TO MY FELLOW AMERICANS OF GERMAN BLOOD
April 16, 1918
Hermann Hagedorn, an American whose father and mother were born in Germany, an American of the best and bravest and most loyal type, has just written a little book called “Where Do You Stand? An Appeal to Americans of German Origin.” I wish it could be read by every individual of those to whom it is addressed, and by all other Americans also.
I am, myself, partly of German blood, and I make my appeal as an American does, to and on behalf of all other Americans who have German blood in their veins. We have room in this country only for Americans who are Americans, and nothing else. They must be loyal to only one flag; they must speak one language; they must serve only American ideals. I mean literally what I say, that every man who bears even the smallest allegiance to any other country should be sent out of this country. The native American who, during this war, directly or indirectly, assails any of our allies, notably England, but also Japan, is a traitor to America and should be promptly imprisoned. The German-American, and especially the German-American editor, guilty of such conduct or of any exaltation of any German victory should be instantly interned and then sent back to Germany. The Sinn Feiner who attacks England should be immediately interned and then sent back to Ireland. The German-American Alliance and all similar organizations should immediately be broken up by Congress and by the state legislatures. Our people would do well to remember that even when such organizations keep quiet for the moment, they are certain to revive and to work against America with the utmost malignity when peace comes. The time to crush them is now. Foreign language newspapers should be required to follow the example of the New York Herald and begin the change, which is to convert their newspapers into English, the language of the United States.
As for spies, preachers of sedition, men who practice sabotage, and all other such persons, the Government already has much power, but should be given any needed additional power to proceed against them, and this power should be used in drastic fashion, if necessary under martial law, and after a summary trial the guilty men should be shot.
So much for the men of German blood, or of any other blood, who are not good Americans; but remember that it is also our highest duty from the standpoint of Americanism to stand by the good American of German blood, just exactly as we stand by any other American. We must refuse to permit any division along the lines of blood or ancestry. We must demand whole-hearted Americanism, and if a man gives this, we must treat him exactly on his merits, like any other American. In other words, we must give every man a square deal. Shoot the spy or the traitor, whether of native American, Irish, or German blood; whether a Protestant, Catholic, or Jew. Stand by the good American of any creed, no matter where he was born or whence his parents came.
It is an outrage to discriminate against a good American in civil life because he is of German blood. It is an even worse outrage for the Government to permit such discrimination against him in the army or in any of the organizations working under government supervision. Let us insist on the immediate stopping of such discriminations, which cruelly wound good Americans and tend to drive them back into the ranks of the half-loyal. In return let good Americans of German blood band together and take the lead in organization action against all disloyal or half-loyal citizens of German blood and against all German language or English language newspapers which are not whole-heartedly loyal and against all such organizations as the German-American Alliance.