The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-21
WHERE THE GERMANS STAND.
Letter from Gen. Lieb.

CHICAGO, May IA, 1874.
To the Editor of the Illinois State Register:
l clip the following from an evening pa-
per of this city:
LET Us HAVE A POLICY
The Chicago Journal seems to he dividine, ,,s
time now between its attempts to persuade Mr. Hes
ing not to leave the Republican party and To indnce
en ai 1 h 70 believe that they have nothing TO
Ject 1t has In view may be very good one but its
plan OF procedure, it strikes u.s. Is mistaken one
One OF the chief arguments made against the in
creased currency bill that its defeat was need
ed to conciliate Mr. Hesng. The bill was one ~
MS grounds OF complaint in his Incorporate speech
before the Republican Central Committee and onr
Chicago contemporary made haste to assure him of
its sympathy vying in this with the Times and Ti
0ae; Inc nnah9e PHI was vetoed by the President
president Grants veto makes no chance in the sit
uauon, and lntimates that THE Germans have for
tbe cbics9e Rspuoean party In this we suspect
portanee The Germans, as a class are accustomed
10 think and act for themselves. Neither Mr. Hes
bi hor any slnge Individual holds their votes in
be pleasant sight to see the Republican press Of
Illinois at his feet beseeching him to remain in the
rebuFs and insults ii the hope Of ndneing him to
do so.-SprinGaeld journal. (Repu6Iican.5
When Mr.. Hesing said to the Republ.
can State Central Commute that 'The
Germans have forever left the Republican
party, he we'll knew of what he spoke.
lie ISL a position to know every German
paper and every prominent or influential
German in the State. He knows that to-
day not a single German newspaper in Ill
inois, not over half a dozen Germans of
any standing among their countrymen, will
ever again support a Republican ticket, no
matter who its candidates may be and, if
the Springfield Journal will be candid, it
will admit that in its own immediate vicin-
ity there is not German of responsibility
to be found who would dare to support the
political party which has tried its best
to reduce the foreign born in this State to
the condition of political Pariahs. Just as
the Journal says, THE Germans are ac-
customed to think and act for themselves,
and neither Mr. Hesing nor anybody else
holds their votes in his breeches- pocket. "
| The Germans have made the discovery
that all the sumptuary legislation, with the
BETTING crown of ladies crusades," was
Endorsed, cOuntenanced, and encouraged
by the great morality party of Christian
statesmen; )" that religious intolerance is
its ruling spirit; in short that ''Republi-
canism has shifted to 'Puritanism," and
that self-respect demanded immediate sep
aration from its fellowship. So they
thought" and so they acted" all for
themselves, whenever an opportunity has
presented itself, of which a striking proof
was given the journal at the last munich
pal election at the Capital of the State.
As long as the Republican party was the
party of Liberty and Progress, the Ger
mans were among its most enthusiastic
supporters, and only through the most
brutal and inconsiderate treatment were
they d11uen from the ranks of that party.
The ''crusading business" was the last
hair that broke the camers back, and the
next State election will find the German
vote solid in the opposition camp.
Neither Mr.. Hesing nor any other man
could change this state of things and in
this instance Mr.. H. is rather follower
Of the German masses than leader. and
any attempt on his part to stem the tide,
or lead it in the old Republican channel,
would result in his absolute destruction.
Hermann K.lER.