Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-12-19
Ecr-ccented Decorah Commercial
Club at Big Meeting i'm Fort
Dodge and Reports Many
Interesting Features. .
HON LAFE YOUNG GAVE
ROUSING LOYALTY TALK
Senator Young Condemned the Man.
ner in Which We are Advertis-
ing German SO-CalIed
efficiency"

The secretaries of the various
! Commercial Clubs throughout the
state of Iowa held their first and or
ganization meeting at Fort Dodge
December Z.
Secretary l. w. Brunt, of Decorah
represented the Decorah CONNER
cial Club and reports an exceeding
ly interesting AID instructive meet
ing. About forty organizations were
represented and the meeting was
held in the fine new quarters of the
Fort Dodge Commercial Club. The
Commercial organizations are group
ed according to congressional dis
tricts. Paul Rankin, Secretary of the
Dubuque Commercial Club is chair
man of this district.
Many interesting subjects were
taken up. Among them Agriculture.
Trade Extension. Good Roads, War
Work and Publicity as it applies to
the progress of Iowa.
One of the most interesting and
entertaining features was the ad-
dress given the Secretaries by Honor
able Lafayette Young, Sr., of Des'.
Moiles. His subject was loyalty in
Iowa and those who are acquainted
with Mr.. Young can readily imagine
his address was lively one. One of
the principle points taken up in his
speech aid which seemed to meet
with hearty response from every
Secretary in attendance was his con-
demnation of the manner in which
we are advertising German so called
efficiency. He scoffed at the idea
of German efficiency, stating that
none of the great inventions of the
world ever came from Germany;
that nowhere were they remarkably
efficient excepting in a military
sense; that nowhere in the world had
legal murder and criminality devel-
oped to such an extent as among the
military classes of Germany. AS an
example of inefficiency he stated that
in getting out news they were obliged
to resort to the wireless as in their
great efficiency? they didn't even
own a cable and that 10 doubt, they
had expected to steal one as il this
their government was pre-eminently
efficient.
He especially condemned the
teaching of German in our public
schools, explaining it was only anoth-
er feature of advertising the father
land. He further explained that as
a language it waSabsolutely worth
less excepting in Germany itself.
That if one wished to travel in the
European countries, he should by
all means learn the French language
as French was spoken everywhere
and if we desired language for
commercial use, the Spanish Ian
guage should by all means be taught
as all the South American countries
as we'll as Mexico, Cuba and the Gen.
trail American Republics speak that
language with the exception of one
or two where the Portuguese language
is spoken.
He urged that we Immediately dis
continue the teaching of German in
public schools and if We must teach
foreign languages to teach languages
a. Il l~~ nf of
That no benefit whatever could be re-
ceived from teaching German unless
it were for use in Germany itself. 1t
further developed in the speech that
Germany even now in the midst OF a
great war is iIstructing over fve
thousand German young men Ian
guages of the various countries to
which they are to be accredited WHEN
the commercial contest will be taken
up at the close of the present war.
Mr.. Young further stated that in
addition to the disloyalty OF the
Prussian Germans in Iowa, there was
a great deal of disloyalty among
Swedes. Mr.. Young among other
things stated he would be very glad
indeed to pay the fair OF any
Of these disloyal people back
to the countries from which they
came and that the disloyal people
we're being listed up as fast as they
could get to them and would eventu-
ally receive the attention they de-
serve. Everywhere the Norwegians
are conspicuous for their patriotism
10 tha limited States and are loyal in