Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-04-16
THE UNITED STATES AS A
NATION.


War. we Americans were often
asked 10 trcmblc for our future.
Once it was the outraged Amcri-
can aristocrat who said, Look
here. We are altogether too gen
crOus to immigrants. All the ma
tions Of Europe are diluting our
native population. We have now
more Germans than we have
original English, Scotch, and
Irish. Soon we will have more
SCandinavians, more Slavs. more
Italians and Greeks. How are
we transplatcd Britishcrs going to
maintain the free institutions for
which our ancestors fought in the
face OF this infux2 They are un-
accustomed to edged tools like
universal suffrage and free speech
and public assembly Why
should we give them all votes
they don't know how TO use
Why should we reduce ourselves
10 an insignificant minority -?
These people have not learned To
love liberty
Our answer was that the love
of liberty was common to man
kind and America was the melt
ing pot into which all the nations
could be poured to make a new
nation born to liberty and dcyot-
ed 70 free institutions.
Again it was the cultivated son
of that New England which pro-
duccd LongfclloW, transcendcn-
talism. and the atlantic Month
ly" who arose to protest in this
fashion: Our language, our
morality. and our social stand
ards are disappearing under this
flood of aliens. We no longer
speak English undciilcd. Indeed,
large sections of our population
speak and read no English at all.
They take in newspaper printed
in a foreign language; they send
their children to schools conduct
cd in a foreign language. Our
sober and thoughtful Sunday has
given way before the Continental
holiday we are dcgcncrating
from a God-fcaring. church-going
people into one which supports
Sunday baseball, beer gardens
and public dance halls. Our
standard OF living is going down.
These people do not battle, they
sleep ten in a room. they feed
their children beer instead OF
milk"
And our answer was that the
aspiration toward a better life
was common to all mankind and
America was the melting pot into
which all the nations could be
poured to produce a new nation
born to plenty and devoted to
education.
Again it was the student of
world politics who said: Some
day there is going to be a great
war MI Europe will be engaged
in a death grapplc. We will be
inevitably involved in this strug-
gle Our native stock. our Eng
fish. Irish. and Scotch. will be
drawn to the mother country by
the strongest of all tics-the ties
of common blood. a common
language, and a common tradi-
ton. So our Germans will be
drawn to Germany, and our
SwedeS to Sweden, and our Rus
slams TO Russia, and our Italians
to Italy, and our AuStrianS and
Hungarians to Austria and Hun
gary. What are we going to do
Fight on all sides at once
Eventually we may have to de-
fcnd our right to exist As a nation
against half Europe! Do you
imagine that ou insignificant
of native Americans can
unite all these alien elements.
half of whom must inevitably
Sympathjze with the enemy, into
a nation with one soul. one will, |
and one united front to the
enemy p
And our answer was: Ii the
time ever comes when we must |
defend ourselves, we shall be !
united by our common love OF |
our common aspiration |
toward a better life. by our COM
mon home. For America IS the |
melting pot into which all the ma
lions have been poured to pro- |
luce a new nation. stronger. freer |
han any other.
Vet if this was our invariable |
answer to, the charge that we |
we're not a homogeneous and |
united people, but a mere poly |
ylot of the nations, it was not an |
answer based on a tried and test
ID knowledge. 1t was our hope |
md our conviction. But we had |
lur doubts and our fears. \ year |
100 we were all talking about |
lyphenated Americans, and the