Carl Schurz

“ When I received the distinguished invitation to express this homage in the name of my compatriots, many obstacles stood in the way of acceptance, but my German blood would give me no peace; so here I am to mingle my voice with yours in a joyful greeting to the old fatherland. How little they know us, our kinsmen over there, if they believe that a selfish pursuit of the dollar has cooled the German-born American's blood and that he no longer loves the old home. To-day our affection shall speak.
We are, indeed, faithful citizens of the great American republic—as loyal as the truest. ”

“ One wish, indeed, he has always cherished and will cherish to the end. It is a German wish, but none the less loyally American, and patriotic—that the friendship which has existed between the United States of America and Germany from olden times may never be troubled by a cloud of discord or even of misunderstanding, and that our old and our new fatherland may give the world the beautiful spectacle of the indissoluble friendship of nations. ”

“ Whenever our new country has called her sons to arms against foreign or domestic foes her German-born citizen has been among the first to rush to the defense of the flag and on the battlefield to offer his blood and his life to the common cause. On the roll of heroes and martyrs of the republic, German names have never been wanting. In the domain of thought and in the workshop, the German mind and the German hand have toiled with diligence, and with abundant results; and we may well say that the soil of America has been enriched by the sacrifice of German blood and German labor. ”

“ May there be many years of untroubled peace vouchsafed the German fatherland in which to develop what has been so vigorously begun and so gloriously achieved. May it be strong to endure the trials which destiny may have in store for it. The horizon of Germany is not, indeed, without clouds. Not only its position between two dangerous neighbors, but no less the heated conflict of interests and the ferment of parties that disturb domestic affairs, may well give cause for anxiety to the German patriot. ”

“ Let us proclaim loudly to-day how truly we love the country where our cradles rocked. With tender yearning we see in memory the green waters of our native Rhine, where are reflected the castles gray with age, around which legendary poetry has woven its magic—where grows the precious grape—where man is gay, often without knowing why—where German song seems doubly poetic—where the victorious figure of Germania looks proudly from the Niederwald across the border. ”

“ Whenever there has been a question of putting into practice those political rights which the new Fatherland has bestowed upon us with such generous liberality in order to serve the cause of justice, of liberty and honest government, we may well boast that the great mass of German-born citizens has always found its way into the ranks of those in whose hands the honor and welfare of the country was most secure. Temporary blunders may have been made, but there have been extremes to which not even the enticing voice of party spirit could allure the German-American citizen. ”

“ We are proud of the mighty and noble Nation of which we feel ourselves a part, proud of the glorious Stars and Stripes, the symbol of dearly-won national unity, the emblem of a great past and a still greater future—of all these we are as proud as the proudest. We recognize our duties as citizens and joyfully fulfil them. ”

“ However fervent may be the sympathy of the German-American with the fortunes, the aspirations and the struggles of the old home; however ardently his good wishes may follow all the enterprises of his old country, he never allows his sense of duty towards the new fatherland to become shaken by the idea of leading this republic away from the secure path of its traditional and wise policy, nor to attempt to involve it in the quarrels or conflict of interests of the old world. Never has he tried to mingle European politics with those of America. ”

“ It bore the marks of the old time before the new birth of the Empire, when in the dismemberment of the fatherland, Germans lived the narrow life of the small principalities and their thoughts were provincial; when the idea of competing for the first place in the contest of nations still seemed to most Germans like presumptuous audacity; when in business enterprise the narrow methods of making a small profit by underbidding prices debarred the spirit of enterprise and a bold grasp of future contingencies. ”

“ The new German Empire had, indeed, existed for five years, at the time of the Philadelphia Exhibition and Germany had already become the leading power of the continent, but these five years had not sufficed for the national industrial growth to overtake the national political development. The consequences of two great wars had to be overcome, and that old curse of the German, a certain spirit of pettiness and narrowness, had to be broken completely by the development of broader views, more daring aspirations and higher aims. ”

“ We see again the beautiful, dear land of which every foot is precious to us, from the dark woods of the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps, to the dunes of the North Sea, from the oaks a thousand years old, growing on the red soil of Westphalia, to the Silesian mountains and the beech woods of the Baltic. ”

“ This is the policy of the business man of a wide outlook and pride of character, of a man who studies the demands of the time with an open mind and seeks the best means to satisfy them, who follows the progress of invention and the development of opportunities with a keen eye, and who, with a liberal mind and generous hand, makes art and science his assistants; who wins an honest custom by honest dealing, and who with bold enterprise ventures greater things where he has inspired confidence. ”

“ We meet to-day, on the hospitable soil of the American republic, to do honor to Germany in the peaceful contest of nations. We have come from far and near to render homage to the genius of the German nation. ”

“ This is the policy of the narrow-minded provincial who seeks his profit by means of petty cunning and appeals to a petty custom; a narrow, cowardly, short-sighted policy, overreaching itself by its own tricks. It may temporarily succeed, but will not long be able to hold the field, and limited success will make failure all the more certain; this is a policy which is unworthy of an honest, capable man and of an honest, capable people. ”

“ That is the policy of a people who aspire to build up its industry and trade on a great scale—of a people possessing broad intelligence and who understand how to use it—of a people who have confidence in their own strength and respect for their own character. That policy will conquer the world-market and keep it. ”

“ And this development has come, as it must, to a sound, capable people under the most powerful of all inspirations—the inspiration of a noble, proud, national self-esteem. It is with a nation as it is with an individual; self-respect is character.
In the struggle of business competition there are two kinds of business policy which are indicative of the character of the business man and of the business he is engaged in. ”

“ The German-American can accomplish great things for the development of the great composite nation of the new world, if in his works and deeds he combines and welds the best that is in the German character with the best that is in the American. ”

“ What seems a disquieting condition in Germany is not unusual in history. When new national unions are formed consisting of parts that formerly had a separate and independent existence, there is always a period of confusion to be overcome, until the component parts arrive at a realizing sense of what are the essentials and what are the questions of secondary importance in the new composite state. How long did it take our American Union before this process had been accomplished? ”