The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-02-04

pidCe anu SHOC uOWu WuOleSdle. MOSt
/ of this was done deliberately and by
order-done as a part OF plan of
frightfulness-done to frighten with
| Its awful horror a people who would
not scare but died rather than yield.
/ want our German-Americans to
know the truth. To know that these
things were not British lies, but that
they were actually done. want them
to know that the public thinkers of
Germany, the writer's Of her books,
the editors of her papers, the preachers
in her pulpits, the teachers in their
schools and colleges, the members OF
her legislative bodies, all of them
writing, speaking and working under
the lash of the kaiser and his military
gang, have filled the souls of great
majority of the German people with an
unholy lust for world conquest and
world power
1t is because we do not want this
curse to blight America that we must
continue to fight kaiserism with a vim
and a will, with eyes that never sleep
and feet that never tire, fight out faith
fully to the bitter end this great war
for human liberty and happiness.
The trouble with our German people
is that they can't be brought to believe
these awful things They don't want
to believe them, they fight against be-
lieving them A number of our Ger
man-American subscribers have stop
ped their subscriptions to the English
language newspapers simply because
they couldn't endure the horror and
pain that the awful truth inflicted up
on them. But there is no use in our
shutting our eyes to the facts, sooner
or later we shall be forced to know and
accept the truth, and the sooner we
know it and get our lives adjusted in
harmony with it, the better for us all.
There ought to be no question as to
the absolute loyalty of every German
American to the stars and stripes.
We came from a land where we had
no chance at all, and because we had
no chance, to this fair land of prom
Use that insures to every hard working,
saving, earnest man, real success in
life. Most of us have realized well up
on this very assurance. Many OF us
have become wealthy under the oppor-
tunity which America gave US. 1t is
true we earned what we have, earned
it by constant hard work through days
filled with long hours of unremitting
toll, and by means OF saving our pen
the so-called pleasures of life. Yet in
spite of all of our hard work and self
denial we never could have succeeded
unless great, good, kind and loving
America had given us the chance to do
so.
In return for this chance which she
gave us we owe her our last dollar and
last drop of life's blood in her great
war against a system of governmen
that forbids, instead of giving, it's peo-
pies, privileges and opportunities. Here
in America a man has chance to
work out in freedom the best there is
in him. In Geranmy he has no such
chance but must do simply as he is
told. In Germany the soldier shoves
the civilian off the sidewalk into the
gutter In America it is the civilian
that rules, and the soldier is his serv
ant In Germany when a soldier goes
forth to fight he fights to make things
good for military aristocracy. In
America when he goes out to fight he
fights for himself, for the welfare, the
comfort and the happiness of himself,
his family and his friends. That's the
difference between America and Ger
many
1t seems to me that the effort of our
organization should be two-fold, first,
to help our German-Americans who are
inclined to know the facts and to con-
vince them by reason and persuasion
of the error of their ways, and second,
to make this country simply too hot
to hold those who stubbornly stand out
against Uncle Sam and will not be con-
WINGED by the logic of the facts. For
the misinformed, mis1ed, and mis-.
nffi 81
birth and parentage, we can have
naught but pity and sympathy and
desire that he should come out Of the
darkness into the light, but for the
German-American citizen who wilfully
shuts his eyes to the truth, who per-
sists in believing i'll the kaiser's dream
Of the world conquest, and who wants
the kaiser to win, simply because he
happens to be German, we should have
no charity or consideration, but should
give him clearly to understand that he
is not wanted here and that II he
doesn't get out right soon, we will
help him to move in ways that he can
not fail to understand
I believe that the majority Of Ger
man-Am orleans in this country are
loyal to the stars and stripes Those
who belong to this majority should be
cheered and comforted and encourag-
ed and supported by every means at
cur Command Yet on the other hand
we should not for one moment toler-
ate the presence Of the German-Ameri-
can who is wilfully disloyal to our
country after all that that country has
done for him.
It is with these sentiments in my
heart that wish the new patriotic or
ganization all possible success and
prosperity.
Sincerely yours,
LOUIS BLOCK.