Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-08-28
CUT OUT GERMAN.

7.
is being carried on all over the coun-
try and the result win be that fewer
foreign languages will be made a
part Of the course of study. OF
course, the pro-Germans are against
anything of the sort, and the pro-
German press tries to dispose of the
question by insisting it is due to
hatred and prejudice.
For years the German govern
ment has been carrying on propa-
4anda to Germanize the world. The
government has had and now has
emissaries in every country in the
world, and in almost every commu-
nifty, to spread its teachings. The
public schools Of this country have
(. been one of the instruments through
which the German ideas have been
propagated and We are now seeing
some of the results. The United
States government is having no trou-
bic with naturalized Austrians or
B Bulgarians in this country, but
many of the naturalized Germans
are causing all kinds of annoyance
and are doing what they can to aid
Germany in this war. 1t is time to
/, lay the ak at the root Of the evil,
and the greatest evil is in allow
ing and encouraging our children to
be taught German ideals and Ger
man methods.
j In speaking of this subject a
writer in the Jefferson Bee Of re-
.Gcent date well says:
We will speak locally. It is time
10 abolish the study of German in
the schools of Greene county. 1t is
not difficult, under existing world
conditions, to discover the plain fact
that the study of German is the part
OF wholesale propaganda to Prus-
sianize the world. We will not say
sGermanize, because that would
hardly be true. The effect of the
study of German is perpetuation of
the House of Hohenzollern. LATE
Young says that the study of Ian
guage is to prejudice the mind in
l5vor Of Tie people OF that language.
1T is q fact. The writer knows OF
full blooded Americans who have
studied German and who have gone
to Berlin to finish their education,
who have pronounced German SYM
pathies at the present time. There
10 no place in America in this year
of 1917 for the German sympathizer.
Why lstudy German?
We want some one to come and
explain to us why we study Ger
man. 1t cannot be said that Ger
man literature is particularly high
class, for it is not and never was.
II literature" is the reason we
should study German, let us stop it
and turn our attention to Greek. If
we are after the greatest literature
In the history of the world, let us
start Greek propaganda.
The basic language of Spanish and
French is Latin. Much of English
is from the Latin. If we want to get
ct the roots of language study. why
study German? We are studying
Latin, it is true, but the high school
pupil should not be compelled to
carry two foreign studies when we
need SO much of the ESSENTIALS
of our own language. II we have
time for anything outside of Latin,
let us study spelling. We continue
to turn out graduating classes, and
pass out diplomas to children who
cannot spell the word diploma"
without looking at their "sheep-
skin" We continue to turn out
graduates who cannot figure simple
Interest. We continue to turn out
graduates who cannot tell the differ
ence between their clavicle and
sphalanges, who do not know the diff
ference between arterio sclerosis and
and who would not
know the rule of three from scarlet
rash! Our fundamentals have been
.Chucked into the upper pigeon hole
while we learned what a nice boy
Kaiser Wilhelm was when he at
tanned the age Of Is.
Why shouldn't we study Spanish?
We need awfully bad. to commence
the work OF Americanizing South
america. II We know some Spanish
1t will help us 10 Sget by" with it.
II we know Spanish we will find
ourselves better able to cope with
that great international nuisance,
the Mexican.
The great trade country of South
America is, by rights, our ''meat."
We ought to have 1t. The German