The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-20
THE HYPHEN IN POLITICS.
A Recital Of Certain Historical Facts
About Immigrants.

from the period Of the great emigration
OF 1S4S and succeeding years. Tha
was only thirty-six years after my
grandfather had adopted the land OF
Washington as that of his descendants.
and my accord and appreciation of the
emigrants Of 1Sts was not marred
by no much Of the Earring sounds as
a v been aroused by the Kaiser s CAM
paign to utilize his ex~-subjects in our
melting pot as puppets In the support of
his dynasty.
This "a not TO say that there were
no race antagonisfns seventy years ago.
Not only were there race a~ntagonisms,
but religious frict!ons as we'll. with riots
and near riots. and weak municipal re-
straint. so that II sometimes seemed as
though the material was too refractory
to be In a melting pot at all. SO great
we're the antagonists between the Irish
and tho Germans that my father was
obliged TO keep these races evenly bal
anced on his payroll TO conserve pru-
depce or both sides and to discourage
turbulence and turbulence.
There was not tho semblance Of Q
peace party. and n peace at any price
would have been hazed out OF the COM
munity. We had English. Welsh. Scotch.
Scotch-1rish. Irish. Germans and a few
French and Italians. This was In west
ern Pennsylvania. where the city Of
Pttteburg. long before predestined TO
be a great Industrial centre. had be-
come the Mecca for men capacitated
for the strenuous life" The Irish were
a Donnybrook Fair assortment, among
whom even the boys distinguished the
Far Downers, the Corkon!ans, the Sill
gos, the C~onnaughtmen, the Kilkenny
cats, the men OF Tipperary and other
tribes capable of concerted action only
on occasions when II became necessary
to discourage the turbulence of the
common enemy, the Germans, with
brickbats and cobblestones
Those indeed were grand old days.
Had the redoub,able Theodore lived ia
those days he would have esteemed It
a priceless privilege TO participate In
the strenuous NE Of my youth. And
further, I doubt not that after his
mother had patched him up with court
plaster and roller bandages he would
have assured her no had had a bully
time" and then have Jared forth 70
learn TO what extent the enemy had
been in need OF repairs.
To me, In view OF the relentless an
tagonis'ns between the Irish and tho
Germans. when they first began to take
stock OF one another In the commingled
wave OF emigration of ls4S. the recent
differentiation of those races against
England seems the thinnest sort OF d.
luted varnish II is without substance,
without racial or historic foundation.
and as such will quickly vanish.
But the one outstanding fact "a that
IN our melting pot the old antagonisms
OF Europe steadily are submerged by
intermarrlag e. The American offspring
come more and more to represent Eu-
rope as a whole rather than the frac-
ton OF II represented by their parents
and grandparents.
So. when I compare the seemingly
unass.milable materials OF seventy years
ago with the deEree Of h~omogeueity of
the present epoch ! refuse 10 SHARE in
the apprehensions OF some as TO the ex-
tent of hyphenism and It's dangers. De-
spite the natural and laudable sympa-
thy all OF US must and do feel for the
land OF our ancestors. so far as We re-
tain n ~fragrnentary knowledge OF Il.
doubt II even 8 per cent. of our foreign
born natural!zed citizens have failed to
become saturated with the ideals OF
American liberty. Beyond that and far
above II is the fact that every year the
baby citizens who will know no other
land than this number millions. so that
American citizenship becomes il our
schools and institutions make &.
In my youth ! recognized and deeply
felt the patriotic impulse that reached
nav ~ ~ " ~ "a 'bi f'AA'A
songs and hymns breathed n holy spirit
of love for our country and for the
land won by the valor and sacrifices
OF our ancestors. All our school lltera-
ture and the hearts OF all our teachers
were equally saturated with the spirit
Of patriotism. Our schools were micro
democracies, The pupils were the chill
dren OF many ~nationa!ities and local
subdivisions, and We met on the com
| -nnp Crnrnl Of e-nulq.'Na epunrniaEhf
Friendships did not follow raciR, lines
at all. For one OF my Irish principals
! still retain n deepening reverence that
time will ne'er efface. Myself of Eng
lish and Welsh ancestry, ! made friend
ships with boys OF German parentage
that still survive.
In those earlier days We had fewer
opportunities for professional and tech
meal education. and thus it came 20
pass that the German emigration sup
piled us with architects. physicians, sur
geons and professors. and all these
educated men al once took n high place
In social and professional service. No
one had occasion 10 question their ur-
hyphena,ed Americanism. and they
were all respected, trusted and honored
Our history and geography are strewn
with the honored names of the patriotic
Germans who adopted our country and
helped make It's glorious history.
1t Ia hence. with regret and pain hat
discern the least disposition to hold
our entire body OF cit!zenry OF German
ancestry responsible for the misconduct
OF what must be a very small percent
age of those OF Ike origin. whether
aliens. naturalized or American born.
II Is not to be questioned that the vast
majority OF Americans OF German de-
scent do max the universal distinction
! hefyypen adhesion sn fha fa1ga nnllFipa1