New Britain herald., 1915-12-23
MORE OF DEVOTION
 ID CITIZENSHIP
Urged By Sen. Lewis in Address
 at Philadelphia

e Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 23.-Unpa-
 triotic influences fostered by native
 born Americans, growing out of the
 lack of harmony among classes and
 resulting in "an order of universal
 condemnation" were held largely re-
 sponsible in an address here last night
 by Senator James Hamilton Lewis, of
 Illinois, for the activities of foreign
 born citizens condemned in President
 Wilson's recent address to Congress-
 "It is appropriate" said Senator Lewis, who spoke before the New England Society of Pennsylvania, 'to
 call attention to the truth that the na- tive-born American citizen has been the educator of the foreign born adopted American citizen"
 Nothing to Praise.
 'For the last ten years," he con- tinued, there has been nothing in America which the native born Amer ican could find to praise. Every thing has been unworthy of support or credit. This order of universal condemnation has been divided into two classes:
 First, the powerful, holding their power from wealth or the accident of position, could see nothing in the de- mand of the masses for justice except the cry of anarchy. They ever con- demned the effort to equalze the privileges and opportunities of men as the protest of socialism. They 1 concluded their arraignment of the | poor for justice. the middle class for 1 opportunity, and those who struggled 1 for the acknowledgment of the laws of man and God, as either ignorance or crime.
 First Damnation.
 Here began the first damnation by one set of Americans of the other class in order to avoid listening to their complaints or respecting their grievances. Then followed the natu- ral revenge. The under classes. cried out their condemnation against every thing that was property or prosper ous. This retaliation took the form of accusation, and judgment and exc c1tion against all authority political or religious or possessions, earned or e'
 Then there arose in the comn1un- ty self-selected leaders, who to ad- vance their ambitions for office or noisy recognition, capitalized these roarings of discomfort under the rue and cry of-Down with society," Death to the court-Contempt for he lava scoff at religion and a de- lance of God. 8e Result in Twenty Years.
 "The result was that in the last wenty years the newborn American Lnd the imported American has known nothing of America except that 1t was ! place where all other Americans I certified there were no men of honor, 10 things of decency, no institution in $hich any man could have a purpose except to overthrow as being unwor- hy.
 'As a remedy We should promptly establish by law that the right of a ,itizen to participate in elections is a luty; that the failure of the citizen o perform his duty at the ballo box for certain length of 4me should be punished by having he right of suffrage withdrawn from ! Jim. To this there should be added l he further law, enforcing upon all who have enjoyed the benefits of nat uralization, the duty to comply with as loyal Americans, and | that any citizen whose conduct is such as to be unworthy of citizenship should upon the proof of such fact, have the citizenship with drawn by the order of the courts. With these two remedies reserved to the government, there would be less of this high perrogative and more of devotion to citizenship in order to be worthy of it's continued