The Mena weekly star., 1919-10-09
ROOSEVELT'S IDEAS
 ON INTERPRETATION

Americanization was the favorite theme of Theodore Roosevelt; in speeches, writings and letters he car ried on a continuous campaign, before the war and during it, in behalf of sturdy, undivided Americanism. The man who really loved his country would make the real defender of it in time of trouble, and it's best asset in days of peace, he realized.
 Nations are made, defended and preserved he wrote. mot by the il- lusionists, but by the men and women l who practise the homelv virtuas in time of peace, and who in time of righteous war are ready to die, or to send those they love best to die, for a shining ideal.v
 l He himself was one who "practised the homely virtues in time of peace.v i Willing to die himself for his coun- ltry's cause, he watched with pride as his own sons marched to war. The Roosevelt family was thoroly imbued with Americanism, and their example was perhaps the best proof possible that the Colonel praetised what he preached, when it came to instructing his offspring
 Our attitude is necessary and prop CT when we insist upon complete lAmericanization as matter of duty on the part of the immigrant" he stat ed, "but it is proper only if we give to
 the immigrant who fully performs this duty a full and frank assurance that in turn he shall be admitted to an absolute equality of right with the
 native-born"
 The Roosevelt ideas of Americani-
 zation are of renewed interest at this time, when immigration and industrial
 bodies are discussing the problem. A Echief argument he advanced was that
 the speaking of English should be hastened among the foreign-born, all fasssilities facilities for teaching the language to
 be utilized. He described English as the master-key to American oppor-
 tunity and "the primal sign of citizen |ship.'
 To reduce illitentcy he urged that
 every immigrant under forty years of
 age should learn to read and write English, and should read at.sleast one American neasnese:. ... ,: :. s gus :s ,of his fellow-countrymen. To quote lhim: s 52sv 9 s | seThe man born abroad will natural fly and properly read newspaper
 written in the language of his birth
 place, but he should also learn to read lanother newspaper. one written in the
 language which is the language of his adopted country, which will probably be the sole language of his sons anc
 almost certainly the sole language o1 this grandsons. ' M U II Raising the standard of the natural Iization ceremony, so that it would con tain more dignity. he believed, would , impress on the citizen-to-be the i'm
 portance of his position in the com , munity. He believed that womei Ishould be required to become citizen. l, themselves, not merely by marrying : a citizen, but by their own act. H. 5 believed also that the educational in ittttt%~tNfsA1 cttS0tU tV~0HtIdtt WiL0 IUi 9 courts in this Americanization work Q land that American-born women shouls l lreach out to their incoming sisters , land guide them, showing them ou : best standards of living, child-car $ and self-respect. sa
 t Roosevelt's mate sense of fairnes
 protested against the habit of refer y firing to the foreign-born with con y tempt, or by offensive nicknames I Such practise. he said. served to per F |petuate hyphenated Americanism i, Y |its worst form He taught the nee, Il of reciprocity in our treatment of tn
 incoming men and women, belieuia,
 that we would ask them to go only a
 far as we had demonstrated we wer |. able to go. If American-born men an , women are proving desirable citizens
 then the naturalized citizens have