The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1918-08-23

| elSn history, IOrClSn locals, IOfelSI
! loyalty, it must be stopped, and they
must begin ct once, all over again
to cherish American thought, Amer
lean history, American ideals.
That means something that is tc
be done in your daily life. 1t does
not mean simply that you will not
take up arms against the United
States. 1t goes deeper than that. 1t
means that you will live for the
United States, and that you will
cherish and grow American souls in
side of you. 1t means that you will
take down from the walls of your
homes the picture of the Kaiser, and
put up the picture of Washington +;
that you will take down the picture
of Bismarck, and hang up the pic
ture of Lincoln. 1t means that you
will begin to sing American songs
that you will begin earnestly to
study American history; that you
will begin to open your lives thru
every avenue to the influence of
American life; it means that you be-
gin first of all to learn English, the
language of this country, so that
there may be a door into your souls
thru which American life may enter.
l am not so simple as to entertain
the idea that radical habits and quail
tiles can be put Gside by the will in
a day, in year, in a generation; but
because that is difficult is all the
more reason why you should go about
it, and quit chcrishing a foreign life.
If half the effort had been put forth
in these foreign communities to build
up an American life in the hearts of
these foreign-born citizens that has
been put forth to perpetuate there
a foreign life, our situation would
have been entirely different from
what it is to-day.
You have violated your oath of al
legiance in this, that you have cher
ished foreign ideals and tried to
make them everlasting. That is the
BASIC wrong of these Thousands of
little islands of foreigners that have
been formed thru our whole limits
that instead of trying to remove the
foreign life out Of their souls, and to
build up an American life in them,
they have 3trivcn studiously, from
year to year, to stiflc American life,
and to make foreignness perpetual.
That is disloyalty; and the object,
one of the big objects cf this serious
proceeding in this court, and other
like proceedings in other courts, is to |
give notice that that must be stop
ped.
l have seen before my eyes another
lay of Judgment. When we get thru
with this war, and civil liberty is
made safe once more upon this earth,
there Is going to be dGy of judg-
nent, in these United States. Foreign
born citizens ard the institutions
which have cherished foreigners, are |
going to be brought to the judgment |
bar of this republic. That day of |
Judgment looks more to me to-day !
ike the great Day of Judgment than |
anything that l have thought of for
many years. There is going to be a |
separation on that day of the sheep
rom the goats. Every institution |
hat hes been engaged in this busi-
less of making foreignness perpetual
n the United States will have to
,hange or cease.
That is going to cut deep, but it is
coming. 4
/ recognize the right of foreign
porn citizens to hear their religion,
f tLey cannot understand it in Eng
ish, spoken to them in the tongue
hat they can understand. If they
lave not yet acquired enough Eng
iSh to read, they are entitled to
lave paper that shall speak to them
he language that they can under
stand. l cannot go further than
hat.
Men who are not willing to do that
will have to choose. If they prefer
o cherish foreign ideals they will
lave to go to their own. If it is
necessary we will cancel every GER
ificate of citizenship in these United
tates. The Federal Government has
ower to deal with that subject, and
is going to deal with it. Nothing
lse than that surely can be possible.
md the object of the sentence which
pronounce upon you to-day is not
lone to punish you for the disloyalty
t which you have been guilty, but
D serve notice upon you, and the like
f you, and all of the groups of peo-
lie in this district who have been
herishing foreignness, that the end
that regime has come. 1t is a call J..
D every one of you to set about :
arnestly the growing of an Ameri- |
an soul inside of you.