and Columbia is our bride," said Carl
Schurz, and with these words he described the situation in a nutshell.
Just as a man shall "leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife," so the man who is generally styled the
German-American decides in favor of his new home-land, when a conflict
arises between America and Germany. He will, however, do anything
in his power to avoid such a conflict. Even before the war, we in
Germany entirely failed to understand the difficult and delicate
position of the American of German origin. And during the war this
was more than ever the case. The question of the "German-Americans"
has never been dealt with tactfully in Germany. Our greatest mistake
was to expect too much from them. The Americans of German origin
have retained in their new home all the failings and virtues of
the German people. _We_ could not, therefore, blame them if they
showed less interest and less understanding in regard to political
questions than the rest of America; for did they not, on the other
hand, distinguish themselves by their respect for the established
order of things, and by the fidelity and industry with which they
pursued their various callings? The inevitable consequence of these
national qualities was that they did not exercise the political
influence which would have been only in keeping with their numerical
superiority. For instance, I might mention that, on the occasion
when I first visited Milwaukee, I was welcomed by an Irish mayor,
a circumstance which somewhat surprised me, seeing that at the
time the town contained from 300,000 to 400,000 Germans.

In consequence of the state of affairs described above, the principal
object of German policy in the United States before the war was
to try to bring about a more satisfactory understanding between
the two peoples. Prince Henry's journey to America, the exchange
of University professors and school teachers, which took place on
this occasion, the visits of the two fleets, the American Institute
in Berlin, and similar more or less successful undertakings served
the same purpose. German diplomatic representatives were instructed
to promote this policy with all their power. When I was appointed
Ambassador in Washington, the Kaiser's and the Chancellor's principal
injunction, in taking leave of me, was that I should enlighten
public opinion in the United States regarding the peaceful and
friendly intentions of German policy. Prince Bu