The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-23
ELKOURIE'S ELOQUENT PLEA
 FOR CREEKS AND SYRIANS

and yet We charge them with the faults arising therefroin. Our position m relation to the immigra should be that of wise and loving father to his son. We should imbue him with the truth that Americanism stands pre- eminently for the quality, justice and protection. We should impart to him the impression that we are broad and tolerant, and that what we demand of our citizens, be they aliens or na- tlVes, is a complete obedience to the law industrious habits and honesty. We cannot be consistent in our doc Urine, particularly our democratic doc u me, in assuming an attitude of boast fulness, complicated with extreme van ity, and by our practices and utter ances. and in our business relations and social associations with the imm- grant, play the act of the conceited aid impress him that we are his su perior, and that what little we do Tor him is done in a spirit of supe- riority, imparted to an object of pity, and that our sympathies emanate more from sense of self-importance rather than from a sentiment based upon the spirit of Christianity, and the sense of uuty.
 In conclusion, it is not out of place to state that to the two nationalities herein mentioned, the world owes an
 
 gratitude whenever opportunity affords. They were the original civilizers of the world, the intermediators of culture and learning, and until this day there are 1mperishable monuments of their deeds and their accomplishments, and some few traces that the modern world has rot been able to repeat They gave us the alphabet, Solomons temple. the cof fers of Egypt, the bronze bowls of Nine Nah-thnV tnI "a oat tnr nd mechanical trade. and were the first navigators. The 50-oar galleys, the ship of Tarshish and Gaulus are yet to be remembered They gave the world a re- deemed In the person of Jesus Christ. It was they who demonstrated to the world first what valor, courage and con victions meant Philosophy, art, oratory, architecture. the principles of an ideal republic, yea even democratic form of government emanated and had it's origin in the Grecian hills and in the Grecian temples. Socrates, Aristotle, Demosthenes are names that are uttered millions of times with admiration. with love and with gratitude every day by your children in every school in the land. The heroism displayed in the battle of Thermopoles is yet a criterion for valor and for loyalty l am representing today the descendants of those men. who by reason of bad gov ernment. originally brought out by in- trigues graft and cheap politics, such as you are encountering even here, have be- come more or less degenerated educa- tionally, but who still possss the quality transmitted by the process of heritage, and who will. as Is proven by their moral and social and business conduct, yet make for you a citizenship that you will be proud of.
 l pray you, gentlemen, make your im- migration laws as strict as yoi like in so far as they pertain to our protection from criminals, paupers, diseased and everything that tends to lower our moral standards, but do not 1egislate against men or any class of men for a condl- tion they cannot help and for which the God of justice would not punish them but permit them when they are in every way qualified the educational test ex- cepted, to enter these ports to work ont their destiny by their industray, and to help you build this glorious coun- try and to imbibe from your school system and from your educational ln- a repetition, a rebuilding, re-develop- ment of what once was theirs You owe it to them, if for no other reason b,tt that of paying an honest debt. They were once the means of transmitting civ ilization to you. They were once th< means of awakening you out of the lethargy of savagery and grating into your minds the seed of learning which you have taken and handled well.
 They are proud of you. of your prin- ciples and of your institutions, and it that spirit of tolerance, of charity. that has always characterized you as being the greatest people earth.
 DIR. H. A. ELKOURI.