The Redwood gazette., 1918-01-16

hearts of men of German blood and
ancestry, disloyalty-and if this does
not success, then to instill passive
ness and inactivity in the cause of
our country-passivenes and inactiv-
| ity-which is nothing less than plain,
everyday nonloyalty And | am here
to tell you, and to tell you with all
the power at my command, that pas
siveness, inactivity and nonloyalty are
| just as reasonable, just as murder
Gus to our country and to our brave
boys at the front, in their results, as
active, open treason.
And because | am of German blood
| resent this propaganda with all the
strength of my manhood; l protest
with all my heart and soul against
this most despicable work of these
propagandists, who seek to destroy
the good name and fame of the men
of German blood in this country,
earned and established by their 10y
atty and their whole-hearted service
to country and to state in the cen
tury gone by. These propagandists
are the worst enemies that the men
f.; of German blood have to contend
with.
| cannot, however, understand how
any one of the blood of Hanover, of
Westphalia, of Bavaria, of Schleswig
Holstein and other principalities and
provinces within the German empire
can be swayed into having any SYM
pathy for or adhesion to the Prus-
sian autocracy, even leaving out of
question the fact that this country
is at war with that autocracy, be-
cause of the treatment accorded to
your homelands in the past by this
same autocracy.
You know it, and you know it in
your heart, that it was the salf-same
militarism and autocracy that over
whelmed your country, overthrow the
government and ruthlessly and fore
IDLY annulled your Constitution, de-
stroyed your citizenship and annexed
your country as part of their Prus-
sian domain, and, not content with
that, sneered at your misfortune and
misery and taunted you with being
"Muss Preuss."
Fight we must, and it is better for
US and our children and women that
we fight our battles in France or Bel
gium than to fight them in New York,
in New England or the South Allan
tic states; we will at least in that
way protect our women and our chill
dren.
If tomorrow we would get into
trouble with Great Britain and if our
general staff failed to pick out the
fighting ground in Canada, these self
same propagandists would be the first
to cry out against the inefficiency
and incompetency of our general staff
! and clamor for it's removal.
This is a democracy-Germany is
an autocracy. In Germany the mobiles
and the "vons" do the commanding,
the common herd the fighting. Here,
rich and poor, high and low, all bear
an equal part in the defense Of their
country.
But, my friends, the war is on
all debate, all question as to its pro-
priety or improperly, as to whether
it could be averted or not, as to it's
justice OR injustice, it at an end. This
is democracy, and the people have
spoken. Our representatives in con-
gress have, by an overwhelming vote,
declared that state of war exists
and there is only one slogan now:
"Our country-right or wrong, our
country" 1t is now our duty, until
peace dawns again upon a troubled
world, to give our whole heart, our
whole soul, all of our, being, to our
country. to this country that has done
so much for us-this country that to
many of you is the land of your
choice and adoption.
And to you whose birthplace was
on foreign soil-you know that the
land of your birth offered you no
future. There you had sacrifices, and
these sacrifices brought you no re-
compense. Unremitting toll and SER
vice to the crown was your lot, and
as you existed there in silent despair
there came glinting to you across
the waters the message of the flag
of the people, the flag of freedom,
equality and liberty and it bid you
come to this land of the free and en-
joy the full measures of its freedom
and happiness. You came, and by
and through the opportunities which
this flag has given you, you have
grown prosperous beyond the dreams
of your youth, you have enjoyed lib
erty, equality and happiness, without
stint or measure every day of your
| life, and you owe 1t to this country
of your adoption, you owe it to your
self, you owe it to your children and
your children's children to give to
this flag the full measure of devotion
and loyalty-loyalty full, undimin-
ished and undivided.
You must be all American-there
must not lurk in your heart one
spark-I will not say of disloyalty
for you cannot be base enough for
that-but there must not be in that
heart and soul of yours one atom that
does not throb and pulsate with love
for country, that does not burn with
loyalty for flag and motherland.
My friends, have been and am
proud of my German blood, but | am
prouder, intensely prouder of my own
country, my Americanism, and in be-
half Of the good name and fame that
Americans of German blood have al
ways enjoyed, in the name of those
of German blood who fought with
Washington, for freedom and against
autocracy; in the name of that great
l. of h1ooJ x,,bo 1oxyor