Flood, Mr., Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee, 302 
 "Food Control and Democracy ", 326 
 
 France at organization of International Institute of Agriculture, 208-209 
 Free Trade, Lubin's views on, 136-138
 
 INDEX 359 
 
 French Revolution, 25 
 
 Fronte Interno, 347 
 
 Fruit, foreign market for, 105 
 
 in England, 93, 105 
 
 raising and marketing of California, 84, 85-93 
 Fruit Growers' Convention, 86 
 Furuseth, Andrew, sailors' champion, 144 
 
 Galenga, Signor, Under Secretary of State for the Interior, quoted, 342 
 
 Galitzin, Prince, letter to, 221-222 
 
 Germany, at Rome conference, 205 
 
 Giglioli, Professor, 287 
 
 Giolitti, Cav. Giovanni, Prime Minister, 174, 197 
 
 King's letter to, 199-200 
 Giornali d' Italia Agricolo, 347 
 Gompers, Samuel, 122, 124, 144, 293 
 
 letters to, 292-293, 293-294, 301-302 
 Goodwin, Mr., Congressman, 302 
 Government, business methods applied to, 256 
 Grange, influence of, 115, 122, 123 
 
 Lubin fails to arouse, 167, 268 
 
 support of Lubin, 122, 125, 212, 302 
 Griscom, Lloyd, 242 
 Guerrazzi, Francesco Domenico, 185 
 Guerrazzi, Gian Francesco, co-worker with Lubin, 186, 188, 196, 220 
 
 quoted, 185-186, 197 
 Guild, Curtis, American Ambassador to Russia, 254 
 Guyot, M. Yves, French economist, 168 
 
 Hammerstein : Lockstein, Mb., Prussian Minister of Agriculture, 134 
 Hanna, Senator Mark, 126 
 
 letter to, 127-129 
 Harte, Bret, 96 
 
 Hays, Mr., Secretary of State, 202 
 Herrick, Myron C, 275 
 Herron, L. S., letter to, 278 
 
 Hill, Dr. William F., Pennsylvania State Grange, 205, 212 
 Hill, Sir Norman, 333 
 Holy Land, 20, 81 
 
 free from Turks, 342 
 
 Lubin's trip to, 65-70 
 
 see also Palestine 
 Home Market Club of Boston, 125 
 Hoover, Secretary, quoted, 117, 118 
 Hopkins, J., 60
 
 360 INDEX 
 
 House Committee on Agriculture, hearing before, 125 
 Howard, J. B., Department of Agriculture, 294 
 Hungary, celebration in, 135 
 
 joins International Institute, 220 
 Hunt, Governor, 29 
 Huntington, C. P., 60, 91 
 Hurwitz, Henry, letter to, 332-833 
 Huxley, Thomas H 25, 26 
 
 Ideals of Lubin, 50, 60, 177 
 Immigration problem in United States, 199 
 Imperiali, Marchese, Italian Ambassador, 261 
 
 letter to, 261 
 India, wheat in, 115 
 
 Intercollegiate Menorah Association, 332 
 International Association of Master Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers, 
 
 224 
 International Chamber of Agriculture, see International Institute of 
 
 Agriculture 
 International Chamber of Commerce, 303 
 "International Confederation of Democracies under a Constitution", 328 
 
 quoted, 329 
 International Harvester Company, 107 
 
 International Institute of Agriculture, in Rome, 1, 2, 13, 56, 70, 112, 
 135, 324-325, 351 
 
 activities of, 297 
 
 affected by war, 326-327 
 
 America represented, 257 
 
 "American Room" in, 267 
 
 appropriation for, 233 
 
 article 2, quoted, 209-210 
 
 article 9, quoted, 210 
 
 bureaucratic element in, 250 
 
 building for, erected, 233 
 
 delegates to, 205, 206, 210, 241, 326 
 
 duties of a delegate, 267 
 
 compared to Eiffel Tower, 267 
 
 First General Assembly, 249, 253 
 
 function of, 189-191, 207-208, 210, 211, 215 
 
 immigration problem ruled out of program, 291 
 
 inaugurated, 243 
 
 letter of Victor Emanuel IH regarding it, 199-200 
 
 Lubin delegate to, 231, 234 
 
 Lubin's idea of founding it, 70-72, 189, 191-192, 208, 233 
 
 meeting to organize, 205, 206, 212
 
 INDEX 361 
 
 International Institute of Agriculture (Continued) 
 
 opening session, 237, 240 
 
 organization of, 217 
 
 Permanent Committee of, 209-211, 250, 295, 326 
 
 publications issued by, 271 
 
 rules out question of immigration from program, 291 
 
 strengthened by war, 325 
 
 ratified by America, 228, 230 
 by Balkan States, 260 
 by forty-six nations, 249 
 by Great Britain, 223 
 by Turkey, 261 
 
 resolution of Lubin adopted by, 345-346 
 International Labor Bureau, 303 
 
 International Races Congress, Lubin's paper for, 264-265 
 International Trade Union Congress, 293 
 International Transport, 303 
 Interstate Commerce Commission, 300 
 Inventions, Lubin's, 23, 24, 34-35, 40, 46, 64, 103, 165 
 Ireland, 105 
 
 Irish, John P., quoted, 83-84 
 Irwin, Will, 307, 308 
 
 interview with Lubin, 339-341 
 "Israel and his Ideal ", 331 
 Italy, at organization of International Institute of Agriculture, 208, 209 
 
 factor in modern thought, 168-169 
 
 government seizure of railways, 117 
 
 in war, 327, 341-342, 347 
 
 King of, see Victor Emanuel III 
 
 Lubin's impressions of, 106-107, 306-307 
 
 position after war, 287 
 Italian Royal Commission, 217, 220, 237, 239, 240 
 
 Jaffa, 65 
 
 James, George B., letter to, 113 
 
 Jewish race, character of, 15 
 
 in America, 36 
 
 influences on, 14, 333 
 
 in Palestine, 67-68, 78, 79 
 
 in Russian Poland, 13-15, 16, 36, 37, 68 
 
 key to intellectual life, 78-79 
 
 Lubin's idea of its destiny, 69, 70-74, 74-75, 76-77, 154-158, 262, 288, 
 331, 332 
 
 record of, 8, 332 
 Jonescu, Take, 260
 
 362 INDEX 
 
 Johnson, Grove L., 81 
 
 quoted, 116, 125 
 Jones, Aaron, anecdote, of 123 
 
 Kahn, Julius, 227, 302 
 
 letter to, 244-247 
 Keene, Francis, American Consul, 348 
 Kirby, Captain, 28, 30, 32 
 Klodowa, birthplace of Lubin, 15 
 Koch, Commendatore, 257, 258 
 Kokovtsof, Mr., Minister of Finance, 254-256 
 
 Labor, competition of Oriental, 136 
 
 activity in organized, 144 
 
 reasons for migration of, 290-293 
 League of Nations, 303, 330, 345, 349 
 
 first, 10, 212 
 
 Lubin a pioneer for, 265 
 "Let There Be Light", 70, 149, 154, 272, 328 
 
 outline of, 150-153 
 
 quoted, 145, 151 
 Letters of David Lubin, quoted, gee under Lubin, David 
 Life work of Lubin, 3-9, 80, 143, 212 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 24, 45 
 Lionelli, Signor, 176, 177, 178 
 Liverpool, wheat center, 111, 112, 120, 224, 298 
 Llanos, Eva, 258 
 Llanos, Julio, 258 
 Lodge, Senator, letter to, 204 
 London, exhibitions in, 105 
 
 Lubin in, 167, 297, 333 
 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 24 
 Lorenzoni, Professor Giovanni, 204, 271 
 Los Angeles, 27 
 Lubin, David, acquired financial independence, 7 
 
 advertisements written by, 48, 49-50 
 
 advocates system of chambers of agriculture, 280-281 
 
 anecdotes of, 17, 21, 22-23, 27, 30-31, 81-32, 34, 40-42, 45-47, 56-57, 
 97-102, 105, 109-110, 116, 123-124, 183, 194, 201, 214, 235 
 
 appointed delegate to permanent committee of Institute, 231 
 
 appreciation of good workmanship, 23 
 
 as employer, 53-59, 82-83 ; educator, 305 ; farmer, 4, 81-84 ; fruit- 
 grower, 81-84, 85-93; lamp salesman, 34; propagandist, 216, 
 220, 222-230, 237-240; reformer, 11, 69; Sacramentan, 95-102, 
 106-110; writer, 154, 217, 236
 
 INDEX 363 
 
 Lubin (Continued) 
 
 at Chinese Embassy, 240 ; Turkish Embassy, 24 
 
 at convention of Southern Commercial Congress, 274 
 
 attitude on Zionism, 343-345; on organized labor, 293; towards 
 
 women, 143-144 
 at zenith of powers, 176 
 audience with Carmen Sylva, 261 ; with Grand Vizier, 261 ; with 
 
 King of Italy, 180-181 
 belief in "balance of power", 293 
 believer in democracy, 60, 79 ; in games, 305 ; in labor organizations, 
 
 59 
 birthplace, 10, 13, 15 
 
 brings pressure to bear on Balkan States, 257-261 
 callers on, 307 
 
 character of, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20, 129-130, 131, 143, 212-213, 234, 271 
 children of, 130, 217, 305-306 
 correspondence, large, 236, 237, 239, 295 ; with American bankers, 
 
 275 ; with H. G. Wells, 334-338 
 culture, 64 
 death, 348 
 
 dismissed from Committee of Institute and reinstated, 242-243 
 dualism of nature, 65, 66 
 early years of, 13-37 
 economist, 11 
 education, 64, 113 
 effect on associates, 176, 193 
 efforts to acquire art treasures, 107 ; to establish international action 
 
 on agriculture, 166, 173-184, 185-216 ; to secure historical museum, 
 
 107-108; to secure rural credits, 274-279; to reform tariff and 
 
 secure protection for agriculture, 4-5, 119-129, 133-136, 139-141, 
 
 165-166 
 environment, 24-25, 113, 143 
 experiences in Arizona, 28, 30-33 
 fancy for sea, 17 
 father of, 15 
 favorite books, 9, 26 
 
 first horseback ride, 27 ; job, 22-23 ; public work, 93 
 follow-up system, 258-259 
 
 fondness for music, 27, 307 ; for moving pictures, 307 
 founder of California Museum Association, 96, 106 
 frankness of, 8, 225 
 funeral, 348 
 generosity, 56, 57, 109 
 head of mail-order business, 3, 53, 282 
 health of, 165, 174, 176, 202, 234, 288, 300, 306, 338-339
 
 S64 INDEX 
 
 Lubin (Continued) 
 
 idea of commonwealth of nations, 328-331 ; of destiny of Jewish race, 
 69, 70-74, 74-75, 76-77, 154-158, 262, 288 ; of service, 75-76, 80, 
 143 ; of world war, 327-328 
 
 ideals of, 50, 60, 177 
 
 idealism of, 2, 3, 8, 9, 20, 289 
 
 impressed by Italy, 106-107; by Palestine, 65-67, 77, 78, 79; by 
 Polish Jew, 36-37 
 
 incongruity of surroundings, 60-61 
 
 influence of mother on, 18-20 
 
 in Germany, 257; Petersburg, 254-256; Rome, 99, 165, 169-183, 
 185-202, 212, 240, 249, 279, 282, 294-301, 305-323, 326 ; in Serbia, 
 258-259 
 
 integrity, 109 
 
 interest in Austria, 104 ; London, 105 ; Spain, 103 
 
 internationalist, 290-304, 338 
 
 interview with Count Pier Desiderio Pasolini, 194-195 ; with Doctor 
 John Beatie Crozier, 288 ; with Kokovtsof , 254-256 ; with Marquis 
 Capelli, 194; with Professor Maffeo Pantaleoni, 187-188; with 
 Take Jonescu, 260-261 ; with Will Irwin, 339-341 
 
 intuition, 43, 61 
 
 inventions of, 23, 24, 34-35, 40, 46, 64, 103, 165 
 
 joins Grange, 95 
 
 joins sister in business, 37 
 
 lack of aesthetic sense, 96, 97, 132 
 
 last weeks of life, 346-348 
 
 leaflet on Raiffeissen system, 271 
 
 letters quoted, 1, 6, 7, 11, 22, 28-29, 29-30, 48, 50-51, 58, 59, 63, 66- 
 67, 69-70, 70-72, 72-74, 74-75, 75-76, 76-77, 83, 102, 102-103, 
 104-105, 113, 127-129, 134, 148-150, 154-164, 170-173, 204, 213, 
 216, 217-220, 221-222, 229-230, 232-233, 234, 237, 238-239, 239- 
 240, 244-247, 251-252, 261, 262-263, 269, 270-271, 275-277, 287- 
 288, 291-293, 293-294, 295-296, 296-297, 301-302, 302-303, 308, 
 309-319, 320-323, 325, 331-332, 332-333, 334-337, 343-345, 351-352 
 
 life work, 3-9, 61, 71, 80, 143, 212 
 
 lost in desert, 31-32 
 
 love of adventure, 17, 26 ; of children, 305, 306 ; of debate, 96 ; of 
 home, 143 ; for stories, 20 
 
 marriage, 63, 144 
 
 master passion of, 1-2 
 
 meets Signora Agresti, 169 
 
 memorializes Congress, 139 
 
 mental development of, 138, 144-147 
 
 method of presenting ideas, 187, 214; of spreading ideas, 271-274; 
 of trade, 39-45 ; of training employees, 53-56
 
 INDEX 365 
 
 Lubin (Continued) 
 
 missionary spirit, 49 
 
 modesty, 9-10 
 
 naming of, 16 
 
 opinion of Europe, 102-103 ; of farmers, 6-7 
 
 orator, 244 
 
 origin of facial scar, 15-16 
 
 paper for the International Races Congress, 264-265 
 
 part in Sacramentan life, 95-102, 106-110 
 
 personal appearance, 31, 338-339 
 
 plan of world organization, 262 
 
 pioneer in advocating parcel-post system, 4, 116-117, 282-284; in 
 founding California Fruit Growers' Exchange, 4 ; in field of inter- 
 national cooperation, 5, 10 ; in founding California Museum, 109 ; 
 in fight with " jobber ", 52 ; in mail-order business, 3 ; in movement 
 for "League of Nations", 265; in one-price method of trade, 40, 
 42-43, 44-45; in reducing railway rates, 4; in reform, 43; in 
 scientific fruit-growing, 81-82 
 
 poetic side of, 17-18 
 
 processes of mind, 132 
 
 prophet of democracy, 79 
 
 protectionist, 112-119 
 
 quoted, 6, 7, 9, 17, 30, 38-42, 42-43, 44-45, 47, 51-52, 53, 53-55, 57, 
 61-62, 65, 82, 88-91, 92, 96, 97, 98-99, 100, 101, 105, 109, 111, 114, 
 115, 117-118, 122, 126, 132, 135, 136-138, 145, 146, 151, 164, 167, 
 175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 183, 185, 187, 191, 192, 198, 201, 203, 214, 
 215, 223, 226, 227-228, 250-251, 253, 254, 255-256, 259, 264-265, 
 265-266, 277, 278, 282-284, 286, 299, 303-304, 320, 329-330, 339- 
 341, 341-342, 347 
 
 racial inheritance of, 11 
 
 reading, 17, 26, 148, 306 
 
 realization of meaning of Jewish religion, 68 
 
 recapitulation of life, 349-352 
 
 regard for Italy, 306-307 
 
 relations, 132, 305 
 
 resolve to fathom meaning of religion, 33, 35 
 
 return to Poland, 35, 36 
 
 righteousness, feeling for, 2, 49, 50, 78, 143, 288, 345 
 
 runs away from home, 17 
 
 sees need for International Commerce Commission, 297-300 
 
 service, 61, 75, 146-147, 239 
 
 settles in Malvern, 217 ; in Philadelphia, 138 ; in San Francisco, 144 
 
 side lights on, 154 
 
 Signora Agresti's tribute to, 349-352 
 
 speech of, 31
 
 366 INDEX 
 
 Lubin (Continued) 
 
 start in business, 38-42 
 
 statesman and diplomat, 10, 214, 223, 225 
 
 storekeeper in Sacramento, 3, 9, 39-58, 61 
 
 treasurer for McKinley Club in California, 127 
 
 trips to Europe, 35, 93, 102, 130, 132-138, 164, 234 ; to Holy Land, 65-70 
 
 turning point in career, 77 
 
 underlying motive of life, 8, 9, 69 
 
 victim of writer's cramp, 309 
 
 views on America after war, 286-289; on education, 305-306, 320- 
 323 ; on free trade, 136-138 
 
 " wander years", 26-34 
 
 work, feeling for his, 301, 303 
 
 work for American farmers, 267-279 
 
 "world's greatest internationalist", 338 
 
 zeal for public good, 120-121, 126 
 Lubin, Dorothy, daughter of Lubin, 216, 301, 305 
 
 letter to, 309-319, 320-323 
 Lubin, Grace, 217, 305 
 
 letter to, 309-319, 320-323 
 Lubin, Jeannette, Lubin's sister, 26, 37 
 Lubin, Jesse, Lubin's son, 22, 48 
 Lubin, Simon, Lubin's brother, 17, 22 
 
 Lubin, Simon, Lubin's son, letters to, 63, 148-149, 149-150, 275-277, 308 
 Lubin, Teddy, Lubin's son, 217, 305 
 
 letter to, 309-312, 315-316, 320-323 
 Lubin Club in Philadelphia, 140 
 " Lubinism " campaign issue, 126 
 " Lubin Tribulator", 103 
 Lusiiania, 327, 346 
 
 Lutzow, H., Austrian Ambassador, letter to Lubin, 241 
 Luzzatti, Luigi, Minister of Treasury, 174, 175, 196, 197, 206, 242, 295 
 
 quoted, 178 
 
 writes letter introducing Lubin to King of Italy, 178, 179 
 
 Macara, Sir Charles, letter to, 270-271 
 
 support of Lubin, 224-225 
 Maimonides, 9, 43, 149, 339 
 Magyar Gazdaszovetseg, 217 
 
 Mail-order business, organized by Lubin, 3, 53, 63 
 Malvern, England, 217 
 Manchester, England, 225 
 " Man's Place in Nature ", 25 
 Markham, Edwin, 159 
 Marx, Karl, 25, 59
 
 INDEX 367 
 
 McKinley, President, 138, 140 
 McKinley Club in California, 126 
 "Mechanics' Store" in Sacramento, 43, 53, 144 
 Mediterranean Basin, 287, 348 
 
 Lubin's claims for, 97 
 Melegari, Count, Italian Ambassador, 254 
 Mill, John Stuart, 9, 25, 44 
 Mills, Miss Adella, letter to, 70 
 Mills. William H., letter to, 234 
 Minto, Lord, 214 
 
 "Mission of Israel and a Commonwealth of Nations ", 265-266 
 Montemartini, Giovanni, head of Labor Bureau, 174, 175, 196, 206 
 Mourawieff, Mr., Russian Ambassador to France, 205 
 
 Nagel, Mb., Secretary of Commerce, 297 
 
 Naples, 102 
 
 Nebraska Farmer, 278 
 
 Neil, Charles P., 69 
 
 New Orleans, 34 
 
 New Republic, quoted, 131 
 
 New York, 124, 126, 165 
 
 in 1855, 17 
 New York Evening Post, 347 
 Nordau, Doctor Max, 73 
 Norris, Frank, 84 
 "Novel Proposition Revolutionizing the Distribution of Wealth ", 112, 121 
 
 campaign issue, 122-129 
 
 quoted, 114 
 
 Ocean Carriage, a public utility, 299-303 
 "Octopus, The", 84 
 
 One-price basis of trade, 40, 42-43, 44-45 
 Ourousoff, Prince Leo, letter to, 239-240 
 Overalls, invented by Lubin, 40, 46 
 
 patent sold, 46-47 
 "Origin of Species ", 24 
 Owens, Doctor Clarence J., 274, 279 . 
 
 quoted, 304 
 
 Pacific Rural Press, 102 
 
 Palermo, 197 
 
 Palestine, democracy in, 78 
 
 impression on Lubin, 65-67, 77, 78, 79 
 
 in 1884, 66, 67, 77, 78 
 
 land tenure in, 78 
 
 see also Holy Land
 
 368 INDEX 
 
 Pantaleoni, Professor Maffeo, of Rome University, 188, 196, 206 
 
 interview with Lubin, 187-188 
 
 letter to, 216 
 Parcel-post system in United States, 4, 111, 114, 115, 116, 118, 282 
 
 plan devised by Lubin, 282-284 
 Paris, Lubin in, 167 
 Pasadowsky, Count, 235 
 Pasha Hilmi, Grand Vizier of Turkey, 261 
 Pasolini, Count Pier Desiderio, interview with Lubin, 194-195 
 Patent, sale of Lubin's, 46-47 
 Patten corner in wheat, 250 
 Peace Conference, 346 
 Peace Palace at Hague, 5 
 Pena, Doctor Roque Saenz, President of Argentina, letter to, 291- 
 
 293 
 Perkins, George C, Senator from California, 139, 227 
 Peru, letter to Minister of Agriculture of, 295-296 
 Petersburg, Russia, 254 
 Philadelphia, campaign in, 139 
 
 Lubin club in, 140 
 
 Lubin settles in, 138 
 Pliillips, Sir Owen, 333 
 Pinchot, Gifford, 1, 282 
 Pisa, 178, 180, 181, 187 
 Plato's Dialogues, 9, 96, 306 
 Poland, Russian, 10, 13, 20 
 
 life in, 13-15, 16, 67 
 Porter Brothers, commission merchants, 86 
 Predanovitch, Yacha, Minister of Agriculture, 259 
 Press, attitude towards protection, 125-126, 140 
 
 criticism of trusts, 267 
 
 Lubin's opinion of, 235 
 
 on rural credits and farm finance, 279 
 "Promised Land, The ", 13 
 
 quoted, 18 
 Protection, agitation to equalize, 120-129, 139-14E 
 
 Lubin's advanced views on, 133-134 
 
 to agriculture, 119-120 
 
 to American industries, 112-113, 121 
 
 Raiffeisen System of credits, 271, 277 
 Railroads, policy of, 84-85, 86, 87, 91 
 
 influence of, 297 
 Rava, Luigi, Minister of Agriculture, 174, 214 
 Review of Reviews, 249
 
 INDEX 369 
 
 Rhone, Miss Mary, 158 
 
 Rome, Lubin in, 9, 165, 169-183, 185-202, 212, 240, 249, 279, 282, 294-301, 
 305-323, 326 
 
 meeting of representatives to form International Institute of Agricul- 
 ture in, 205, 206-211 
 Roosevelt, President, 202, 230, 231 
 
 letter to, 269 
 Root, Elihu, Secretary of State, 230 
 Rubel, Jacob, quoted, 39 
 Ruhland, Doctor Charles, 203, 204 
 Rumania, 257, 260 
 Runciman, Rt. Hon. Walter, 333 
 Rural credit, 274-279 
 
 American Commission on, 278, 279-280, 288 
 
 German system of, 277 
 Russia, after war, 287 
 
 economic status of, 298-299 
 
 importance of, 252 
 
 joins Institute, 253 
 
 lack of cooperation, 253-256 
 
 revolution in, 330 
 
 Sacramento, Department Store and Mail Order House in, 63 
 
 Lubin's first store in, 39-58 
 
 Lubin's part in life of, 95-102, 106-110 
 Sacramento Bee, 102 
 
 quoted, 45 
 Sacramento Record Union, quoted, 88-91, 92, 112, 116 
 San Diego, ethnological museum at, 108 
 San Francisco, 26-27 
 
 Chamber of Commerce in, 111 
 
 earthquake in, 226 
 
 Lubin settles in, 144 
 San Francisco Bulletin, discussion in, 146 
 San Francisco Examiner, quoted, 83 
 San Rossore (bear Pisa), 178, 179, 180, 181, 185 
 Saturday Evening Post, quoted, 338-339 
 Sears, Roebuck and Company, 282 
 Seering, Professor Max, 135 
 Serbia, 257, 258-259, 260 
 Serra, Padre Junipero, 107 
 Shelby, Doctor, 165 
 Shepherd, Morris, Senator, 302 
 
 "Should it be Labor or Should it be Service ", quoted, 146 
 Siberia, 287
 
 370 INDEX 
 
 Sicily, 117 
 
 Siemoni, Commendatore, Director General of Italian Ministry of Agri- 
 culture, 174 
 Socialism in United States, 144 
 Socrates, 43 
 Sorrento, 287 
 South America, 287 
 Southern Commercial Congress, 279, 302 
 
 convention at Nashville, 274 
 Southern Pacific Railroad, 91 
 Soviet, principle of, 153 
 Spain, Lubin's interest in, 103 
 Spencer, Herbert, 9, 25, 26, 44, 91, 339 
 Spinoza, quoted, 839 
 Stanford, Governor, 87 
 Stanford, Leland, 60 
 
 State Agricultural Society of California, quoted, 85 
 Stead, William T., 249 
 
 letter to, 296-297, 303 
 Stetson, Charles Walter, 307 
 Stolypin, Mr., Imperial Chancellor, 254 
 Stone, George F., Secretary of Chicago Board of Trade, interview with 
 
 Lubin, 223-224 
 Straus, Oscar, 307 
 Sulzer, Governor, 7 
 " Synthetic Philosophy", 25 
 
 Taft, President, 275 
 Tariff, abroad, 115 
 
 as political issue, 119-129, 136-141 
 
 in America, 112-113, 115, 119, 120, 121 
 
 in Italy, 117 
 Thayer, Professor William Roscoe, 307 
 Thoreau, Henry W., 24 
 Times (London), 235, 272 
 Toronto Globe, 237 
 Trade, early methods of, 38-39 
 
 Lubin's method, 39-45, 63 
 Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress at St. Louis, 124 
 Tribuna (Rome), 176, 347 
 Trusts, American, 267-268 
 
 British report on, 298 
 
 industrial, 298-299 
 
 press criticism of, 267
 
 INDEX 371 
 
 United States, at Rome conference, 205, 207 
 
 delegates to American Commission on Credits, 279 
 
 Department of Agriculture, 249-250 
 
 Embassy letter to Lubin, 242 
 
 entry into war, 328 
 
 industrial protection in, 112-113 
 
 immigration problem in, 119 
 
 material prosperity in, 144 
 
 parcel-post system in, 4, 111, 114, 115, 116, 118, 282, 282-284 
 
 political parties in, 115, 118 
 
 position after war, 285, 286 
 
 represented in General Assembly of International Institute, 257 
 
 socialism in, 144 
 
 transition period in, 25 
 
 trade relations with foreign countries, 286-287 
 
 wheat in, 115, 117 
 
 woman's movement in, 145 
 Universities visited by Lubin, 125 
 
 Vedder, Elihu, 307 
 
 Victor Emanuel LU, King of Italy, 179, 233, 242, 249 
 
 letter to Prime Minister, 197, 198, 199-200 
 
 Lubin's audience with, 180-181 
 Vienna, 204, 235 
 
 meeting of International Congress of Agriculture in, 220 
 Viti de Marco, Marchese de, 196, 198, 206 
 
 Wanamaker, John, 122 
 
 Warsaw, 35 
 
 Washington, debate at, 125 
 
 denunciation of trusts in, 191 
 
 hostility to Lubin, 166, 202, 212 
 
 Lubin's fight in, for ratification of Institute, 227 
 
 for an International Commerce Commission, 300, 302 
 
 represented at Rome conference, 205, 207 
 Webb, Major, President Baltic Shipping Exchange, 297 
 Weinstock, Harris, Lubin's partner and half-brother, 16, 28, 37, 42, 93, 
 100, 105 
 
 letter to, 331-332 
 
 quoted, 45-47 
 Weinstock, Rachel, Lubin's mother, 15 
 
 arrival in New York, 17 
 
 belief in son's destiny, 19-20 
 
 character of, 18-20 
 
 death of, 4
 
 372 INDEX 
 
 Weinstock, Rachel (Continued) 
 
 emigration from Poland, 16 
 
 indifference to comment, 65-66 
 
 in London, 16 
 
 intuition and spiritual insight, 19 
 
 love for own people, 18 
 
 marriage to Weinstock, 16 
 
 return to America, 80 
 
 story-teller, 20 
 
 trip to Holy Land, 65-66, 80 
 Weinstock, Solomon, Lubin's stepfather, 16 
 Weinstock and Lubin, firm of, 42, 50, 63, 111 
 
 organization of corporation, 144 
 Wells, H. G., 333 
 
 correspondence with Lubin, 334-338 
 Wells-Fargo Express Company, 282 
 Wheat, foreign production of, 115 
 
 in America, 115, 117 
 
 in Argentine, 115 
 
 in India, 115 
 
 Patten corner in, 250 
 
 sale of, 111-112 
 
 supply determined, 142 
 White, Henry, Ambassador to Rome, 205, 207, 242 
 Wiesbaden, Germany, 74 
 Wilson, Mr., Secretary of Department of Agriculture, 202, 297 
 
 quoted, 227 
 Wilson, President, during war, 326, 330, 346, 347 
 
 in Italy, 349 
 Wilson Administration, 279 
 "Woman's Movement" in United States, 145 
 Wood, Doctor A., 205 
 "World Set Free ",334 
 
 Yermoloff, Mb., letter to, 251-252 
 
 Zangwill, Israel, 11
 
 
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