New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-12
AMERICAN DEAIlSM
1t includes Friendship with Tho,. r.
Countries, England and Csu.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In to-day's Tribune Mr. .,
exhorts every true American" No,
fault with Britain and thus hamper III. ~
eous cause. In the same breath h. sas
that the United States has no room to.,a
grants, German or otherwise, who's. h.. "a.
soul are with the country Of th.i, M
Will you permit me, with your von,.S ..s
tesy, as briefly as possible to jusst, . wy
can citizenship Of German birth ana "'
The new patriotism cannot crush n.
remembrance Of the old homeland. ,. s
America expect her adopted son, =. wa
themselves away from the tende, .. Wv
tions Of their early SURROUNDING, ""
wards would at best have shown a.
II instead Of attacking the anti.R,i,,., va"
ton in this country he had Launched 81. ''''
invective against the advantageous. ,,. -'9
this Enslish-speaking land. We all kn.~sh
linguistic segregation is ap. to haiti vat
public within the Republic Al a.. M
crisis Inscriptions agitators mish, ~. snW
babel OF conflicting tongues into h..s ~,
racial pride and isolation. Yet LIovS ea'
speaks Welsh fuently, and nev.r,h. ueo'r
fervent patriot. Knowledg. ca,na. y, "a
rate but only improve, the quality Of Ir.s
canism. Colonel ROOsevelt's Dutch n,, linen
and Mr.. Hughes's Cymric idiosyncra,i..
debase or debsr their stanch Ior.,.Ol o"
America. Why, then. does Mr.. EdwsrS.v
Us to grow Indifferent to Europ.. N. .,'
OF our race! After all, the idea, AZ ra sas
have shaped and civilized the wo,ld
Americanism has its ultimate sourc. II :"
pean ideals. :" Ia'@
In the times gone by the United s,.,..,
been necessarily preoccupied by material
deavors and achievements. but N. ola u' ~
ism which was built up, century sf,.,
fury, from the days OF Pericles TO ,bo..
Lincoln asserts itself ever more stron~l, ~,
slowly refnes the ruthless commerc,I.-
this self-indulging age.
Europe has always been quick IN r..o.,,.
ing the spiritual foundation Of N. 49,.
changing relations and realities OF IN. ~.
came the Greek poets and philosophers. n.
Romans captured Greece, but were csptiy,,I
themselves by Hellenic genius.
"Grncia capita forum victorem cent. .. 49,.
Intulit agresti Latio?"
Romance culture in Latin Europe and Arr
lea voices in melodious echoes and reject,
a magic mirror, as IL were, the dtsthle,s g,,,.
deur of vanished Rome. But, strange 20 ~,
the unadulterated classical shirt Wa, q,
more effectively absorbed and Reproduced 4,
the northern barbarians, more psrtieul,J,
England and Germany. The English st,tu..
book reads like a modernized edition 4,
Roman law. No Italian orator recall, var
satile Cicero more wildly than Glad,to,.
does, and the Hellenic muse seems reine,,.
mated in Schillers lofty strains, rather than
in the romantic pseudo-classics Of Racir,
Anglo-Saxonism and the citizenship Of Ger,
man descent are the two most powerful ass,.
cies that determine Americanism. The unisr
to which Britain has given constitutional lib
erty and worldwide speech owes the sehosl
spirit Of discipline and organized labor d,
Germany. Young America needs tina. as
spirit Of manly obedience, only submission y
lawful authority must not be mistaken for .
Witty.
Americanism, then, is eclectic. The choices.
ingredients of this exquisite blend are En-.
lands free institutions and Germanys NJ.
tionalized thoroughness. The future Of Ii,
United States cannot be separated from tt,
destinies of the two kindred countries. Bat
though being rooted in the mental soil Of Eu.
rope, Americanism teens with boundless pos.
sibilites and bids fair to outstrip European.
ism in the rapid race for social and econoni.
progress. The Old World, enthralled by II.
crumbling tyranny of wornout traditions, !.
shaken to the depths by gigantic upheauL
but America grows from strength to strength
America, thou happy world,
With Freedoms banner all unfur!sd,
Fulfilling Europe's mission,
Unclogged by vain tradition"
uttered the prophetic author Of Faust
hundred years ago. If Goethe or his Ssx'i
affnities, Matthew Arnold and Emerson, ver
living in New York to-day they would hardy
sympathze with 4 wholesale condemnation o.
the German or any other element in Anenei
Overzealous pro-Allies like Mr. Edwards hsrr
far more than help the cause of American.
ism, which, as ex-senator Beverage ted .,
yesterday, is a fabric woven on the loom o.
tolerance. True Americanism respects ars
even invites the opinions Of others. As b.
drogen and oxygen peacefully commingle, y
the United States, that wonderful compouna
and variegatcd texture Of nationalities, hn
no room for warning and perturbng 'es'
ments" such as the noisy ebulltions OF YOU
West Orange correspondent.
ERNEST P. H0RRWlTZ,
Formerly lecturer at Dublin University GU
Queens College, London.
Nav, Vol, Ort 1919