Washington Journal., 1916-02-18
W~ashington's
Response
Especial Correspondence for this paper
by a prominent Washingtonianl.

~
by a prominent Washingtonian).
-
The crowds that filled Odd Fellows
Hall, on Monday evening, until fearful
souls became a%pprehensive that the
floors might break, were indicative Of
two things. They showed hat the
spirit of sacrifice which animates Ger
mans in the Fatherland is present also
/ among Germans in America, and that
nothing but the opportunity is wanting
to do infinitely more than the giving Of
money for those things they hold right
and true, be it on behalf of the cultural
ideals emanating from Germany, be it
for tie country to which we owe POI
litical allegiance. The second thing
shown by the surprising attendance at
the bazaar is that those are very far
indeed from gauging the sentiment of
tie American people Alright who take
their cue from the newspapers, or the
syccphants of Wall Street spectators
ana lnllillllOH 11dlll dClucTS.
In Philadelphia, it is said, at a recent
bazaar held by the American Red Cross
Society, all the b~elligerent countries had
their departments, and separate accounts
were kept for the different countries.
On the opening night, Society turned
oft in force. All the fashionables, and
those who wish to be considered fash
icnable, turned out, clad as brilliantly
as Solomon in his glory. Poor Little
Belgium, Heroic Servia, and, of course,
Dear Old England baskei in what
looked like the favor of American pub
lie opinion. Germany, Austro-Hun-
gary. and still more, Turkey and Bull
garia, took their places in some despised
corner. where hardly anybody cared to
be seen.
On the following evening, however.
filings took OH a different hue. So
Getty had shown itself on display and
turned to some other amusement, but
the people who make up the real Phila-
de'phia, the workers with hand or
brain, Of whom there are q good many
nscre than Of the sycophants, filled the
hall with an amending stream of people
who might not be able individually
to spend large sums for charity, but
who gave a~bundantly of their narrow
means, because they had hearts and
c3nsciences and intelligence. And the
next evening it was the same, and the
nest, until the doors of the hall were
closed. Then the money taken in was
counted, and 10, the funds obtained for
the Central Powers far exceeded those
gathered for England and her allies.
That happened in Philadelphia, which
is considered a hot-bed of sympathy for
tie Allies, and where some of the Bit
tcrest of pro-ally newspapers are pub
lishc ~Hd read.
Fram every part of the country come
similar stories. No doubt the masses
were. for a long time, misled and con-
fused hy the continuous stream OF I'M
truth, misrepresentation and reiterated
viauperaiion which covered the land
from almost every newspaper Office and
clt Of the mouths of hundreds Of pro-
British agitators. A lie, however, must
be more c~leverly constructed than pro-
Ally productions usually are if it is to
last a year and a half. The c~ampagih
Of misrepresentation, on which the
British vessels III the United States re-
he'd, would have had to be short and
! sharp if it were TO be successful.
Eighteen months have elapsed, and the
reasonable attempt on the independence
Of the United States has failed. What
was to be the beginning of the "Reun-
ion of the Anglo-Saxon Race" the fond.
est dream of the Carnegies, the Eliots
and the Choatcs, has failed.
No doubt, the average American citi-
zen is still very much at sea regarding
the rights and wrongs of the great Con-
Aict, 50 far as its details are concerned.
10 obtain clear notions, he would have
to have better sources of information
than the pro-British papers on which he
depends almost exclusively. Fortu-
nately however, the average American
forms his opinions on feeling far more
than on detailed facts, and one thing
most by this time be obvious to any
experienced observer of public opinion !:
The feeling Of a considerable majority
Of American citizens today is that Ger
many is far from being engaged in an
attempt to subjugate the world, but on
the contrary she and her allies are de-
Tending themselves against an unpro-
voked attempt by Great Britain and
her dupes to destroy them.