Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The German-Americans and the European War: A Reply to Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard and Others
We all know how this feeling was intensified at the out break of the war, and how everybody who refused to align him self on the side of the allies was assailed with a fury that at times appeared almost irrational. It has not abated, on the contrary it seeins to be stronger and fiercer than ever. The time has arrived when a comprehensive reply to the charges uttered should be made. If I'call my attempt to formulate such a reply an answer to Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard and others, I do this because Mr, Villard has in the form of a lecture before the Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge collected all the accusa tions made against the naturalized citizens, especially the German Americans, and presented a formidable appearing indictment. Taking this document as the basis for my reply, I am given the opportunity to take the charges up point by point. In addition, Mr. Villard lays stress upon the fact that he was born upon German soil of a German father, and he uses these facts in con nection with the well?known friendship existing between his father and the late Carl Schurz to create the impression that he is especially fitted to speak on the attitude of the American citizen of German nativity or descent. I deny'this claim most emphatically, for while it is true that Mr. Villard's father was a German, and he himself was partly educated in Germany and speaks the German language, it is an undeniable fact that his viewpoint is distinctly English, that his knowledge of Germanhis-tory is deficient, and his insight into German conditions and the German spirit is badly warped by prejudice and passion. As to myself, I came to the United States nearly forty years ago, am a citizen since 1884 and have ever tried to be loyal and of service to this republic. I have frequently been at odds with other german-americans because I opposed actions which in my opinion might produce antagonism between the German element and the rest of the people. Perhaps the fact that many years of my life were devoted to an honest effort to bring about a. Better understanding between the American and the German people, gives me a certain right to make this reply, However, I speak for myself, have no mandate from any organization or any large number of my countrymen, and say what follows solely because I believe that somebody should publicly resent the insults showered upon us. If we cannot convince our enemies that they wrong us and are serving their country whose welfare they have constantly on the tips of their tongues.
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