The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-01-29
Eliminating German from Our Schools

Eliminating German from Our Schools
The action of the city school board in banning
German from our grade schools is commendable
In the first place, foreign language, whether 1t
be French, Spanish. Italian or Greek, by rights
has no place in the lower grades. This is an Eng.
lish speaking nation, and English is the only lam
guage that ought to be taught.
If father believes his children should learn
German or Italian, let him engage tutor and pro-
mote the cultural phase of the chid's education
with his own money.
Again, it is not fair to the Italians, Greeks and
Hungarians who reside in our city to have Ger
man taught and their own languages ignored.
A Jew for instance, has just as much right to
insist that the classical Hebrew the modern
Yddish be taught for its cultural value as citi'
zen of German descent has for insisting on the
teaching of the Kaiser's tongue.
=. The teaching of a foreign language in the pub
lie schools is always favoritism to one national
ity and unfair to other citizens of alien birth.
But the problem has an infinitely more vital
aspect than the mere question of whether favor
itism is shown The teaching of German in our
grade schools strikes at our national solidarity.
We have called attention repeatedly to the
ambition of the Pan-German party to maintain
the German language in the United States as a
link to keep German immigrants solidly connected
with the Imperial German government. No pro-
German can deny this effort of the Pan-Germans,
for their utterances and declarations are too con-
vincing to admit of denial.
The elimination of German in the schools
should have taken place years ago. The United
States has been very remiss in its efforts to
Americanize it's immigrants, mistake that it I'M
derstands since we entered the great war. No
one can deny that the teaching of foreign
tongue in our public schools is powerful handi-
cap in the work of welding nation out of the mil
lion of aliens that have come to our shores.
= No cogent reason exists for the teaching of
German in our grade schools. The Germans who
came to this country intended to make it their
home. They acquired knowledge OF English to
enable them to enter our business and industrial
life They saw that the acquisition of English
was a necessity if they hoped to make money
here. They insisted that their children learn
English so that they would not be handicapped
later in life.
If a knowledge of English helped them i'm
prove their material lot, why do they want to
cling to their native tongue which is not the ma
tional language of the United States and never
will be.
Why should their children learn a tongue
which in this country has only a cultural value
and little vocational advantage?
They may answer that they want their chill
dren to be able to understand German sermon
aud worship God in that language. The fallacy
of that argument is seen in the English congrega-
tions which the denominations that niniStered to
the German immigrants were forced to organize
to keep their children within the folds of their
church.
And even in the congregations where German
has been zeaously fostered, few children can
speak classical German can even carry on a
conversation in idiomatic German. And in some
of the most German" homes of Richmond, Eng
fish, not German, is the language in which chill
dren address their parents so that the younger
generation virtually nullifies the efforts Of the
parents to perpetuate their native tongue.
German has no place in the grade schools. Let
it be an elective course in the advanced classes of
the high school. Parents who want their children
to learn German either for cultural or vocational
purposes will then have an opportunity to let
them study the language a preparatory course
for college or for business purposes.
The Township Trustee