I am glad to answer to the toast, "The Hollander as an American." The
Hollander was a good American, because the Hollander was fitted to be a
good citizen. There are two branches of government which must be kept on
a high plane, if any nation is to be great. A nation must have laws that
are honestly and fearlessly administered, and a nation must be ready, in
time of need, to fight [applause], and we men of Dutch descent have here
to-night these gentlemen of the same blood as ourselves who represent
New York so worthily on the bench, and a Major-General of the Army of
the United States. [Applause.]

It seems to me, at times, that the Dutch in America have one or two
lessons to teach. We want to teach the very refined and very cultivated
men who believe it impossible that the United States can ever be right
in a quarrel with another nation--a little of the elementary virtue of
patriotism. [Cries of "Good! Good!" and applause.] And we also wish to
teach our fellow-citizens that laws are put on the statute books to be
enforced [cries of "Hear! Hear!" and applause]; and that if it is not
intended they shall be enforced, it is a mistake to put a Dutchman in
office to enforce them.

The lines put on the programme underneath my toast begin: "America!
half-brother of the world!" America, half-brother of the world--and all
Americans full brothers one to the other. That is the way that the line
should be concluded. The prime virtue of the Hollander here in America
and the way in which he has most done credit to his stock as a
Hollander, is that he has ceased to be a Hollander and has become an
American, absolutely. [Great applause.] We are not Dutch-Americans. We
are not "Americans" with a hyphen before it. We are Americans pure and
simple, and we have a right to demand that the other people whose stocks
go to compose our great nation, like ourselves, shall cease to be aught
else and shall become Americans. [Cries of "Hear! Hear!" and applause.]

And further than that, we have another thing to demand, and that is that
if they do honestly and in good faith become Americans, those shall be
regarded as infamous who dare to discriminate against them because of
creed or because of birthplace. When New Amsterdam had but a few hundred
souls, among those few hundred souls no less than eighteen different
race-stocks were represented, and almost as many creeds as there were
race-stocks, and the great contribution that the Hollander gave t