The copper era and Morenci leader., 1919-10-31

l
 ing, Los Angeles, California.
 Globe, Arizona, Oct. 14th, 1919 To the Luncheon Club of Clifton, | Gentlemen:
 Fearing there will be something arise which will not permit me to avail myself of your invitation to l speak to the members of your or subject z A Message From The BJ. reau of Naturalization upon the Topic | of Americanization,'' I am taking this opportunity of presenting to you in as concise a form as possible some i of the ideas of the Bureau relative to this work.
 Recent government statistics have shown that there are in the United States over ten million unnaturalized foreigners The gates of our country have always been open to people of | foreign birth, and it is through the invitation of our government that i they come here They come here countries behind them, to better their conditions. They come here ignorant of our ways, our customs, our lan- guage and our habits.
 The Bureau of Naturalization has been in operation since 1906, and thousands upon thousands of aliens have been given right of citizenship. This department has now been given the responsibility of Standardization of the foreigner. Citizenship means much more than teaching a foreigner the fundamental principles of our governmental must carry with it the lessons of our customs, etc., or will mean nothing President Wilson has truly said, in one of his addresses to the reception of new citizens at Philadelphia, |" A foreigner must de- dicate himself to America and be- come in every respect, and with ev- cry purpose of his will thorough Am erican, or he cannot become true citizen of the United States
 Let us consider this just a moment. A foreigner arrives in this country with the idea instilled of the great advantages awaiting him here. He soon locates, and while he finds the advantages sought, he is at a great disadvantage. He is ignorant of our language, our customs and habits. He is of the laboring classes of his na- tive land Work is given him at a salary much larger than he ever earn ed in his life. He has found his chance to earn more money, but un- fortunately there his opportunities stop. He is not welcome by the community in which he settles, and he is without friends except among the 1aboring classes of his own coun-- try. He therefore continues in the even tenor of his way, living as he always lived, continuing to speak the language of his native, land, and thinking along the same lines he did in his old environment because that environment has not changed. A man positively cannot become a true American by thinking of himself as belonging to any particular group America is not made up of groups and just so long as you tolerate and encourage little MeXicos, little Italys, little Russias, etc, in your midst just so long do you tear down the con- structive work your government is trying to do in Americanization.
 Let US look for a moment at the condition existing in Clifton, Morenci and Metcalf, right here at home. Our foreign population is over seventy five percent Mexican Look about you and see where they live-all punched together in little colonies How many of them even speak our lan- guage? How many of their homes are neatly kept, how many of their yards surrounding their homes are not offensive to your sight? Why do they not speak our language? Why are they not learning our habits and customs? Simply because they do not have to do so, and right there you have before you what American ization means I have found fore igners of Europe living in your min ing districts who speak Mexican and cannot speak our own language.
 Gentlemen, there is too much of the spirit prevalent in our communities that the fewer citizens of foreign birth we have, the better we will be-. They are here and we MUST handle them and Americanize them-other- wise they will soon overrun our coun- try with their own ideas and habits. How many of your stores right here in Clifton encourages the Americani- zation of the Mexican? Do they in- struct their clerks to encourage the speaking of the language of our own country to them? Some of you are in business-do you encourage Amer icanization or do you employ Spanish | speaking clerks? What would hap pen to you if you went to Mexico and ; endeavored to carry on your business