The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-24
Gustavus Ohlinger of Tole- do Tells Senate Commit tee of Sinister Work
 of Organization
BARTHOLDT, WHEN IN CONGRESS, A LEADER
 OF KULTUR SYSTEM
Witness at Hearing on Bill to Revoke Charter Gives Names of Men
 Active
By the Associated Press

| Washington, February o3. The National German-Amer- ican alliance was pictured be- fore a Senate judiciary subcom- |mittee today by Gustavus Oh finger, a Toledo, O., lawyer, as a cover for German propa-
 ganda in the United States. Mr.. Ohlinger was the first witness
 at hearings on the bill by Sen ator King of Utah to revoke tho
 charter of the alliance and wind
 up its affairs and those of it's state organizations.
 Declaring that much of his testi- |mony was based on information taken from literature sent to members, Mr. Ohlinger said the operation of the organization in the United States is |similar to the propaganda system by which Germany brought Austria un- der it's complete dominance. He had Inot completed his testimony when the committee adjourned tonight and will be called again Monday.
 The subcom itpe prSpozer call officials of s0ap inala9sA Ag {. president, the HAY e. cn Nstsss ~ Wilmington, IE Ana fNs sAages&4 Adolph Timn. ol i4la...,.~lp plisa. iaa dEaua hear their side of the case.
 In his testimony today MT. Ohlinger made it plain that he did not desire to create the impression that all members of the alliance were conscious of hav- ing worked against the interests of the United States. The real propagandists in the organization, he said, worked in
 secret. and in subtle way urged the n- dividual members to further the interests of Germany. The entrance of the United States into the war, however had cur tailed their activities. MT. Ohlinger. added
 HEXAMER'S ACTIVITY The witness said that 8 former presi- dent of tho alliance, c. J. Hexamer Of Philadelphia, received from Emperor William in 1914, the Fourth Order of tho Red Eagle for his services to Ger.
 man kultur' in the United States. It was Hexamer, he asserted, who sent tele- graphic messages to the presidents of the state alliances, instructing them -o wirs President Wilson that majority of the citizens of their states opposed any drastic action against Germany as ths result of the sinking of the Lusitania
 FOUGHT WILSON | Preceding the national political cone ventions in 1916, the witnessed continued. the alliance worked against the renon- ination of President Wilson and urged l its members to aid in bringing about the defeat of Theodore Roosevelt for the republican nomination. both on the theory that neither favored strict neutrality,' and that both were opposed to German interests in this country.
 BARTHOLDT LETTER A letter addressed to German Ameri- cans in this country, published in an al- lance bulletin issued in Chicago. Mr. Ohlinger said, urged that citizen of Ger man descent vote ''only for those who favored Germanism' That letter. he said, was written by former Representa- tive Barthhodt of Missouri. who was
 active in obtaining passage of the bill giving the alliance it's charter. | Tn an alliance bulletin issued in July, l 1917, the witness told the committee a
 writer declared that every German in
 the United States is pioneer in Ger
 man kultur and that he should be proud
 of it as a means of showing his loyalty {, to his native country h the same is-
 sue. a poetic writer declared in verse
 that the oath of allegiance to the United States did not include declaration that
 he would fight against Germany. BELLIES REAL PURPOSE 1 The bylaws of the organization bslis
 it's real purpose, MT. Ohlinger said. for. although they declare one object is to teach American ideals to German imni- grants. there is no record that this is being done. On the other hand, he de-
 clared, activity in that respect is confined to urging the teaching of German in the public schools