The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-05-29
Why We Fight
No.
bsoause Germany for Years Sought
4 % Undermine Our Government
and Our Ideals

II and Our ldeal0
III BY CLARENCE L. SPEED
9ecretary Of the War Committee Of the
Union League Club Of Chicago.
We are fighting Germany for the
right to live our own lives as we see
1T. We are fighting for our laws, our
ideals, our homes, our institutions.
but, how" one may ask, "were all
these things threatened by Germany
before the war started? It Is easy to
see how they may be threatened now,
for IL we are defeated we are lost, but
before the war started did Germany
menace those things we hold most sa-
ered?"
Let the Germans themselves answer.
After you have read the evidence out
Of their own mouths, you may decide
whether or not Germany planned to up.
set our institutions, our ideals, our very
mode Of life. ,,
In 1901 the National German.Ameri.
can alliance was formed in the United
States. In, 1907 1t was incorporated
BY act Of congress. Its charter is
now being attacked in that same body.
One Of the objects Of the alliance, as
'omcially announced, was ITO check ma.
tivistic encroachments." In other
words, to keep the Germans from be-
coming Americans. Another object
was ITO awaken and strengthen the
sense Of unity among the people Of
German origin in America"
'''This alliance" its preliminary
statement of aims concludes, rs
pledged to bring its entire organiza.
ton to the support Of any state fed
Grafton which is engaged ID the strug'
gle for any Of these objects"
It was pledged, in other words, to
have its members vote, not as individ.
tlals, but as German controlled units,
for or against anthing Of which
they did not approve.
The desire for resisting "nativfstic
'encroachments,' was particularly alb.
horrent to American ideals, because
the effort in this country has always
been to keep politics free from racial
or religious influences. Yet here was
q body, proclaiming itself German In
origin and thought, seeking to perpetu'
ate this German feeling In the midst
Of America. a. '...2~ .'. ~
From its very start the alliance
sought to foment discord with England.
It always spoke Of the American press
as 1.-THE Anglo-American" press, and 1t
carried out long and well-directed
campaign for the introduction Of the
Germaplanguage into the schools and
its use| in civil life.~A 10 @g Z
1.-THE Nati6haisA 1iancer according
to. an issue 6f official Bulletin be-
fore this 1aHsten entered the. war, "is
waging war against Anglo axonism,
against the fanatical enemies of per-
sonal liberty and political freedom, it
is combating 3arrow-minded, benight-
ed know-nStlAhgi sm,s the 4infne pcG OF.
the British, and the enslavlng; Phritan:
ism, which had it's birth in England"
''The race war which we will be
compelled to go through with on Amer
lean soil will be our world war" said
the New=3 for X &tt##ts Zeitung fight
ing nraaesal to amend the New York
sad ffte t III Il {susSass i
requi2 lite for suffrage.
Ludwig Fulda wrote book, "Amer-
lean Impressions" They were I'M
pressions of German who had stud
led this nation, with view to- seeing
it ultimately GermAnized. German
ization is synonymous with causing to
speak German" he said, "and speak
ing German means to remain German
Wherever there we're signs OF dis
content, Of a movement which might
tend to disrupt: this country, or any
other which Germany might find as a
commercial rival, the German-Ameri-
can alliance was sure to be on the
job. It gave support to the Irish
American societies, because these soci'
cites, before the. war, were working for
the separation of Ireland from Eng
land, a matter in which Germany, at
that time, could have no legitimate
interest. But Germany, even then,
was preparing for war, and was doing
every possible thing to weaken its
coming enemies. A disorganized
America, one filled with German re"
servists, would be in no position to
side with her enemies, Germany fig
ured. On this subject the much-quoted
Bernhard wrote: 49, -.
Measures must be taken at least
to the extent Of providing that the
German element is not split up In the
world, but remains united in compact
blocks, and thus forms, even In for
seign countries, political centers OF
gravity in our favor. The isolated
groups Of Germans abroad greatly BEN
eft our trade, since by preference they
obtain goods from Germany; but they
may also be useful to US politically, as
we discover in America. The German"
Americans have formed political al
lance with the Irish; and, thus,
united, constitute power in the state
with which the American government
must reckon"
With the outbreak Of the war in Eu'
rope the actions Of the German-Amer'
lean alliance became bolder. The CAM