/J lVlAR/>t41907 GERMAN INFLUENCE ON TWO HEMISPHERES AN ADDRESS BY JERRY A. MATHEWS ON German Day, July 15, 1906 AT CJERMANIA PARK, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA By Invitation of the GERMAN AMERICAN ALLIANCE HERALD Co., PRINTERS WINCHESTER, INDIANA 1906 GERMAN INFLUENCE ON TWO HEMISPHERES f( Ladies and Gentlemen: I esteem it an honor to be permitted to join with the Geruian- Amtricans of Indianapolis in these exercises. I will not detain you long. The proprieties of this occasion forbid it. Besides, in prom- ising to be brief, I am but following the advice of two men whose judgment you will heartily join me in commending, When my good friend, and your neighbor, (Japtain Jacob L. Bieler, invited me, he was thoughtful enough to suggest that a brief address would be a popular one, I am admonished by still another eminent German authority. The great Bismarck once said: Oratory will oue day come to be looked upon as a generally harmful quality, and a man will be punished who allows himself to be guilty of a long speech. y' My German friends, you have one accomplishment, more per- (/ fectly developed than any other people; you have learned the philos- f phy of contentment. You know the value of industry, and you ^ kaow also the value of recreation. You realize the force of the say,-* ing: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Thus you seem to get more pleasure out of both labor and recreation than others do. ; It is a beautiful and patriotic sentiment which prompts you German-American citizens of Indianapolis to assemble once a year to do honor to the land of your ancestry, and to the great German names that have illuminated the world's history. A good German necessarily is a good American. In welcoming the German war veterans at the White House recently. President Roosevelt said: The reverence a man preserves for his native land, so far from standing in the way of his loving and doing his full duty by the land of his adoption, should help him towards this love and the per- formance of this duty. The quality that makes a man reverence The country of his birth is apt to be the quality that makes him a good citizen in the country of his adoption. The three crowning virtues of citizenship are love of God, love of humanity, and love of country. I trust you will permit me to have a greater share in this day's exercises than that of a guest, merely, for I count it my good for- (tune that my grandfather was a German, who transmitted to me, through my good father, the splendid legacy of health, a strong con- stitution, and a capacity for hard work. I think these of much 1 D more valae in life than any amount of money or property. He was a Pennsylvania German, who, following the German's love of ad- Tonture, came to the middle west as a pioneer. In the neiKhborhood where hv lived he was esteemed. I am told, for his industry, frugal- ity and honesty — (lualities that characterize the average German citizen in America. And 1 feel that I will not have lived in vain, if. after I have completed ray cour.se in life, my contemporaries may 8ay of me, as his said of him, that I lived honestly and wronged no man. I have been told that this gx-andfather bf mine was a man of ■' strong will, and that he liked to have his own way. It may be that this is a German characteristic. Self-assertion is not a bad quality. It is the complement of courage. The German, in whatever station you have found him, has always been strong-willed and self-reliant. Was it not Martin Luther who stood upon the rock of con- science and said to the world: "Here stand I. I cannot otherwise, God help me." And thus he exemplified tne highest quality of the German character of all creeds in all epochs, i Knightly courage and ^ perseverance have been the distinguishing qualities of those superb German characters who have made history^ We have all been thrilled with, admiration as we read over and over again as students of history, of the long struggle for recognition for his art by Beetho- ven, who for years endured poverty and was denied popular favor, but who, when I e stood up in a German court and was asked to pro- duc§ proofs of his nobility, pointed to his head and his heart and re- sponded: "My nobility is here, and here." His biographer has said of him that Beethoven was a lover of liberty, and "the Republic of Plato was transfused in his flesh and blood." When he believed tliat Napoleon would republicanize France he laid the rich tribute of his art at the conqueror's feet. He composed and in.scribed to Bonaparte the "Heroic Symphony." But when the first consul, instead, made himself Emperor, so strong was Beetho- ven's love of liberty that he tore up the dedication and threw it upon the ground. In his early career the world seemed dark to him. His art was still vainly knocking at the door of popular favor. That love, with which his heart abounded that overflowed in "Fidelio," failed of domestic realization. When fortune seemed most forbidding he cried out from the depths of his despair: I have no friend: I must live with myself, alone; but 1 well know that God is nearer to me than to my brothers in the art. This was not seli-esteem; it was self-appraisement. It was that divine bestowal of the appreciation of his art with which the true artist is ever endowed. It was that faith in self which keeps every hero at his task until he commands from the world his immortal due. Beethoven said to a friend: I have no fear for my works. Xo harm can betide them. Whoever understands them shall be delivered from the burdens that afflict mankind. Poverty and disappointment attended the artist's early efforts, and the world was harsh, but when sorrow smote his heart strings he MAF. a W6 responded, not with a sigh bat with a symphony that lives and stirs the hearts of men long after the composer has joined the ■'Choir invisible, whose music is the gladness of the world." The sturdiness of the German character manifested itself in a rich contribution to statecraft, through a line of the greatest kings in history; names that are syuonomous with chivalric courage and worthy of the world's best traditions; men mighty in war and sub- lime in peace. There was the great Hermann, who, sixteen years before Christ, turned his bacic upon the splendor of Rome, where he had been carried as a child, reared and knighted, to return to his native forests and liberatp the land from Roman domination. He led her conquering hosts witli such iutrepidity that 'hey wrung from the Emperor Augustus Caesar the historic cry, "Give me back my legions!" Confronting in battle his recreant brother, who had pre- ferred the splendor and titles of Rome to the forests that sheltered rheir native clan, he denounced him, and inspired the lines: "Where heroes press, And spoilei'S bend the knee, Armiuius is not brotherless. His brethren are the free." Those were the days of a splendid chivalry. Returning from one of his invasions of Germany Julius Caesar said that the Ger- mans of that day had more of good customs than the Romans had of good laws. There was Henry the Fowler, who, w'hen the King's messenger came to anoint him for the crown, found him in the wood with his falcon on his arm. With fine chivilric spirit he replied that the anointment should be for others. Going to the throne he drove off the Huns and Vandals, and gave his country such a rc-igu as to call from Thomas Carlyle this tribute: Hail, brave Henry: Across the nine dim centuries we salute thee, still visible as a valiant son of Cosmos and son of Heaven, be- neficently sent us as the man who did in grim earnest serve God in his day, and whose works accordingly bear fruit to our day and to all days. It has been said of Frederick William the Great Elector, that the house of Hohenzollern owes to him its primaiy importance a century before Frederick the Great. With knightly courage worthy of the world's best traditions he met the armies of the great Swed- ish, Karl Gustav, at the battle of Fehrbellin. Outnumbered and outclassed he knew not defeat nor retreat. Firing his pistol in the air he exclaimed: Tis to thy glory great God, that I discharge my arms. Defend my cause, for thou knowest it to be just; punish mine enemies, for thou knowest them to be relentless. And with marvelous faith and courage he inspired his soldiers to a great victory. The historian McCauley said of Frederick the Great that he was: >»*. r^ 6 "The greatest kins^ that has in modern times succeeded by right of birth to a throne," and yet like every great soldier in every epoch of the world's history, he had that tender consideration for the weak which is the surest attribute of the strong. Mark his instructions to the judtjcs, inscrit)ed on the petitions of his subject*, who wrote the king asking him to grant a re-hearing of their causes. Said the great Frederick to these judges: "Do not be so harsh upon the poor.'' On this day it is well for us, as German-Americans, to recall his magnanimous admiration fur and moral support of General Wash ington in the Revolutionary War. On the portrait he sent to Gen- eral Washington was in.scribed this modest tribute: "From the old est general in Europe to the greatest general in the world." And German- Americans who love to think of Germany and America as- forever bound by indissoluble ties of kinship and blood will also re member that Frederick the Great forbade his people to enlist againt tlie Colonies in the war of the Revolution, and to better en force it made strict orders limiting the embarkations for England. General Washington, in gratetui remembrance of the sympathy and interest shown by the great Frederick, placed the lattei's bust in the parlor of his home at Mt. Vernon. Frederick the Great was the^ first European ruler to recognize the new Republic of the United j) States. The American people have not less cause to be grateful to that great ruler of modern Germany, who, notwithstanding the ioter- natiooal intrigues, suspicions and misrepresentations aimed at him, has been a powerful factor in preserving the peace of the world. In a recent address President Roosevelt said: The ties that unite Germany and the United States are many and close, and it must be a prime object of our statesmanship to knit the two nations ever closer together. In no country is there a warmer admiration for Germany, and for Germany's exalted ruler, Blmperor William, than here in America. It is not out of place for me to say a word of congratulation both to the German people and the Emperor upon the work which has been accomplished in the Al- geciris conference, which has just closed, a conference held chiefly because of the initiative of Germany. Commenting upon this beautiful tribute which the President of the United States paid to the great Emperor, one of the ablest American newspapers said editorially: As we look back over the last two years we must admit that there was but little ground for the uueasinets with which we weighed the utterances and watched the movements of th« Emperor William II. Re\aewing international events of the last twenty-four months the same newspaper said: Had that sovereign really been Bctiiated by a lawless and un- scrupulous ambition he would have laid his grasp on Holland or crossed the French frontier within a week after the battle of Muk- den. That was the psychological moment. None knew it better than himself, and beyond a doubt he would have turned it to ao- coiint had he held human life and international peace as lightly as >-py- he was accused of holding tbem. The fact Ui at he put awav temp- tation, though it came to him in most seductive guise, should have convinced fair mindeti on-lookers that William II is not only a great man, he is a good man. »»**■***» Justice and equity caused many an American to feel respect for the forbearance and self-restraint with which the Emperor submitted to the advere ver- dict rendered by a majority of the powers assembled at Algeciris. Then and there he exemplified that self-conquest which, as we are told, more exalteth a man than the taking of a city. Germany and the German people are associated in our minds with some of the greatest military achievements in the history of the world. And a sort of popular idea has gained ground that the Ger- mans are essentially a military people. As a matter of fact their I greatest triumphs have been in the pathways of peace. The Ger- 6 mans have carried their commercial supremacy to every quarter of the globe. Germany's educational institutions are the finest in the world. She has contributed the greatest names to the world of art, literature and science. Von Humboldt was to physical science what Goethe was to literature, what Bismarck was to statecraft, what Von Jloltke was to the military, and Wagner, Beethoven, and Schubert Were to music. Goethe said of Von Humboldt: "He had not his equal in knowledge, in living wisdom " At seventy-two he wrote •'Cosmos." Like Bismarck, his greatest work was accomplished at an age when most men have passed beyond their initiative. The value, as examples to the world, of such characters, is that they be- stowed their great benefactions upon taankind without exhibiting a single selfish ambition. Behold Bismarck and Von Moltke engaged in the work of moulding the German Empire, supplementing the military genius and imperial strength of the great Frederick. The former easily the greatest statesman of his day, without a single personal ambition save pride in his country's future, and Von Moltke, serving three kings in their turn, living simply and fru- gally, and attaining the age of ninety. It was said of Bismarck that he was born with the conviction that he should bring about the uni- fication of the German States, and he proceeded about the work of constructing the greatest empire of modern times in a manner that marked him as the strong man of the century, the Iron Chancellor, intensely human, but never selfish. Mark his address to the victori- ous army marching on Paris in 1870, and note the simple faith and the strong heart: If I did not believe in a Divine order which has destined this German nation for something good and great, I would at once give ^ up the business of diplomatist, or I would not have undertaken ti. Orders and titles have no charm for me. I owe the firmness which I have shown for ten years against all possible obstacles wholly to my decided faith. Take from me this faith, and you take from me my fatherland. This self denial and devotion to duty, to the State and to the King, is only the survival of the faith of our fathers and grandfathers transformed, indistinct, and yet alive. Bismarck was in many respects the greatest statesman of any age. He had the constructive genius of Napoleon, but was free from Napoleon's personal vanity and cruel ambition. Loyalty, 1^' 8 steadfastness and simplicity were the guiding principles of his daily life. He disliked titles and show as he disliked popular hysteria. He loved nature and the children of nature. Said he; When so many people live close together, individualities natur- ally fade out and melt into each other. All sorts of opinions grow out of the air. opinions with little or no foundation in fact, but which get spread abroad through newspapers, popular gatherings, and talk in beer shops, and get themselves established, and are ine- radicable. There is a second false nature, an overgrowth on the first, a sort of faith or superstition of crowds. People talk them- selves into believing the thing that is not; consider it a duty and ob- ligation to adhere to that belief, and e.xcite themselves about preju- dices and absurdities. It is the same In all big towns. There is much of homely common sense and political wisdom in these observations, which seem not out of place when applied to .some of the exhibitions of urban popular discontentment shown in this country. Bismarck might not have made a popular candidate for office here in the United States, but he was a sensible and fear- less public servant. Bismarck and the German people generally I have taught the world the invaluable lesson that the best and clear- / \ est political thought .springs from a.ssoclation with the soil and the Uorests. From the days of Hermann the most romantic and heroic pages of German history have been associated with the forests. Montesquieu and Thomas Carlyle said that the British constitution came out of the woods of Germany. Is it strange that at the end of a week of unflagging industry a German citizen should instinct- ively and naturally turn to the groves "which were God's first tem- ples," there to find that spiritual and bodily recreation, and that restoration which nature alone can supply. Germany has taught us the value of forestry as a national science. It is only within re- cent years that the people of the United States have profited by the les.«on, and have set apart large areas for forest propagation and preservation. Germany has more acres in proportion to her area set 10 forests than we have in the United States. When the great Baron Steuben was in the closing days of his eventful career, which was such a priceless heritage to the cause of American liberty in the Kevolutionary War, he gave orders that after his death his body should be wrapped in his martial cloak and buried in the depths of the forests he loved so well. It is not strange that a people who Lave always dwelt so close to the heart of nature should have been inspired in all the ages by a love of liberty, and moved to triumphs in art, science, music and poetry, by the manlfolil voices of nature. Germany gave us a Schiller, of whom it was said: "Into his l)rief life of forty-five years he crowded more of intellectual and moral achievement than any other man of his age." He was a min.strel of liberty and joy, inspiring in the hearts of men and women a love of liberty which contributed in no small degree to the measure of constitutional rights which Ger - many today enjoys. It has been said of Schiller that be belonged to those: "Olympian bards who 3un^ Divine ideas below. Which always find us young. And always keep us so." He filled the hearts of men and women with optimism, sweet ness and light. His "Hymn to Joy" alone has done more to cheer drooping spirits and restore hope to the heart of man than any ser' mon ever uttered. "Jov is the mainspring in the whole. Of endless nature's calm rotation; Joy moves the dazzling wheels that roll In the great timepiece of creation. Joy breathes on buds, and flowers thev are, joy beckons— suns come forth from heaven, Joy rolls the spheres in realms afar jfear to thy glass dim wisdom given. Let all the world be peace and love. Cancel thy debt-book with thy brother. For God shall Judge of us above. As we shall judge each other." Therein is written the philosophy of life and of true happiness. There were only three great poets before Goethe, it has been said, who exerted an influence on the nation of which they were a part. These were Homer. Dante and Shakespeare. Goethe rose by a sin- gle bound until his fame spread all over Europe. No one since the days of Martin Luther had occupied so great a place in the intel- lectual thought of the German people. His last words were as a benediction upon humanity, as his great soul mounted higher and higher towards the celestial realms: "More light ! More light" ! The debt which the people of America owe to the Germans for aid in the Revolutionary struggle to establish a Republican govern- ment is a matter of history. It is doubtful if General Washington's army would have recovered from the winter at Valley Forge had it not been for the timely appearance and invaluable services and dis- ciplinary skill of Baron Steuben, one of the finest characters who ever gave a lifetime to battling for the rights of man, and then died in poverty. He had been aide-de-camp on the staflf of Frederick the Great. He brought to the discharge of his new duties the rich fruits of a splendid tutelage. He came at a time when the American Rev- olution army wa» full of distrust and intrigues, and when Wash- ' ington's hold upon his countrymen was rapidly becoming insecure. He taught the lesson so essential in all successful military operations, of subordination to authority. It is well that this nation, in tardy recognition of his great services, is to erect a monument to his memory In Washington, where it will stand in commanding view of the White House, a mute but everlasting sentinel over American liberty. Three of the greatest general oflScers in the Revolutionary War were Germans— Steuben, Dekalb and Von de Woedke. General Washington's mounted bodyguard, led by Major Vtan Heer, was composed of fourteen officers and fifty-three men, all Germans. The 10 'ifennans bare been foremost in fill the wars for the preserratfoD of the country, beginning even with the French and Indian M'ar, and the operations of the famous General Bouquet's Royal American Regiment, all recruited from among the Germans of Pennsylvania, who served with Wolfe at Quebec, and avenged Braddock's defeat. Peter Muhlenburg left the pulpit for his sword, applauded by his grandfather; a pioneer clergyman. His monument is in the gallery of the nation's immortals, in Statuary Hall. The first Declaration of Amierican Independence was declared by the Germans of North Carolina at the Mecklenburg Convention, May 19, 177.5, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was signed at Phila- delphia.* Among the conspicuous German soldiers of the Revolutionary War was Baron De OttendorflF, who had served under Frederick the Great in the Seven Years AVar Among the Germans who served under Count Rochambeau were Count Fersen, Barou Von Holzen- dorf , Counts Christian and William Von Sweibrucken, and Baron De'Ezbech. Count De Wittgenstein commanded a division under Rochambeau. DeKalb fell mortally wounded leading the German .soldiers from the States of Maryland and Delaware, with these words on his lips: I die the death I always prayed for — the death of a soldier, fight- ing for the rights of man. Among thi- names which added lustre to the Union army during the Civil War were Blenker and Sigel. The latter organized the German regiments that saved Missouri to the Union. Blenker's division won honors at Bull Run and immortalized themselves at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Asboth. who commanded a cav- alry brigade, had one troop, the 4th Missouri Cavalry, recruited al- most entirely from Germans. Its I..ieut«nant-Colouel, Von Helm- rich, was for twenty years a cavalry soldier in Germany. Indiana sent to the Civil War for the Union the 23nd Indiana, (First German Regiment) commanded in turn by Willich, Von Treba, and Erdelmeyer. Illinois supplied such generals as Hecker, Knobelsdorf, Greusel, Englemann, and Julius Raith, who fell at Shiloh leading a brigade. Then there was Peter .1. Osterhaus, who was recently signally honored by Congress. Indiana had in her volunteer regiments 6,456 German soldiers. Albert Lange was an invaluable aid to Governor Morton, and John B. Lutz led the Indiana forces against Morgan, the raider. The 32nd was a distinctively German regiment, organ- ized in Dearbon, Floyd, Allen and .Jefferson counties. Beginning with the attitude assumed by Frederick the Great to- wards the Colonists in the Revolutionary War down to and includ- ing the events of the Spanish-American War, Germany has been th^ *The accuracy of this statement was challenged bv an editorial in the Indianapolis News July 17, entitled, 'Tor Truth of History." In giving the German's credit for the Mecklenburg declaration the author relied, among other authorities, on Rosengarten's work, "The German soldier in the Wars of the United Slates," iSgo, Page 36. 11 steadfast friend of the Uni'ed Siates in every struggle involvintt the life of this. republic. Prussia was the first foreign power to express confidence in the credit of the government during the early days of the Civil War, by making liberal purchases of our bonds It is not out of place here to call attention to a phase of the diplo- matic relations of the United Slates in the early part of the Spanish- American War. On Friday, April 8, 1898, there was a memorable scene at the White House, when Sir Julian Pauncefote, the British Ambassador, presented a note to President McKiuley from the pow- ers of Europe on the right of the United States to interfere between Spain and Cuba. The answer of President McKiuley to this note was courteous but decisive. It promptly denied the right of the powers of Europe to question the good faith of the United States to intervene. Immediately following this incident there appeared in the news papers of the country a glowing tribute to the friendly offices shown by Sir Julian Pauncefote for the United States, and he was given credit for having taken control, as dean of the diplomatic corps, of this movement among the powers of Europe, and having reduced it from a protest, to the mildest form of representation. But for the sake of the truth of history it should be said here that it was the Emperor of Germany, William II, who reached out his strong arm and arrested the movement of the powers. The first meeting called to consider the matter was called by the British Ambassador under instructions from the Foreign Office in Ijondon. In the conference were the diplomatic representatives of England, France, Italy and Austria. The Russian Ambassador was abroad. Four days before the meeting was called Dr. Von Hollebeu, the German Ambassador, received a note from the Emperor forbid, ding him to be a party to this movement, and formally recognizing the right of the United States to interfere between Spain and Cuba. At the first meeting of the diplomatic representatives of the powers named, the German Ambassador presented the note and stated his position. Its effect on the conference was restraining. The pro. posed protest was promptly modified and became a, mild expression of the hope that war might be averted. About the same time Em. peror William conveyed to Lord Saulsbury in unmistakable lan- guage his attitude of thorough approval of the course outlined by- the United States Government in its future policy towards Spain and Cuba. At the time these incidents were occurring the part which Emperor William had played towards the United States was not publicly known. Diplomatic history is usually not contemporaneous. It was four years after tne historic meeting in the White House, or in 1903, when published diplomatic correspondence revealed to the world the great service which the German Emperor had rendered to the United States in that emergency. But the incident was only an- other link in that chain of friendship which began in the days when the struggling Colonies were fighting for the very life of Republican government, and which has been completed link by link through 12 erery phase of our coantry's history and development, which binds securely in eTerlasting brotherhood the interests of Germany and the United States. And these relations will continue to grow stronger and closer as the years go by. It cannot be otherwise. It every walk of American life the men who are achieving the greatest individual success are the sons of Germany, and thus the interests of the two nations are interwoven. Of the many contributions which Germany has made to eurich the citizenship of this republic, ihere is none more valuable than the name and fame of Carl Schurz. He was one of the purest natures that ever gave his life to battle for the cause of human rights. He came to the United States when but twenty-three years old, but he had already passed through momentous events sufficient for one lifetime. America must have been attractive to young Schurz at the time, lor the country was in the throes of the struggle against slavery, which preceded the Civil War. His voice was at once raised on the side of liberty. When war came he left his post as Minister to Spain, to become the first colonel of the first volunteer regiment of cavalry.) Schurz was fitted by nature and accomplishment to be the pioneer « reform movements. He blazed the trail of American \ :>. political thought for more than a quarter of a century. He was / almost invariably right. He never advocated a reform in which he was not one of the pioneers, nor in which he was not in a hopeless minority, and never advocated any cause which did not ultimately become a part of the statutes of the land, or of the great moral law of his country.\ He never ceased to labor, and like Bismarck and Vq n Moltke, was as virile apparently, at the age of seventy-seven as in the zenith of his career. In whatever position he was tried he rendered his adopted country singularly valuable and patriotic serv- ice. His talents were not limited to any one State or community" He was a leader wherever he happened to appear. He was the nom- inee of his party for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. He con- ducted great newspapers in Detroit, St. Louis, and New York, and served in the United States Senate from Missouri. He came through the fiat-money days of the war unscathed, and contributed no small part to the restoration of the nation's finances to a sound basis. As secretary of the Interior he quickly solved the abuses of the spoils system. He was daily in touch with the demoralizing effect spoils politics were having on the public service. He introduced the competitive merit system, and inspired President Haya to reverse he ma.xim of William L. Marcy: "To the victor belongs the spoils," and substitute for it the other doctrine which has made Mr. Hayes justly celebrated: "No removal except for cause, and no promotion except for merit " With Civil Service Reform, as with nearly every principle he ad- vocated, Mr. Schurz was the pioneer. He evolved his plan of Civil Service and applied it to the Department over which he presided six 13 years before the Civil Service Act was put ou the statute books by George H. Pendleton. He pursued the timber thieves and opposed great rings of cor- rupt men who sought to seize the public lands or spoiliate the Indi- ans. He did these things just as they are being done today in the public service, but unlike the men who are today winning the plau- its o£ the country tor this work, Mr. Schurz was the pioneer, and he had to meet all the opposition and contend against all the obstacles which fall to the lot of the pioneer in any reform movement. He contributed his full measure to the military and civic renown of his country, and made more than the contribution ol one ordinary man to the world's cause of social reform and played no humble part in the world of letters. He is an example and an inspiration to the Ger- man Americans everywhere. He was the born patriot, the lover of liberty, and the defender of truth. Such men, by the peculiar fickle- ness of politics, seldom obtain the highest rewards in official life. Not infrequently, when the social forces which they have set in motion have developed into great popular movements that are irresistable, and take the form of statute or the great unwritten moral law, the prime mover of such reform is remembered only by the great body of his fellowmen as one who was visionary, intemperate of thought and action, but withal, a voice crying in the wilderness. Fortu- nately the real reward of such heroes is far above and beyond the acclaim of the multitude or the bestowal of its temporary official honors. The consciousness of duty faithfully performed is a greater reward than any of these. Finer natures only can appreciate its value. It requires real courage to become the leader of a movement that combats contemporary custom and thought, greater courage oft-times than it requires to lead an army. It is to such men as Carl Schurz tuat the world owes all it possesses in the advancement of the cause of human liberty and human justice. It requires no great courage to float with the popular tide, to utter felicitations and win applause. The true civic hero is he who dares look his countrymen in the face and tell them when they are wrong. Such a man was Carl Schurz. He led a life of unselfish de votion to the cause of humanity. His fame will grow as the years advance, and as men come to recognize more clearly the inestimable value of individuality in politics. Mr. Schurz taught his country- men to act and vote independently. When he commenced it few be- lieved with him, for party spirit was high. But his school of thought has more followers today; men are no longer blind follow- ers of blind leaders in politics. The great composite which we call the American citizen has been improved by the German people. The richest and most prosper- ous communities in the United States today are those settled by German-Americans. They have made their full contributions to the military history of the United States, and have been foremost in the commercial and financial world. Probably their most valuable service has been in their quiet but powerful influence e.xerted in the plain walks of American citizenship. One of the chief qualities of a 14 German is loyalty, loyalty to his country, to the community of which he is a citizen, or t