New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1918-05-01
Open Forum

The following letter was sent by Theo.
Figge of Minneapolis to President Wilson
some time age and we think it we'll
worthy of reproduction in the Review.
Minneapolis, Mimi, April 20, 1918.
''To the President, Woodrow Wilson,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:
"To take up even a minutes time of
one so fully engaged in the Country's
business as yourself is indeed presump-
tuous, yet may this contain at least a
little thot worthy of reflection.
'About a year ago 1 went down to
see the dedication of a new bank building
here. When I arrived gentleman was
standing in front, making patriotic
speech 10 large gathering; ''What we
are up aga inst, with a nation such as
are our foe:, who had used dead bodies
of hundreds of thousands of those slain
by him for fertilizer, and boiling the
bodies for the grease in them.' I had
before this time ''seen' an occasional
hint of such doings but never heard it
so openly claimed as true. The story
being too horrible for honest human
belief, I, after his speech, spoke to him
to the effect that I did not believe it
true. To him l became at once an
enemy and being questioned: "Are you
a German 1 freely told him that
was German born, and as such needed
better proof for such accusation. I was
then told by young man near by
ION my inquiry that the Literary Digest
was authority for the story. When I
secured copy l found that the magazine
merely gave as a "rumor' from some
London and Paris papers. l later wrote
to the editor of the Digest without any
verifcation.
"The patriotic speaker mentioned
above was Judge John F. MCGEE of our
State Safety Commission. No doubt he
is quite sincere in his many-sided efforts
to assist the country in winning the war
and for that spirit no blame will come
to him. However, at different times
have read of his vehement plans for
results at home. Needless to say there
are many thruout our land today who
are not for it but against it, being it's
enemies. There are, too, thousands
among those who have come over from
Germany flor instance) years ago, who
have found here much more of comfort
and happiness than they could have
hoped for in the old home, who never
tEeless have been grieved because Of
the loss of near friends and because III
directly, if not directly, they have teen
classed as enemies here, for their I'M
disguised sympathy with those in tie
old land because of their sufferines. !
fudge MCGEE, as the Washington
papers report today, would no doub
put everyone of these hundreds of
thousands to the sword or TIE bullet.
History has often repeated itself and
are we to witness here another ''Bar-
tholomew Night" as when France tried
to rout out the Protestant Hugenots,
and thereby lost tens of tt ousands of
it's very best people, thru murder and
flight to other lands? Our South has
often wanted to dispose of the "niggers'
so much so that wholesale deportation
to Africa was seriously spoken of at
one time, yet, " hen later, on account of
abuse unendurab e., negroes have come
North, a howl has gone up that the
South won d go to the dogs for lack of
laborers. Paul, SAUL in his special zeal
for the fl 18th Of his fathers would per-
haps have put all those early Christians
to death, but for the light from heaven.
"Let there be more light and love and
forbeara! ce here during these trying
times or the murder in Collinsville and
the threats of murder elsewhere may
end in nationwide assassination and
murder to our everlasting shame. This
may we'll happen unless some judges
are restrained from melting the more
violent, always at hand. a.~>~... !: t.. +
with admiration for your firm stand
in this regard heretofore, I am, Il
+ Very Respectfully Yours,
4 Theo. Figge."