Jewish population was gasping for breath, the
Government was on the look-out for ways and means to narrow also the
sphere of Jewish economic activity. The medieval system of Russian
society with its division into estates and guilds became an instrument
of Jewish oppression. The authorities openly followed the maxim that the
Jew was to be robbed of his profession, to the end that it may be turned
over to his Christian rival. Under Alexander II, the Government had
endeavored to promote handicrafts among the Jews as a counterbalance
against their commercial pursuits, and had therefore conferred upon
Jewish artisans the right of residence all over the Empire. The change
of policy under Alexander III is well illustrated by the ukase of 1884
closing the Jewish school of handicrafts in Zhitomir which had been in
existence for twenty-three years. The reason for the enactment is stated
with brazen impudence:

Owing to the fact that the Jews living in the towns and townlets of
the south-western region form the majority of handicrafts-men, and
thereby hamper the development of handicrafts among the original
population of that region, which is exploited by them, the existence
of a specific Jewish school of handicrafts seems, in view of the
lack of similar schools among the Christians, an additional weapon
in the hands of the Jews for the exploitation of the original
population of that region.

Here the pursuit of handicrafts is actually stigmatized as a means of
"exploitation." The true meaning of that terrible word, an invention of
the Russian Government, is thereby put in a glaring light: the Jew is an
"exploiter" so long as he follows any pursuit, however honorable and
productive, in which a Christian might engage in his stead.

The slightest attempt of the Jew to enlarge his economic activity met
with the relentless punishment of the law. The Jewish artisan, though
permitted to live outside the Pale, had only the right to sell the
products of his own workmanship. When found to sell other merchandise
which was not manufactured by him he was liable, under Article 1171 of
the Penal Code, not only to be immediately expelled from his place of
residence but also to have his goods confiscated. The Christian
competitors of the Jews, shoulder to shoulder with the police, kept a
careful watch over the Jewish artisans and saw to it that a Jewish
tailor should not dare to sell a piece of material, a watchmaker--a new
fa