This is a brief article about the general discomfort that the German government experienced when confronted with a unique social sect called German-Americans. As handsome and affable as they were, these “volk” still bugged the Kaiser and his administrators to a high degree, although this article points out that the Fatherland was warming to them slowly.
The column makes a number of references to the Bancroft Treaty and how the agreement pertained to a particular German-American family named Meyer. After years spent in the U.S., Meyer the elder returned to Germany along with his wife and children – the story became a news-worthy when it was revealed that his draft-age son, a naturalized Yank, resisted military conscription and was thrown in the hoosegow. It was at that moment when the American embassy stepped forward.
Not surprisngly, Hitler didn’t like German-Americans any better than the Kaiser…
