Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1919-02-20
Catholic Bishop Defends Our
Foreign Born Slope Citizens
Bishop Wehrle Of Bismarck, Says German
Russian. in North Dakota, Are
Both Loyal aud Patriotic

Bishop Wehrle writes the Bis
marck Tribune the following let
ter on the subject Of the petition
signed BY Standing Rock Indians
and recently introduced in the le-
gislature by Representative Caddell:
/ was absent for week and have
seen the article ''sioux Indians De-
mand Loyalty Of Foster Sons" only
today. It is. a memorial address
to Representative w. L. Caddell
and contains 90 many falsehoods
and insinuations against our Ger
man Russian Catholics and our
Catholic parish schools that 1 find
it necessary to make a public pro.
test.
It is ostentationsly given as a
. memorial" by the Teton Dako.s
tab tribe, but every one who knows
those Indians knows also for most
certain that it is not their product
but the product Of some white man,
and most probably Of one who tries
to keep himself IL a fat position by
displaying cheap patriotism. The
Indians are not used to put their
nose into other peoples business
and to accuse others Of crimes with
out having any proofs at all. It
requires cheap white thrashn to
do this.
The memorial says: There
are many people Of foreign birth
Who have never become citizens -
TIE IS. IS. memorial,
would do we'll to find out exactly
how many Of our foreign born Ger
man Russians have not become citi-
zens as soon. as the law permitted
it. From my knowledge / know
there is hardly q dozen in a
thousand.
It goes on: And who have never
learned the language Of our country
- It is true enough, our foreign
born farmers are no experts in the
English language. Their first duty
was to build up their homes and to
change this western wild prairie
into the prosperous country it now
is. Bearing every hardship Of pio.
neer life, they have ( shown the
truest love for this their new coun-
try, much more than some govern.
ment employees who draw a fat
salary and have their heart more in
their salary than in the welfare Of
the Indians, whose charge the gov.
ernment has entrusted to them.
Il The ''memorialn: ''They have
shown a disposition to band togeth.
er in colonies A miserable &C.
cusatioD. They have taken their
homesteads where they> could find
them, apd It was quite natural that
that they were anxious to live near
their friends and relatives as long
as it. could easily be done.
The 'memoriap' '.They have
shown a disposition to preserve the
institutions Of the countries from
which they came An ACCUSE.
ton which Is nothing but Z lie, 50
contemplate that one feels tempted
to place short adjective before the
word lie. s.
The memorial: Continuing
to speak the language 81 those
countries in their churches. schools,
homes and in their daily inter-
course with one another When
has ~ become q crime to speak that
Language which one knowsq j
suppose the originator has spent at
least number Of years with the
Indians. Has he, a1man Of good
education as one may Judge from
his fluent English, learned enough
Dakotah to copverse intelligently
with the old Indians Who do no,
know English? If,he, has not, be
should not expect that immigrant,
: ~. f,. j * . y