Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-10-31
GERMAN CHILD
DIVINE FRUIT
Prussian Youth Impressed by Teach
ers With Superior Rights.
PEOPLE OF OTHER
NATIONS THE WEEDS
German Girl Writes Friend of Neces-
sity of Expansion and Excuses
War-Taught From Pulpit That
Prussians Should Inherit
Earth-Germanic God
Creator Of Universe.

Cedar Falls, Oct. 29.-%That Prus-
sian militarism dominating Germany
early inculcates il German children
the war spirit; that it teaches the pu-
pills of German schools that they are
the divine fruit, while the people of
other nations are merely the weeds,
is shown in letter of German girl
to one of her school friends in Swift
zerlaId, copy of which was received
here today by Helen Corning.
Miss Corning recently taught
school at Roseburg, Ore. A friend
there received the German girls let
ter from the girl in Switzerland to
whom it was originally written, who
forwarded it to America as being an
example of the German viewpoint.
The letter writer is the daughter of
a German official. Her letter, more
than year old, follows:
"Frankfort-on-O Oder, July 90, 1916.
My Dear Louise: The contents of
your last letter would have hurt me
had l not known that your thoughts
of our glorious war resulted from
sheer ignorance.
"You are in country rendered eff
Terminate by the influence of old-fash-
toned ideas of liberty, country
which is at least two centuries be-
hind ours. You are in need of good
dose of Prussian culture.
The Place in the Sun.
1T is evident that you, Swiss
girl, with your French sympathies,
can not understand how my heart,
the heart of a young German. girl,
lpassio1ately desired this war Speak
| ing of it some years ago, my father
said to us: Children, Germany is get
ting too small for us; we shall have
to go to France again, in order to
| find more room Is it our fault if
France will not understand that more
money and land are necessary for us?
And you reproach us that our sol
diers have been very cruel to the Bel
gian rabble, and you speak also of
the destruction of Rheims and the
burning of villages and towns. Well,
that is war.
las in every other undertaking,
we are pastmasters in the making T
war.
"You have a great deal to learn be-
fore you can come to our standard,
and / assure you that what has been
done is a mere bagatelle compared
with what will follow,
s"As a matter of fact, there is but
one race worthy of ruling the world.
and which has already attained the
highest degree of civilization. That
race is ours-the Prussian; for,
though we Germans IN general are
the lords of the world, the Prussian
is undoubtedly the lord par excellence
among the Germans.
"All other nations, and among
them, unfortunately, the Swiss, are
degenerate and of inferior worth.
That is why have always been so
proud of being Prussian.
Adam and Eve Prussians.
Yesterday, again, our pastor ex-
planned to us convincingly that our
first parents, Adam and Eve, were
also Prussian. That is quite easy to
understand, because the Bible tells
us that the German God created us
all after his own image. If then, all
men are descended from Adam and
his wife, it follows that only Prus-
slams, or at least Germans, ought to
exist in the world, and that all who
push on and prosper ought to belong
to us. You must admit that this Is
why or motto is, God with us; God
above everything
''You know why we wished this
war. Is it not shameful that other
nations, who have no right of exis-
tence on earth, wish to diminish our
heritage? We are the divine fruit, and
others are only the weeds. Do you
understand that now?
IT remain your school friend.
Katie Hamful,
Daughter of state councillor of ar