AMERICANS ANIMALS
else. (Forum, April 1894.) Mem. Ed. XV. 24; Nat. Ed.
XIII, 21.
____________. The one being abhorrent to the powers
above the earth and under them is the hyphenated
American—the “German-American,” the “Irish-
American," or the "native-American." Be Americans,
pure and simple! If you don't act on the theory that
every man who in good faith assumes the duties and
responsibilities of an American citizen in a spirit of true
Americanism is an American, and is to be treated as
such, . . . you are yourselves unfit to take part in
managing our government and you are bound to make a
failure if you try to better the condition of our cities.
(Before Liberal Club, Buffalo, N. Y., September 10,
1895.) Mem. Ed. XVI, 276; Nat. Ed. XIV, 196.
____________. I am among those Americans whose
ancestors include men and women from many different
European countries. The proportion of Americans of
this type will steadily increase. I do not believe in
hyphenated Americans. I do not believe in German-
Americans or Irish-Americans; and I believe just as
little in English-Americans. I do not approve of
American citizens of German descent forming
organizations to force the United States into practical
alliance with Germany because their ancestors came
from Germany. Just as little do I believe in American
citizens of English descent forming leagues to force the
United States into an alliance with England because
their ancestors came from England. (Metropolitan,
October 1915.) Mem. Ed. XX, 328; Nat. Ed. XVIII,
continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to
become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate
knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-
Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-
Americans, or Italian-Americans, each preserving its
separate nationality, each at heart feeling more
sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with
the other citizens of the American Republic. The men
who do not become Americans and nothing else are
hyphenated Americans; and there ought to be no room
for them in this country. The man who calls himself an
American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that
he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a
thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body
politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns
to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance,
the better it will be for every good American. (Before
Knights of Columbus, New York City, October 12,
1915.) Mem. Ed. XX, 456; Nat. Ed. XVIII, 392.
____________. Among the very many lessons taught
by the last year has been the lesson that the effort to
combine fealty to the flag of an immigrant's natal land
with fealty to the flag of his adopted land, in practice
means not merely disregard of, but hostility to, the flag
of the United States. When two flags are hoisted on the
same pole, one is always hoisted undermost. The
hyphenated American always hoists the American flag
undermost. (Metropolitan, October 1915.) Mem. Ed.
XX, 324; Nat. Ed. XVIII, 278.
AMERICANS, HYPHENATED. See also
ALLEGIANCE; GERMAN-AMERICANS; IRISH-
AMERICANS; LOYALTY; NATIONALISM; PATRIOTISM.
281.
____________. There is no room in this country for
hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated
Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans.
Some of the very best Americans I have ever known
were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad.
But a hyphenated American is not an American at all.
This is just as true of the man who puts “native” before
the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or
English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a
matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must
be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly
condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But
if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then
no matter where he was born, he is just as good an
American as any one else.
The one absolutely certain way of bringing this
nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its
AMERICANS IN POLITICS. We have a right to
demand that every man, native born or foreign born,
shall in American public life act merely as an
American. (Speech at Boston, November 1893.) Mem.
Ed. XV, 34; Nat. Ed. XIII, 275.
____________. It is exceedingly unlikely that I shall
ever again be a candidate for office, but, if I am, no
man will be wise who votes for me under the idea that I
am anything but a straightcut American. I care nothing
for a man’s creed, or his birthplace, or descent! but I
regard him as an unworthy citizen unless he is an
American and nothing else. (To Rev. Gustavus E.
Hiller, February 4, 1916.) Mem. Ed. XXIV, 472; Bishop
II, 401.
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