Large retail dealers, some of whom import heavily, are also not included.
Most
of the men of whom the Jewish firms are composed, are of foreign
birth, whose home training and connections had familiarized them with
the trade and industry at the source of supply. Many of them began
business here as importers of Swiss watches, or jobbers of jewelry,
and, quick to see the trend of affairs, added diamonds when our
flourishing conditions brought an increasing demand for them. As the
demand for diamonds increased and Swiss watches were displaced by
American, and the manufacturers of jewelry began to sell to the retail
trade direct, they discarded the inferior lines, and concentrated their
capital and energies upon diamonds alone.
Being
in line with the business by their European training and connections,
is undoubtedly the chief cause for the preponderance of the Jewish
element in the trade here, but there are other reasons. The trade is
one that appeals to the Jew. There is an element of uncertainty in it.
Every transaction must be fought out individually for profit, and the
profit is an unknown quantity until the deal is closed. For centuries,
in most countries, many avenues of life, into which the struggle for
supremacy among men tempts the adventurous, have been closed to him,
and he has been obliged to try his mettle in the more peaceful contests
afforded by trade. Into the sale of a bill of diamonds he puts the soul
of a duelist. It is not alone for the money in it he seeks to get a
good price, but to win in the battle of wits. Like the man of the
sword, he feints with wrist and eye; attacks, retreats, allures and
uses every artifice he has learned, to gain the
