The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-06-29

In Ine central Methodist Episcopal
Church yesterday Rev. DR.. Case gave as
prelude to his sermon Foreign Flags and
the Fourth of July" He said:
The total foreign-born population of our
country is now not less than 100000,
nearly fifth of our total population. Count
ing tnelr children to-day our country contains
2lO0O, 600 OF foreign birth and parentage,
ana IN our great cities, like Chicago and San
francisco, four persons out of five are OF for
elgn birth or parentage.
We have twice as many Irishmen in America
as they have in all Ireland, and we shall soon
have TO emigrate to Ireland if we would escape
Irish rule. We have one Norwegian for every
three in Norway, one SWede for every five in
Sweden and Dane for every eight in Dem
mark
Up to twenty years ago the best of the world
came to US by immigration-not as now, the
aged and decrepit the paupers, anarchists and
criminals To the immigrants who came pre-
V1ous TO 1870 we owe much of our greatness
as nation. They felIed our forests, built our
cities enlarged our commerce, made our rivers
navigable, dug our canals, built our railroads.
If no Welsh or Cornish had come, who would
have unlocked the stone doors in Pennsylvania
and brough forth the black diamonds? If no
Irish had come, who would have built our Ta.l-
roads and doeks-and for that matter recruited
our police force and run our city govern
ment? If no Germans Swedes had come,
who would have settled the great Northwest
and driven the piow through the virgin soil Of
our prairies?
Washington aid: Would we were rid of
all the foreigners save La Fayette," and Jeffer-
son wished the Allan tic were a sea OF flame;
but II there had been no imm igration after
independence was secured, we might have
been a very select Nation, but GER
one. We must not forget that the Huguenots
who settled the South, the Dutch who settled
New York and the Puritans who settled New
England were all immigrants. Nor must we
forget that during the late war thousands of
men OF foreign birth freely left their adopted
homes and volunteered in our armies, and
were the peers OF native-born citizens in hero
ism and loyalty. English, Irish, Scotch and Ger
man blood mingled on hundred battle-fields;
men from the Tweed, the Thames, the Shan
non and the Rhine marched in our armies,
stood their ground in the fiery front OF battle,
and Shouted-many OF them in broken Eng
hsh-the watchwOrds OF the Union One-fourth
OF the Union Army was com posed of foreigners,
and that TACT ought TO rebuke any narrow
Americanism.
bear hearty tribute to the excellent char
acter Of many OF our foreign-born fellow
citizens; many OF them are in hearty SYM
pathy with American institutions and are
better Americans than some men born on
American soil. They were not born in
America DuJ America was porn IN them. But
the character OF our immigration has changed
in the last twenty years. Look, for example,
at cur immigrants from Italy. Formerly they
were from Lombardy and Piedmont-grand
men OF grand race. But now we have the
lazZaroni of Naples and the banditti OF Sicily
peanut-venders, organ-grinders, tamale-ped-
dlers or Observation-Disclosures and Malta MUIR
derers-and the worst of it is that one OF our
High School boys, whose father died fighting
for his country, as ne walks up to the polls to
cast his maiden vote has that vote neuJraliZed
by one of these fellows, who could not tell the
constitution of the United States from cigsr-
store sign. Look at the pursuits of many of
the foreign element IN this country. Late
prison sta tistics show that 70 per cent of the
Irish convicts find their way here-and one
can well believe 1t from the mum Der of political
bosses, Ward-heelers, saloon-keepers and pug
prize-fghters which that nationality fur
nishes. In New England in 1870 the foreign
born element furnished 20 per cent of the
population, and that element furnished rs
per cent OF the crime. That is, it was twelve
times as much disposed to crime as the native
stock.
Fully 80 per cent of the saloon-keepers of
this city are of foreign birth or parentage.
And this gives US a glimpse at the political as
poets OF i'm migra ton. 1t is immigl alton which
sustsins the liquor power; and there is
whisky vote. immigration is the strength of
the Roman Catholic Church and there is a
very compact Catholic vote. immigration is
the mother and nurse OF anaTchism; and there
IS an anarchlsuc vote. immigration tends
strongly to our cities and gives them their po-
lilcal complexion. And there is no more Sc
rious menace 70 our civilization than our rab-
ole and boss ruled and saloon-cursed cities. l
have stood at Castle Garden aud have seen the
great ocean steamers come in past the Goddess
OF Liberty, and when they had discharged
their load Battery Park was black with those
creatures with the thirty-seven distinct smells
of the immigrant steerage still upon them.
Most of them were paupers bringing moth
sarcOphagus and an elementary canal" And
said what pity the American people should
mingle this brutal and decadent strain with
its fresh and vigorous blood.
We must do three Things: 1. Check foreign
immigration. 2. Require a longer residence
and higher intelligence qualification of for
eigners before admitting them TO citizenship.
We must not cast our pearls before swine nor
give our chIldren's bread 20 dogs. 3. We must
insist that these adopted fellow citizens shall
be Americans-not hyphenated Americans
not h-Americans, nor COMMUNICATIONS,
nor Italian-Americans, but plain Americans.
When the Irishman comes here we want him
to leave his hyphen and his shillelagh behind
himl The man who comes here to wage a
political campaign on European issues, to
bring over here the animosities and the strifes
Of Europe, is an enemy to our institutions and
q traitor to the flag that shelters him. Neither
the orange nor the green has any business in
America plague on both your houses-red,
white and blue have got to be your colOrs here,
gentlemenl There is only room for one Ian
guage TO be taught in our public schools, and
That is the English, and there is only room for
one flag in our sky, just as there is room for
only one God in heaven.
few years ago, in spite of the veto OF Mayor
Hewitt, true American, old glory was pulled
down from the New York City Hall on the 18th
OF Ireland and the green rag hoisted in its
place. That can never occur again in New
York for there WAS such an outburst of indig-
nation that the Legislature passed and Gov
ernor Flower promptly signed law forbidding
the hosting Of any foreign flag over any pub
lie building, except foreign consulates, In the
Empire state.
We are going to have law in this country
before long that old glory must lead every
procession in this land or that procession does
not march, and 1t shall be the only flag borne
through our streets on Independence day.
Rut whence comes this insolent demand for
The Haunting of d foreign flag on day that
is sacred TO American memories 1t only
comes from one quarter. There is no ciamor
IRON Germans, or English, or French, to carry
their honored banners, that for a thousand
wears have braVed the battle and the breeze,
in an American Fourth of July processf on.
And there is no demand that the green flag
shall share The glory that day with the stars
and stripes from our fellow citizens of Irish
birth, with one significant exception, and 1t
i'll becomes the priests OF Rome 10 clamor Tor
he green flag in America, for il is the badge OF
their infamy.
II is not the fault of the Irish people that
their flag alone OF all the banners Of the ma
lions means nothing at home or abroad, on
sea or shore. 1t is the work of the Romish
hierarchy, which breath es on nothing 1t does
not blight, and controls nothing it does not
curse and which never extended a helping
hand to PROSTATE people, that unhappy Ire
land is mendicanJ at the worlds gates to-
day. her soldiers in every army except her
own her flag of the harp and shamrock every
where except on her own soil.
/ would prescribe no man on account of his
race or his religion. feel like The old lady
who when abe saw q supplied boy choir for