After more than 5 years of contact with the German-American element of the United States, after working with them, their leaders and their newspapers, sound advice is given, to beware of all superficial and indolent judgments of the value and character of the German people. Above all we should interest ourselves in the history of the development of German-Americanism and in the life history of every immigrant coming to America.

The majority of the millions of immigrants of the 19th century, probably would have preferred to remain in their homeland if they would have had better chances and possibilities of developments. Serious minded, ambitious young men, not black sheep of well to do families, were the first who with the love for their German homeland in their hearts, crossed the ocean to seek a wider place and a 2better possibility for success. Their wholesome ambition was only a hindrance to them in their homeland which they had left behind ; but here in America strong fists, a lively desire to succeed and unprejudiced thinking were needed. Here, they were valued forces. This they felt soon. It gave them self-assurance. The first five years of gnawing homesickness, and of hard labor, passed. The relatives from their home town wrote less often; their own letters which went across became more scarce. They became acclimatized. Their adopted country shared its wealth and freedom with them. The German agricultural laborers and the poor farmer's sons, soon became wealthy American farmers. The young German workman and tradesman were managing their own businesses in American style, and with American success. But still they carried the memories of their old home town in their hearts. In their "Schwaben Verein", in their "guilds", in Singing Societies, or "Turner-Vereins", in German churches with their German Pastors and with the harmony of German church songs, they found, in the city, as well as in the rural districts, their little old home village again. There they spoke their genuine native dialect.

The old home land itself had not given them anything since they had left; neither material advantages, nor cultural strength. For Germany they were dead. So it was in the decades before the German Empire and so it remained also during the 3times after the establishment of the young German Empire. When one of the many Germans visited his old homeland, he was greeted by his own people as the "American", and when one of the many had some official business to transact with the Imperial Consulate, he was afraid of the affable manners of these gentlemen. Neither the home town nor the state did the least bit to encourage and preserve German traditions and culture in America. The German people in America encouraged themselves, of their own accord, and cultivated love to their homeland.

In America, an Americanism of people of German descent, is upheld through the impressive life of societies and churches. These societies, including singers, athletes, veterans, Hessians, Bavarians, the butchers, the grocers, all developed such an active German national life, that we only desire that in all territories inhabited by minorities, such a development could be possible.

Festivals indicating the great self assurance of the German people are celebrated through out the country. Societies, which are rich in expectations, were founded by the entire German element. In the public schools of many cities, the German language was accepted as a major subject. The schools of Catholic and Lutheran congregations, instructed in the German language, and thereby transplanted the German language to the second and third generation, especially in the rural districts. Germanism of American character blossomed before the outbreak of the 4late war. The world war, the menacing of the old homeland by the iron ring of its enemies in 1914, awakened the entire country to enthusiasm, to help and to sacrifice. Then, contrary to expectations, America under President Wilson,as a war power, joined the enemies of the German people. And now an inner period of dictatorship began, which naturally abounded in violence against the German-American element.

Since then 12 years have passed; Germanism in America could not be strangled. Its resurrection could be witnessed over the entire country in 1923, its efforts to intercede for the German people for their homeland was admirable, their deeds of charity, astounding. In thousands of their own tremendous national demonstrations, the lively pulse of the German heart, of these Americans of German descent, could be felt. It seems that the war and peace experiences, developed the old naive homeland sentiments of the German-Americans to a more conscientious thought of their nationality and ancestry, which not only wants to express itself in societies and churches, but also strives into the wider American publicity, by emphasizing their ancestry, their services which they have rendered to this country, through the usage of the national language. Therefore, the younger generation is offered an opportunity which will help them to retain and cultivate the consciousness of their nationality and ancestry.

For this part of the German-American element, who are not able to speak the German language, we should find a suitable enlistment, to which the endeavors of the young Steuben Society could lead us.