The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-02-28

IT HOUGHTFUL persons inclined to question
| the wisdom and the ethical straightness of de
porting alien undesirableS. The policy of th
government seems to be deportation rather than i'm
prisonment-or if you prefer word more gentle
internment. The main purpose should be to rid th'
world not merely the United States of crack-brainet
persons.
If we send them back to Europe they will con
tinue there the tactics against law and order which
have made them undesirable and dangerous here. j
the world is to be policed against anarchism, boil
SheviSm and the other isms of vice and ignorance
the United States must do considerable share of the
policing Why then ship our alien undesrables tC
Europe and then send soldiers over to undo the
devlments?
In New York there is headquartered a society
called the General Welfare League, which sends ou
weekly bulletins containing suggestions for editoria
use. We find in the current bulletin this pre-dgesteo
editorial which seems timely:
1t speaks i'll for the resourcefulneSs of our
Federal officials that they have been able to de-
wise nothing better than deportation as a solution
for our undesirable allen problem; and we there
fore regret to read the recent garing headlines
of our daily papers announcing that the big police
and detective forces of our Federal Government
are making a nationwide drive for the purpose OF
rounding up and deporting to Europe all OF our
undesirable alien residents. 1t seems that far
better plan would be to hold these aliens in con-
centration camps here pending final settlement
of affairs in Europe.
No doubt there are thousands of foreigners in
the United States at the present time who a
menace to the peace and welfare of the country,
and the situation unquestonaby calls for prompt
and vigorous attention. but it does not necessarily
follow that we should unload this trouble of ours
on European countries by compelling them, at
this critical time, when they struggling so
desperately and almost hopeessly to maintain re-
SponSibe governments, to absorb the large num-
bers of dangerous aliens who worrying us
here.
Our soldiers went to Europe to bring order out
of chaos, and we are keeping them there to pre-
serve such order; and it would seem that, if we
are ever to be able to bring sodier-boys home
again, we must do all that can to improve con-
dtions over there rather than to make them
worse.
1t would of course, cost us something to hold
these aliens here in concentration camps until the
European crisis is safely passed. but it would cost
us a whole lot more to increase the size OF our
European army, or even to prolong its stay abroad
for a single additional month in order to counter
act the evil influence there of the large number
of awess people whom our governmental au-
thorties are preparing to report
We therefore feel that this internment plan
especially since it would be fully as effective as
deportation and can be easily arranged in con-
necton with many army training camps-ls
worthy of most serious consideration.
Does it not appear to you that compulsory hard
work in safe and sane internment camp would I'LL
the bill more effectively than deportation? AT good
hard honest labor those fellows would be of use both
to themselves and to the race What most OF them
need anyhow is regular employment in some useful
service Put 'em to work, and they'll forget it!