Omaha daily bee., 1918-06-09
ROOSEVELT
SPEAKS ON
WAR DUTIES
Emphasizes Necessit, Of As
simiIating Immigrants; Moth.
ing But Americans Should
Be Tolerated.

Be Tolerated.
+Afy fellow Americans, ! have come
here tonight to speak first OF our i'm
mediate duty to win this war;" Colone
Roosevelt said at the opening OF his
speech to the throng that packed the
Omaha auditorium last night, land
our duty to tolerate in this country
nothing but Americanism. and | also
Intend to say a few words on the
heed OF preparedness as a permanent
4 policy.
"Anybody can be excused from
milking q mistake, but not If he de.
mics having made it or if he makes il
over again. We are fortunate in hav-
Ing state councils of defense and one
0f the fruits of their usefulness are
the enemies they make"
directing his remarks particularly
for . few moments to the members oi
The Grand Army Of the Republic in
the front seats. he said: Il pay spe.
cal tribute of homage to the men who
SO odd years ago proved themselves
worthy in the great civil war.
Fathers Men Of Iron.
There were persons then who put
peace above righteousness and they
voted against Lincoln. They wanted
peace and you men Of the Grand Army
of the Republic could have had peace
for few years If you had stopped
fighting and then You would have had
another war. Thank heaven that our
fzthers had iron in their blood. We
are here tonight because the best men
ii the country during the years OF
1851 to 1865 counted all things OF no
consequence when the national honor
snd existence were at stake. They
bought for ahigh ideal.
here are two or three things
necessary for 4 nation If itNwould
count for anything, and the first IL
TINT Il should be nation. We be.
lived that all emigrants should be as
simulated to become Americans. The
events OF the last four years have
shown lis that there Is no room in this
country for $3.50 Americans. II q
man is an American with hyphen, he
Ii only $3.50 American and in that
case he is not an American at all. In
this connection one OF the most strik-
irg instances was the Gcrman-Ameri-
can alliance, and we had no idea what
mischief it was doing until the war
broke and then we were awakened to
tie fact that thousands were serving
GHrmany at the expense of America.
Kill the Snake.
We had branches Of the alliance in
New York that did really comic
things. In the state Of New York, !
am happy to say, that we repealed
the charter Of the Gcrman-American
Alliance and | wish to see the con-
gress Of the United States repeal the
chatter Of that alliance. They have
disbanded nationally. to be sure, but
wa should kill the snake to be certain
tliAt ii will not come to life again. We
do not want any loyalty that Is tenn
p6fed BY loyalty to any other coun-
tn We must insist that there shall
IN only one loyalty in this land and
Eh4t il any man has feeling toward
inv other land, he should 60 back to
that land. We should have only one
aaE and we should rule out the red
lad black flags Of anarchy. In every
c0pntry the disorderly elements have
been shown to be allies of Germany.
The bolshcviki and the Industrial
Workers OF the World have done
what Germany wished them to do.
Ihey took German money. Don't for
7et that the pro-Gcrman who thinks
4 II not safe to be so openly, attacks
our allies and he should be, made to
fre1 that when he attacks Dur allies,
he attacks Us. Some of them jeer at
those who are supporting the war and
sofne were prohteers Before the war.
Il Nas to the interest Of prohteers be-
fofe the war to keep US out Of war
N3ne-tenths Of the prohteering
stepped with the war.
Only One Language.
\ @We can afford to tolerate in this
tountry permanently but one lang
mage, the language Of the Declaration
Of Independence, the language OF
Washington's farewell address and the
language Of Lincoin's Gettysburg
speech. 1.-THE English language. I un-
defstand that you here in Nebraska
( hare made wise provision that only
English shall be taught in the pri-
mary public schools.
am going to take the liberty Of
speaking of my ancestors. ! repre-
seat many mixed strains and I repre-
sent the average American OF the fu-
ture. My Scotch, Irish, Dutch, Ger
mtn and Welsh ancestors came here
$50 years ago and became Americans.
These ancestors intermarried or I
would not Be here tonight They all
became Americans. We can not af-
4 ford to have communities growing Up
~ this country as communities OF diff
lefcnt spirit and languages. If q man
foes not come here TO be an American
{ <ik3xen, let him stay way. He does
not have to come. but when he does
come. we have the right to lay down
the terms on which he may come.
Instruct the Immigrant.
Il hope that we will place quality
above quantity, to the end that any
eraigrant who comes here must learn
II speak our language. We have not
always if the past seen that he be-
came Americanized. We should have
night schools where every emigrant
may learn to speak and read English
) within fivc years, and II he has not
harmed the language in that time, then
send him back to the country he came
from. ! hope you will work for the
passage Of such laws, not after the
War, but now. Our people are at
whine heat Of Americanism now.
Don't wait for reaction after the war.
b man who is not "a American, and
netting else. has any right to be 4
&<xk pf our American life.