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THE GERMAN-AMERICAN REFORM UNION.

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UR German-American fellow-citizen is not an adept in "practical" politics. He lacks both the taste and the skill for running a primary or manipulating a caucus. The position of ward leader or district boss is neither coveted nor obtained by him. This is the rule, which, of course, has its exceptions.

The explanation for this fact lies in the difficulty of mastering the English language. It takes a long period of time before a German commands the English language sufficiently to participate in public debates, and only in rare cases and under exceptionally favorable circumstances will he succeed in swaying the minds of his fellow-citizens in district or mass meeting assembled. He is doomed to silence at the political council board. This runs counter to the most strongly developed trait in his character, his individual independence, and, in consequence thereof, his political discussions in the English language have been confined to his house, his shop, and his saloon.

Another, but secondary, explanation for this fact is the inclination of the German mind to theorize, to evolve or search for the principle of a phenomenon. He is inquisitive, not dogmatic. This prevents him from being a successful competitor in "practical" politics, but makes him a powerful factor in campaigns with great issues.

In all the principal political contests, the majority of the German-Americans have been mainly influenced by appeals printed or spoken in the German language. The German speaker has been in great demand by both political parties. He had to travel regularly the circuit of the villages, towns and cities having a large German population, the English language being deemed impotent to move the hearts and minds of our German-American fellow-citizens.

In New York City this circuit consists, and for the last thirty-five years has consisted, of all the Assembly districts, every one of them being the abode of a comparatively large number of German voters. The necessity of holding German district and mass meetings has, during the last thirty years, led in New York City to the maintenance of separate German political organizations, or at least the semblance of such. They have been subjected to the laws of all human institutions, to growth and decay, but in all the great political campaigns they have made themselves felt and have exerted their influence for the preservation of the Union, for the principles of good government, and for political progress.

Since the uprising against the Tweed ring, in which they took a conspicuous part, until 1888, the Germans of New York had been steadfastly against Tammany Hall, and the sachems in the Fourteenth Street Wigwam would never have been justified in saying that the Germans were with them, had not the County Democracy indorsed and renominated its Broadway boodle aldermen, and had Mayor Hewitt not made certain natavistic utterances, and had he not committed certain acts which were considered unfriendly to the Germans. His conduct was regarded as contemptuous, and that of his organization, the County Democracy, as insincere and dishonest. The then existing German organization, the United German Democracy, was, by the present Internal Revenue Collector, Edward Grosse, and Sheriff Edward J. H. Tamsen, kept in line for Mayor Hewitt, but the mass of the German voters were swept over to Tammany Hall and secured the election of Hugh J. Grant. The incense offered daily to the "new, the rejuvenated Tammany Hall," by most of the newspapers of New York, had its effect upon the Germans, as well as upon the other elements of our population. The Tammany pretenses of honesty, and of hostility to corruption, were taken as evidences of a change of heart, and the prosecution of various improvements, all of which had been suggested or initiated by Mayor Hewitt, was considered as proof of great executive ability. "Tammany Hall is good enough for me, was as frequently heard among the Germans as among the Americans. And yet, when in 1890 the Municipal League made its valiant campaign against Tammany Hall, it had no more enthusiastic and active supporters than the Germans, but there were not enough of them. The defeat of Scott and Goff had a discouraging effect upon the anti-Tammany elements among the Germans. They considered the prospects of the city's liberation from the band of public plunderers, which received its orders from "the great and silent statesman" in Fourteenth street, as vanishing rather than materializing. This feeling of hopelessness continued to prevail among the Germans, even when they in 1892 organized the German-American Cleveland Union, and carried on an unprecedented campaign, both in regard to extent of territory and financial means, as well as to intensity of feeling and energy of action. They raised and spent the sum of $42,249.43; they published and distributed twenty-four campaign documents in a total of 2,684,150 copies, and they sent their speakers into eight States. The executive committee, consisting of Oswald Ottendorfer, Carl Schurz, Henry Villard, Edward Grosse, Gustav H. Schwab, Oscar S. Straus, Arthur v. Briesen, Henry Clausen, Jr., Percival Knauth, James Speyer, Louis Windmueller, Gustav Pollak, and Charles Wiebusch, remained in existence after Cleveland's election, for the express purpose of assisting in proper efforts "to purify the political atmosphere in the city of New York," but it changed the name of the organization to "The GermanAmerican Reform Union." In the fall of 1893, the executive committee met and determined upon a vigorous campaign against Isaac H. Maynard, the corrupt candidate for the Court of Appeals. Carl Schurz wrote an address to the German-Americans in the whole State, which had an electrifying effect. It was published in all the papers throughout the State and distributed in leaflet form by the hundred thousands.

Meetings were held by the Union in all the Assembly districts of New York, and the spirit displayed at its great mass meeting held in Cooper Union was so earnest and enthusiastic, that the politicians accepted it as the foreboding of a crushing defeat for Maynard. The result of the election inspired the aforesaid

executive committee with great confidence in an aggressive movement against Tammany Hall. Conferences were held immediately after the election at Mr. Ottendorfer's residence, and on the 9th of December, 1893, a meeting of about one hundred well-known Germans was held at the Reform Club to determine upon a plan of reorganization. Carl Schurz opened the proceedings with a short. speech in the course of which he made the following remarks: "We had an election a few weeks ago, in which it was demonstrated that the people have a conscience, and that when this conscience raises its voice, the people are also powerful enough to enforce their will. The State has been saved from a great disgrace and shielded against a great misfortune. The object now is to clean out the nests from which this disgrace and this misfortune would have sprung. We have to wipe out the organization which has forced us under such a despotic yoke, and then we have to smash the political machine in the State."

In the absence of Mr. Ottendorfer, the president of the organization, Mr. von Briesen was elected chairman of the meeting. He referred to the 100,000 German names which were contained in the registry lists of 1893, and said that without the consent of the German voters, Tammany Hall could no longer exist as a controlling factor in the city of New York.

Mr. Gustav H. Schwab submitted resolutions recommending "a union of the German-American citizens for the purpose of securing the purity of the ballotbox, a correct count of the votes, municipal home rule, and an honest and efficient administration of our municipal affairs-demands which are generally recognized as just and necessary. To enforce them will require a well articulated organization and an active co-operation of all those citizens who desire the eradication of the present evils. The good elements among our citizens will, when united for good purposes, be invincible at the next election; but without organization, experience has taught us, we shall be powerless against our well disciplined opponents, who derive their power from the spoils."

The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and Mr. Percival Knauth proposed as a basis of organization the appointment of a committee of one hundred by the president.

This led to an issue between the disciples of Hamilton and Jefferson.

Mr. Schwab supported the committee plan, while Mr. Edward Grosse spoke in opposition thereto as follows:

"If the meeting desires the indorsement of the objects set forth in Mr. Schwab's resolutions by the Germans of New York, you must give them a voice in the organization; you must let the people know that they have something to say in the management of this movement. The proposed committee would be a self-constituted body, and it is a question whether it would enjoy the confidence of all the Germans. You must not forget that every German, every citizen, has a vote, be he rich or poor. It will be more in accordance with the character of the movement to enroll the Germans and then to create a representative organization, democratic in character. The committee proposed by Mr. Knauth, even if composed of none but prominent, well-known Germans, would not be a representation of the German voters. In order to create a people's movement, you must appeal to the whole people, and not merely to a limited number."

After a long and spirited debate, the meeting indorsed Mr. Grosse's view by the election of an executive committee for the purpose of organizing the

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