The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1915-10-21
AMERICA FRS
SOON TO RING
Wilson's Warning to Aliens i,
Get Off the Fence Meets
With Universal Approval.

4 MERICA first"
n Henceforth that Is tie slo-
~ gan that will ring throughout
the width and breadth Of this
country.
President Wilson originated the ut
terance in notable speech before the
Daughters Of the Revolution at a re-
cent meeting held in Washington.
Former President Roosevelt express
ed the same sentiment in more vigor-
Gus language on the following night in
an address before the knights Of Co
lumbus in New York city. The colo
mel was at liberty to use words with
more punch" than would be becoming
the chief executive Of the United States.
AS the New York World points out,
President Lincoln at the Springfield
convention said II do rot believe this
government can endure half slave and
half free" It adds that neither can it
endure half American and half alien.
Continuing, the World says editorially:
"President Wilson in his address be-
fore the Daughters Of the Revolution
defined the most vital issue that the
people Of the United States have faced
since slavery and secession were throt
tled-"America first" The issue goes
to the very life Of the republic. All
the political differences, all the eco
nomic differences, all the industrial
differences of the last fifty years were
trifing in comparison with the funda-
mental question Of whether the Amer
lean people are the American people
or whether they are a congeries Of
European immigrants who recognize
no allegiance Of patriotism to the coun-
try Of their adoption.
"House Divided Cannot Stand"
"Lincoln's Scriptural warning that
"a house divided against itself cannot
stand is as applicable today as it was
in 1853.
"NIr. Roosevelt did not overstate the
case when he said, echoing the senti-
ments of President Wilson:
For an American citizen to vote
as a German American, an Irish
American or an English American
is to be a traitor to American insti-
tutions, and those hyphenated
Americans who terrorize American
politicians by threats of the foreign
vote are engaged in treason to the
American republic.
'President Wilson could not we'll an
sWer these threats, because they have
been made against him personally, but
Mr.. Roosevelt has answered them for
him, and the sentiment that Mr.. Roose-
welt expressed in this quotation from
his speech must be the sentiment Of
every American who is loyal to his
country, to his country's flag and to
his country's institutions.
''The issue which President Wilson
so felicitously stated in the words
America first cannot be evaded. 1t
must be met in the coming session of
congress. 1t may be met in the ma
tional campaign Of 1916, and on this
issue every American voter has a right
to know how his neighbor stands.
'The blame for the situation that
confrOnts the country does not rest
alone upon the hyphenated citizen. It
must be shared by men who knew bet
ter, but who capitalized the foreign
vote for sordid partisan advantage
Politicians Manipulate Votes.
For years managing politicians Of
both parties have made a business of
manipulating this vote and have help
ed thereby to maintain it's solidarity
Every campaign has had it's appeal to
the German vote, to the Irish vote, to
the Jewish vote, to the Italian vote, to
the Scandinavian vote, to the Polish
vote and to any other kind Of vote
that desperate partisanship could con-
solidate and reach. How could true
Americanism be expected to take root
in a soil that American politicians de-
iberately starved Of its Americanism :?
In the easy, tolerant, humorous way
OF the American people these appeals
to the racial consciousness of the for
elgn voter have been treated playfully
and jestingly, but the foreign voter has
not regarded them in that spirit He
has taken them seriously, and he nat
urally came to believe that he was i'm
portant politically not because he was
an American citizen, but because he
was German or Irish or Italian or
Polish or Scandinavian Or Jew, until
we have at last reached a stage at
which president Of the United States
can be threatened here and in Europe
with political determination for daring
to put the interests of the United
States above the interests Of European
mOnarchies.
president Wilson is not alone in his
desire to have lineup and let the
men who are thinking first Of other
countries stand on one side-Biblically
it should be the left-and all those
who are for America first, last and all
the time on the other side We can
not have this lineup too soon, and the
result cannot be allowed to remain in
doubt Either an overwhelming ma
iority Of American citizens, regardless
T 10 kI,o;,, M o,,ioin orn fn,, M