Evening star., 1916-06-26
public statements and therefore
knowing exactly what my attitude
Hughes Meets the Conditions.

knowing exactly Wh4t my attitude
- WAS. --------..---.-..---.- -. ..---.- --.-.
Hughes Meets the Conditions.
In my Judgment, the nomination Of
Mr.. Hughes meets the conditions
set forth in the statement Of the
progressive national committee. is
sued last January, and in my own
statements. Under existing condi-
tions, the nomination of a third
ticket would. in my judgment, be
merely a move in the interest OF
the election of Mr.. Wilson. I re-
gard Mr.. Hughes as a man whose
public record is a guarantee that
"he will not merely stand for pro-
Americanism before election. but
will resolutely and in good faith put
it through if elected" He Is be
be President than Mr.. Wilson. 1t,
would be a grave detriment to the
country to re-elect Mr.. Wilson.
shall therefore. strongly support
Mr.. Hughes. Such being the case.
it is unnecessary to say that I can
third ticket. I do not believe
that there should be a third
ticket. 1 believe that when my
fellow progressives coolly con-
slider the question they will for the
most part take this position. They
and l have but one purpose-the
purpose to serve our common coun.
try. 1t is my deep conviction that
at this moment we can serve IL
only by supporting Mr.. Hughes.
German-Ameriean Support.
1t is urged against Mr.. Hughes that
he was supported by the various So
called German American alliances. l
believe that the attitude of these pro-
fessiona1 German-Americans was due
not in the least to any liking for Mr..
Hughes, but solely to their antagonism
to me. They were bound to defeat
me for the nomination. The only way
by which they could achieve this OBJ
ject was by supporting Mr.. Hughes
and they supported him accordingly.
without any regard to other considera-
tions.
need hardly repeat what I have
already said in stern reprobation OF
this professional German-American
element-the element typified by the
German American alliances and the
similar bodies. which have. in the pre-
nomination campaign. played not
merely an American but thor
oughly anti-American part. These
men have nothing in common with
the great body of Americans who are
in whole or in part of German blood.
and who are precisely as good Amer
leans as those of any other ancestry.
There are not, and never have been,
in all our land, better citizens than
the great mass of the men and women
of German birth or descent who have
been or are being completely merged
in our common American nationality;
nationality distinct from any in
Europe, for Americans who are good
Americans are no more German
Americans than they are English
Americans. or Irish Americans, or
Scandinavian-Americ They are
Americans and nothing else. No
good American, whatever his ancestry
or creed, can have any feeling except
scorn and detestation for those pro-
fessional German-Americans who seek
to make the American President in
effect a viceroy of the German en-
peror.
The professional German
OF this type are acting purely in the
sinister interest of Germany. They
have shown their eager readiness to
sacrifice the interest of the United
States whenever its interest conflicted
with that of Germany They represent
that adherence to the politico-racial
hyphen which is the badge and sign
OF moral treason to the republic
EDe-
c1fc denunciation, and assuredly il I
support candidate it may be ac-
cepted as proof that l am certain that
the candidate is incapable of being in.
fuenced by the evil intrigues of these
hyphenated Americans
Mr.. Hughes character and his
whole course of conduct in public
anairs justify us in tn eassured con-
viction that the fact that these men
have for their own purposes sup
ported him will. in no shape or way.
affect his public actions before or
after election. His entire public life
is a guarantee of this.
President Wilson's Course Criticised
The events OF the last three and
half years have shown that as
much cannot be said for Mr.. VIII
son. In Mr.. Wilson's case we do not
have to consider his words. but his
deeds. His deeds absolutely con-
tradfct his words; and for the mat
ter of that his words absolutely con-
pay heed to any of the promises in
the platform on which he now
stands in view of the fact that al
most every important promise con-
tanned in the platform on which he
stood four years ago has since been
broken We owe all of our present
trouble with the professional Ger
man American element in the United
States to Mr.. Wilson's timid and
vacillating course during the last
two years.
The defenders of Mr.. Wilson have
alleged in excuse for him that he
confronted a difficult situation. AS
regards Mexico, the situation which
Mr.. Wilson confronted was nothing
like as difficult as that which Presi-
dent Mckinley confronted in connec-
tion with Cuba and the Philippines
at the time of the Spanish war. Tn
der the actual circumstances we
could with only minimum of risk
have protested on behalf of Bel
gium, small. we'll behaved nation,
when she was exposed to the last
extremity of outrage by the brutal
violation of her neutral rights; this
violation being itself a violation Of
The Hague conventions to which we
were a signatory power.
AS regards the foreign situation
generally during the great war, the
fact of the existence of the war
made ii far easier and safer for Mr..
Wilson TO assert our rights than IL
he had had to deal with some single
strong power which was at the time
unhampered by war. During the past
twenty years questions have arisen
with powers of the first rank, such
as England. Japan and Germany,
each of which has necessitated far
greater courage, resolution and
judgment on the part of the Presi-
dent dealing with it than President
Wilson need have shown in order to
put a complete stop to the continu-
ually repeated murder of American
men. women and children on the
high seas by German submarines
the Lusitania being merely the
worst of many such cases. The same
feebleness that was shown by Presi-
dent Wilson in dealing with Ger
many abroad was also shown by him
in dealing with the organized Ger
man outrages within our own land.