Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-05-25

A. f,rst glance the above information
LOOKS rood. surely there is some pres.
tire in being the most American o.
tho states that make up the great
North American republic.
Rut as a matter of fact, it Is most
reprettable. if true, that Iowa's percen-
tage OF foreign born people is oroppins
of or failing to show healthy M.
croaae What Iowa needs above all
else ia plenty of outsiders, quantities
Of new blood, numerous new elements
from other parts of the country anu
o+ber narts of the world. Iowa snoulo
he striving to diversity its popuiatloii
r.ther than Dragging of its purity;
iowa should be holding out the giao
hand to people from other places m
stead of becoming more American
The truth of the matter is that IN
Incoming "purer" in blood, Iowa Is pc
coming less American, because a1eer
al !. asid and done, an American Is
.hont the most complete mixture Oh
h,oods than can be imagined. AMER
cans are the result Of an interminsllns
If english, Irish, Scotch, Germans
FRENCH Russians, swedes, Norwes'ans
anarish. Italians, Greeks, Austrlans'
Hungarians and in fact people OF all
races. colors and creeds. The only
.nure. Americans are the Indians.
Beyond all question, it Is the ming
ling Of the different bloods that has
made Americans the wonderful people
thew are, II you doubt this, look TO
those sections Of the country which
have the greatest number of foreign
horn residents. New York City has
more foreign born residents than
+hera are inhabitants in the whole
state of Iowa. Over half OF Chicago,s
several millions of people are foreign
born people. There is not big and
rrowing city in the nation that does
not approximate fifty per cent foreign
horn population. The more foreigners,
the more cosmopolitan, the bigger the
cities, the faster their growth the
more power they WELD in the nations
growth and progress.
Now, on the other hand, select cities
that are essentially American cities,
having large majorities OF native born
residents. You will have hard time
selecting such cities because they are
small and difficult to find. You may
have to 20 out into the rural districts.
There you will find village or towns in
which the residents are pure" Ameri.
cans. In ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, such places are sleepy little
!, burgs that are never heard of except
when a cyclone strikes them and
wipes them out. The purer they are,
the less reason the world has to find
them out for the less they will be do
ing to get into the eyes Of the world.
II the record of American cities does
not prove the above statements to your
satisfaction, take whole sections of
states. Statistics show that the cen.
trail Atlantic states have the largest
foreign born populations, that New
England ranks second, next the east
ernmost Of the central states. then the
Pacific coast states, then the Rocky
Mountain states, then the states just
west of the Mississippi and lastly the
southern states.
No comment is necessary. The cen,
trail Atlantic states are the richest, the
most popular and contains the biggest
industries. New England Is near the
top At the bottom are the southern
states And their recent revival and
renewed activities in a business way
are due to what? To the influx Of
northern blood and northern capital.
So, people Of Iowa, let lis not swell
up because we are American in SO
large q degree. Let us plan instead to
be more cosmopolitan; let US see how
we can let the world know Of our adj
vantages 50 that the foreigners will
/ come here. Let us become still more