Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1918-08-13
PATRIOTEERING
BY Booth Harrington
of The Yigilantes
S. A. w.

"When the German-Americans, as
we call them, found that our country
was in the war, they erased the n.y.
phen. The hyphen is gone forever
In our country there are only
American citizens" ! quote the above
from recent article issued by the
"Vigilantes," and l believe the facts
70 be virtually as stated. But II they
were not, and if the hyphen did &C
tuallv here and there remain alive,
would not the most sensible policy
treat it as dead, and at least assume
it to be dead, wherever it showed no
virulent signs of life? In other words,
men cannot be goaded into loyalty;
they only accumulate sense of IN
Jury under the goad. And it was never
more important than at this present
time that we should avoid injustice to
snv citizen. Suspicion, rumor, and
coincidence of circumstance should IN
fiuencc neither our judgments nor our
actions; much less should we vent our
passion against Germany upon the
person of him whom we called the
German-American.
I speak from the standpoint of one
who bitterly opposed the German
American position on the war prior
10 the American entrance, April, 1877,
But the sympathy of the German
American with the German cause,
rrior to that date, if rightly compr2-
hcnded. does not imply u sympathy
continuing beyond that date, though
t. many minds rhis is either an I'M
possible paradox or symptom OF
credulity imposed upon by almost
tarefaced hypocrisy. 1t is neither.
The German-American, beholding a
war between Germany and the allies,
sided with Germany. He had not been
aiienatcd from Germany, as the rest
of us had been alicnated (b;: the Revo-
lntionary WARY from England. lie
saw merely a contest between foreign
powers and sided with that from which
he sprang. But when his own cour-
try came to actual war with Germany
the German-American found himself
10 be an American. Nevertheless, 1t IS
hard for him 20 show his patriotism
when we say to him: "Now, you dirty
German American, drop your tricks
and speak up! Repeat these words IN
a loud shout, T am an American and
| love the flag and if you don't shout
loud enough wei, kick you. and maybe
we'll kick you anyhow" Such in
siruction does not seem quite stataT-
l.anlike, or ovat- Christianlikc. either.
Margaret Deland, lately returned
from France, says that over there.
Ut long aTO. 4 company OF HtEHi'.
..siE1n~y-. irst c--A--ar. werc hei"T
ant back from the front, when the"
encountered an American regiment
largely from Wisconsin, moving up I
the trenches. Many Of the Wisconsin
troops were of German origin; some
among them, indeed, could hardly
sneak English, and tie prisoners were
astonished to be greeted noisily and
earrulously in their own tongue. They
we're even more astonished at the ma
ture of the comments which these
strange Germans from America made
upon them. In fact, the episode was
nnamiable. Oaths in the German
tongue were frequent and intensive.
The German-speaking men OF the WIS
;onsin regiment cursed the capture
German soldiers with an inhospitabtF
'rankness very shocking to the prls-
il ers, who had been passed in silence
" other American regiments, and had