The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1918-08-15

arrest of judgment and for new
trial, such motions being based upon
the same alleged errors as specified
in the demurrer to the Indictment
Judge Knauff n support of his mo-
tons argued that the defendant had
not been properly indicted and that
the indictment had not given the de-
Tense a chance for a fair trial. He
spoke of the sentiment which "foats
from tongue to tongue here in Bis
marck," which he declared made it i'm
possible for any defendant to receive
a fair trial on such charge.
Judge AmidOn's Charge
Having overruled the motions of
the defense, Judge Amidon summon
ed the defendant to the bar and ad-
dressed him as follows:
"You stand convicted Of having used
seditious language with intent to in
terfere with the military activities of
the United States government. What
have you to say in your own behalf?"
81 am not guilty" replied Rev. Fon-
tana. 81 never had the intention to
say or do anything against the United
States. What I have said has been
misunderstood or misinterpreted. |
had some sympathy for Germany be-
fore we went into the war. Since
then have been for the United States
first and all the time, and that means
I have been for her allies. l have
been an American for 20 years. Ny
wife was born here and her parents
were Americans. My children are
citizens of the United States, and |
want to raise them good citizens"
Questions from the court brought
out the fact that Rev. Fontana was
16B years old when he left Germany;
that he received part of his educa-
ton in Germany and completed it as
Lutheran theological seminary at
Austin, Mimi, where he graduated in
1898, since which time he had preach
ed in Ohio, South Dakota and Min
nesota. Nine years ago he came to
New Salem. In all Of his charges,
Fontana stated, he had used the Ger
man language service. Whether ser
vices be conducted in German or Eng
fish, he stated. was optional with the
congregation, and his churches had
preferred to hear their services in
German. At the request of the
court, the defendant repeated a por-
ton of the oath of allegiance to which
he subscribed when he became an
American citizen at Webster, S. D.,
in 1898.
The Courts Address
zone clause of this oath may have
slipped your memory" said the court,
beginning his charge to the defendant.
at is found at the beginning and the
end of the oath of allegiance. You
renowned and abjured allegiance to
Germany and the emperor of Ger
many and promised you would bear
true faith to the United States. That
meant that you would grow new
soul as soon as you could put aside
your German soul. Have you done
that? | don't think you have. You
have cherished everything German
and stif1ed everything American. You
have prayed and preached and sung
in German. If you were set down
in Prussia today you would be in
complete harmony with your environ
ment.
American Foreignness
you have influenced other under
your ministry to do the same thing.
A good many Germans have been be-
fore me during the last month. They
have lived in this country like your
self, 10, 20, 80, 40 years. They had
to give their evidence thru an in
terpreter, and as you looked at them
there was written all over every one
of them: Made in Germany. That
mark stands there today as bright
and as fresh as the inscription on a
new coin.
Who Is To Blame?
81 do not blame you" continued the
court. II blame myself. l blame my
country. We urged you to come; we
welcomed you; we gave you oppor-
tunty; we gave you land; we con-
ferred on you the diadem of American
citizenship and then we went away
and left you.
eve have paid almost no attention
to what you were doing, and now the
world war has thrown a powerful
searchlight upon US and we find all
over the United States Little German
les, Little Austrias, Little 1talys, Lit
tie Norways and Little Russias.
''These people have thrown a circle
around themselves and instead of
keeping their oaths to grow American
souls they have cherished and perpetu-
ated everything foreign.
"The figure of my country stands
beside you today, and it says to me,
don't blame this man alone-I am
partly to blame. Punish him for his
offense but let him know there is a
new era coming in; punish him to
teach him and the like of him and all
who have been misled by him and his
like that a change has come and that
there must be an Interpretation anew