OHIO'S
GERMAN-LANGUAGE PRESS AND THE WAR.*
BY CARL WITTKE.
Instructor in American History. Ohio
State University.
In April 1917, when the war cloud
settled over America,
most of the German-language publications
in this country found
themselves in an extremely embarrassing
position. To the very
last, they had opposed America's entry
into the war. To them,
it seemed that Germany's cause had been
grossly misrepresented
by an Anglicised press, and the German
contention that the
Fatherland was waging a purely defensive
war against envious
neighbors had been so skillfully
presented, that, to the sym-
pathetic soul of the German-American, it
seemed extremely
plausible. The editorial tone of the
greater part of the German
press in this country, in spite of
occasional criticisms of the "ar-
rogant, dull and blundering" Junker
class that directed Ger-
many's foreign policy, remained
consistently pro-German. The
glorious victories of German arms, on
land and sea, were cele-
brated on the first page. Then the war
came to America. A
change of front became necessary as a
matter of self-preserva-
tion. Without it, complete suppression,
or prosecutions for dis-
loyalty could hardly have been avoided.
The first few months
after the declaration of war-the
transition period-are by
all odds the most important and the most
interesting in the recent
history of Ohio's German-language
newspapers. It is during
these months that the editors performed
the mental gymnastics
that have finally landed them in their
present position. This
transition period was a period of
bewildered readjustment, of
conflict of emotions in the hearts of
many German-Americans,
and of the shifting in the editorial
point of view of their papers.
The writer has found it impossible to
make anything like a thor-
* This article is based on material
collected by the Historical Com-
mission of Ohio.
(82)
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 83
ough examination of the files for the
neutrality and transition
periods in time for this paper. The
present study covers only
the past twelve months, and therefore
some of the conclusions
offered must be regarded as tentative
and preliminary. One
statement can be made without fear of
contradition, namely,
the editors of the German dailies of
Ohio have demonstrated
that they are past masters in the
strategy of conducting retreats.
Position after position has been
abandoned, until now, all the
papers with the exception of the German
Socialist weekly, have
become intensely loyal, not to say,
blatantly patriotic, in their
public professions of devotion to their
country's cause. One
cannot help wondering how this complete
metamorphosis was
accomplished in so short a time, and the
reader longs for some
miraculous power that would enable him
to peer into the inner-
most chambers of the editors' minds, and
find out how the change
came about, and how sincere and complete
it has been. But
practically, of course, it makes little
difference for it is only the
printed article that reaches the reader,
and so helps to mould
public opinion.1
No doubt some of the publishers of
German newspapers
honestly came to the conclusion that the
loyal support of the
government's war policy, after war had
once been declared, was
the solemn duty of every American
citizen, and if the conflict-
ing emotions that still surged through
their hearts when the
choice between the old and the new
Fatherland became impera-
tive, did not allow them to become very
active supporters of
the war, they simply refrained from all
comment and criticism.
1See an excellent article on "The
Strategic Retreat of the German
Language Press", by Clyde William
Park, in the North American Re-
view, May, 1918, pp. 706-720. The writer quotes from the Cleveland
Wachter und Anzeiger, the Cincinnati Volksblatt, and the Cincinnati
Abend-Presse. He concludes his discussion of this transition period
as
follows,-"In all this tangle of
unsympathetic comment, amusing in its
mixed logic and tragic in its
conflicting emotions, there is probably less
of deliberate propaganda than of
bewildered readjustment-a reluctant
shifting of the editorial point of view
to meet an extremely embarrassing
situation." After having defended
and idolized Germany for so long,
"a reasonable period of mourning
for their dead illusions" was perhaps
but natural.
84 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
It is gratifying to find in a paper like
the Columbus Express und
Westbote the statement made immediately after the declaration
of war, that "We have from this
time on but one duty to per-
form, and that, an unswerving,
unfaltering loyalty to the coun-
try and the flag of our adoption,
whatever her course or wherever
she may lead." 2
After October, 1917, it became almost a
physical impossi-
bility for any foreign language paper to
circulate if its news
and editorial tone was not completely
loyal. By act of Congress,
it was provided that no printed matter
respecting the war, could
be published in any foreign language
paper unless a true trans-
lation had first been submitted to the
postmaster. Whenever the
government was satisfied that the paper
was loyal, a permit could
be issued, allowing publication without
filing translations. The
act practically forced every paper that
desired to continue pub-
lication, to support the government and
the war. By October,
1918, every important German newspaper
in Ohio, with the ex-
ception of the Cleveland Wachter und
Anzeiger, had been
granted such a permit. The Wachter
und Anzeiger has had
many difficulties, and they can perhaps
be explained in part, by
the fact that two former editors have
been arrested as alien
enemies, the present editor was arrested
on a charge of "gar-
bling" an Associated Press
dispatch, and the stock of one of
the members of the company has been
recently seized by the
Custodian of Alien Enemies' Property.
There was some criticism of the law
requiring translations.
In an editorial of October 15, 1917, the
Wachter und Anzeiger
promises to obey it, and asks its
readers to appreciate the diffi--
culties of a German-American newspaper
in these troubled times.
In a later issue, the editor remarks
that many of the readers
must wonder why he prints all war
dispatches without comment,
and then explains that he is "wide
awake", conscious of the pit-
falls along the way, and extremely
cautious because every such
article would have to be submitted in
translation to the post-
master.3 The Wachter und Anzeiger had more difficulty than
any other German paper in Ohio in readjusting its editorial
2Quoted
in The Columbus Dispatch, August 18, 1918.
3 Wachter und Anzeiger, November
3, 1917.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 85
policy to war conditions. In spite of
protestations of loyalty,
one cannot help feeling that the
conversion of this paper was
exceedingly slow and difficult, so slow
that some still doubt the
sincerity of the new point of view. November 1, 1917, the
Wachter und Anzeiger gave a conspicuous place to a quotation
from Roosevelt's "The Naval War of 1812", to the
effect that the
disregard of the rights of neutrals is
often simply a matter of ex-
pediency, and the editor did not let the
opportunity slip to show
"the champion of Belgian neutrality
in quite a different light". It
is difficult to see how there could have
been any reason for pub-
lishing such an article at this time,
unless it was to justify or ex-
cuse the German invasion of Belgium.
Alien enemies, and all
others, are urged to keep silent on war
questions, especially over
their beer. "Where conscience and
duty speak", the editor adds,
"the heart must be silent".4 In March, the Wachter und
Anzeiger gave vent to an entirely uncalled for criticism of Am-
bassador Gerard's book, "Face to
Face with Kaiserism", and
pronounced it a superficial study,
showing lack of judgment and
containing certain, rather numerous,
misstatements of fact.5
Equally uncalled for was an article that
labored hard to prove
that Prussia was not an absolute
monarchy, but a constitutional
monarchy since 1850.6 The same paper was
late in publishing
Prince Lichnowsky's damaging
revelations, and then announced
that it would also publish von Jagow's
reply, so that all readers
might draw their own conclussions.7
The Wachter und Anzeiger
refused to take active part in the
propaganda of the Friends of
German Democracy, an organization
composed largely of Amer-
icans of German blood, and having for
its purpose the democrat-
ization of Germany, on the ground that
the agitation was con-
trary to President Wilson's statement
that the United States
does not presume to suggest to Germany
any alteration or
modification of her institutions.8 The German successes in
Russia must have warmed the heart of the
editor, for he made
4Wachter und Anzeiger, November 26, 1917; see also May 6, 1918.
5Ibid., March 9,
1918.
6Ibid., December
14, 1917.
7Ibid., May 11. 1918.
8 Wachter und Anzeiger, May 2, 1917.
86 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
the blunder of announcing the German
victories in the bold
headlines-"German Fleet Before
Reval", "The Persecuted
People of Esthonia Do Not Call in Vain
For Help." To speak
charitably, such a headline fails to
grasp the American view-
point entirely. The citations show how
long it was before the
transition period came to an end. No
editor would make such
blunders to-day.
During the past year, an agitation
against all things German,
has swept the state. In many cases, it
has been led by extremists,
whose methods at times bordered on the
hysterical. German
music, no matter how long ago it was
composed, German litera-
ture, German churches, German Singing
Societies, almost every-
thing that could be labelled with the
hated German name, has,
at one time or other, been under the ban
and the subject of bit-
ter attacks. Cases of mob violence have been altogether too
frequent.9 The attitude of
the German language press toward
all these attacks can be summed up in
the statement that a man
can be 100% American and yet speak
German, sing German
songs, worship his God in the German
tongue, and read his old
friend, the German newspaper.10 Every
German newspaper
justified the teaching of German in the
public schools, and quoted
United States Commissioner of Education,
Claxton in support
of this position.11 The Gross Daytoner Zeitung argues
that the
children in any case do not read
Treitschke or Bernhardi, but
only the German classics which breathe
the spirit of republican-
ism.12 Naturally enough, the
papers made the most of their op-
portunity to ridicule the extremists who
changed Sauerkraut to
"Liberty Cabbage", and soothed
their consciences by insisting
See the cases reported in Toledo
Express, June 8, 1918; Gross
Daytoner Zeitung, April 2, 1918; Stern des Westlichen Ohio, April
4,
1918; Wachter und Anzeiger, April
3, 15, 16, 1918.
10 See for example, Cincinnati
Volksblatt, May 8, 1918.
11 Following is a very incomplete list
of towns where the teaching
of German has been dropped either
entirely, or in the grades: Lancaster,
Defiance, Columbus, Cincinnati,
Youngstown, Cleveland, Mansfield, Elyria,
Marysville, Wooster, Newark, Bowling
Green, Delphos, Sandusky, Find-
lay, Sebring, Waynesfield, Bellevue,
Port Clinton, Napoleon, Milford
Center, Irwin, Toledo, Springfield,
Lakewood, Dayton, Norwalk.
12Gross Daytoner Zeitung, April 17, 1918.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 87
that German fried potatoes must be
excluded from hotel
menus,13 but most of the
editorials betray a real fear for the
future of the American
"Deutschtum". The Gross Daytoner
Zeitung predicts a steady decline in the membership of German
societies and churches, and a gradual
extermination of all foreign
language papers.14 The Wachter und Anzeiger prints
editorials
on the Reorganization of "Das
Deutschtum" in America, and
"The Critical Hour for
German-Americans".15 Most
of these
articles are simply vigorous rejoinders
to the attacks of the
"Nativists" and
"Knownothings", in which American casualty
lists and rolls of honor, full of
German-sounding names, are
hurled in the teeth of the agitators to
prove the loyalty of the
Americans of German extraction.16 But a few of the papers go
farther and venture to suggest that the
German-Americans them-
selves might be somewhat at fault or at
least might do a num-
ber of things to improve their standing
in the eyes of their
fellow
Americans. In an editorial of
June 8, 1918, the
Wachter used Anzeiger advises dropping the term German-
American and urges the German-born to
mingle more freely
with the mass of Americans, so that they
may learn to appreciate
them and their point of view. The Cincinnati
Volksblatt be-
lieves that the German-Americans as a
class have suffered much
from
the character of their leaders. !17 The Gross Daytoner
Zeitung shares this opinion, and on April 20, 1918, reprints
an
article from the St. Louis Anzeiger, which
maintains that it was
the few in authority who brought the now
defunct German-
American Alliance into disrepute. The
rank and file of the
membership it believes were innocent and
absolutely loyal, but
control of the Alliance had, in late
years, fallen into the hands
13 See Columbus Express und Westbote,
June 4, 1918; April 26, 1918;
Gross Daytoner Zeitung, May 11 and May 21, 1918; Cincinnati Abend-
Presse, July 22, 1918. It has been discovered that the Pretzel
is of
Italian origin, and that Limburger
cheese really was introduced to suf-
fering humanity by a Belgian.
14Gross Daytoner Zeitung, July 20, 1918.
15 Wachter und Anzeiger, October 8, 1917; and June 19, 1918.
16 See Wachter und Anzeiger, May
18, 1918, October 25, 1917; and
Cincinnati Volksblatt, March 30 and April 1, 1918.
Cincinnati Volksblatt, May 17, 1918.
88 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
of a few who had recently come to America, and who were filled
with Pan-German dreams. The Dayton paper
demands a thor-
ough Congressional investigation of the
activities of the Alliance,
so that it may be definitely ascertained
whether the millions of
loyal German-Americans who innocently
joined the organization,
were hoodwinked by leaders in the
service of Germany.18 An
attempt was made in Ohio to revive the
Alliance under the new
name of "American Citizens'
League", but judging from news-
paper comment, the great mass of
German-Americans are refus-
ing to become interested.19
Unpleasant as it must have been, the
German press could
not ignore the numerous arrests in Ohio
of Germans, and those
of German extraction, for treasonable
acts and disloyal utter-
ances, and a number of the editors tried
to account for these ar-
rests and the pro-German activities. The
Cincinnati Volksblatt
points out that those arrested are in
many cases alien enemies
who have failed to obey all the minute
regulations of the De-
partment of Justice in regard to their
conduct, or members of
the I. W. W., Socialists, Anarchists and
Pacifists. These oppose
the war, it is maintained, not as
Germans, but as Socialists and
pacifists.20 The Toledo Express shows that
it is the German
Socialist press which has given most of
the trouble, and that
99% of the German-American press is
loyal, no matter what it
might have been during the period of
neutrality.21 Time and
again earnest appeals are directed by
the newspapers to the great
majority of loyal German-Americans to
expose the traitor lurk-
ing in their midst and bringing
suspicion upon all of German
blood by his pro-German activities.22
The charge of the Toledo Express that
the German So-
cialists are giving trouble because of
their anti-war position, ap-
18Gross Daytoner Zeitung, April 22, 1918.
19 See Cincinnati Freie
Presse, June 8, 1918; Cincinnati Volksblatt,
June 13, 1918; Toledo Presse, May
1, 1918.
20 Cincinnati Volksblatt, April 13, and July 11, and May 31, 1918;
Cincinnati Freie Presse, July 2, 1918.
21 Toledo Express, April
27, 1918.
22 Cincinnati Volksblatt, May 27,
1918; Gross Daytoner Zeitung,
March 29 and April 5, 1918.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 89
plies to the Echo, the German
Socialist weekly published in
Cleveland. That paper still adheres to
the St. Louis manifesto,
believes that "There can never be a
good war or a bad peace",23
and that it is impossible to get
political democracy until the new
social and industrial order has been
attained. In spite of its anti-
war attitude, the Echo betrays no
love for Germany, and its is-
sues are full of attacks on the German
Socialists who have be-
trayed their party and the
International, and who have been
foolish enough to help the Junkers and
the Hohenzollerns win
a military victory which can never be a
victory for the German
people.24
As far as public support of the war is
concerned, Ohio's
German papers leave very little to be
desired. The greatest
publicity has been given to Liberty Loan
drives, by large adver-
tisements which spread over entire
pages, by editorials, and by
means of the plate service furnished by
the government itself.
This is especially true of the last
three loans.25 The Cleveland
daily made a special effort to get
German-Americans to subscribe
to the third loan. One motive was
undoubtedly to silence the
opponents of the paper by giving this
public display of its loyalty.
Almost 2,000 bonds, amounting to over
$250,000, were sold at
the newspaper office itself, and the
total subscriptions of Cleve-
land's German-Americans exceeded a half
million dollars.26
Vigorous support has been given by all
the papers to the work
of the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A.,
and to the War Chest
drives in the various cities.27 The
regulations of the fuel and
food administrations are heartily
endorsed, and a special appeal
23Echo, June 15, 1918.
24 See Echo, June 1, June 22, July
6, and May 25, 1918.
See for examples, Akron Germania, Sept.
28, 1918; Wachter und
Anzeiger, Sept. 27; Cincinnati Abend-Presse, Sept. 28; Cincinnati
Freie
Presse, July 3; Cincinnati Volksblatt, June 28; Siebenburgisch-Ameri-
kanisches Volksblatt, Sept. 6; Columbus Express und Westbote, April 12
and May 6; Toledo Presse, April
17; Gross Daytoner Zeitung, April 6;
Stern des Westlichen Ohio (New Bremen), March 28, 1918.
26 Wachter und Anzeiger, April 5 and May 11, 1918.
27See for examples, Gross Daytoner Zeitung,
April 3; Wachter und
Anzeiger, Feb. 11 and May 20; Toledo Express, May 18; Sandusky
Demokrat, May 17; Cincinnati Volksblatt, May 18, 1918.
90 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
is frequently made to the thrifty German
housewife to live up
to her reputation and show the way to
her American sisters in
the matter of conserving our food
supply. There are also occa-
sional editorials appealing to the
laborer to maintain industrial
peace, because strikes at this time
would reduce the country's
fighting strength.28 Editorials in support of our merchant
marine and the shipbuilding program, are
quite common.29
When the July offensive of the Allies
began, there was no dis-
position to belittle its importance, and
full credit and unstinted
praise was given, in headline and
editorial, to the American boys
who played such an important role in
these and all subsequent
operations.30
A much safer test of the loyalty and
sincerity of the Ger-
man-language press than its support of
liberty loans and Red
Cross campaigns affords, can be made, I
think, by examining its
discussions of the fundamental causes
and aims of the war.
What have the editors to say about
responsibility for the war?
What of German war practices, and the
internal conditions of
the German Empire? And finally, have
they caught the Amer-
ican spirit, and do they understand and
sympathize with the
high aims that America has set for
herself in this war?
For a few months after we entered the
war, some of the
editors published the war news as they
received it, and refrained
from making any comments whatsoever.
They must have felt
their embarrassing position very keenly,
and it required time to
adjust themselves to the new conditions.
Probably some were
skeptical of America's position and
doubted the sincerity of
President Wilson's rather idealistic
utterances. But as one
reads the files of the various papers in
Ohio, one cannot help
discovering, as the months go by,
encouraging signs of a real
understanding of, and sympathy with,
America's war aims.
28 Toledo Express, May 4; Cincinnati
Freie Presse, September 14,
1918.
Columbus Express und Westbote, May 4; Wachter und Anzeiger,
Feb. 18, and May 4, 1918.
30See Cincinnati Abend-Presse, July
19; Cincinnati Volksblatt, July
19; Wachter und Anzeiger, July 19
and September 13, 1918; Columbus
Express und Westbote, July 19, 1918.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 91
Many a citizen of German blood has been
disillusioned by
the terms of the Russian Peace, and the
Lichnowsky Revelations,
and the same seems to be true of the
editors of the German
newspapers. Editorials on the causes of
the war become more
frequent as we approach the present day,
and also more bitter
toward the existing German
government. President Wilson
made this change in editorial policy
much easier when, at
the very beginning, he made a
distinction between the Ger-
man people and their autocratic rulers.
Naturally, that dis-
tinction was seized upon by the
German-language press.
The Express und Westbote of April
16, 1918, carries an
editorial full of praise for the
President. He is described
as the spokesman of all free peoples,
who desire peace, but
who must have a just peace. The editor
contends that peace
can only be discussed with the real
representatives of the
German people, and never with the
military autocracy that
has just revealed its hand in the
Russian and Roumanian peace
treaties. American liberties are at
stake, and the fight must go
on until the German military autocracy,
but not the German peo-
ple, is destroyed.31 The
Russian peace made a profound im-
pression, and the Brest-Litovsk
negotiations are condemned in
unmistakable language.32 The Lichnowsky Revelations, as well
as those of Dr. Muehlon, were printed in
full in almost every
German paper in Ohio. The Columbus
Express and Westbote
sent the German translation of "How
the War Came to America"
to all its readers. Several of the
papers printed complete lists
of the publications of the Committee on
Public Information,
with directions to the readers in regard
to how they might be
obtained.33 The plate service
of the Friends of German Democ-
racy is used by many of the papers, and
these articles very often
deal with the fundamental issues of the
war. A Columbus paper
describes the German people as a people
led astray by its selfish
rulers, and now threatening to destroy
the liberty and peace of
31Columbus Express und Westbote, April 16, 1918.
32 See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, May
27, May 29, June 4, 1918.
33 Wachter und Anzeiger, May 27; Cincinnati Volksblatt, April 9,
1918.
92 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
the world forever.34 The Express und Westbote specifically
charges the German autocracy with
plunging the world into war,
seeking world domination, disregarding
all international law, and
being guilty of the most wanton
destruction of property in its
conduct of the war.35 Of all such statements, the public
confes-
sion of the editor of the Gross
Daytoner Zeitung rings truest.
On May 31, 1918, he writes:
"It is not an easy matter for a German
to change his mind. If he
does, there must be weighty reasons.
What has happened lately, has
opened the eyes of Germans the world
over....... They believed that
Germany......was compelled to fight a
defensive war. But events have
brought to light the greed, tyranny, and
lust for conquest of the ruling
class of Germany. The disregard of
American rights, and the treatment
of the Russians has enabled every
right-minded German to see the
situation in the proper light, and has
brought him the conviction that
the Germany of the military party is not
the Germany that has been
living on in his memory. The beauties of
German literature and song
have been forced to yield to the dark
powers that rule Germany to-day.
The scales have fallen from our
eyes...... No one can dictate to our
conscience. We are speaking only for
ourselves and for our readers
who wish to follow us........ when we
declare that we have not the
least sympathy with the German government
as it is constituted to-day,
and that we have devoted all we have to
the cause of the United States.
All our interests are here, our homes
and our children. All our hopes
are in America."36
The internal conditions of the German
Empire are rather
common topics for discussion in the
editorial columns. One
paper assails the German Crown Prince as
the leader of the Pan-
Germans, a would-be master of strategy,
and a sufferer from a
violent case of megalomania.37 Articles on how the German
people are being deceived, and attacks
on the Junkers, and espe-
cially their opposition to Prussian
electoral reform, appear fre-
quently.38 The work of our secret service in the
last few months
has called out several articles on
German intrigues and propa-
34 Der Ohio Sonntagsgast, April 21, 1918.
35Columbus Express und Westbote, April 30, 1918
36 See a similar article in, Columbus
Express und Westbote, May
29, 1918.
37 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, September 4, 1918.
38 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, March 1, March 21, May 7, May 18, June
18, July 23; Cincinnati Volksblatt, May
17, 1918; Gross Daytoner Zeitung,
Sept. 28, 1918.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 93
ganda in the United States. The Gross
Daytoner Zeitung de-
nounces these activities as shameful and
absurd, and adds, "Poor
German people .... how you have been
misrepresented by
adventurers who have made the German
name hated and de-
spised the world over".39 George Sylvester Viereck, the editor
of the Fatherland, and later of Viereck's
Weekly, a publication
that was a recognized organ of German
propaganda, has few
friends among the German newspaper men
of Ohio. They call
him a dishonest adventurer, "an
American citizen who sold his
honor and his independence for the
German ambassador's
gold".40
The one outstanding difference between
the German and
English newspaper that appears in Ohio
to-day, is the almost
complete absence of all discussion of
German war practices in
the former. The Gross Daytoner
Zeitung has carried one attack
on Germany's practice of killing
innocent and defenseless women
and children by air raids on undefended
towns,41 and a few com-
ments can be found on the failure of
U-boat warfare,42 but that
is all. Speeches of soldiers and
travelers, back from Europe,
and dealing with German war practices
may be reported as news,
but they are printed without comment.43
In spite of the German newspapers'
public professions of
loyalty, the past year has been for them
a year of persecution and
financial loss. The German language
press seems to be losing
ground continually, and it is
inconceivable how it can ever be re-
gained unless the end of the war should
bring a heavy German im-
migration. Paper after paper has
suspended publication, either
for all time, or for the period of the
war.44 The company which
39 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, July 26 and June 19, 1918; See also
Toledo Express, Sept. 19, 1918.
40 Cincinnati
Freie Presse, July 30; Cincinnati
Abend-Presse, July 27;
Gross Daytoner Zeitung, July 30, 1918.
41July 5, 1918.
42 Gross Daytoner Zeitung, June 5; Cincinnati Freie Presse, june
4, 1918.
43 See Wachter und Anzeiger, March
10, May 16, July 16, 1918.
44The following is an incomplete list,-Hamilton
"Deutsch-Ameri-
kaner"; Lorain Post, Canton, Ohio Volkszeitung, Youngstown Rund-
schau, Steubenville Germania, Cleveland Volksfreund und Arbeiterzeitung,
Columbus Express und Westbote,
Westbote and Ohio Sonntagsgast.
94 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
published the Columbus Express und
Westbote bought the circu-
lation lists of eleven newspapers during
the past year, and then
at last decided to cease publishing its
own papers. The
president of the company is a major in
the United States
Army, and has been on duty in France.
The publishers saw
the handwriting on the wall, and claim
that they suspended
while business was still
profitable. The suspension is for
all time, and the reasons alleged are of
a patriotic nature. Says
the editor in his farewell,-" . . .
. The trend of the times,
a thousand times reinforced by the war,
demands the suspension
of all foreign language publications,
especially the German."45
Very few of the German papers still
published in Ohio carry
enough advertising to make the business
profitable. There have
been, and there still are, movements
under way to boycott any
firm that advertises in the German
press. The Cleveland Wach-
ter und Anzeiger, once a great advertising medium, now con-
tains little more than a few want ads,
and its circulation list,
exclusive of sales at news stands, is
down to 3,740.46 Its papers
have been burned by Boy Scouts,
petitions have been sent to
Washington demanding its suppression,47
and riotous crowds
have interfered with the distribution of
the paper by congregat-
ing around its agencies.48 German editors occasionally receive
anonymous and threatening letters.49 It has been increasingly
difficult to get boys to carry "the
Dutch paper", and packages
of newspapers, shipped to neighboring
towns, have been known
to disappear from the train or
interurban in a most mysterious
fashion. The Toledo Express, a
paper forty-seven years old,
has shrunk from a daily to a semi-weekly,
and then to a weekly,
because of the financial losses incurred
during the last year. The
publishers have declared that only an
early peace can save the
paper. A number of the papers have
reduced the size of their
issues. Interestingly enough, some of
the papers are publishing
articles in English. Is this the
beginning of a gradual change
45Der Ohio Sonntagsgast, August 18, 1918.
46 Wachter und
Anzeiger, October 1, 1918.
47Ibid., June 1
and March 23, 1918.
48Ibid., June 2, 1918.
49See Gross Daytoner Zeitung, April
20, 1918.
Ohio's German-Language Press and the
War. 95
from
a German to an English paper?
The Wachter und
Anzeiger contains at least one article in English every day. The
Akron Germania publishes a war review, sometimes as much as
a full page, in English, and the Minster
Post sometimes appears
half English and half German.50
Most of the papers are trying to hold
their circulation, and
the few advertisers they are still able
to get,-and are hoping
for an early peace to bring back the
before-the-war prosperity.
They are answering their persecutors by
pointing out that "A
war against the German press in this
country is a war against the
government." 51 They publish with
pride and evident delight
the letters from Secretary McAdoo,
George Creel, and other
high officials, thanking them for their
loyal and hearty support
of Liberty Loans and War Savings Stamp
Campaigns. They
maintain that the German paper is still
a necessity in this coun-
try, and ask, with considerable effect,
how would it have been
possible to administer the draft law,
and the detailed regulations
for the registration and conduct of
alien enemies, among those
who know but one tongue, if it had not
been for the German-
language press? As far as the government
itself is concerned, its
present policy, whatever its ultimate
policy may be, is to
recognize the foreign language
newspapers as existing institu-
tions, and to get the greatest possible
good out of them.52
50 See for example, Minster Post, Sept. 6, 1918; and Akron
Germania,
Sept. 4, 1918. Also Siebenburgisch-Amerikanischer
Bote (Youngstown),
Sept. 6, 1918.
51 Cincinnati Volksblatt, July 11, 1918.
52 See a letter from the Council of
National Defense to all State
Councils, reprinted in Cincinnati
Abend-Presse, July 15, 1918.
OHIO'S
GERMAN-LANGUAGE PRESS AND THE WAR.*
BY CARL WITTKE.
Instructor in American History. Ohio
State University.
In April 1917, when the war cloud
settled over America,
most of the German-language publications
in this country found
themselves in an extremely embarrassing
position. To the very
last, they had opposed America's entry
into the war. To them,
it seemed that Germany's cause had been
grossly misrepresented
by an Anglicised press, and the German
contention that the
Fatherland was waging a purely defensive
war against envious
neighbors had been so skillfully
presented, that, to the sym-
pathetic soul of the German-American, it
seemed extremely
plausible. The editorial tone of the
greater part of the German
press in this country, in spite of
occasional criticisms of the "ar-
rogant, dull and blundering" Junker
class that directed Ger-
many's foreign policy, remained
consistently pro-German. The
glorious victories of German arms, on
land and sea, were cele-
brated on the first page. Then the war
came to America. A
change of front became necessary as a
matter of self-preserva-
tion. Without it, complete suppression,
or prosecutions for dis-
loyalty could hardly have been avoided.
The first few months
after the declaration of war-the
transition period-are by
all odds the most important and the most
interesting in the recent
history of Ohio's German-language
newspapers. It is during
these months that the editors performed
the mental gymnastics
that have finally landed them in their
present position. This
transition period was a period of
bewildered readjustment, of
conflict of emotions in the hearts of
many German-Americans,
and of the shifting in the editorial
point of view of their papers.
The writer has found it impossible to
make anything like a thor-
* This article is based on material
collected by the Historical Com-
mission of Ohio.
(82)