The herald., 1917-10-25
MiIion and a half
ofMem MMeU United
States b,oadhf gM
for Uncle SAM:
Those in tile Domin-
fon sh0zv ancient
hate far England,
once their conguerr

THE United States q mil
lion ana half French
Canadians are proud To
CT make war for Uncle sam.
Those in Canada have re-
r. fused to volunteer for serv-
Ice and have fought con-
/ Ncrlpuon dangerously and fiercely.
They declare that fighting for Canada is
/ h-hting for England. once their CON
| queror. Why all the rumpuS? We pre-
sent here an analysis Of the situation
! ny 1Vonnc LeMaitre, q French Cana
| dlan. Her article Is taken from the
Boston Transcript, and says In part:
The one great striking fact about
| the behavior of the French-Canadians
on the Yankee side of the line-Or
trench-Americans, as they want TO be
! called-iS the contrast with the atti-
| tude of their Quebec cousins. Their
! response TO the call has been splendid.
| According to recruiting officers, they
/ and the Italians are the two racial
! groups which have furnished the larg-
est proportion of volunteers in New
/ England. And since the coming Of the
draft, not only have they been prompt
| ~ and patriOtiCally aCQuiescent TO the
| nations demand. but have filed fewer
exemption claims. again according to
Official report from the stations, than
| any other element In the population
| OF foreign stock.
| Aside from this patriotic American
war spirit. their sympathy and affec-
/ tiOnate regard for France Is lively
/ there Is scant friendship for Britain,
and interest In Canadian affairs is
keen among the older people and prac-
ucally absent among the younger.
Lowell. with its population of some
/ 5000 people of French name and
/ race, Is shining spot for the study Of
| this triple patriotiSm"-if one may
dare the term-invOlving a race twice
tranSplanted and as often de-national-
| lied and re-natiOnalized.
The natives of France In Lowell are
| few, and chiefly represented by priests
in charge of the largest French Cath
ole parish In the city and by members
of a religious brotherhood. the Mar
lists, In charge of the boys parochial
school In the same parish. Several of
| these Marists are at the front, having
AT once responded when the call came
| from France early In the war. One
was killed on his first day under fire.
So this calm home of French Cath
Ole brotherhood In Lowell, surrounded
by a delightful garden, with q charm
ing view on the Merrimac, is spot
where the war is very much of q
reality and every mail from France an
event.
LOwell's French Canadian stock, like
all others submitted to Uncle Sans
| alchemy, varies greatly In degrees of
American assimilation. 1t has the two
extremes, of complete assimilation ard
utter "hyphenatiOn." and all the shades
between. BY the newspapers they
read ye shall know them! Lowell has
q large enough contingent of the older
French Canadians who subscribe To La
Presse and La Patrie of Montreal and
TO lie Devoir, BOurassa's organ, and TO
whom Canada Is still very near
they are the ones interested in the
consumption quarrel in the Dominion.
II has much larger number who read
only American papers, young people
born in "les Etats" and who insist that
they are Americans first, last and all
the time-that species Of eagle-spread-
ing adopted son which Uncle knows
how and likes to turn out, plus roy
aliste que lie rOi," more Catholic than
the pope and more American than the
Father Of His Country. 1t has taken
the French Canadian stock longer TO
evolve this type, perhaps. than II has
taken the Irish stock, probably because
Of the difference In languages and a
greater attachment Of the French
Canadians to their own schools. But
there Is no questioning the fact that
II has very much arrived, and Is bound
to be an ever-energizing factor in the
political advancement and general ma
terial progress of the race In New
England.
The American end OF the war comes
home wildly 10 New Englnnd's French
Canadians because of the extraOrdi-
nary fecundity Of the race. in which
respect they differ so markedly from
their cousins de- France" The pro-
portion of young men of military age
among them is strikingly large be-
cause their families are so prolific.
One Lowell family alone had five con-
scripts-not one Of whom, by the way,