The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-01-15


not necessarily for publication, but
for the information Of the editog.1
He Is Curious to Know.
To the Editor Of The Gate City:
For heavens sake tell the public
who is the Unity club.
Who are the probably they are
mostly women, but the record saith
not-who lecture the board Of edu-
cation of Keokuk-the best board OF
education in the state take it all in all
that nationally known schoolman,
the Keokuk city Superintendent OF
schools, the highly educated and very
successful principal OF the Keokuk
high school, and inferentially the Iowa
Legislature and President Wilson, one
time president of Princeton university,
on the high school course Of study?
Did any of the Unity club committee
on high school curriculum ever study
Latin, Greek. Spanish, French, or any
other language but a rather diluted,
because windy English? Can the
Unity club qualify on the witness stand
as an expert whose opinions and con-
illusions are worthy OF being heard
and considered at all?
Men in the trenches, munitions and
all sorts of manufactured articles,
money galore, intensive application to
transporting men and goods to Europe,
saving of wheat and meat and raising
more of it here in America-these
things are what are going to win this
world war-and dissipation of our
American energies by discussing and
resolving and Illuminating against the
German language is going to make the
war last that much longer. II the
Unity club, or anybody else, could in
Guce congress and the American people
to concern themselves for year about
the German language, the kaiser would
be only too glad to award a bunch of
iron crosses TO the Unity club mem
bers.
Everybody else knows that, and
President Wilson has warned and
preached against such things many
times.
This world war is not against
language, nor against school of art,
but against a savage code Of ethics
and the mailed fist confronting civil
ization.
Boycotting the German language, or
Wagner's music on monographs, or
German fried potatoes, or sulphide of
carbon In rubber factories because 1t
smells like limburger cheese, is not
patriotism, because it does not harm
the Hun. 1t will harm us. If carried
out, by its tendency to make us nearly
as narrow and nasty as the house OF
acknowledgements in many other
more material ways
Keokuk people who really take their
cue from President Wilson and men
like Roosevelt might merely laugh at
the high sounding and hollow resolu-
tons of the Unity club, but
Street gossip has 1t that the domi-
nant members Of the Unity club in
clude the superintendent OF the water
works which has a new franchise in
negotiation; the manager of the esec-
trio and gas company which has q
street railway line on Franklin street:
the man behind the fight on the water
power company; an avowed candidate
for mayor and another admittedly po-
tential candidate for mayor; the presi.
dent of large corporation with very
large ak to grind just now; several
other ak grinders extraordinary; not
least and bearing directly upon this
German language nonsense, three
members of the board of education
only one less than majority of that
board.
The same gossip also says that men,
bership in the Unity club is conferred
by very secret process which black
balled one of the most prominent and
most useful men in keokuk who is
hard to handle politically.
Nobody can vouch for Keokuk street
gossiD--it NAV be assumed thar ~ tho
gossip stated above is untrue, the
Unity club will deny it in tomorrow's