The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-19

can life They fought in the War of
| the Revolution and again in the war
of 1872; and they did not inquire
whether the foreign foes whom Wash
| ington assailed were Germans, as at
Trenton, or British. as at Princeton.
| or French like those whom he fought
1 near Pittsburg in his youth. If these
old time Americans had kept apart
from one another and had made their
loyalty a loyalty to the countries from
| which they came, and not TIC this new
great republic, and if their fellow cit
liens of that day had done the same
thing. there would not be any United
States now, and there would be no
Americans to feel either pride or
shame in what our people do.
Appeal to Nationalism.
My plea is that all our citizens to-
day shall act in the spirit of the men
of many different race strains-the
Washingtons, Adamses and Lees. the
Schuylers and Sullivans: the CAROLS
and Muhlenbergs. the Marions and
Herkimers-who disregarded all ques-
tons of national origin and became
Americans and nothing else when they
| founded this country.
1t is not possible permanently to
possess a divided national allegiance
If men are not whole hearted in their
Americanism, if they try to combine
loyalty to this land with loyalty to
some other land, it is inevitable that
to a greater or lesser degree they
make the loyalty to another land over
shadow their loyalty to this.
There has come into my possession
a copy of a letter written by Professor
Paul Rohrbach, of Berlin, to a Ger
man, Professor Appelman, of the Uni
printed in the New York Times of
April 5. 1 have made careful inquiry
! and I find that the letter is unqueS-
tionably genuine. 1t was evidently
| written in answer to one from DR..
Rohrbach's correspondent in which
the question was asked as to how
German-Am orleans in the United
States should vote on the question of
preparedness. Evidently neither of
| the two Germans who were CORE
spending devoted a thought to the in
| terest of the United States; they were
considering only whether it was or
was not of advantage to Germany that
the United States should be kept help
less. Professor Rohr bach is a univer-
sity lecturer in Berlin; he is the
author of various works on economics
and other subjects. and was for a
mum Der of years the German imperial
commissioner in Southwest Africa. He
has been one of the most widely
quoted of the German professors who
in the present war have set forth Ger
| o.
s'Vorwaerts,' many of his utterances
can be taken as at least semi-official.
Japan an Issue.
This Semi-official representative of
the German government, writes from
Berlin under the date of January 13,
| 1916, as follows, explaining why Ger
man Americans should not favor pre-
paredneSs (Which he calls armament) ::
| 1T is perhaps open to question
whether genuine German interests
would derive benefit from American
ornaments. In order to form an
opinion. one would have to be able
to foreSee . what lines German
policy will follow after the conclusion
of peace, and particularly how our re-
lations with Japan will shape them
selves. 1t seems to me quite conceiv-
able that in an American-JapaneSe
war, we should adopt an attitude of
very benevolent neutrality toward ia
pan and thereby make it easier for her
to beat America. In that case, why
should we help on the American
armament policy? -. q: l cannot see,
therefore, that German political aims
would be forwarded ipso facto by Ger
man-Americans lending themselves to
the schemes for American arma-
ment"
The German Influence.
Professor Rohrbach also speculates
| as to who may be the next president
after Wilson," saying: IF Roosevelt
actually should become president
again, which, after all, is not impossi-
BILE. the German-Americans would
then be found to have simply prayed
his game for him"
| As regards this statement of Pro-
fessor Rohrbach I very freely admit
that no man ought to back me or sup
port the policies for which stand I'M
less with the clear understanding that
these are straight-out American poll
cies, not policies in the interest of
some other nation against my own,
and that our citizens do play my
| game precisely to the extent they
| support such Straigtt-Out American
policies.
This letter from DIR. Rohrbach I'M
questionably expressed the attitude of
militaristic Germany in endeavoring
to use, against the honor and interest
of the United States, that portion of
the professional German American"
element of this country which is dis
loyal to this country, and shows why
this disloya1 element among the pro-
feSsional German Americans has
Joined with the professional pacifists
in the movement to leave the United
States helpless against possible ag-
gressors-a movement which is trait
orous to this republic. 1t is de-
liberate suggestion and invitation to
German Americans, MOI merely to vote
| in the interests of Germany, but to
vote so that another foreign power,
Japan, may be enabled to beat the
United States in. as the letter states it,
the quite conceivable event" that
Germanys interest is to see war be-
tween Japan and the United States in
| which Japan shall be victorious.
am certain that the German
Americans who can consciously be
reached by any such suggestion form
an utterly insignificant proportion of
| the Americans of German descent
| E211f IF n
| fellows may be Influenced unconscious
ly by such arguments. Therefore,
ask my fellow citizens who are in
whole or in part of German blood. to
consider very carefully the above let
ter and to ponder what is meant for