The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-07-30
PRO-GERMAN USE OF AN
TI-ENGLISH PREJUDICE
(By Hermann Hagedorn
of the Vigilantes)

| Glaubens" 1t is a religious weekly,
but nevertheless its innocence is only
skin deep. Actually, it is a virulent
fighter for the kaiser.
AS such, it is more ceverly edited
than its esteemed contemporaries in
| Prussia for whereas the editors of the
Prussion papers have again and again
shown absolute ignorance Of American
! psychology, the editor of Der Herold
des Glaubens" evidently knows the
prejudices Of the people whom he is
addressing. He knows that, thanks to
our blatant and spread-eagle school
histories, there is still in this country
considerable prejudice against England.
This prejudice has Of course, been fos.
tered by certain of the Irish and, dur
ing the past three years, by the Ger
mans and German-Americans The ed.
itor of Der Herold des Glaubens"
knows that no direct attack by him on
the United States would be tolerated,
so he strikes at America indirectly by
playing on the ancient prejudice against
England
Here is a quotation from this re
ligious" publication:
The state department assures US
that the Germans are making awful
trouble in South America We daresay,
however, that they have probably not
gone to the extremes to which the
Britishers and the Americans have gone
in China. 1t is meanwhile being point.
ed out with regret that internal disturb
ances will probably postpone the en-.
trance of China into the war indefi.
nitely.' This regret is genuine. The
British and American ministers should
be sent home as incompetent since
they were unable to accomplish any.
thing beyond sowing discord in the
Celestial Empire"
Here is another:
1T is childish on the part of the Am.
erican Press to attempt to inject into
the people the fear that the
wicked Germans intend to come to Am.
erica and ravage the country. In the
first place, the Germans could not do II
If they wanted to and would not want
to do it even If they could. The intent,
Of course, is TO create a war-like feel.
ing against Americas enemy. Mean
while, the actual hereditary enemy OF
America is taken into our arms as an
ally and helped with all her aims. And
these aims are by no means friendly
to America"
Here is a further editorial note about
England:
The sturdy Britishers are keeping
this so-called free America ensaved.
The blacklist against American bust.
ness firms is still in force even though
1t is said officially that 1t has been an.
nulled. and no American firm is allowed
to ship anything on an American ship
to neutral country unless a British
consul has first given his consent.
When will congress, which so eagerly
declared the existence of state of
war with Germany, liberate us from
these chains Of slavery"
Here is one more:
| 1T is an abominable shame that Eng
land is allowed systematically to sup.
press news and reports in this country.
partly with the aid Of the dirty British
gold which controls the press of the
United States and partly because Brit.
ish censorship suppresses all news
which might harm the allies and allows
only such matter TO reach the United
States which shows the allies in a IA
vorable light. Even Hobson, the Hero
of Manila CsicD, admits that since the
beginning Of the war the British censors
have robbed the United States OF all
the true facts. II congress should now
decide likewise to have an American
censorship, no one will be able i'm fu.
ture TO read single true word con.
cerning what is going on at the front"
The foregoing quotations give an ex.
cellent idea of the temper Of this so.
called religious" weekly. But they do
more than that. They give at the same
time an excellent idea of the temper OF
lall the German language newspapers
which the present writer has examined
/ In all Of them there is the same batting
of England, the same contemptuous ref
erences to the United States govern.
ment, the same absence Of any censure
of the German government.
The "Herold des Glaubens" is doing
excellent work for the kaiser. Ii is
helping TO cultivate the deluson that
our enemy is not Germany but Eng.
land. It is doing all II can to keep the
American people from entering whole.
heartedly into the war which their ma.
ton is waging to end autocracy and to
create better world order.
There is no room in the United States
at this time for a paper printing senti.
ments such as those quoted above. The
United States is engaged in a desperate
war. the outcome OF which is still un.
certain. To allow such poison TO be
sold and sent through the United States
mails while we are fighting possibly
for our very existence, is worse than
foolish
II is criminal
The government should take one OF
two actions in regard to Der Herold
des Glaubens." II should stipulate that
this religious weekly stick TO religion
and aveid any and every reference 10
politics and international relations: or
1t should forbid the paper the use of
the United States mails.