Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-05-31
ROOSEVELT GOES
FOR HYPHENATESI
IN ST. LOUIS TALK.
CHARGES GERMAN AMERICAN ALL
ANcE IS "ANTI-AMERIcAN AL
LANCE" OF GERMANS.
MORAL TRAITORS TO UNITED STATES
Is WAY HIS BRANDS THOSE WHO
ACT IN GERmANY'S INTEREST.

ST. LOUIS, Mo-, May 3l.-Moral trea-
son 10 the United States was charged by
Theodore Roosevelt, in an address deliver
ed here today, against German Americans
who seek To make their governmental re-
prcsentatIves act in the interests of Ger
many rather than this country. lie char
, actenzed the German American Alliance
as 'an anti-AmerIcan alliance" but added
that he believed that it, members mot
only do not represent but scandalously
misreprescnt" the great majority of real
Americans of German origin.
Urging the motto "Anerica for Ameri-
cans for all Americans whether they were
born here or abroad. the former President
declared that ''the salvation Of our people
hes in having nationalized and unified
America, ready for the tremendous tasks
Of both war and peace
vi appeal To all our citizens the Col
onel said, "no matter from whaF land their
forcfathers came, to keep this ever IN
mind, and to shun with sccrn and con
tempt the sinister intriguers and mischief
makers who would seek to divide them
along lines of creed, of birthplace or OF
national origin"
Col. Roosevelt said he came To 81. Louis
to speak on Americani~m-to speak of and
condemn the use of the hvphcn whenever
il represents mn effort To- form political
parties along racial lines or 10 bring pres
sure 10 bear on parties and politicians.
not for American purposes. but IN the in
terest ot some group of voters of Ger
tam national origin. or of the country
from which they or their fathers came"
He was equally against the native Amer
lean of the wrong kind and for the immi-
grant Of the right kind, the former Pre~i-
dent declared hut the immigrant who did
not become in good faith an American -
out of place in the United States He
said each nation Should be indgcd nv It's
conduct and that the United State, should
oppose encroachmcnt on it, own rights
whether Germany. Ensand. France or Rus
sia he guilty of misconduct.
"The effort To keep our citizep ship di-
vided against ITSELF" the Colonel contin-
ued. ''by the use of the hyphen and along
the lines Of national origin. J. certain To
breed spirit Of bitterness and prejudice
and dislike between great bodies of our
citizens. II some citizens band together
n German Americans or Irish Americans.
then after "A while others are certain to
band together as English Americans or
Scandinavian Americans. aud every such
bandng-tocether, every attempt 10 make
Tor political purposes a German American
alliance or a scandinavian American al
hance. means down at the bottom an cf-
fort against the interest of straight -ont
American citizenship. an effort 10 bring
into our nation the butter old world rival
ric> and ieaousles and hatreds.
'Nhat have been striving for n year
and three quarters To do Is io protest
against the up-growth of this utterly un-
American Sr,ilt, which means. II success
full, division and impotence in our ma
tional life, the breaking up Of our unity a.
a nation, the severance of our citizenship
along the bitter lines of old-word anti
pathy.r
Pointing back along his own career in
public and private life. Col Roosevelt
cited numerous examples of men who. as
sociated with him n officeholders or sol
diers, were descendants of foreigners but