The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA)
PURGING THE MAP
GERMAN PLACE NAMES
TO GO.
MOTION BEFORE THE
ASSEMBLY.
SUPPORT FROM BOTH SIDES.
Considerable interest was manifested in
the House of Assembly on Wednesday in
the motion by Mr. Ponder - ”That, in the
opinion of this House, the time has now
arrived when the names of all towns and
districts in South Australia which indicate
a foreign enemy origin should be altered,
and that such places should be designated
by names either of British origin or South
Australian native origin." It was nearly
two years, Mr. Ponder said, since he first
brought the matter before the House.
When in September, 1914, he had asked
the then Attorney-General (Mr. Homburg)
if the Ministry were prepared to follow
what had been done in other parts of the
world in altering names of German origin
-as in the case of Petrograd-that gentle
man had replied that there was no merit
in.the proposition, adding that "there
would be no satisfaction to any broad
minded person, but such action would give
offence to a large number of excellent citi-
zens whose loyalty stood unquestioned."
He (Mr. Ponder) had afterwards, given
notice of a motion on the subject, but it
had been crowded off the agenda paper
owing to the closing of the session. Aus-
tralia had sent about 250,000 of her.best
men to the war, and thousands ¡of homes
would curse the day there was a war.
Mr. James - They will curse the day
there ever was a Kaiser.
Mr. Ponder said the Kaiser's name
would be cursed for centuries. Since two
years ago a change had come over
the House of Assembly. The four
members bearing German names had
gone, and he knew that members who
would not two years ago view this propo-
sal with any favor to-day looked upon
it as a very necessary thing to do. It
would not be fair to say all the people of
the German nation were liars, murderers,
and baby-slayers. He had nothing against
those who were loyal subjects of the Bri-
tish Crown. The present war, however,
had demonstrated that the Germans as a
nation had been guilty of some of the
most atrocious things ever perpetrated in
the name of war. It was only necessary
to instance the sinking of the Lusi-
tania, the murder of Nurse Cavell,
and the assassination of Captain Fryatt.
One had been forced to the conclusion
that as a nation they were very different
from the British people. South Australia
had been very kind to the German colo-
nists. Among other things, they had al-
lowed them to name their own towns, and
there were no fewer than 42 German names
of places and districts. The idea of chang-
ing the names had grown to such an extent
in this State that if a poll were, taken he
believed 90 per cent of the people would
be in favor of a change to British or eupho-
nious Australian native names. Nearly
every week they received evidence of the
feet that people with German names were
changing them.
Mr. Robinson - Some find that they can-
not get a living-without changing their
names.
Mr. Ponder said some people thought it
was a terrible thing to change the name
of a place, but nothing had happened be-
cause the name of St. Petersburg had been
changed to Petrograd. The names of other
places had also been changed. If it was
necessary pass a bill through Parlia-
ment he was sure there would be no dif-
ficulty. In South Australia they had names
like Kaiserstuhl and Ehrenbreitstein. There
was only one German name he would like
to see retained on the map of Australia,
and that was the name of Leichhardt, the
explorer. He would like to see other words
substituted for the following 42 names:
Bethanien, Bismarck, Blumberg, Blumen-
thal, Buchsfelde. Ehrenbreitstein, Fried
richstadt, Friedrichswalcle, German Creek,
German Town, Gnadenfrei, Gruenberg,
Hahndorf, Heidelberg, Hermann's Landing,
Hoffnungsthal, Homburg, Karte, Kaiser-
stuhl, Klenwig, Krichhauff, Kronsdorf,
Langdorft, Langmeil, Lobethal, Nain, Neu-
dorf, Neukirch. New Hamburg, New Meck-
lenburg. North Rhine, Paech, Pflaum,
Rhine Flat Landing. Rhine River, Rhine
Villa, Rosenthal, Schoenthal. Schreiberau,
Schomburgk, Steinfeld, and Siegersdorf.
There should be a nomenclature committee
of say, half a dozen of the best known
men in South Australia, and the Univer-
sity, and Tourist Bureau should have re-
presentation upon it. Such a committee, he
was sure, would perpetuate native names.
Mount Kitchener would be a very ap-
propriate name for the mount near Ta-
nunda, known as Kaiserstuhl. The name
of Cavell - Nurse Cavell - should also be
perpetuated and it might be give to
Sedan which perpetuated the humiliation
over the French in the war of 1870. The
Nomenclature Committee should be made
a permanent body. In South Australia
there were names as absurd as it was pos-
sible to see anywhere - names such as Dub-
lin, Wild Horse Plains, Billy Goat Flat,
and Dead Man's Gulch. They should show
some originality in their nomenclature.
If Germany won the war the British names
would soon disappear and King William
street would become Kaiser Wilhelmstrasse.
Australia, however, was going to be re-
tained for the-British, and he hoped Bri-
tish and Australian names would be sub-
stituted for those which did not commend
themselves.
The Hon. T. Verran seconded the motion
becanse it was right and British They
had-manifested a grave folly in allowing
people to come here from other countries
and be nationalised. They were a British
country with people singing "Britannia
rules the waves," and yet they allowed
people to come here, give their own names
tor the towns. Did anyone mean to
tell him that the people in these towns
were all loyal?
Mr. Ryan - They sent their boys to the
war.
The Hon. J. Verran did not believe it
if the hon. member did. The largest num-
ber said they would go after the 1917 har-
vest. The,other group said, "We can't go
for conscience sake." If the hon. mem-
ber was in, favor of giving those people full
citizenship that was his business. He (Mr.
Verran) was not going to approve of it.
He challenged the hon. member for
Burra who was a knowall, a walking en-
clopaedia-to say whether the Germans
had allowed their children to take part
in patriotic demonstrations.
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin replied that
many Germans had given more for patrio-
tic purposes than had Mr. Verran.
Tne Hon. J. Verran - That is a very little
thing to say; just what a small minded man
would say. I have given the only son
that was able.
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin - That's not the
point.
The Hon. J. Verran - How do you know
how much I have given?
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin - I make an as
assertion; you can deny it.
The Hon. J. Verran said Mr. O'Loughlin
was questioning his veracity.
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin - I can prove
what I say.
The Hon. J. Verran - You might be able
to stand for your own district, but not for
other people's pockets. The hon. member
makes his statement and crawls out of it.
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin - I do not crawl
out of it. I will prove it when I get up.
At this stage the speaker insisted upon
order.
At this stage the speaker insisted upon
order.
The'Premier (Hon. C Vaughan) suppor-
ted the motion, and said he believed it was
one which would commend itself to the
community generally. (Hear, hear.) Feel-
ing ran very high, and to some extent pre-
judice had been, roused, but in this case
the step proposed would be a mild protest
against the barbarous atrocities committed
by Germany. The record of the German
nation was enough to condemn it in history
for all time, and he believed the future
generations of that country would have
qualms of humanity sufficient to despise
those who had dragged the name of Ger-
many in the mire.
Mr. Price - Many of the Sonth Austra-
lian Germans despise them.
The Premier said he would like to have
seen a clearer indication of their outraged
feeling in regard to the sinking of the
Lusitania. That would bare done some-
thing to remove the strong feeling which
existed at the present time against many
German members of the community.
The Government would endeavor to re-
move from South Australia any record of
association with German "Kultur' by alter-
ing the names as suggested. He was not
certain that all the names were included
in the list were German whether all those sub-
mitted in the list were German, but that
was a matter which could be fully inves-
gated. he would like so far as pos-
sible to seo native names substituted.
Loyal German citizens, such as those who
had given sons to fight for Australia,
would not object to what was being done.
All who wanted to live as loyal citizens
under the British flag should cast off for
ever any suggestion that they owed alle-
giance outside the land to which they be-
long. If the House carried the motion
the Government would help to put it into
effect at an early date. (Cheers.)
The leader of the Opposition (Hon A.
H. Peake) said his side intended to support
the motion. Two years ago a similar pro-
position was not taken very seriously, but
much had taken place since then. There
had been provocation for the growth of
hostile sentiment and a great deal of an-
tipathy which at that time was not felt
generally. He was not supporting the
motion as a kind of protest against the
acts of atrocity and ferocity committed
by the Germans.
Mr. Ryan - It would not be big enough
for that
The Hon. A. H. Peake said the protest
for that kind of thing lay much deeper in
the bosom, and would be much more
strongly expressed at the proper time.
They would not be doing an injustice to
any individual by carrying the motion. The
actuating and compelling motive, so far as
he was concerned, was that they were to-
day as a people bound to do the best and
most they could to keep out of Aus-
tralia the growth of anything that
might make for German senti-
ment. (Hear, hear.) They bad to make
it a Britisb community, and anything
that would tend to perpetuate racial feel-
ing, such as these names, must go. He
would be sorry if it were considered neces-
sary to do dishonor to such names as
Homburg, Krichauff, Paech, and Pflaum.
They were names of individuals and not
of German places. -
Mr. Robinson - No one did more for
agriculture in South Australia than Mr.
Krichauff.
The Hon. A. H. Peake said Messers.
Homburg, Paech, and Pflaum were
thonght good enough to be elected to
Parliament as representatives of the
people, and they did good work there.
Mr. Ryan supported the motion, but
expressed regret at the bitterness which
bad been introduced by Mr- Verran to
Germans. Many South Australians with
German names had given their sons to
the cause, of the Empire, and were bear-
ing in silence and sadness a bitterness as
great as any wbose fathers, sons, or
brotbers had found a resting place at
Anzac or elsewhere. The feeling of the
country was against German place names,
not because they wanted bitterness to
continue, but because they wanted to
wipe out every trace of it.
The Hon. L. O'Lnughlin took excep-
tion to the manner in which Mr. Verran
had spoken. "There had been no need
to hurt the feelings of any Germans here.
He knew many of them, who were quite
loyal. Mr. Verran had blown off a lot
of hot air.
Mr. James -You will get an iron cross
for this speech.
The Hon. L. O'Loughlin said Mr. James
was another who indulged in a lot of hot
air. When they got a German, who was
loyal, let them treat him accordingly
but where he was not loyal intern him.
Mr. Coombe hoped that the names of
Krichauff and Scnombnrgk would be re-
moved from the condemned list.
Thallon. A. H. Peake - Why not Hom-
burg!
Mr. Coombe said he was limiting it to
Germans who were scientists. The claims
of Krichauff and Schomburgk were quite
above those which relied on a reputation
as politicians.
The Hon. A. H. Peake - We do not
want to erase individuals at all.
Mr. Coombe said Mr. Krichauff had al-
ways done his best in the interests of scien-
tific agriculture. Such a man rendered a
service to the human race. The same
might be said of Dr. Schomburgk. who
had done much, as a scientist, It was fit-
ting that his name should be pcrpetuated
He wouId ask the mover not to include
these two names in his list. He endorsed
all that had been said of Mr. Verran so
far as regarded his, sweeping statements.
He was too sweeping altogether.
Mr. Verran - What! I have as much
right to express myself as you have.
Mr. Coombe said he regretted the dis-
paraging statements made from time to
time about those of German descent who
sent their boys to the front. A German
South Australian had gone to the front
with two of his rons, and his third son I
had been turned down because he had a
German name. He knew of germans who
sent their only sons to the front. It was
not fair or just to make sweeping state-
ments as Mr. Verran had done.
Mr. Allen supported the motion, but pro-
tested against some of Tahe remarks made.
He had received a letter from, a constituent
stating that such statements as those that
bad been made by Mr. Verran were doing
an immense amount of harm. Out of 440
who had gone to tne front from the sou-
thern end of Yorke Peninsula, 44 were of
German origin, and there were many people
feeling their position keenly. Great Bri-
tain was great enough to give to her sub-
jects British fair play. Had the Germans
shown any more disloyalty than that noble
500 at Broken Hill who took a solemn
pledge to resist conscription and to go to
gaol rather than to war?
The Premier - No place has given more
men than Broken Hill.
Mr. Allen said he would not move a
finger to help any disloyal German, but he
objected to sweeping statements.
Mr. Hague said he thought both sides of
the House would support the motion, but
would condemn the statements made by
Mr. Verran The statements made by
that gentleman and others following in his
wake were doing more to breed disloyalty
than anything else. Germans who had
spoken to him had declared they felt their
position very much. If they were disloyal
they should be punished, but till they were
proved so, they should receive British, jus-
tice.
Mr. James said a good many members
on his side of the House had accused his
old friend, Mr. Verran, of blowing off hot
air. Many of them would have to blow
off hot air before the next elections. There
were many who would go outside the House
and say. "To hell with the Germans," but
they did not have the courage to say it
in Parliament. Germans whom they
thought were loyal were presently found
to be interned. he would support Mr.
Verran in his endeavor to disfranchise the
Germans. He would like to see the land
owned by Germans given to the men who
returned from the front, so that they
would have the qualification to vote for
the Legislative Council. He had no time
for any Germans at present. If the Kai-
ser had been winning the war they would
have soon found out the '"loyal" Germans
in Australia. He appealed to certain mem-
bers to help to disfranchise the Germans
and close tneir schools.
The motion was carried unanimously.
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA)
GERMAN NAMES.
THE NOMENCLATURE BILL.
German and other place names were dis-
cussed in the House of Assembly- on Wed-
nesday, when the Premier moved the
second reading of a bill to remove desig-
nations of enemy origin from the map of
South Australia and substitute others.
German-sounding place names, he said, had
become obnoxious to the people of the
State. The Nomenclature Committee ap-
pointed last year - Messrs. E. M. Smith,
H. C. Talbot, and R. Cockburn - had done
excellent work, but in its report aboriginal
names had been a little overdone, and he
had suggested that it would be a suitable
time to commemorate heroes of the
greatest war the world had ever seen and
battlefields on which the sons of Australia
had won glory. For Kaiserstuhl he would
like to see something like Mount Lord
Kitchener substituted.
Mr. Goode-Don't yon think there is
danger of names like that being too com-
monly used?
The Premier conld not say what would
be done elsewhere. Let South Australia
do its part in preserving the names of the
national heroes.
Mr. Goode-I don't think men like Kit-
chener need it.
The Premier said such names as French,
Haig, Jellicoe, Beatty, Sturdee, Townsend
of Kut, Maude, Mons, Marne, and Somme
deserved to be perpetuated in South Aus-
tralia. The streams at present designated
the North and South Rhine could he
named the Marne and the Somme. He
would give members an opportunity to
study the report of the committee, which
also contained recommendations for the
removal of duplicated names that caused
confusion. The committee had suggested
that Hahndorf should be altered to Yan-
taringa, but some of the residents had
made a request for Birdwood, and he
agreed that that would,be a very appro-
priate name.
Mr. Parish said the residents of Lobe-
thal and Somerfeld desired that if any
change was made In those names they
should be Tweeddale and Summerfield re-
spectively.
Mr. Reidy said the people of Allendale
East objected to that designation being
altered simply because postal officials had
made blunders in confusing it, with some
other Allendale.
Mr. O'Connor drew attention to difficul-
ties that had arisen over native names in
the district of Albert. He asked that
members should have an opportunity, to
make alterations that were deemed essen-
tial by residents of their districts, and that
the wishes of the people should have con-
sideration.
Mr. Twopeny complained that a strange
native, name had been conferred upon
Leigh Creek, against the wishes of the
people of the locality. Any native' names
adopted should be such as a. reasonable
man would be able to pronounce.
The Premier Said there would necessarily
be a difference of opinion among residents
of the towns affected. The Government
woulcl undertake that, no British name
would be altered to any other British
name until a schedule had been submitted
to the House. He took it for granted,
however, that German names of townships
and localities would have to go and the
matter had better be left in the hands of
the Government. It would take up the
whole session.to debate every proposed
change. Many suggestions had already
been sent in, and members could rest as-
sured that the greatest care would be ex-
ercised.
The second reading was carried and in
committee progress was reported at
clause 2.
