TaÌˆgliche Omaha tribuÌˆne. [volume] (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926, 1917-10-10
MISSION or GERMAN
LANGUAGE PRESS.

bune pleads in a iudicious and
worthy way the cause of the
German language press OF Amer.
lea which, in these times Oh
war-incited passions, is the
target OF the most persistent
and unwarranted attacks:
Editor Of The Tnbune.-As a
n~aturalized citizen of German
birth / wish to plead a cause
that is receiving a great deal oil
undeseryed blame in this time
of heated passions-that OF the
German language and the Ger
man press of America.
/ want it understood in the
beginning that ] am not one Of
the fictitious host who desire
to perpetuate Germanism in this
our new home. America has for
many years been the home Oh
a large number OF Germans who
have never presented a serious
problem. In fact, their assimii-
alton went on so effectively that
no Americans bothered them
selves over it until it occurred
to one man to stigmatize the
term "German-American" for
personal benefit in politics.
Those who see nothing desirs
able in the study Of the Ger
man language in the homes OF
the German immigrants, and \
the existence of the German
press are taking a very shorts
sighted view of the matter they
profess to understand so well.
The danger to America from the
immigrants who speak German
lies not in their press, nor in
their language-these are drop
ped in the second generation
after their arrival in America
but in the abandonment of the
ideals and standards before they
have learned to be good Amer
leans.
The immigrants from most
countries in western Europe
discard too lightly the stand
ards they have held. And it
requires time to learn the
standards of the best people Of
the land, and the majority of
the newcomers have no opport-
unity to meet the best class in
the first years that they arc
here,
The danger 10 America from
the immigrants is lessened
where their homes can maintain
the standards of the old country
until such a time when they
shall have learned the value oil
the ways of the new land. So
many immigrants come to Amer
lea that the average American
thinks it is as easy for a man
to change his nationality as to
put on another coat. But this
is far from the truth, in spite
of Fourth OF July orators.
Nationalism must be taught
in the home, and where the pa
rents are looked down upon by
their children because they do
not speak the language Of the
street and the school and are
ignorant Of the customs OF
America, the second generation
Of immigrants will have a very
poor grade of patriotism. Where
the old country language Isl
spoken in the homes no such
sense Of inferiority rests upon
the parents.
The great majority Of immi1
grants come to this country for
economic reasons. If they un-
derstood the political theories of
America and came because they
wished to live under them, the
thing would be less compIicat1
ed. But that is not the case,
and the immigrants must go
through a period Of learning the
value Of democratic government
and all that goes with it.
During this period the papers
published in the tongue Of the
immigrant are of great import
ance in hat they hold up before
the immigrant the value of
things he knows and helps him
to add to them from the best Of
America. The war has natural
ly created bitterness on both
sides. The German press may
not always have been true TO
the American conception of
criticism without disloyalty. But
neither have all Americans OBJ
served this distinction. And it
Is wrong to condemn the issu~
ing OF German papers because