The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-08-29
THE TURN yEREIN.

Inc pioneer teacher OF the Turner phil.
osophy of sound physical culture, as
separated from barbarous athletics, was
the German, Gutsmuth, who, in 1913,
wrote:
neither knock out their teeth, nor crush their
ribs; they shall neither kill others, nor wrench
their own limbs. In our exercise we seek
health, not its destruction. We seek strength.
not the unfeelingness of the cannibal; we strive
for manly sense and courage, not for unre-
strained wildness and license.
In this true spirit of sound physical
culture, Father jain, in 1910, founded his
agitation for the complete restoration of
the physical and moral powers of the Ger
man people on which rested his only hope
of Kidding the fatherland of Napoleonic
French invasion and oppression. jain,
by systematic physical training made his
pupils full men in body, and at the same
time filed their souls with his own patri-
otto fervor, and in consequence when this
magician waved his wand the youth of
Germany sprang to its feet and tumbled
the first Napoleon into his military and
political grave.
In 1913 band of German political exiles
came to this country and transplanted to
America the gymnastic art and patriotic
ideas of Father jain. From this small
band of poor. exIles has grown the present
North American Turner Bund with its
present membership of over 10000. It's
societies exist in nearly every state and
employ more than 80 trained teachers.
The Turner's distinguish between
true gymnastics and athleticism or sport.
They strive to lead their people to sound
mental health as well as physical vigor;
maintaining harmonious development
of mind and body instead of exaggerated
athletic development at the expense of
humane development of mind and moral
sense. The Turner'S hold that the true
science of physical culture stands for the
uniform development of all the human
faculties adapted to the needs and require
ments of each sex and all ages and condi-
tions.
The Turner system of gymnastics does
not favor the modern games of baseball
or football, but regards them as standing
for the extreme of foolish overexertion in
the open air. The patriotic principles of
forced by the practice and example of the
Turner's of America. The German Turner's
of New York raised a regiment for the
Union during the civil war, and sent it to
the field under the command of Colonel
Max Weber, who led it at Antietam, where
he was wounded and earned his promo
tion to the rank of brigadier general, and
the Turner's of Cincinnati, Chicago, Mil
waukee and st. Louis were conspicuous in
their devotion to the Union.
Before the war, when Wendell Phillips
was rotten-egged at Cincinnati while de-
livering an anti-slavery address, the Ger
man Turner's. in the name of free speech
under law, cleared the hall OF the Demo-
cratic roughs and insisted that Phillips
should be heard. At the last election in
Wisconsin the German organ of the Turn
ers in Milwaukee upheld the compulsory
school law, which required the instruction
of all school children in the English Ian
guage, and declared that no patriotic
German-American wishes its repeal; that
its enactment was in accordance with the
principles of the founder of the Turn
Verein, Father jain; that no German
who was not bigoted Lutheran or Ger
man Catholic found any fault with law
which required every child to be taught
the language of his adopted country.
In other words, the German Turner.
wherever he is found, is a patriotic citizen,
who is for the largest liberty under equal,
impartial laws. He was patriot in Ger
many until Germany attempted to gag
free speech and free press, and then he
carried his principles of free speech, free
press, free religion and free development
to America and trained up his children to
fight for America as tor the fatherland.