fidence that when it is received it will be found to offer a basis
for a friendly solution of the questions which exist between Germany and
the United States and, not unlikely, for those further steps which I
have intimated.

_Under the caption "A Word of Earnest Advice," the evening edition of
the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung on May 14 issued the following warning to
Germans and German-Americans:_

The times are grave--even very grave.... A conflict between America and
the old Fatherland is threatening. Such a conflict must rend the heart
of every German-American who has acquired the rights of citizenship
here, who has founded a new career for himself and brought up his
children.

It is probably unnecessary to give any advice to the American citizens
among our readers in regard to their conduct in this grave time. A
series of years must pass before an immigrant can obtain his
citizenship papers; nobody is forced to become a citizen. Of the man who
has voluntarily become a citizen of the United States we may therefore
expect that he knows the conditions here obtaining the institutions of
the country of his adoption, as well as his rights and duties. But there
are thousands upon thousands of our readers who are not citizens, and to
them a serious word of advice shall now be addressed. In the grave time
of the conflict let efforts be made to avoid every personal conflict. It
is not necessarily cowardly to deny one's descent, but it is not
necessary, either, to make demonstrations.

Where there is life there is hope. The hope still is entertained that
the conflict will be eliminated, that the bond of friendship between
Germany and America will not be torn. Through thoughtless Hotspurs, who
allow themselves to be carried away by excitement and do not dam up the
flood of their eloquence, much mischief can be done. Keeping away from
the public places where the excited groups congregate and discuss the
burning questions of the day must be urgently recommended. It was for
many a sport to participate in these discussions, and with more or less
skill, but always energetically to champion the German cause.

The American is in general very liberal in regard to expression of
opinion. He likes to hear also the "other side," but it must not be
forgotten that in times of conflict the "other side" may be regarded as
the "enemy side." What has heretofore sounded harmless may now be
interpreted as a criticism made against the United Sta