A question that is frequently asked, and rightly so, is this: What can we do, not only to preserve the Deutschtum [anything pertaining to things Germanic] in the United States, but to promote it? Most of the time this question was settled by giving money to the Red Cross or other welfare organizations. By doing this we believed that we had adequately fulfilled our duties. Laudable as this spirit of charity is, it served as an excuse for not doing something more worth while, which we never had the time or the money to pursue--or so we thought. Today we realize that money alone won't 2do the trick, that we will have to go to a good deal of personal trouble in order to give truth a chance to triumph.

What does our Deutschtum depend on? It depends on the country, the people and on education. The country [Germany] we cannot bring over here as if by magic. The people [German] are here to some extent. There remains only education, and here is where we have to begin our work. All of you who have enjoyed a German education know how valuable it has proved in this country: how it has enabled you to make a living and to forge ahead faster than you had expected, in spite of a foreign language.

Let us take a look at the American educational system. For quite some time now our leaders have found fault with it, and have tried various remedies, beginning at the top, as usual. New methods are introduced at universities and colleges and occasionally at high schools, but nobody ever thought of going to the roots of it and beginning at the public schools. Unquestionably 3our public schools embody many good features, especially the direct transfer to a high school upon graduation and from there to the university. We have, therefore, an uninterrupted training which would not in all cases be possible in Germany where time is sometimes lost in switching from a Mittelschule [medium school] to a higher one which prepares for the university. But we must always bear in mind that what is taught in Germany's Volkschulen [public schools] and subsequent vocational [technical] schools is of much greater substance than can be had over here. It is a recognized fact that the gap in educational training between the various professions and vocations is smallest in Germany, which fact necessarily makes for a better understanding among her people and tends to promote a healthy democratic spirit. The drawback of the [American] public schools is, in my opinion, that too much time is wasted. The non-attendance on Saturdays alone amounts to more than one year lost to education. Furthermore, for my part at least, I do not favor co-education and a predominantly female 4teaching personel for boys. There is no real system in the curriculum as a whole, the discipline is poor, etc. It is beyond the scope of today's lecture to discuss these interesting topics in detail. What we need more than anything else over here are our German-type technical schools, where the public school graduate can get special training for his chosen vocation.

Recently this lack of training has been realized; and attempts were made to imitate the German system through the so-called "continuation schools," but nothing much came of it since big business and the unions apparently could not be induced to sponsor and promote the experiment as they should. We have achieved laudable results by introducing Turnen [gymnastics] and German language instruction in our schools, and we believe that we shall be doing the right thing if we continue our efforts in this direction. In this connection I do not take into consideration home education, assuming that in German families it will be handled the German way, which should not be so hard to 5do if we had a good school system, but which seems almost an impossibility under present conditions.

Now what can our vereine [German clubs] do in this respect? The Technischer Verein (Technical Club) to which we belong, promotes education, if only for a limited number of people, and it seems to me that we, especially, should feel called upon to set a good example. As I have mentioned before, what we need most is a good technical school patterned after Fachschulend, [the German trade school] specializing in subjects we are familiar with-- drafting, mathematics, natural science, etc. We can take the initiative and try first to organize a night school, where these and related subjects could be taught. There may be a sufficient number among our members who would be willing to act as teachers and give lectures in their special fields. It goes without saying that this instruction has to be given in English. If we could get the necessary support from other vereine, we could even 6contemplate to start our courses where the public schools leave off, and we could get the students through a high school and college training within, say, six years for which eight years are now required. All this is just wishful thinking right now. For the time being we would be interested in organizing a night school, and after we made sure of its success we could attempt to launch a day and night school by next fall. Of course, we would have to count on the support of all German associations, and I am confident that it will not be so hard to enlist their aid.

I think the promotion of Deutschtum in these schools can be effected by giving thorough and systematic instructions, by insisting on discipline and, above all, by giving prominent place to German science and methods. A more idealistic aspect should be the governing principle of such a school, without neglecting, of course, the practical education of the student. For 7instance, the students can easily be made to see that they do not only learn for the purpose of making money, but that their education should also be of an intrinsic and idealistic value to them. I am of the opinion that we can do a world of good in this respect.

But idealism alone cannot start such a school; it takes money, just like everything else. A moderate amount at the beginning, and later on probably nothing at all. A school of that sort should be self-supporting or even earn a net profit, which, of course, would either have to be reinvested in the school or would be used for other means of promoting Deutschtum.

Just to show you other possibilities, I would like to mention business courses, for instance. I am convinced that the Kaufmaennischer Verein (Commercial Association) of 1858 could be interested in this idea.

It will be a difficult and tedious task which we have to perform, and the results will not be obvious right away. It may be years before we are able to attain success. But consider the magnitude of the project for which we want to lay the cornerstone today. It amounts to nothing less than getting control of our educational system, slowly but surely, during the years and decades to come. To him who has the country's youth belongs the future. Therefore, let us not expect immediate results, but let us start rolling the stone which will turn into an avalanche. After we have made a good beginning here, other cities with their associations will soon follow suit, and we can visualize a network of educational institutions, conducted according to our principles, covering the entire United States.

Our present strength is still much divided. We have to face life's problems from a more practical point of view. If all German vereine and associations would join in economic co-operation, there would be no limit to what we could accomplish. Should it not be possible for us to learn how to work together? 9All walks of life, from professor to laborer, are probably-represented among German-Americans. We must weld ourselves together, now or never. The present war has furnished evidence that we have not yet disappeared in America's great "melting pot," that we have maintained our [German] national pride, which apparently is stronger within us than within any other nationality. Should we not, therefore, also be strong enough to infuse our spirit into American life? Because the American nation is not yet matured; there is still a groping in the dark, a seeking for final destiny. So let us try to lead this great country on the way to progress and humanity.