The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-09
NH 7 RASHINGTON, March S-(Spe- MW cial)-'The naval engagement
 v ha+waen +ha British ship Ame-

MW cial)-"The naval engagement
 between the British ship Anne thyst and two German raiders in the south Atlantic took place near the island of Fernando de Noronha, off the south coast of Brazil, and fairly contiguous to the largest segregation of German popu- lation in that republic-where it has been bases of supplies for the German ships which have operated so extensively against shipping in those waters" states a war geography bulletin just issued by the National Geographic society from it's headquarters in Washington.
 'The Germanic element in Brazil is numerous enough and energetic enough to carry out such policy if they chose to do so They number at least 1000,O00 souls and they are practically limited in residence to the four southernmost Of the Brazilian maritime states-Rio Grande do Sul Santa Catarina, Parana and Sao Paulo-where they have thrust their na- tional roots far into foreign soil without losing any of their unborn characteristics. Theodore Roosevelt writing in 1914 of Sac Paulo says: Tn this province I met, for the first time, Germans born in the country who could speak only German
 German colonization in Brazil has been going on since 1925 when the settlement of San Leopoldo in Rio Grande do Sul was established. For 10 years the stream of immigration continued, when It was interrupted by the sans-culotte revolt in southern Brazil This interruption lasted for nine years. In 1s4s the flood of set tiers was perceptibly swollen by the fam files from Schleswig-Holstein and the other parts of Germany which were af- fected by the revolt of the duchies against Denmark. No less than 13 important Ger man colonies were established in southern Brazil between 1S4S and 1S60 the earliest settlers being greatly aided by generous grants of land from the Brazilian gov ernment, which allotted no less than 17a acres to each immigrant. Owing to specu- reduced-but without noticeable effect upon the movement-which was only checked by the imperial edct of 1859 for bidding the further nligrations of Ger mans to Brazil The edict remained in yigor until 1896, when, as Austin Har- rison terms him in the Pan-Germanic doctrine, the great sea Emperor. Will liam II, saw early and clearly into the future. and taught his subjects to see, too.'
 .'JInder this teaching, the Germanie flood swept in larger volume into Bra gil and now has spread over a territory approximately as large as that of the American states of Florida, Georgia, Ala. bama, South Carolina, North Carolina Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee Fully 2500O0 Germans are to be found ir | the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where l in the cities, they have taken a strong hold upon the activities of the country and have practically absorbed commer. cial and industrial enterprise. In Port Al. legre, the capital of the state. three Ger. man publications indicate and expound | the Germanic doctrine.
 |
 'In Santa Catarina. the next state north. conditions are analogous. German customs and the German idiom prevail and in many towns one may almost i'm, agine himself in the Fatherland. The Germanic element here was strong
 enough some years ago to elect a Ger man governor. and. with the exception o1 I
 flee holders are almost entirely German
 The anomaly of Brazilian governmenta
 reports written by Germans is by nc
 means unusual. The German colony II
 this state owes no little of its strength
 to the fact that here, for sometime. wal
 the residence of the Prince de Joinvill' of Saxe- Coburg- Gotha. who married {