positions of trust in Government work in the army and navy. I would not trust one of them in this part of the State. We have had trouble continually with the German communities where these ministers are located. Twenty-nine were convicted from Tripp. . . . Our Government might as well choose men from Berlin as to select German Lutheran ministers from this part of South Dakota. It seems to me that the A. P. L. should investigate and see what is inducing all these German Lutheran ministers to apply for Government positions. If even one succeeds in obtaining an appointment, it would be an opening.
This matter went before the Military Intelligence Division
in Washington and received proper handling there.
A report from Osage, Iowa, came in against a certain priest in another Iowa town. The entire record of this man is given, besides other details regarding his parentage, his education, and his conduct of his church. "Previous to the entry of the United States into the war, he upheld Germany in all particulars. Since war has been declared, he has been more careful in his speech. A service flag was dedicated in our village, which consists of but one street. The ceremonies were held in front of this man's house. He did not attend the services. The next Sunday he roasted his congregation for giving money toward the flag and told them they should give quite as much to the church. A committee of five men visited him and invited him to subscribe to the Third Loan."
One of these clerical gentlemen who have remained loyal to the Kaiser, though not to Christ, is the Reverend John Fontana, Lutheran clergyman of New Salem, North Dakota. He was convicted for preaching sedition, and got a three-year sentence in a Federal Court. This did not deter his likewise loyal Kaiserliche congregation. By a vote of fifty-seven to twenty-two the members decided to continue him as their beloved pastor. Yet this is what Judge Amidon said to Fontana when he was arraigned,—words which ought to be printed in large letters and displayed prominently in every street of every city of every portion of America. The Judge said to the prisoner:
You received your final papers as a citizen in 1898. By the
oath which you then took, you renounced and abjured all
