Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
NOTES AND COMMENTS
GETTING “EVEN” WITH THE FATHERLAND.
HE New York Times which boasts of printing “all
the news that’s fit to print” may be known after
this war as the Mother of Lies. Evidently our revela-
tions of its editorial methods have already opened the
eyes of thousands of its readers. Unable to controvert
the truth of our accusations, the great metropolitan
daily debases itself by personal attacks on one of the
editors of THE FATHERLAND. The letter, addressed to the
Times by Mr. George Sylvester Viereck, speaks for it-
self. If the Times does not withdraw its statements in-
geniously calculated to injure the reputation of our
weekly, the publishers of THE FATHERLAND will take
such legal steps as may seem advisable.
Editor, New York Times,
August 29th, 1914.
Dear Sir:
in your number of August 29th there appears an article,
calculated to injure gravely my integrity as a publicist,
bristling with inaccuracies and misstatements which I can-
not let go uncorrected.
You speak of a story published by myself eight years ago
in the Neue Freie Presse of Vienna to the effect that the
Treasury of the United States had been looted by a band of
bad bold millionaires. You create the impression that i
wrote the article as a deliberate fake and that as such it
deceived the editors of the paper in which it appeared. As
a matter of fact:
i. The article in question was not written by me but by
my father, who was not, as you claim, in Europe at the
time. 2. The article was not published in the I-‘reie Presse
but in the Berliner Tageblatt. 3. The editors of the Tags-
blatt were fully aware that this was an April fool story.
in the second part of your article you claim that l pub-
lished to the world how l met Oscar Wilde in the streets of
Paris. This is absolutely untrue and l defy you to find
any statement to that effect under my name anywhere in
the world. I did publish an article in the Critic in which I
reported certain rumors that had come to my cars. l
enumerated the psychological reasons which caused me to
believe that the story which, by the way, was revived very
recently by a nephew of the poet in Paris, might possibly be
true. i did not claim that I knew that the story was true
or that i had met Oscar Wilde. ,
You impugn the quality of the “information” published
in THE FATHERLAND on the strength of these stories. I can
assure you that no article published in THE FATHERLAND
contains so many inaccuracies as your own “expose” of my
literary “past”.
I would like to remind you that THE. FATHERLAND whose
Vefifclti’ YOU Impeach on the basis of two false accusations
against me, numbers among its contributors such men as
Professor Hugo Muensterberg, Pr'of. Kuno Francke Dr. Ru-
dolf Tombo, Prof. Herbert Sanborn, Haniei voi-1 Haim.
hausen, Frederick F. Schrader, Alexander Harvey and others
of international importance.
THE FATHERLAND
I trust that you will give the same prominence to this
letter as to the article herein referred to, not only in jus-
tice to my own reputation, but also in justice to the brave
men who, without hope of reward or remuneration, have
joined in a fight for fair play.
Very truly yours,
George Sylvester Viereck
NAILING DOWN THE WORLD.
August 29, l9l4.
To the Editors of THE FATHERLAND.
The New York World of August 28th published an
editorial entitled “Autocracy in War," and while this
title appears to be general, the contents of the article are
plainly an attack upon so-called German autocracy.
This Committee takes exception to.this editorial.
The City of Antwerp referred to in said article is fortified
and according to the law of nations the bombardment of a
fortified point in time of war is perfectly legitimate. if in
the course of the bombardment non-combatants are wounded
this is not the fault or intention of the enemy.
German soldiers do not fire on wounded prisoners in
hospitals flying the Red Cross flag. If the editor of the
World maintains the contrary he either acts from ignorance
or with malevolent intent.
He says he could not imagine “an American admiral ruth-
lessly sewing the deep sea with mines to destroy ships and
sailors of neutral nations.” Supposing we were at war with
Japan and Japan were planning an attack upon San Fran-
cisco. Do you believe that in such a case an admiral of the
United States would hesitate to mine the surrounding waters
for the purpose of defense and regardless of the presence
of “ships and sailors of neutral nations engaged in the
pursuits of peaceful commerce?” ' .
The Germans have not shot down “disarmed peasants
who had tried to defend their little possessions” They did
shoot down snipers and did no more or less than our own
soldiers in Vera Cruz. > '
What the editor of the World calls the autocracy in Wm‘
is therefore not German autocracy in particular (as he
would have his readers believe), but the autocracy of Wm‘ ’
in general. We do not uphold war, but we venture to Say
that so long as war will exist it will be coupled with the
autocracy of which he speaks, and this autocracy in case of
a war between this country and some other nation would
then be American autocracy just as much as the present
attitude in Germany is styled by him as German autocracy.
Yours very truly,
German-American Literary Defense Committee.
Dr. F. C. DeWalsh, Vice-President.
Philadelphia, Pa., August 29, 1914.
A MESSAGE FROM DR. HEXAMER.
To the Editors of The Fatherland.
I beg leave to state that the members of the National
German American Alliance are very well satisfied with
your magazine. 1 have only heard words of praise and 1
myself recommend Tr-re FATHERLAND to everyone and every‘
where. it is my sincere wish that it will more and more in-
crease its circulation, so that it can reach the masses. What-
ever can be done to enhance this undertaking will, 07
course, be done by our officers and our members.
With kindest regards, I am
Yours very truly,
C. J. Hexamer.