somewhat milder measure. Another century passed, and Russia
conquered the vast and rich territory which is included in the
so-called "Pale of Settlement." This portion of Russia was peopled
with many millions of Jews. It was not possible any longer to do away
with this large population by either drowning it in a river, or
even--as many are still planning in all earnestness--by deportation.
Thus, the Russian state, in the person of Empress Catherine II, for
the first time found itself forced to face the Jewish question in a
form which did not allow of simply waving it aside. How then did the
enlightened Empress settle it? Well, she simply did not put the
question. Her decision was nearly this: The Jews have lived there--let
them stay there; they had certain rights relating to their faith and
property--let them enjoy these rights in the future. The
Interpretation of the Senate even more strongly emphasised this
thought. Here is the gist of this Interpretation: "Since the Imperial
Ukase has placed the Jews in a legal status of equality with the rest
of the population, the rule established by her Majesty should,
therefore, be followed in application to each particular case. Every
one should enjoy his rights and acquisitions according to his
condition and calling without distinction of faith and nationality."

Such was the decision of the Senate of the time of Catherine the
Great. There can be no question here of a negative solution of the
Jewish problem, for the very possibility of such a problem was not
considered. Least of all did Catherine think that in the lapse of
years her ukase of December 23, 1791, in which neither faith nor
nationality was mentioned, would give birth to ... the "Pale of
Settlement." At that time the Jews were confined within the limits of
the "Pale" neither more nor less than the Ukrainian population of that
section, or the people of the old Russian provinces were. It will be
remembered that in those times the law forbade a townsman to take up
his residence in another town or in a village. It was not a special
limitation intended for the Jews, it affected all the Russian subjects
throughout the Empire. How then did it result in a special Jewish
disability?

It did not result either from the increase in the rights of other
citizens, or from the limitation of the rights of the Jews as a
nationality. The afore-mentioned limitations were removed from the
townspeople of non-Jewish birth both in the ne