7
The End of an Era
A New EuropeUntil his death barely two years after the armistice, Schiff remained very
much involved in Jewish affairs. Failing health prevented him from under-
taking new assignments or maintaining a hands-on direction of institu-
tional policies. But although he delegated more control to others, he still
played a significant role in guiding his favorite charities and organizations:
Montefiore, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Henry Street Settle-
ment House, the Baron de Hirsch Fund, and the American Jewish Com-
mittee (AJC).
Schiff’s commitment to causes generated by the war, like relief for Eu-
ropean Jewish war sufferers and the building up of Palestine, also contin-
ued. On the matter of relief he had correctly predicted that postwar needs
would require greater sums than those of wartime. Nor did he close the
books on older and familiar subjects that were revived with new intensity
after the war by nativist Americans. First, he still intervened where possible
in cases of discrimination against the employment of Jews. His earlier ef-
forts notwithstanding, the banker admitted at the end of 1918 that the pol-
icies of the National Employment Exchange had not changed a bit. Sec-
ond, in anticipation of a large influx of immigrants after the war, he
reiterated his opposition to restrictionism. As before, he emphasized the
advisability of distribution and of training the immigrants in agriculture.^1
At a time when the country hardened barriers against immigrants and mi-
nority groups, his views on those subjects clashed with public opinion.
Since Americans turned their backs on international involvement in the
aftermath of the war, Schiff again was out of step with the mood of the ma-
jority. A supporter of the Democrats in the by-elections of 1918, he
endorsed President Wilson’s peace plans. Calling for Senate ratification of
the Versailles treaty and the establishment of a League of Nations, he
looked forward to the resumption of commercial and financial relations
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