Face to Face with Kaiserism Part 27

If, when the test comes, it is found that the votes of these disaffected citizens count for something in our elections, we must find some means to disenfranchise them rather than have our low politicians outbidding each other within the law in order to get these votes.

Have we not had examples enough from Russia of what the slimy bribe and the snaky propaganda can do?

In Chicago, where one Thompson is Mayor, there is a censors.h.i.+p of moving picture films. The chief censor is Major Funkhouser. When I was in Los Angeles, at the end of September, like all strangers there, I visited movie-land to see the pictures made.

At the house of my college chum, Dr. Walter J. Barlow, I met the beautiful and celebrated Mary Pickford.

In conversation she told me about Major Funkhouser, and how he had refused an exhibition permit for one of her films called "The Little American." Curious to see the film rejected by Chicago officialdom, I asked Miss Pickford if she would have it run off for my benefit. I could see nothing in the film that could hurt the susceptibilities of any except the Germans with whom we are now engaged in war!

Later the Fox Film Company informed me that their film called "The Spy" and which deals with the adventures of an American who is supposed to go to Germany to get a list of German spies and agents in America, was refused the right of exhibition in Chicago by this same Major Funkhouser. In this case the Fox Company appealed in the courts and obtained from Judge Alschuler an injunction preventing any one from interfering with the exhibition of this film. The decision of Judge Alschuler was affirmed on appeal.

And yet the ma.s.s of the people in Chicago are splendidly patriotic as the record of Chicago for enlistment and Red Cross and Liberty Loan shows.

When I spoke in the great Medinah Temple under the auspices of the Hamilton Club, on October twenty-second, I was able to show to the audience two German text-books used in the Chicago public schools, stamped with the royal arms of Prussia. The books had been approved by Ella Flagg Young, Superintendent of Schools, in 1914.

These books were furnished me by my friend, Anthony Czarnecki of the _Chicago Daily News_ whom I first met in Berlin where he came to do most excellent work for his paper. In one of these books is printed the German patriotic song, The Watch on the Rhine ("Die Wacht am Rhein"). What a howl there would have been if some public school superintendent had selected for the schools under her jurisdiction a text-book of English literature with the royal arms of England stamped on the cover and "Rule Britannia"

prominently displayed inside!

These text-books were cleverly compiled to impress children at a youthful age with a favourable idea of kings and emperors. In one of these was an anecdote about Frederick the Great and a miller, and in another, one about the Emperor Charlemagne and the scholar, of course, making Frederick and Charlemagne appear as good kindly people, and giving the impression that all kings and emperors are beneficent beings. But no word is there in these books quoting the present German Emperor's statement in which he puts Frederick in the same cla.s.s as the four other b.l.o.o.d.y conquerors of history, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Theodoric and Napoleon, and says that where they failed in their dreams of world conquest, his mailed fist will succeed. Why was not Frederick the Great's statement printed in these books, his admission that he engaged upon the Seven Years' War "in order to be talked about"?

These books contained quotations from Goethe. Why did they not contain Goethe's statement, "Amerika, du hast es besser."?

(America, you are better off). Or his prophecy about the Prussians, "The Prussian was born a brute, and civilisation will make him ferocious."

The only foreign language taught in the grammar schools of Chicago is German. Parents are compelled to sign a statement in which they answer the question as to whether they wish their children to be taught German or not.

See how subtle this is! Doubtless if a Teuton parent answers that he does not desire to have his children taught German the paid agents of the German propaganda stir up feeling against these Germans who have dared to refuse to have their children taught the language of the fatherland.

And when a parent has once elected that his children shall be taught German, not the princ.i.p.al of the school, not the district superintendent, but only the head of all the Chicago school system, on the application of the parent, can excuse the child, during his or her school course, from further study of German.

Worst of all, however, is the Chicago official school speller, a book printed under the direction and compiled by the school authorities of Chicago. In this speller there is just one piece of reading matter and that a fulsome eulogy of the present German Emperor.

This is an account of an alleged incident of the Kaiser's school days and the author concludes that the facts set forth (probably untrue) show that the Kaiser as a boy had the "root of a fine character in him," possessed "that chivalrous sense of fair play which is the nearest thing to a religion" in boys of that age and hated "meanness and favouritism." The Chicago Board of Education end the eulogy by stating, "There is in him a fundamental bent toward what is clean, manly and aboveboard."

"Chivalrous sense of fair play and hates meanness!" "Fundamental bent toward what is clean, manly and aboveboard!" How about the enslavement of women and girls in France, the use of poison gas, the deportations of the Belgians, the sinking of the _Lusitania_ and the killing of women and babies by Zeppelins and submarines.--Sickening!

A number of the books used in the public schools of New York have so much in them favourable to kings and emperors, have so much of German patriotism and fatherland, that the hand of the propagandist must have had something to do with the adoption of these books.

Of course, it is only in the books of the advanced courses that propaganda appears. It is not possible, however clever the author, to incorporate much propaganda in simple exercises, or in such sentences as "Have you seen the sister of my cousin's wife?" or "The bird is waiting in the blacksmith shop on account of the rain."

But the following extracts from books used in the public schools of New York should not be without interest to those who know that the impressions given to persons under the age of sixteen or seventeen are the impressions that often persist through life.

For instance in the "Deutscher Lehrgang, First Year," by E.

Prokosch of the University of Texas, "Die Wacht am Rhein" is printed with music.

I should be very much surprised to hear that the "Star Spangled Banner," with music, had ever been printed in any school book in Germany.

On page 109, of this book, there is an article in German ent.i.tled, "The German Const.i.tution." It begins with the sentence, "The German Empire is a union State like the United States of America." How far the German Empire is from the United States of America in political liberty can be answered by any German immigrant or Jewish merchant who has voted under the circle system or been denied access to court because of his religion!

The second paragraph commences with the sentence, "The German Kaiser is not monarch of the Empire. He only is President of the Union." I am quite sure that if the Kaiser ever saw this sentence he would very soon convince the author that he was something more than the President. The article continues:

"He is the over-commander of the army. Through him is war declared and peace made, but he can declare war only with the consent of the Bundesrath."

The Bundesrath had nothing to say about the commencement of this war. They never voted on the question. The German Const.i.tution, as a matter of fact, gives the Kaiser the right to declare war himself, providing that the war is a defensive war. In 1914, the Kaiser first announced, without presenting any evidence, that Germany had been attacked, and then declared war on the strength of this statement, never since substantiated.

The text book writer adds: "The people are represented in the Reichstag as the American people are represented in Congress." If the American people were represented in Congress under the same unfair representation from which the German people suffer, there would soon be a revolution in this country. The districts which elect members to the Reichstag have not been changed since 1872, so that millions of Germans are not represented at all in the Reichstag.

"Professor" Prokosch remarks: "The Bundesrath is like the Senate of the United States. It is composed of representatives of the particular States."

Of course, the only _difference_ is that our Senators are elected by the people and the members of the Bundesrath are appointed by the ruling kings and princes of the German states and vote exactly as they are told by these rulers.

This is only to show how carelessly, if not maliciously, Professor E. Prokosch of the University of Texas and his helper, C. M. Purin of the State Normal School at Milwaukee, have handled the German Const.i.tution, doubtless to give the impression to school children in America that the German empire instead of being a despotic autocracy, is ruled in very much the same manner as our own republic.

Frederick the Great, who admitted that he went to war "in order to be talked about," who boasted that he had only one cook and a hundred spies, who was one of the most tyrannical kings of all history, has a whole book dedicated to him for use in the Public Schools of New York. Frederick Betz, head of the Department of Modern Languages in the East High School of Rochester, New York, is the author of a book called, "About a Great King and Others."

The author in the preface states that the anecdotes which he prints do not narrate the story of the lives of these famous Germans, but, nevertheless, give glimpses of what they did and may help to show why the Germans held them in such high esteem.

The book contains four anecdotes about King Frederick William I, the father of Frederick the Great, a villainous king who was prevented from executing his own son only by the protests of the other kings of Europe.

Then follow forty-nine anecdotes about Frederick the Great, all of them, of course, revealing him as a good king and a popular character; eight anecdotes about Beethoven, Mozart, Schiller, and Lessing, and the remainder of the book is made up of one anecdote about Queen Louise, one about Field Marshal Blucher, eighteen anecdotes about Bismarck, three about the Emperor William I, and three about the present Emperor.

The booklet ent.i.tled "German Poems for Memorizing," with music to some of the poems, edited by Oscar Burkhard, a.s.sistant Professor of German in the University of Minnesota, contains a number of German patriotic poems and prints the "Wacht am Rhein" twice, once in the text and once with music. "Deutschland uber Alles" is printed twice in the same way.

I should like to be present at the trial in the secret court in Germany of a schoolmaster who dared to teach his pupils to sing the "Star Spangled Banner" or the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Prokosch and Purin seem to be popular with the Board of Education, for they are represented by another book called "Conversation and Reading Book," which is full of stories and patriotic anecdotes. Charlemagne, Barbarossa and Frederick the Great are all exhibited as great men to be emulated. There is a picture of the coronation of Charlemagne which represents the Pope about to place the iron crown on Charlemagne's head while the Deity, attended by seraphim and cherubim, floating on clouds overhead, lends his presence to the ceremony; only another example of how the Prussians believe that G.o.d is the tribal Deity of their nation who takes a personal interest in all their ceremonies and wars.

A long article appears in these books ent.i.tled, "The Germans in the United States." It implies that William Penn had no success until he called in Dr. Daniel Pastorius of Frankfort. Among the bits of history set forth the author alleges that, in 1760, there were more than a hundred thousand Germans in Pennsylvania, and that on account of their importance in this State it was proposed to make German the official language, the proposition being beaten by only one vote! The article says further: "The only reason why the contentious Puritans succeeded in making English the language of the country and in impressing their character on its politics was because the German immigrants were poor, downtrodden people."

But it is when we come to the description of the War of the Revolution and other wars that the authors really turn loose. We learn that Was.h.i.+ngton's bodyguard was composed of Germans and that Baron von Steuben apparently reorganised the American army, so that Was.h.i.+ngton moved Congress to name General von Steuben, Inspector General, and to make his position almost independent.

The writers say that the siege of Yorktown and surrender of the English army was in a great part the work of Steuben.

I think that other historians might have something to say on this subject. The authors fail to tell that Baron von Steuben, a soldier of fortune, who sold his services to the highest bidder, was hired to join the American army by a Frenchman, Beaumarchais, who sympathised with the United States.

Attention is also called to the fact that 190,000 Germans fought against the South and the authors observe in conclusion:

"If to-day the United States of America is a power of world political importance, if its industry, agriculture and commerce betoken a powerful danger commercially over the old Europe, so have they to thank the political power and the methodical perseverance of the Anglo-Saxon immigrants from England as well as the industry, the bravery and the cheerfulness of the Germans who have placed themselves politically in the service of the Anglo Saxons."

It is noteworthy that of the four books I have set forth as examples, three apparently have been produced since the commencement of the World War.

Does not all this show the hand of the German propaganda--the same hand which sends from Berlin every year a large sum of money to the German colonists in the southern states of Brazil in order that the German schools may be maintained there, German ideas inculcated and the population prevented from losing its German ident.i.ty?

From the time of the visit of Prince Henry to this country the German system of propaganda has been at work smoothing out traditional differences and feuds between Germans and doing its best to make Germans from Bavaria, Saxony and Hanover and Wurttemberg, and Hesse forget that their countries were conquered by the Prussians in 1866.

When Prince Henry was here on his trip through the country he spent very little time with Americans. He was chiefly occupied with German-Americans and German-American Societies.

Prince Henry's visit to the United States in 1902 was primarily to attend the christening of the racing yacht of the Emperor which was being built in this country. One of the members of his suite was von Tirpitz, then secretary of state of the German Navy. After having been officially received by President Roosevelt he visited Annapolis, Brooklyn Navy Yard and West Point and then toured the middle west stopping at twenty cities between New York and St. Louis. During the entire trip he continually asked questions of all the delegates sent with him by the U. S.

Government, such as for instance facts about the shops at Altoona, the coal mines, farms, factories and handsome women!

At every station he was met by the Mayor of the city and the German Societies, and greeted with German music. The Deutscher Kriege Verein, a German Society consisting of military veterans, always had a place of honour in the celebrations. In many cities the German-American citizens gave the Prince alb.u.ms or souvenirs in which were engraved pretty pledges of devotion to the Fatherland. For instance in Chicago, the German Roman Catholic Society presented the following address: "The German Roman Catholic Staats-Verband of Illinois begs your Royal Highness to permit it to express its great joy for your visit to the United States and to a.s.sure your Royal Highness of its respect and regard."

"We extend to your Royal Highness our heartiest greeting as the ill.u.s.trious guest of this country and _the envoy of the wise and n.o.ble ruler of our Fatherland_, whom the world recognises and respects as prince of peace and as the representative of a great and mighty nation that by its own power has united its people and achieved its present prominent position among nations of the earth.