Hebrew wrote, “and they were worth going to. The auditorium... would
be crowded with bearded men and bewigged women who came to the
meeting of ‘inser society’ for they were proud of it, as well they might be.
Half of those who were there had themselves benefited by the loans at one
time or another and then joined the society out of gratitude that others
might be helped.”^19
The popular society, based on biblical precepts, was a “natural” for
Schiff’s aid and respect. In accordance with the banker’s own principles, it
encouraged self-help and group responsibility while it steered recipients
on the road to independence. Since it protected borrowers against loan
sharks, it also reduced Schiff’s concern about swindlers who preyed on im-
migrants. Convinced by the first director of the society that his patronage
would draw additional capital donations from affluent Russian Jews, Schiff
responded enthusiastically and soon earned the name of the society’s
“guardian angel.” A regular participant at each annual meeting, the banker
was unstinting in his praise: “No other society in this city was conducted
with such care, such efficiency, and such economy.” While other agencies
“degenerated” the poor, the Free Loan “regenerated” them. Schiff influ-
enced others of his circle, including Baroness de Hirsch, to aid the society,
and he personally donated over $50,000 to the Free Loan’s “perpetual loan
fund.” Over the years his contributions and those of his son amounted to
more than $100,000.^20
Schiff broached a variation of the Free Loan’s theme in 1893, a year of
economic depression, when he suggested that the Charity Organization
Society open pawnshops in the tenement districts based on philanthropic
as well as business principles. The suggestion resulted in the establishment
of the Provident Loan Society, an ambitious undertaking, supported by
wealthy businessmen like J. P. Morgan, James Speyer, and John S. Ken-
nedy, that planned to lend money at minimal interest rates. When Schiff
was approached for a $5,000 subscription for the capital fund, he promptly
remitted his share as well as subscriptions from two of his partners. Jewish
borrowers also made use of this nonsectarian agency, and the Provident
like the Free Loan enjoyed tremendous success. Schiff took pride in both
agencies, but he thought the Free Loan did better work.^21
Far different in purpose was the establishment in 1884 of the Hebrew
Technical Institute, a vocational school headed by Schiff’s brother-in-law,
Morris Loeb, that trained young men in crafts and mechanics. The Ameri-
can Hebrew proudly reported in 1887 that twenty of the institute’s gradu-
ates were employed in fields like carpentry and ironwork. “It has been
amply demonstrated,” the paper boasted, “not only that the Jew isfitted for
manual labor, but that when he takes hold of it he can teach his Christian
90 Jacob H. Schiff