Читать книгу History Of German Immigration In The United States - George von Skal - Страница 13

CONCLUSION

In order to do full justice to the Germans who have settled in the United States it is necessary to consider the difficulties which they had to overcome before they could fairly start on the road to success. Most of them did not know the language of the country which they had chosen as the field of their activity. Practically none of them were acquainted with its political institutions beyond knowing that they gave to every citizen the right to participate in the government and to every inhabitant, whether a citizen or not, the fullest privilege to use his ability in any direction he might choose. Even the general views of the people in regard to the way of living and the social customs were foreign to them. All this they had to learn, and this could not be done without constant disappointments, for they did not always meet with kindness. On the contrary, they had to overcome hostility from many quarters which frequently made itself felt in attempts to ridicule their speech and customs, sometimes took the form of contemptuous treatment, and in not a few cases led to brutal attacks. Naturally sensitive to criticism and slights, whether intended or not, the Germans suffered greatly under this treatment, but to their credit it must be said that they did not hold the American people responsible but understood that the acts they had just cause to complain of were committed by a small and narrow-minded minority. Neither their appreciation for the new conditions surrounding them nor their endeavors to prepare themselves for American citizenship was lessened by the unpleasant experiences they had to undergo. With rare exceptions they took the oath of allegiance as soon as the law permitted it and fulfilled their duties as citizens with exceptional regard for the welfare of the country as they saw it. This was natural, for they did not gain American citizenship like the native American who receives it without effort on his part. They, on the contrary, had to pay dearly for it. They had left home and Fatherland and parted from relatives and friends in order to serve their new country and they consequently held in much higher esteem what was acquired under difficulties and sometimes hard ships than the man is apt to do who has but to stretch out his hand to grasp the ripe fruit. They were, and are to this day, proud of their suffrage, and in using it follow their convictions and conscience more closely than the average American. Party ties sit lightly upon them and they do not follow blindly leaders who cannot convince them of the disinterestedness of their motives. Their independence and their disinclination to submit to dictation or to subordinate their opinions to the will of others are some of the reasons why the German-Americans have not exerted more influence upon political organizations. That comparatively few Germans have reached high political positions is easily explained by the fact that for most of them the English language remains, after all, a foreign tongue, and that the German is not attracted by so hazardous a venture as the embarking in the game of American politics may justly be called. The influence of the German upon the course of politics has, however, been very great, and in the main beneficial. The very fact that the so-called German vote always remained an uncertain quantity and in many states and cities held the balance of power has caused the professional politicians in almost every important campaign to be more careful than they would have been if they had known that the German-American voters would follow the party regard less of principles and consequences.

The Germans in the United States have frequently been criticized because they associate among themselves and do not mingle freely with Americans. In considering this statement we must first of all strongly emphasize the fact that the American citizens of German birth or descent never act in concert when American questions are to be decided, that is questions which involve the interests of the American people as a whole. It is almost impossible to unite the German vote on purely political questions. It will sometimes be cast almost solidly for one side or the other but this is only the case when questions are to be decided that, on account of their ethical or moral importance, appeal strongly to the German mind, or when efforts are made to deprive a part of the population of the right to live in the way it has been accustomed to because a few fanatics desire to compel everybody else to accept their teachings. When Germans come together to discuss political questions they do so because many of them desire to hear arguments in their mother tongue, not being able to master them completely if delivered in English. They not only have the right to do this, but it is to the interest of the whole country when means are found to instruct every citizen, no matter where he has been born, until he understands fully all questions in the decision of which he must participate.

It is quite true that in social life the German-American population keeps very much to itself. The reasons for this are obvious. The German immigrant has no relatives or friends among the native element. He has left behind him the associations formed during his youth, which, for the man who remains in the country of his birth, of themselves create a constantly widening and changing circle of acquaintances. The German in America must seek new friends and has to begin life all over again in this respect. Everything American is strange to him, the customs, the language and the people themselves. Quite naturally he associates with his own countrymen with whom he can converse freely and who have the same tastes. After he has become used to his surroundings and conquered the homesickness that arises now and then he begins to associate with Americans, but as a rule to a limited extent only unless he is so situated that he finds no other congenial society. His preference for his own countrymen is not caused by hostility to native Americans, but solely by the fact that the tastes and customs of the two elements differ widely. Their ways of amusing and entertaining themselves and others are not the same, and they follow different rules even in eating and drinking. Aside from that part of the population which has become cosmopolitan in its ways of living, the German does not derive full satisfaction from the exclusive intercourse with Americans, and the American cannot get used to German ways. This involves no reproach upon either but is a natural condition. If the complete Americanization of the German immigrant is somewhat retarded by it, this may be called a distinct benefit for the country. The many valuable traits of the German can only be preserved and made a part of the character of the American people if assimilation does not proceed too quickly. They would be weakened and perhaps lost altogether if the immigrant dropped everything he has brought with him immediately after his arrival. The amalgamation comes quickly enough, for the first generation born on American soil is already thoroughly American in the full sense of the word, and in the second generation the German origin of the family is as a rule little more than a tradition.

If the Germans have, at least to a large extent, their own and separate social life, they are in every other way an inseparable part of the American nation. Their loyalty to the country they have chosen and to its institutions is unquestioned and has been proven on every occasion. In peace and in war they have worked and fought with the same ardor and enthusiasm as the native Americans. On every battle-field of every war that has been fought for the republic, German blood has flowed freely. They have done their full share in the upbuilding of this great country, in the conquest of a whole continent and the change of a vast wilderness into a land inhabited by mil lions and producing wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. In commerce and industry, in science and art, in every endeavor that makes for progress and improvement their influence has been potential and of the greatest benefit. They have made a lasting impression upon the character of the American people, softening many of its harsh traits, strengthening others that were insufficiently developed, and contributing some of the most valuable qualities which have enabled this great nation, composed of so many different elements, to rise to the heights it occupies at present. And while they continue to love and cherish the Fatherland that has given them so much, they are proud of their American citizenship, and their whole strength is devoted to the greatness and happiness of the only country they now recognize as their own, the United States of America.

If at times German immigration has been called harmful by some, the American people as a whole have always recognized its great value, and do, perhaps, appreciate it now more than ever and to such an extent that they look with regret upon its decline during the last ten years. The time may come when a new infusion of German blood into the American body politic may even appear highly desirable. It is by no means impossible that this may happen at any time. The tide of immigration rises and falls periodically, and for all who would rather see children of the Teutonic race settle upon the land still unoccupied the following words of the greatest German-American, the late Carl Schurz, spoken at a banquet given in his honor only a few years before his death, may bring encouragement. He said:

"There has been a great deal of talk of late that the German element is in a state of decline because immigration has decreased, the old generation is dying off, and the children of the German immigrants are getting completely Americanized. The fact is that since I came to this country the German element has been several times in the same condition of seeming decline but has always recovered through increased immigration of highly desirable kind in regard to numbers, character and vitality. This immigration is dependent upon political and economical conditions which are subject to constant changes. The present decline may, therefore, soon change into a new and healthy revival."

The time may arrive when doubt is permissible whether the United States is in need of further immigration or not. There is no doubt possible that as long as there is work and room for immigrants, and as long as there is work to be done that can only be accomplished with the help of immigrants, it is highly desirable that as large a proportion as possible of the addition to the population be of the Germanic races. The history of the country proves that they have done more for its development than all the others. Therefore, let us hope that Carl Schurz's prophecy may be fulfilled before it is too late.