The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-28
From the Louisville Herald. |"H HE remark is not Herman Ridder' 8 by right of discovery. It had been
 A made before and commented on be-

:" HE remark is not Herman Ridder' 8 by right of discovery. It had been A made before and commented on be-
 fore.
 It is fact that, throughout the history of the United States, the American of German descent or German birth has at
 no time taken a prominent part in public life. We do not speak of what, in these latter days, We have come to know as German n-Americans-that is a new, or, shall we say, war development.
 These children of the fatherland have
 all along been banded together and or
 ganized for social purposes; for ends gym
 nastic, or musical. or commemorative, and
 never to secure some political advance ment. It holds good of the individual, too It has been the rarest thing when
 he has stepped out upon the broad stage of our national life or has sought con- spicuously to identify himself with some
 movement peculiar to himself. He has voted. He has served on juries. He has been a magistrate. The practice of the law he leaves mostly to others-and the
 practice of the law is the anteroom to po- itiOdi piViCi ilCnt- TIC StthS dil OCCdSlOndl
 mayoralty; a governorship more occa- sional yet. It is to the last degree infre- quent when he makes of these the step-
 ping stones to a career broader than that
 of his immediate community.
 Twenty millions was the modest figure at which MT. Ridder-of New York, not of das neue Palais-placed this citizenship, wild figure to analyze which would be waste of time. It may be that he had in mind the power such numbers might exert. If that were his idea, he avoided making 1t too unpleasanty clear. He was content to point out what is a really curious chapter in the political life of a
 nation in which other elements-the Irish occur to one. at once; the Scandinavians and Italians-have made themselves felt There has been no President of German
 extraction. At this time no senator and the fewest of representatives in Congress, nor these of national repute. There have. of course, been exceptlons-a man like Carl Schurz Is not to be denied; in our own state there was Goebel; Sulzer is a
 recent instance in New York-one remem- bers the names by reason of their rarity. Wu& Is true Oi lOudy IS true or the past. The Communications hate
 the term, but how otherwise convey the l idea a?-took very notable and honorable part in the war of the sections. They produced military leaders whose names | were at one time household words. They | never sought to coin them into a political
 asset. Looking at the roll of Congress of 1863, the Thirty eighth, we find the same characteristic absence. Holland. the
 land that gave us a Van Buren and a Roosevelt, has many representatives. Germany scarcely one.
 The reasons for this abstentien or this | apathy, lie on the surface for the most part. And we do not believe that exist l ing conditions are going to change them. Types persist and accidents pass away. l The German traits, as we know them, are not those that make for a happy life
 in the hurly-burly of American political
 activity. The German is essentially man of family. He does not leave his home 1 ties at home. He carries them around with him. He enjoys g life that permits
 relaxation after work-and he works hard.
 There is no relaxation in politics. It's