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The little city of Bismarck is in a squable as the result of the decision to change its name to Loyal and thus rid itself of the odium of being named after the Iron Duke, who more than any other man was responsible for creating in Germany the diabolical military system which, when filled to the brim, overran and has deluged the world in the blood of its most stalwart sons.
After the preliminary plans for changing the name of Bismarck to Loyal had been completed, a petition remonstrating against the proposed change was circulated.
On the surface, perhaps there may not be any very great reason for taking such action. But when the hellish espionage system established by Germany and maintained at enormous cost by Germany in every country in the world for the past half century is taken into consideration, no community with a Prussian name can afford to let a day pass without making an effort to rid itself of every suggestion of Prussia.
This system was so complete that it reached not only the large cities, but went into the smaller communities as well. It was sought to keep alive the ties of the Fatherland and to promote clannishness to the extent that in every German settlement a feeling would be fostered that would redound to the benefit of Germany in a crisis such as that which is now confronting the world.
So complete was this system that cases have been unearthed since the war commenced of men who had for 20 and 25 years lived in certain communities, had been looked upon as leading citizens, had held the office of mayor and other positions of trust, and during all of that time had been in the employ of the German Government as spies, making regular monthly reports to the German secret service.
Is it any wonder that the Kaiser, being familiar with the campaign that his spies were waging in this country, had the temerity to remark to the American Ambassador Gerard, that America could be kept out of the war by the political influence of the more than 400,000 Germans in the United States, who if necessary would take up arms against this country.
Mr. Gerard made the Kaiser a characteristic American reply when he said: "There might be 400,000 such men in the United States, but there are also 400,000 lamp posts on which to hang them if they should attempt such a thing."
We are not familiar with the history of how Bismarck got its name. The name may or may not have been inspired by pro-Germans, but any rate changing the name to "Loyal" can do no harm and it will help do away with one of the carefully laid plans of the German Government which has sought so industrially and so criminally to foster German sentiment.
That the Kaiser was mistaken has been amply demonstrated by the thousands of boys of German descent who are now in Uncle Sam's army in France. And we are pleased to note that some of these boys with German names are from Bismarck, Mo.
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