The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-02
SOCIALISM IN NEW YORK.
The Bad Influence of Foreign Ideas Upt
American Social Life.

The Bad Influence of Foreign Ideas Upon
American Social Life.
Gath's Letter.
The working class is entitled to praise for its
excellent behavior. The workingmen in New
York are intelligent enough to know just what
the condition OF business is, and that no strikes,
or riots, or threats can effect natural laws.
When you find SOME of these ignorant people,
who have recently come to this country, and
have never learned the English LANGUAGE, and
do not know anything about business and its
laws, you will, perhaps, hear of socialism. So
cialism, however, seldom affects our Irish
friends. That is in their favor, and Mr.. Henry
George may write books about lands, of a social
istic character; but they are mainly works of
the Imagination, excited by the status of Ire
land, which has undoubtedly had very bad
landed management. American socialism has
its root among the Germans. whose system OF
labor was formerly social. or cooperative,
and these have been reading books by some
of the followers of Rousseau, who thought all So
ciety had been constructed upside down. The
modern Socialist is in search of new despotsi ne
will not be satisfied unless he can prove some
thing in democratic society to be as despotic as
monarchical society. 1t is a singular fact, how
ever, that in New York rum. and not socialism,
is the aggressor. Rum and loose women are the
two chief corruptors of our working classes. 1
was reading, yesterday, a large book by a scien-
tifc German, upon the American system of gov
eminent, taking it to pieces. l should not have
looked at this book but that George H. Pendle-
Ton oHCe tolu me Chat ne naQ got some orlgl-
nal ideas from it. found it to be a German
emigrants invective against the substratum of
American political ideas. If we chose to be re-
criminative we might say that among the many
good things the Germans had done in America,
they had very much affected the domestic morals
of this country. | have generally noticed that
those regions whero the pure Teuton blood
is general are noted for their thrift, their
money getting, their hard labor, and the
general physical soundness of society, but
also for a remarkable sexual looseness. The
manufacturing and agricultural towns of east
ern Pennsylvania are inhabited by the oldest
race of Germans in this country, and there the
least sensitiveness exists on breaches of the
most delicate commandment. The mingling OF
our American people in concert halls, beer sa-
looms, ETC., has been the greatest temptation
ever set before them, and the Germanizing of
America, while it has helped the cause of peace
and growth. has not helped domestic integrity
here. In Germany there seems to be no capaci-
ty to maintain anything organic except an army,
No political party in Germany appears to have
enough cohesion to accomplish anything in the
way of liberty. The Chancellor finds himself
confronted by an opposition with a hundred
heads; they do not give him any more trouble to
dispense them than so many mosquitoes or
crows. The present political condition of the
United States may satisfy easy minded people,
but when the party responsibility becomes theirs,
a vapory public patriotism will be theirs also.
New York city has a somewhat larger Irish pop
ulation than German. At this moment the la
boring classes give the public authorities less
concern than the laboring class in either Cincin-
natl or Chicago, or even Cleveland.