Page Six
JEWISH WESTERN
BULLETIN
^ Friday,, Februory 7, 1.958
CENTENARY
^SEmSU WI&NEEOS of SSmSH COLUMBIA
By DAVID ROME
Based on materials in the Bronfman Collection off Jewish Canadiana at the Jewish Public Library off Montreal.
The Siijtros of Victoria: 2 Emit and Gsistave, men of affairs
IN the light of the growing 20th century •concept *of racial equality and understanding, it is perhaps regrettable to find that the name of the Sutros, early Jewish pioneers of British Columbia, was associated with the anti-Negro prejudices of those days, as related in the last installment of this series (December 19, 1957). On the other hand, in the light of the typically upper-class record of the Sutro? in the col-only, their anti-Negro feelings are not surprising since such racist views were widely reflected among the people of their class during that period.
The story of the Sutros in early Victoria is almost monotonously respectable and thpir public record is a prototype of the interests of their class of citizens.
BUSINESS Acirmms
By 1863 both Emil and Gustave Sutro were members of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce. Gustave played an active part in the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce to establish Victoria as a free port in January 1865.
In February 18j56, Gustave Sutro was a member of ia Chamber of Commerce delegation which conferred with members of the House of Assembly in regard to the repeal of the Cattle and Stock Act and the half percent tax on landing permits.
Oh February 4, 1867, Gustave was elected vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and he was re-elected to this post for two more years. During the same period Emii served for two years as a member of the arbitration committee of the Chamber of Commerce.
In his capacity as vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce Gustave Sutro convened-a meeting on July 2, 1869, to consider how Victoria could have a free port even though the colony entered Confederation. A committee was named at this meet-
ing to draft an address to the Governor and Sutro was a member of the committee.
In August of .1869, Emil Sutro became one of the charter members of the B.C. Investment and Loan Society which was the first to be organized under the new investment and loan societies ordinance., and in February 1870 Emil attended the auction sale of the property of the Vancouver Island and British Columbia Spar and Mill Company where he opened the bidding.
In April 1862 Gustave Sutro. was one of those who signed a petition addressed to the Wells Fargo Company urging the establishment of an assay office in the colony.
In May of 1865 the firm of Sutro and Company moved to the Yates Building at the corner of Yates and Wharf Streets. When telegraphic connections with San Francisco were established, the Sutro firm was among the first to send a message on April 24, 1866:
LEGAL MATTERS
The Sutros frequently. became involved in various legal activity. In March 1867, for example, Emil Sutro was named assignee for T. Nouvion. In November 1863 Gustave Sutro was one of the assignees for Mike Cohen who went bankrupt. And in 1866 he was an assignee in the case of George Landvoigt. During that same year he was mentioned in the bankruptcy court in regard to the case of M. Malowansky. He was also a witness that summer in the case of the divorce granted to Willikm ' Copperman. In January 1871, after Gustave Sutro brought a suit against Thomas Golden,, the latter's saloon was sold at sheriff's auction by J. P. Davies.
The only blemish that seems to occur on Sutro's own business record' is that in September 1865 the name of Gustave Sutro appeared on the list of property owners who were in arrears in their tax payments.
Gustave Sutro's marriage was reported rather quaintly in a press story on March 25, 1865, relating that he had returned
from 3an Francisco "bringing with him a partner of his choice, fri^ish from the fatherland." In October 1869, a's6n was born to Mr. and Mrs. Emil Sutro. SUPPORTED PHILANTHROPY
The Sutros were generous supporters of many philanthropic efforts. In 1864, Emil Sutro's name was on the list of subscribers to the Female Dispensary Fund. In 1867 and again in 1869, he served on the com-, mittee for the soiree for orphans at the St. Anne's Convent. He was on the list of contributors to the, Royal Hospital in 1869 and 1870.
Gustave Sutro was a regular contributor to the Royal Hospital every year from 1862 to 1867. In 1863 he also contributed to the Lancashire Relief Fund, the Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and the Polish Fight for Freedom. In 1864' and again in 1865, he contributed to the Female Dispensary Fund. In 1868 he contributed to the'fund for the purchase of a fire engine for the Tiger Company and in 1871 he contributed, to the fund to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Wales.
NOT ANTI-BRmSH PARTISANS
From this last contribution as well as from some of their social and political activities, it may be gathered that tiie Sutros although they were supporters of the movement for the annexation of British Columbia to the United States, Were not anti-British partisans.
In the social life, of the colony, Emil Sutro attended a farewell dinner for Simon Rhinehart in 1866 and later he was present at a testimonial nieeting in honor oi Captain D. M. Long. The two brothers, Emil and Gustave, both attended the dinner in honor of the U.S. Secretary of State, the Honourable W. H. Seard in , Victoria on August 27, 1869.
Wlien Governor Sir James Douglas was about to leave office in 1864, Gustave Sutro served as steward for the arrangements for the farewell banquet and the Sutro firm contributed to the welcome fund for the new Governor, Arthur Edward Kennedy.
In April 1865 Gustave served on a committee of American.. citizens in Victoria to arrange a memorial after "the assassination of President Lincoln. He was also a member of the Victoria committee for the July 4th Ball at Port Townsend, Washington territory and he served on the committee for the July 4th picnic at Cad-boro Bay.
In February 1869, Gustave Sutro was among the Victoria freemasons who served on the committee for the masonic ball at Port Townsend.
.Both brothers served as members of juries during their residence in Victoria. Gustave was a naember of ah assize jury in an attempted murder case in Islovember 1867 and Emil was a membei*' of the Supreme Court jury in June 1869. POLmCAL INTERESTS
Politically they were both active ih favor of annexation but they did not always support for political off ice only those candidates who were annexationist in their sympathies. In 1867 Gustave Sutro supported Dr. James Trimble for the position of mayor of Victoria and later Einil Sutro was one of the supporters of Mayor Trimble for re-electio;i. Sutro supported Treble even thdujgh the latter took an active part in support of the Confederation movement, called a public meeting in Victoria to promote its cause iri January 1868, and served on a Confederation committee to press the Governor for action.
Earlier in November 1866, Emil Sutro was one of the petitioners who had urged Lumley Franklin, the then Jewish mayor of Victoria to stand for re-election but Franklin had refused. Lumley Franklin was later among the supporters of Confederation along with Mayor Trimble in 1868.
' In 1868 however when Confederation was the issue in,a Legislative election, the -Sutros supported'M. T. W. Drake, an anti-Confederation candidate.
Both Sutros remained loyal American citizens and sighed the petition to the United States government in 1869 urguig it to annex British Colunlbia.
In 1870 when agitation was developing in connection with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, pmil Sutro was among the petitioners for' a meeting to discuss the issue in connection with the proposal for the entry of British Columbia into Confederation. This meeting took place on October 29, 1870. The issue was publicly debated here and Emil Sutro signed a protest against the Yale Convention which had recommended Confederation.
SYNAGOGUE SUPPORTERS
The Sutro brothers were interested and active members of the Jewish community as long as they lived in Victoria. They contributed $100 to the synagogue building fund in 1^62 and were among the first seat holders in the new house of wor- • ship. They held frequent Jewish community meetings, made contributions and took an active part in communal affairs as late as 1869.
In 1875, four years after British Columbia became a Canadian province, the Sutros left Victoria and returned to residence in San Francisco.
MUSICAL HERITAGE OF JEWISH LITURGY
- (Continued from page 5) the present era, the Babylonian, and the ancient Palestinian. The basis of this Tiberian system consists of 28 distinctive neume signs, each designated by an Aramaic name. The neumes in themselves ^ form a hierarchy of importance, with strict rules of relationships to one another and to the body of the texts. While the same neumes are universally to be found, the melodies which they represent differ quite markedly in the Ash-kenazic and Sephardic traditions, and indeed, among their isubdivisioiis. Then, too, within the frame of each of these traditions are different melodic systems for the chanting of the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and for each of the other Holy writings: the Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes. VARIETY OF * MELODIC SYSTEMS
The abundant variety of different melodic systems in practice among the many Jewish traditions represents an enormous reservoir of musical creativity encompassing many centuries and areas of the world. For this reason, the study of the Jewish cantilla-tions has attracted the interest of many musicologists. Gentile as well as Jewish. In more recent years, Jewish composers have turned to the neumes in their search for "authentic" Jewish melodies. Archeologists of Jewish music have sought to collect and preserve there diversified elements of our cultural history. Significantly, modern cantcrial leaders have joined in these studies, as they now earnestly seek to unify unodern can-tillation structures.
One of the leading scholars in this
effort is Professor Solomon Rosowsky, who is at present an instructor of Biblical cantillation at the Cantor's Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His book. The CantUlafion of fbe Blble» is the culmination of intensive scholarly research begun in 1925 when the author emigrated to Palestine from his native Russia.
This latest contribution to the literature of Jewish musicology is a well-edited and excellently presented volume, with attractive typography and an abuhdance of fine musical plates. Published by the Reconstructionist Press, and sponsored by 'many enthusiasts of Jewish music, it has obviously been a labor of love for all concerned. Unfortunately, the title is somewhat misleading since it implies that all facets of the subject, iare discussed. The author, in fact, clearly states in his preface that he treats only one specific aspect of Biblical cantillation, i.e. the Sabbath chant for the Pentateuch in the Lithuanian branch of the Ashkenazic liturgical tradition. Rosowsky explains that in order to present a thorough analysis of one form of cantillation he chose the style with which he is personally most conversant, and which is at present most commonly adhered to by the Ashkenazic traditions of North and South America as well as Israel.
A highly specialized and masterful treatise, the importance of Rosowsky's book lies in the significant contribution which it makes to the burgeoning research into the vastness of Jewish liturigy. As a scholarly analysis of a dominant style of cantillation it is unique and is likely to be the basis for further comparative studies
with the chants of other traditions, the beauty and ageless vitality of our appreciation of this art and for inore Its interest for the layman lies in the Biblical cantillation heritage. He disciplined fidelity in its performance manner in which Rosowsky points up makes an elGquent plea for wider at all synagogue services.
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