Norwich bulletin., 1917-09-27
Views of the Vigilantes
The Duty of German Americans to
 Germany.

&aSFmau- AncEtCAnS 70 By Gustavus Ohlinger of The -vigi- lantes.
 ITO speak German is to remain German; to cause others to speak German is to make them into Ger mans"
 l In this way Ludwig Fulda, one of the most prominent or modern Ger man pfaywrights and journalists sum
 marked his observations i'll the United States. That he was giving expression | tc more than merely personal opinion is evidenced by the stern measures adopted by Germany for, the purpose of establishing the. use of German in the Polish provinces and in AlSace- by the decrees which forbade French
 even on signs and on tombstones and
 the orders making it crime to inn
 part religious instruction in the Polish
 tongue.
 The propa ganda for the German Ian-
 gLage has always been weI-recog-
 nized phase of imperial KulturpolitiK.
 It was regarded as an imports mt means
 for esta tablishing German influence in
 foreign lands for undermining na-
 tional unity. and for keeping German
 immigrants in solid blocks which could
 be used as convenient make weights in
 favor of German policies. AS one of
 the leaders in the Pan German move ment expressed it years ago. "the inn poftance of Germany in the fit ture will depend on two tllings-frst, the n url-
 ber of persons who are politically sub- ject to the empire. and. second. the number of those throuahout the world who speak the German language"
 That the kaiser's synpat thizers in
 the United States have taken this course to heart is borne out by the vigorous efforts which have been made to establish the German language in our public schools ever since the Pan German idea came to active conscious ness here some twenty years ago. Dur ing this period the numrer of high school pupils taking instruction in German has risen from 5s. s.003 to 312,- 900. Even more marked has been the increase in this direction in the grade schools.
 Now that the events Of the last few months have taught Americans to look upon this apparently innocent educa- tional movement in the same light in which it has always been held by Ger mans both here and in Germany. it Is small wonder that they will nave none ot it. German language instruction has been abolished in all the grade schools of Toledo. in Cleveland it has been eliminated from the first four grades: in Baltimore from all the grades: in Milwaukee American chill dren will no longer have thes adv2n- tage of a bilingual education in the rst and second grades, and even Chi cago has torn from its spelling books the nauseous adulation of the kaiser which the exponents of German policies had caused to be inserted.
 That this aversion fer everything is inevitable The danger is that it will attach to much that is admirable ard that we could adopt with advan tage. Our civilization will thereby be made the poorer One of the great ambition of the Hoherzollerns has laid it's foul hands upon the sacred heritaee of the German people and impregnated l. with the poison of its contact. so that for centuries it will provoke the bathing of the world.
 These consequences can in some de- gree be averted by our citizens of German birth. It rests with them to prove to us and to the world that a wide chasn separates the Germany of Schiller, Goethe and Lessing from the state created by the Hohen- zollerns and their servants: that the genius that peol}ed the woods and dales with the fairies of childhood has nothing in common with the demon that ravaged Belgium. France and Pc- land; that the German spirit is indeed free and not sunk in hopeless servility to unworthy masters. But not by lullewarm allegiance to" our country 1 not by carping criticism of things American, not by secret qualification 1 over the reverses of our allies, can 1 they bring this about. The Turnver- | cin, the Liederkranz the Stadtverband | the Nationalbund and Deutschunter- | richt must all be forgotten. The story 1 of American liberty. from it's founda- 1 lions in Magma Carta to the present | time, must displace all these as the | subject of their propaganda; every | thing that will contribute to our over | victory must be the object | of their activity. Through such men, i filter the war. will the benefits of Ger  By such men alone can he odium which the Hohenzollern dy- | nasty has drawn upon all things Ger nan be averted, and the treasures of | -Sermany's past be preserved for the | world.