The Detroit times., 1916-05-31
.HYPHENATED
AMERICANISM
MORAL TREASON
tcontinuea irsm rage one)

Apprehension is not natter OF
but OF the soul and ef the, spirit. IL
the American has the right stun IN
whether he is Jew or Gentiie, Catho-
lie or Protestant, care not snap
OF my tngers whSther his ancestors
whether h. waa born. % his parents
were born. in Germany. ireland,
France. England Scandinavia. Russia
Icr Italy or any other country. All !
ask of the Immigrant 10 that he shall
| be physically and intellectually tft OF
| sound character ana eager In good
| faith 20 become an American ctti-
Kind ! am for him. and IL the native
/ American is Of the wrong kind | am
against him, But unless the immi-
grant becomes in good faith an AM
| out az place In this country and the
sooner he leaves h the better,
! We in this country forIu A new ma
ton akin 10, hut different from. each
| OF the nations of Europe As Ajax
anGer Hamilton put 10, Let Va be
neither Greeka nor TrojanS but Am
/ orleans" We are false 10 this coun-
\ try IL we rank ourselves as German
| Americans" or "En glish- Americans"
| Irish Americans" or French Ameri-
| cans" our duty ~ to the United
! States. We should be friendly TO all
nations. and In any crisis we should
| Judge each nation by its conduct I'm
| that crisis We should condemn the
misconduct OF any nation, We should
| oppose Its Entertainments upon our
rights with equal vlgor. whether "
4 be Germany. England. France, Russia
\ or any other power. sccordiax tn
| what Il actually does ON the given
occasion with which we have 60 deal.
| IL some citizens band together as
| German Americans or Irish Ameri-
\ cans. then. after while others are
certain 10 band together as English
4 Americans or scandinavian Ameri-
cans and every such banding togeth-
| er. every attempt TO make for poll
| ticai purposes German American
| alliance or an Irish-American alli-
| ancc or an English American alll-
| ance or Scandinavian American al
| lance means down at bottom an eff
fort against the interest OF straight
out American citizenship. an EFFORT
Ito bring into our nation the bitter
old-worid rivalries and Jealousies and
! hatreds. What | have been striving
| for a year ana three-quarters to do
| IL 10 protest against the upgrowth
protest against the upgrowth of a
| spirit which means, II successful. di-
! vision and impotence in our national
\ life. the breaking up OF our unity as
a nation. the severance OF our citizen
| ship along the bitter lines OF old
world antipathy. We cannot afford
. TO have our children and our chill
| drens children grow up excepting as
Americans pure and simple. Ameri-
leans and nothing else
| IL any OF our people born here TO
fathers came. they find themselves
inevitably looked upon as foreigners
| The American Of English descent
| who goes To England finds himself
I looked upo nand treated, as he ought
to be. as an outsider. "A Yankee. His
| ways of thought are different from
the ways OF thought Of the people OF
1 the land. The American of German
II a h..
looked upon as German. He is
| looked upon and treated as "A foreign
er. as an American. and his ways OF
thought are different from the ways
kof thought OF the people Of the land
He has gone to land where no di-
vtded allegiance would for one mo-
nent be permitted. where, very
Is held 10 a sole and andiyidea all
llegiance to the German nag. and the
American of German descent who
goes there either remains absolutely
an outsider and an alien. an Ameri-
can, or else he has to become abso-
lutely German. IL either the Ameri-
| can OF English descent or the Ameri-
l.can OF German descent or the Ameri-
can OF any other descent tries to re-
main with a dual allegiance. with a
| divided citizenship. he merely ceases
| 10 become an American without there
by becoming a German or an Eng
lishman or anything else. He be-
comes a man without a country who
! has forfeited the right to be stirred
by the feeling OF patriotic devotion
| 10 any land. or 10 have n special and
peculiar kfnship with any people.
The American birthright IL the birth
right OF all of us; and IL Is shame
and a disgrace for any man TO bar
| ter IL Tor so poor mess OF pottage
az is implied in that kind OF hyphen-
| ated citizenship which means that the
| individual tries 20 be a half way citi-
zen OF two lands and forfeits the
4 right hs "a uhnIa oft 81
/ land.
1t would be possible to man our
entire admins tration from president
| down with men OF German blood and
| OF such Incorporating Americanism
| that every good American could fol-
\ low them with whole-hearted loyalty
/ would vote TO seat in the president $
| chair any American Of German. Irish
| scandinavian or other parentage OF
/ whatever creed as against any man
whose ancestors came over in the
Maytiower, or else settled on the
banks OF the James three centuries
/ ago, IL i thought the first man was
| better fitted for the position than the
second man. / hold IL an outrage and
| n violation Of every principle OF true
Americanism TO discriminate against
| such a man because OF the land from
| which he or his parents came, or be-
cause OF his creed. But / hold IL no
| less an outrage for him to act In our
| domestic politics not as an American
but as an American with a qualifi-
Ication; as an American who mas some
| un-American Interest to serve some
foreign country 10 serve. beca'r-e o.,
| his ancestry. The man who thus acts
Is the hyphenated American.
This - not mere abstract
| question which . ann discussing.
At this very moment 10 - biaxsn-
ed forth In the public press that
branches Of the "German-Ameri-
can Alliance" so-cnIIed, In differ
| emit parts of the country, are at-
| tempting To coeree timid and uu-
scrupuIous politicians by threat
ening 20 vote against them, or by
actually voting against them,
when the GerbtnB-A m~riean Al
Iianee regards their action M un-
| satisfactory from the standpoint,
| not OF the United states hut of
| Germany. These branches OF the
Alliance openly take the ground
that they intend tn shape Ameri-
can politics In the interests. not
of the United states, hut of Ger
many. The German american Al
iiaBce OF Pennsylvania. for In-
snnce, as reported Iu the public
press, STATES that "a Intends 10
show "tbe leaders OF the national
| conventions that they hnse "a
deal with n united German Amer
lean vote" such n statement rem
reseuts moral treason TO the RE
public. branches Of the German
| American Alliance in other parts
of the country have used prnr-
tfcaIfy the same language. The
| Alliance has put forth mo- pro-
gram affecting America. The pro-
grum On which u wishes Am~rI-
can citizens to vote ~ one affect
Ing Germany md only GERMANY
do not len the least object "a IL
because " dcnoupces me. u has
denounced Mr. Milson almost ms