The dedication of the Goethe statue in Lincoln Park was one of the most important events in the history of the Germans in Chicago. Count Bernstorff, the German ambassador, was one of the speakers and Governor Dunne and Mayor Harrison were guests of honor. The memory of this Goethe day will be a historic event for all inhabitants of Chicago. It looked like a migration of people from all nations who Came to Lincoln Park from all parts of the city. The City Hall and the County Building had raised the German flag. Notwithstanding the rainy weather, the parade of all the German clubs, associations and lodges was one of the most impressive ever held in Chicago. It was led by Assistant Police Chief Herrmann Schuttler and Lieutenant Max Hudelmeier and a force of one hundred policemen on horseback. The Schwaben Club followed with five hundred members and all other German Associations with their bands and flags. Mr. Harry Ruben, the President of the festival committee, made the first speech. "The great men of science do not live only for their fatherland and their time of life. They live for all time. One of these men was Johann Wolfgang 2von Goethe. He was one of the geniuses of his people and the world. The American nation has profited by the cultural development of a country, which gave birth to such men as Goethe. The memorial, which Chicago is conferring upon to one of our greatest thinkers, is a sign of appreciation for the deeds of culture brought by Germans and Americans."

Governor Edward F. Dunne was the next speaker. He spoke about the development of the great Middle-West at the beginning of the last century. At that time there were great quantities of land available between the St. Lawrence River and the Gulf of Mexico. The Germans coming from the East developed the heart of this great land. Many other European countries sent their people here, and there is hardly any of the old world which is not represented in the new one. The country which made Goethe immortal can be proud of the influence it has on the developement of America. The Governor recalled a number of German-Americans, who played an important part in American history, Captain Leonard Helm and Joseph Bowman in Virginia, Baron con Steuben, Baron de Kalb, Edward Rutz and Gustavus Koerner, A. E. Hesing, A. E. Kueffner, Hermann Raster, Franz Sigel, Carl Schurz and finally his friend and predecessor Governor John P. Atlgeld.

He called Goethe the Shakespeare of Germany, and said that in a few weeks another statue will be dedicated in Lincoln Park in honor of the deceased Governor and Judge, John P. Altgeld.

The next speaker was Carter H. Harrison, the mayor of Chicago. "The whole world has a claim on Goethe's genius. The power of creation of an individual such as Goethe belongs to the world at large. Millions of persons came and millions go and only a few selected ones called geniuses survive, bestowing the riches of literature, sculpture, music, science as an inheritance to the world. Old Greece gave us Sophocles and Homer, Imperial Rome, Virgil; Italy, Dante, England, Shakespeare and Germany, Schiller and Goethe. One third of the population of Chicago are Germans or of German descent. In industry, economy, work and endurance they are not surpassed by any other foreign element. In sport, plays, games, music, acrobatics, they take first place. They have built a fit memorial to their greatest intellectual poet."

President Harry Rubens then introduced Count Henry von Bernstorff, the German ambassador. He stated that the President of the United States, a few weeks ago paid high tribute to American sailors, who fought for their country.

He said that the American people were composed of sons and daughters of all nationalities, who came to this free country. The Americans, the youngest nation of the white race are the privileged heirs of the cultural achievements of the older countries. In their veins run so much German blood, that they can claim- with the same rights as they do Shakespeare and Milton, the great poets of Germany. The memorial we are erecting to-day is destined to serve as a cultural and intellectual tie between two great nations, Germany and America. It will be a signal for cooperation in the work of improvement of the white race. It is an incident of some significance that this memorial is dedicated at the same time as the opening of the Panama Canal, as Goethe was an ardent admirer of this project. Professor Wilhelm Herberth Carruth of the Leland Stanford University gave an address on life and the works of Goethe, interpreting the individual creations in the sense of the poet.

Mr. Eugen Niederegger, the President of the Goethe Memorial Society, dedicated the statue to the Lincoln Park Board. The statue was then unveiled and, the superb work of Prof. Hahn was visible for the first time to the public. After a profound silence of a few seconds, a thundering applause and jubilation broke loose.

The festival President then introduced Prof. Herrmann Hahn of Munich, the creator of the monument. Commissioner C. B. Winston accepted the statue in the name of the Lincoln Park Board and a number of wreaths were laid at the foot of the memorial.