Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-20
ADDRESS TO GERMANS
DELEGATES CALL AT WHITE
HOUSE TO PAY RESPECTS.
President Roosevelt Responds to a
Felicitous Greeting-Tribute
to German Element.

President Roosevelt yesterday received in
the east room of the White House about 100
representa- tives of the German societies OF
Washington, to whom he delivered brlei
address. The delegates called on the Presi-
dent formally to announce to him the open
ing next Monday evening of their celebra-
ton of the 2jOth anniversary of the found
ing of Germantown, Pa. and to ask him to
participate in 1t. The President will press
an electric button at the White House
which will flash in electric lights the open
ing of the celebration in convention hall.
After short address by Mr.. Voelckner
uf the societies. in which he referred to the
activity of the German element in this coun-
try In behalf of the government in all
crises of the nations life. and to the sta
biity of German citizenship; also to the
proposed celebration of German DAY IN
this city President Roosevelt addressed
the delegates as follows:
Mr. Voelckner and Gentlemen: 1t gives
me peculiar pleasure to greet you today;
and il is "A matter of real regret to me that
/ cannot attend formally your celebrat1on
You quite right. Mr.. Chairman. when
You speak of the stand that the German eie-
ment in our citizenship has always taken IN
all crises of national life. In the first
place from the beginning OF our colonial
history to this day the German strain has
been constantly increasing in Importance
among the many strains that go to make
up our composite national character. L 90
not have to repeat to you the story OF the
early German immigration to this country
the German immigration that began In
mass toward the end of the seventeenth
century, but before that time had been rep
resented among the very first settlers Al
low me to give you one bit or ancestral eA-
p-rienCe OF mine.
New York City's First Executive.
The first head of the New York city gov
-
I.eisler, In about the year 1850 He was
the representative of the popular faction in
the New York colony of that day. and
among the Lelsleran aldermen was for
bear OF mine named Roosevelt You are
entirely familiar of course, with the Ger
man immigration that went to the forma-
ton of Pennsylvania from the beginning
That element was equally strong in the
Mohawk valley in New York: 1t was equal
ly strong In middle and western Maryland
For instance. in the revolutionary war one
of the distinguished figures contributed by
New York to the cause of independence was
that Of the German Herkimer, whose fight
in the Mohawk valley represented one of
the turning points in the struggle for indie
pendence. and one of the New York coun-
ties is now named after him. The other
day I went out to the battlefield Of An
tietam. here in Maryland. There the Me-
mortal Church is the German Lutheran
Church. which was founded In 1I6S. The
StltleInenl III tDe nelSllDoTHoou Ol
being originally exclusively German set
tlement.
There Is a list of its pastors and curl
nusly enough a series of memorial windows
of men with German names-men who be-
longed to the Maryland regiment recruited
largely from that region for the civil war,
which Maryland regiment was mainly COM
posed of men of German extraction. In
the civil it would be difficult to paint
in too strong colors what may well-niSn
call the all-importance of the attitude OF
the American citizens of German birth and
extraction toward the cause of union and
liberty. especially in what were then known
a. the border states.
Missouri Germans Loyal.
1T would have been out of the question
TO have kept Missouri loyal had it not been
FOR the German element therein. 1t was the
German portion of the city of st. LOUIS
which formed the core of the Union cause
in Missouri. And but little less important
was the part played by the Germans in
Maryland and also in Kentucky Louisville
and other portions of Kentucky.
IF 1t We're proper in addressing body
representing various creeds and shades of
religious belief | should ask you all to at
tend services next Sunday at my church,
which happens to be the German Reforms
church. They haven't Dutch Reformed
tHurch here, so | go to the nearest to 1t.
Each body of immigrants. each element
that has thus been added to our national
strain. has contributed something of value
70 the national character and to no ele-
ment do we owe more than we owe 20 that
element represented by those whom l nave
the honor this day of addressing