Norwich bulletin., 1917-08-02
Views of the Vigilantes
WHY WE ARE AT WAR
 WITH GERMANY.
By George Ade of the VisiIantes.

Hazelden Farm, Brook, Ind.-If you
 had approached the average citizen of the United States in June, 1914, and
 had asked hom his sympathies lay as to the commercial warfare going on between Great Britain and Germany. the chances are that he would have shown a cold indifference and an utter lack of partisanship. As between Great
 Britain, recorded in all school books as
 our hereditary foe, and Germany. a
 country that sent us many of our most aniable, industrious and useful citl-
 zens, the chances are that he might
 have expressed a good -natured desire
 to have Germany get the upper hand
 in the markets of the world
 Only five years ago the prosperous Americans who made frequent voya ges to Europe or the West Indies showed a marked preference for the Hamburg
 You would find on one of those Ger man boats an almost fraternal rela
 tionship between the officers and the first class passengers. l was on big German ship in the West Indies a few years ago and I recall, with some shame that we celebrated the kaisers birthday and sent him a long cable gram of congratulations and good wishes.
 Our students of music and art our families seeking the placidity of an old world atma sphere, our young doctors and surgeons, have hocl<ed to Berlin and Vienna and Munich and Dresden, have adjusted themselves easily and comfo1ta ably to the German manner of living and have come home with a sincere affection for German friends.
 Of all languages other than English, German has been favored in our public schools. The accepted governess for child of wealth has been a fraulefn.
 When England subjugated the Boers our sympathies ran with the Boers, although the war was between an English speaking people and race re- lated to the Continental Teutons, and we got all of our war news from Brit ssh sources.
 We have had two great waves of immigration from Germany. Great Britain sent to us only the Irish and they came to increase our 6istrust and dislike of the eo-called English speak ing cousins.
 We have fraternized with the Ger mans emulating their glorious exam Frankfurter sausages. but we have al- ways sf1ied at an Englishman fresh from his own shores.
 What I am trying to lead up to is this rational conclusion: that in the closing days of July. 1914. there was in this country no deeO-Seated racial prejudice in favor of the Anglo Saxon as against a resident of the German empire.
 To begin with, we are not an Anglo Saxon people. We are a. composite a melting-pot mixture. We do. not even speak the English language. T can prove that by the literary reviews of Great Britain.
 Only a few alarn1ists and extremists ever suggested that we were in danger of a German invasion and the man i who wanted to talk about the coming 1 European war couldn't find anyone to | talk to. Why, David Starr Jordan had l demonstrated by higher mathematics 1 and biological research that such | as a general European war 1 was absolute impossibility and that | 1t was criminal folly for us to build l up an army and navy with money that l might be devoted to the strengthening 1 of each congressman in his own dis | trict. Dr. Jordan Is still running l around. trying to collect the fragments | authority on fishes and he proves i. ! svery time he talks about war.
 All the soothing assurances of the | his time the cry of Wolf" was not l false alarm.s The unbelievable thing | 1as happened. We are at war with l our friends of yesterday. We have marked as an enemy every man who ,ives undivided allegiance to the kaiser because we know that the kaiser rou1d, if he could do us ten times >ver what he did to unoffending Bel ,ium.
 In Germany it is commonly believed hat the pro-ally sentiment over here s a poisonous product, encouraged and ostered by British falsehoods. We are simple and credulous people, avari- 'ious and lacking the long vision of