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Former Mercury Editor Charges Current Management With BiasA former editor of the American Mercury today charged that the magazine, under its present ownership, injects anti-Semitsm into its articles through the use of standard anti-Semitic source materials, by innuendo and indirection, by the systematic citation in a derogatory fashion of the alleged misdeeds of persons of Jewish origin.Charles Angoff, managing editor of the Mercury when it won national fame under the editorship of the late H. L. Mencken, said that the recurrent theme of the magazine, now published by J. Russell Maguire, is that this is a world of international and sinister conspiracy directed against Christian Americans. He also charged that the Mercury uses langauge which to the bigot can have strong anti-Semitic meanings.Angoff discloses that Maguire, documentation appear in the current issue of The ADL Bulletin, official monthly of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. In his analysis of what he calls ‘‘the conspiracy-ridden universe of J. Russell Maguire, Angoff says that ‘‘I might have remained silent out of a feeling that it is not proper for a former editor of a magazine to enter into public debate with a successor. But as I examine the magazine under its current management, I feel that the reasons for my hesitation in speaking out are no longerHe cites, in particular, a monthly department called “Do You Know? as an example of how well the Mercury has learned the devious tricks of professional anti-Semites:In one issue the categorical statement is made: 'The morale of the Armed Services has been lower since Hungarian-born Anna M. Rosenberg ran the Department of Defense.* It would be too blatant, even for the present editors of the Mercury, to refer to Mrs. Rosenberg as a Jew. so she is called ‘Hungarian-born,’ but bigots who see this phrase know at once what is meant by it. To many anti-Semites, New York City has one oveovhelm-ing meaning — it is the home of some two and a half million Jewfs. Lest there be no doubt about the character of this largest of Vmerican cities, no less an authority than J. Russell Maguire, chairman of the bord of Mercury since 1952, says in signed statement: ‘In the Mercury's opinion, New York City might be accurately described as an alien island in the Atlantic, off the coast of New Jersey.’ New York City is a center of 'conspirators/ ‘an invisible government/ and, nat-urnlly, ‘international bankers/ Perhaps the leading 'international banker’ is Bernard Mannes Baruch (his name is nearly always spelled out in full in anti-Semitic literature); which lends Mr. Maguire to add that 'enlightened Englishmen refer to the United States as ‘Baruchistan’.’’Angloff declares that Maguire has maintained extensive contact, presumably as part of his own educational process, with such men as wenlthly aspostate Jew and pro-Arab propagandist Benjamin Freedman, anti-Semitic pamphleteer Frederick C. Weiss, and Merwin K. Hart. He is also chairman of the national committee of the Constitution Party, a right-wing splinter group.Angloff discloses that Maguire, in 1945, was denied a business registration by the Securities Exchange Commission which stated that prior revocation proceedings (in 1940) were based on flagrant violations of the antimanipulation and anti-fraud provisions of the laws. These were planned, willful and persistent.The fact that his application for registration was rejected, Angoff says, could hardly account for Maguire’s obsession with ‘international bankers.’ His magazine at one point said that World Marxism, Socialism, and Zionism are directed from New York City. Those who direct them are capitalists. Since Maguire is evidently a capitalist himself, this must be a reference to a special breed of capitalists. Those of the Mercury’s followers who are bigots undoubtedly know whom the writer has in mind.Angoff, who is a novelist and teacher, notes that H. L. Mencken — with whom he was associated for ten years — was a man of many prejudices himself. But he never permitted anti-Semitism to appear in the pages of the old Mercury, he says. Angoff concludes that “Maguire, a much less fastidious editorial manipulator, is now speaking in the Aesopiannewspapers that the American Council for Judaism cannot be accepted as one of the ethically functioning organizations whose efforts are expended constructively for the benefit of society.Its aims and actions have proved detrimental to Jewish life. Its leadership speaks in terms of blind hatred. Its membership, limited in numbers, is for the most part ignorant of the issues which a few pitifully confused top men create. The Council's program is not to build, but to [ destroy.Were it not for the dangerous course this small group pursues, an indulgent community might grant it the charity of silence.But the American Council for Judaism poses as a representative aof, and spokesman by mandate jfor, Americans of the Jewish faith. Its sloganized references to jreligion, to education, to philanthropy, present it as an entity in Jewish life to the millions of ®Americans who appreciate these qualities in their neighbors. They accept, or, at any rate, give unthinking credence to the Council’s constantly repeated implication that Jews who are members of the Zionist Organization of America are not — by their reasoning, cannot be — loyal Americans. What, coming from a Christian source would be promptly stamped as anti-Semitic — both by Jews and by well-meaning Christians — thus is taken as a self-indictment.Claiming a place in organized society, the Council for Judaism besmirches the good name and impugns the patriotic character of American Jews and holds them up to scorn and mistrust.It creates an outrageous ghetto3 aWtmtifoCalan6ar --AdLJ•ROSH HASHONASept. 26, Thursday *(First Day)Sept. 27, Friday (Second Day)• YOM KlPPl’R Oct. 5Holiday Begins Previous Eve.language of the bigot — or permitting others to speak for him in his magazine. In the circles whose respect Mencken craved and won, the present Mercury is now pretty much a word of shame.”
Newspaper Details
Atlanta Southern Israelite
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Fri, Jun 21, 1957
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 23 Apr 2025
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