Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1919-06-07
AMERICANIZING
Father Wynne, :. j., Points Out
Right Kind and Some
Mistakes.
Liberty Does Not Mean License to
Break or Ignore the
Law.
Trait That Marks the American
Different From, Other
Peoples.
CORRECT SENSE OF LIBERTY.

'Americaniza ton programmes
are now the order of the day. 1t is
important that these be of charac-
ter that will win those whom it is
proposed to Americanize and not
repel them. An organization in
New York which has taken up this
work was given some good advice
last week by Father John J..
Wynne, S. J. at is a mistake, {"
said Father Wynne, Ito think that
Americanization consists only in
! teaching foreigners how to speak
our language and how to vote To
be an American requires much more
than this. and there are among us
native-born Americans who stand
just as much in need of Americana
cation as any foreigner that flies
here to escape European oppression.
The characteristic of an American
is independence, and II is this trait
that stands prominently forth and
marks him distinctly different
from other peoples. 1t is this trait
that makes our people so slow to
commit the country to a League Of
Nations, for they must first know
that it does not interfere with our
independence before they will even
consider it, True independence
means correct sense of liberty, and
liberty means freedom to live by
law. Liberty does not mean license
to break law or to ignore. Law is
an expression of order formulated
by those whom we as a people en-
trust with authority to make il and
see that IT is applied. Foreigners
are not the only people who need
to know how to use this liberty
Alright, nor are they the only people
who misuse liberty in order to at
tempt to set up a social order en-
tirely un-American in its conception
and in its essence.
Our parlor Socialist is very Of
ten ap American, and our native
American is as much in need of be-
ing taught what true liberty Is as
the foreigner. We need therefore
to Americanize the nation and not
the foreigner alone. How can this
be done? 1t is accomplished by
knowledge, knowledge not alone of
civic but of religious matters. The
ignorance prevalent among the
American people on matters of pure
American history alone, not to men
ton other matters at all, is wide
spread. People point to the period
of the Revolution as the dawn of
American liberty, and they imagine
the spirit of American Independence
and freedom dates from the Declar.
alton of independence. A knowledge
of American history would show
that 100 years before the Declare
ton of Independence was written. a
charter of civic and religious lib
erty embodying every principle con
tanned in that document was written
and issued by that great New York
Governor. Thomas DOngan, a Catho-
lie And fifty years before Dongan
published his charter charter
which is in full force to this very
day-'Talbot, another Catholic, pro
mulgated his great charter of relig.
iOus liberty Long before 177t
therefore the American people were
nurtured in liberty, in high ideals
in justice and fair play. The Don
gan charter, purely and thoroughly
American, was the framework oil
all those boosted liberties which
Great Britain vouchsafed to hel
colonies. England learned from
America what freedom meant, and
although she learned ii too late u
save her American possessions, she
made use of it and has made /ust
of it ever since to bind her Other
colonies to her."
Continuing further. Father gWynnt
said II was. mistake to be contin'
ually rubbing "Americanism" into
the foreigner.
Instead of patronizing him anC
looking down upon him with condo
scension. it should be remembered
that they came here to get liberty
to escape from harsh conditions
Iabr0ad. knowledge should be giveI
them, but TO cure them of Hitter
acy' was not giving them tha
knowledge. In the late war th,
foreigners fought as CALAMITY as the
native American, and his spirit anC
his ideals were truly American al
one could wish Physician, eur'
myself was a maxim which applied
in this case. Let us therefore be
gin at home the noble task of Amer
lcanization. sympathy is an essen
tial American trait, and to be
true American we must have sym
pathy for the working man, for thu
poor and for the lowly. We mus
raise them up by knowledge L
know their true nobility.
"All power comes from the PEG
: Iple, who hold it in trust from God
The absurd doctrine of the divin
fright of kings is one under whicl
no liberty can develop or be main
tanned The people have the powe