Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-04-09

ment OF our nSnllng boys IN France
and the equally strong disgust of the
fighting men of Germany.
"An American citizen who tries to
be neutral today would be man with
out country. To be 'echt deutsch' is
to be intellectually loyal to the
country of which you are now a citi-
zen, no matter whether you are Ger
man or not. Let the leaders among the
Americans of German stock mark that
| well for their responsibility is ire
mendous today. A paper that never
+! says anything positively, agressively,
enthusiastically encouraging to stir up
| the fightig spirit of loyalty among it's
readers is disloyal in effect. Let
teachers, ministers, and editors whose
| patrons are of German stock search
| their hearts in these trying times to
| see if they are measuring up to their
great mission as Americans.
Acid Test of Loyalty.
| "Do you know how you can test your
own loyalty? Here is the acid test: If,
when you heard Hindenburg's vain
boast that he will be in Paris by April
1st, you felt in your heart the least
| thrill OF racial pride or any glow of
exaltation over that announcement
then you are not yet good American,
for between Hindenburg and Paris to-
night there extends line of trenches
protected by thousands of American
| boys, many of them of German stock,
over whose dead bodies Hindenburg's
millions must go before he can reach
Paris. The American boys know that
they are fighting for your home and
mine; that freedom, equality and De-
mocracy must be preserved to our
beloved America and to all people,
great or small, that breathe the air of
liberty, or life will not be worth living
to them"
The speaker then paid a glowing
tribute to President Wilson for his in
fiuence in helping to keep hatred out
of the passions of war, for sharply
defining the issue as fight for princi-
pie and not fight between races, as
a fight not against the German people
or the German language, but against
the dynasty that rules the German
people; war not of our own seeking
but one forced upon us by military
machine bent upon dominion of the
earth.
1--WE can divide Americans" he said,
into three groups: Those who were
invited to come here, those who came
here of their own free will and those
who came by the accident of birth.
The first group are the r egroes. Most
of us here tonight, or our fathers, be-
long to the second class. We came
here because we wanted to, which is a
compliment to this country but not
good reason why our patriotism
should be any less complete. Nobody
asked us to come but we were made
welcome and it lies in our hands to
see to it that our neighbors do not re-
greet our coming, during the more try
ing days of the war before us.
German Stock.
Think what a good name the Ger
mans had in every part of our coun-
try four years ago. No other stock
stood higher in general estimation.
If now that good name is under suspi-
cion whose fault is it? Hot-heads?
Yes. Zealots? Yes. The blind and
unthinking? Yes. The military mas
tiers of Germany with their methods
of warfare? Yes. All these in part,
but most of all on our own reluctance
in expressing what we really feel.
We know that the overwhelming ma
jority of our stock is loyal. The vol
unteers and the orderly draft proved
that. We must overcome our own re-
serve and become positively, actively,
warm-heartedly loyal, stirring up our
own blood to heroic sacrifice.
What makes Germany strong in
this war? Three things. First, thru
| oofn tot nj hu 40
the unity of her own people. Second,
and third, thru self-sacrifice.
1--WE cannot be any less unified, eff
cient and self-sacrifcing for all these
things are necessary to victory.
would it not be calamity if we
did not work and pray for a unity at
home, even greater than that shown
by the German people, especially
when you think of the brilliant rec
ord made by such German-Ameficans
in the civil war as Carl Schurz and
Franz Siegel to preserve our union?
Let every man of German stock in
this country feel assured that he is
carrying on the work of those great
hearts by preserving unbroken unity
of effort at home.
| at would be pity now if we did
not exert ourselves, each in his own
way to do his best, to maintain the
higher efficiency to make all the
money we can so that we can the bet
ter help the Red Cross, the Y. M. c.
A, the K. of c., the Lutheran societies
and the Salvation Army, and to help
Uncle Sam by carrying all the Liberty
bonds we can.
This means sacrifices, but can we
not sacrifice as much as our blood kin
| in Germany? Can we not do these
things to back up our boys in France
who are fighting for all that makes
| life worth while? 1t is little enough
| to ask.
I'VE are in the season of Lent, but
there can be no Eeaster day for us, no
resurrection day until the war is over.
| see not the three crosses on Calvary,
but millions of crosses, not only on a
| field of Flanders but back of the Ger
man line also, and 1 call upon you to |
suffer for the sake of our beloved |
America, for the good of our race that |
no racial hatred may embitter our |
future and the future of our heroic |
boys now fighting in the bloody field |
of France.
The Judgment Day For Us.
Some day the war will end. Some |
day most of our boys, not all l grieve |
TO say, are coming back. Some whole, |
as they went; some crippled for life; |
some blind; some with no mental fu- |
ture, but they are coming back Ameri- |
cans, Americans such as they never |
were before. loving our country and |
its ideals with a passionate devotion |
and when that day comes you
and l are going to be faced by those
boys who are going 10 search our
hearts and ask very embarrassing
questions about our conduct while |
they were gone. These are the days
of trial for us. The future holds the |
day of Judgment Listen: