Bisbee daily review., 1915-10-26
oNE LANGUAGE EoR AMERICANS.


The city of Detroit has started to make itself an
Englshspeaking community, and hopes to accomplish
its aim in two years.
This statement viii surprise good many persons who
have never regarded Detroit as anything else than
Englishspeaking community. It is a typcally American
city with early large proportion of people speaking
the native tongue as any city of its class the
country
But really, that isn't saying much It is astonishing
when you up against the facts for the first time, to
find what a big percentage OF the population in every
important American municipality are still strangers III
the land of their adoption Millions immigrant Amer
leans speak allen tongue, understanding but few
Of the simplest and cudest words of ourspeech and
therefore having no access our literature our news
papers and tire inner spirit Of our institutions
The action of Detroit is taken in recognition of the
peril, long developing but now suddenly apparent O
having many alien races existing within the nation anc
yet apart from it, pointed out long ago that this
nation could endure half slave and half free It is
now pointed out it cannot endure half native and
half alien.
If we are to continue must have unity. AND
the chief basis of that unity common tongue Of the
older Americans the speech the pioneers who founded
the colonies and established the republic This the
nativ speech Of the American in real sense thar
it is the native speech of the Engshman.
The new periodical, Immigrants in America" makes
striking appeal along this line. It reminds u,
Of vast numbers of unassmiated aliens and charges
the American public and government with large share
OF the responsibility for their hardness of assimilation
The condition to which have so long shut our eyes
now forces itself upon out contains mucl
potential Nearly every strategic point in tn,
country has Its immigrant colony about whose attitude
to America know little" No racial group. with on,
exception, has shown evidences of disloyaty to tn,
United States. but the possibility is there.
And what wonder? asks the Immigrant Review "w
have tolerated, if not fostered conception of dua
citizenship We have asked She alien to renounce allie
glance to his country but have insisted tina
the country renounce its claim to its subject" More
over we have permitted and encouraged representative
Of foreign governments fongn societies, foreign Ian
press and institutions dominated by foreign go,
ernments to do things for immigrants in this countr
which our own government and American institution
should have done"
This periodical agrees with the progressive city of Dc
tro that the way to remedy the evil is to make Engs
the universal anguase-the passport to American insttl
6ons and industries" It takes much the same postio
that Theodore Roosevelt took in recent magazine tina
all immigrants should be required to learn to spea
English indispensable requisite for obtaining CT
izenshp and that immigrants falling to learn tn
language in specified time should be liable to deport
ton.
This might appear to be drastic and unwarrante
extreme But it should be remembered that we woul
not really be forcing the language on anybody. Their
is parallel between such a policy and the policy
which Germany has compelled the Alsatians and Pole
learn and German the exclusion of their natl,
tongue. For dealing with a conquered popul
ton All these immigrants have to America volu
tauy undoubtedly with intention desire to lear
our language they have simply been slow to do so b
cause Of lack OF facilities and the clannish ndGeren,
which we ourselves have fostered.
Whatever the method or the strictness of the plan
be followed. there be no question Of desrabili
Of The nation busy this matter There is no nation
bond so strong as the bond Of a common language
IS the key to the nations traditions it's institutions
literature its emotions and modes of thought III
better alien learns language the better he und'
stands us and The better American he becomes.
Maybe when Cauanza gets Mexico subdued the
lies could hire him to go and suppress the Kais
That would be a job just about the size of cauanz'
own estimate 0t himself