Dr. Hexamer, president of the German-American National Bund [Alliance], has released for publication the following New Year's greetings:

"Sincere New Year's greetings to all our members and friends, to the German language press, and to the entire German-American element. We are in the midst of great and world-shaking events. May they influence the minds of people as a thunderstorm cleanses the air of all impurities.

"Never before has there been such a pressing need for unity as during the last months of this declining year. Great things have come to pass, and glorious achievements will be accomplished by the shining example which the German people in arms, with their unity and solidarity of purpose, have set before the Deutschtum [German element] of the world. The greatest 2curse of the German people has always been their disunity and dissension in matters of domestic politics. The German people have rid themselves of that curse, and, by their daily sacrifices in blood and fortune, are proving to the world that German unity is no empty delusion, but has become an accomplished fact. They are inspiring all sections of the population in the old country, regardless of social standing, to do their utmost in defending the honor of the German name and the national existence of the fatherland.

"This glorious effort of our homeland should greatly inspire us German-Americans to cast aside all personal interests and petty grievances, and to show ourselves worthy of the fatherland by proving to our fellow citizens of other nationality that unity of purpose has a meaning for us also.

The German-American National Bund, waging a fight in these critical times, 3during which Germany and her ally, Austria-Hungary, united by a treaty and blood ties, have to stand off a world of enemies, has proved that its founders have pursued the right course and rendered the Deutschtum in the entire nation an incalculable service by appealing to unity within German-America.

"The collections for the relief fund in behalf of the war victims in the homeland, our protest against the continuous violations of neutrality by the United States--which were prompted by sordid greed--our fight for the preservation of personal liberty, our efforts to preserve the German language, German art, and German culture, prove clearly and distinctly that only an organization like the German-American National Bund is capable of accomplishing our primary and foremost objective.

"A year ago I asked German-Americans in the East, South, North and West, to 4abandon forever their equanimity and indifference, as indeed they should in these modern times. We need in our ranks everyone who is of German descent here in America. Since time began, unity has made the Germanic tribes strong enough to weather all storms.

"Make propoganda and work for your Bund! Join German Vereine [associations] which are affiliated with it. Become individual members of your local or state associations or lifelong members of the National Bund itself by one payment of fifty dollars into the 'Iron Fund'. Only by one hundred per cent co-operation can we hope to have quick and permanent success in finishing the great work which the American German element has to do.

"In conclusion let me give you some especially important advice which every German-American should follow:

Read German newspapers. The mission which the German-American press has 5never shirked, but which it has always considered its sacred duty to fulfill, has always been its dedication to the cause of true liberty, its uncompromising fight for the preservation of the cultural values of our native land, its endeavor to maintain friendly if not cordial relations between here and over there, its defense of the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and its reverence for personal freedom. Without the German [language] press, whose support the National Bund has enjoyed almost from the start, its leaders never would have been able to carry out their program of unification, which they considered the salvation for the Deutschtum in the entire country. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the German press. May it grow and prosper in the days ahead and continue its work, inspired by its great mission.

"Only through the support of the German press and the many branches and associations of the National Bund can be found the guarantee for great and lasting successes and a good chance to accomplish the objectives which 6both have in mind: to create in our adopted country a firm base in order that German culture and German concepts will live to the greater glory of our Germanic heritage, to bring about friendly relations between the homeland and our adopted country, and to preserve science and art.

"May the New Year prove to be happy and prosperous for us all in our common efforts; may it bring closer to us the fulfillment of all those things which we are striving for. May it be a year of salvation, not only for the fatherland, but for all our German brothers here in America.