The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-10-07
Must Be No Hyphens in
Americas Citizenship

BY Oswald Garrison Willard.
In little volume OF addresses pub
hshed early In 1s14-that Is, half year
before the outbreak OF the war In Eu-
rope. Prof. Julius Goebel, OF the Uni
versity OF Illinois. resident Of the
United States and O university teacher
here for more than 30 years, lays down
the doctrine that Germans who come
here are not to be made over into Amer
leans by the melting pot OF which We
have been so proud.
Professor Goebel, after 30 years here,
has but a poor opinion of the United
States and its institutions He declares
that every thoughtful person, as well as
every cynic, was asking as far back as
1919 whether the American people could
much longer govern itself. But he Is not
hopeless. He has q remedy. 1t is the
German who Is to step into the breacn
with German kultur, with the German
sense OF duty and Of honor to save
America from itself and to bring about
q new birth OF the nation.
The means for this peaceful conquest
OF America Professor Goebel finds In the
German-American allience, with its mil
lions OF members, and to its president,
Or. Hexamer, he dedicates his book.
Fortunately for us, this German
American alliance has just held its an
nual meeting In San Francisco, and has
generously set forth I'm detail the pro-
gram for the German reconstruction Of
America.
Purposes Of German American Alliance.
Primarily Il has decreed for US new
national holiday--American day--the 18th
OF October, the anniversary Of the sur
render of CORVALLIS, In order that we
may never forget that on that day we
freed ourselves from British control, II
not from British kultur. ..-
Next, every form of German-American
activity Is to be pushed. The German
American press, congratulated upon Its
brilliant work in behalf of civilization
and Germany since the beginning OF the
world war, Is urged to do stu more TO
emphasize the rights Of German
Americans. They, In turn, are to make
themselves felt In our politics according
TO their numbers, their ability and their
rights as representatives OF q culture
and civilization superior to our own.
The teaching OF German Is to be In
troduced into every public school here
after. and so is instruction In German
history and German culture. Our Ger
man public school teachers are them
selves to be shown how to teach history
from the German point OF view. The
formation OF classes of children outside
Of the schools for additional instruc-
ton in German songs, language, poetry
and general literature Is to be under
taken at once, while the Turner move
ment, that played so great part just
prior to the outbreak of the civil war.
is to be revived and fostered in every
possible way, and German libraries are
to be enlarged or to be created where
they do not exist-all OF this In the de-
termined effort to supplant our unworthy
American ideals, our American kultur.
See No Good In This Government.
Our varied contributions to the happi-
ness of mankind, our social and politi-
cal additions to human knowledge and
the science Of government Of which
Schurz was so conscious and so proud
are brushed aside as OF no value. In
all his stable volume, Professor Goebel
never onee admits that there Is any
thing worth while in American life, that
there is any American institution or
ideal which Is worthy Of praise.
Now all of this might be understand
able, particularly to me, born upon Ger
man SOL, OF a German father, were the
United States and Germany alike In
their political organization, with the
same national ideals and aspirations
Whatever spiritual affinity there may
he, the distance between the two coun-
tries politically Is surely as great as the
ocean between their shores.
No Freedom In Germany.
For there is something nobler and bet
ter than efficiency, something far more
worth while than good government, and
that is self-government.
No such blessing as this exists to-
day In Germany, where the right to
vote not once but several times at
each election Is the privilege OF
property owners as in Prussia, where
men good enough to die in battle by
the thousands are disfranchised by
the hundred thousand; where there Is
no responsible ministry in the reich
stag to be changed by the popular
will; where autocrats and junker con-
troll the government, while agrarians
dominate its fiscal policy, even to the