The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1920-10-22

not ceased until we have made of him not only a
hrst-cass soldier, but a hgh-spirited, well-edu-
Gated American citizen"
All this Is encouraging; every thinking man
knows that one of the most serious questions in
our national life is teracy in its various forms
ana with its various qualifications When the
characterization bill was before the last session Of
congress II was shown that twenty-four and niEe-
elevenths per cent of soldiers could not read
write or speak the English language. 1t
further stated that there are over 10000 people
IN this country over ten years Of age who can
neither read, write speak the English language
and that at least 80 per cent of them are native
porn This is good many people Senator Ken
yon helped us realize this vast army of iliterates
by saying one day.
"Mr. President ii the terates and the foreign
born who can not speak our language should be
reviewed from stand in front of the White
House, marching by two abreast, and marching %
miles day, 1t would take two months of solid
marching for them to pass the reviewing stand"
This fact is particularly important just now
because someone has said:
"Dscontent is mumbiing and violence is ranting
on all sides. America is trial before 10000
soap boxes; chaos Is everywhere seeking recruits
from the ranks of misunderstanding and iliteracy
Iteracy is pick andshovel estate life sentence
TO mentality. Democracy may not have fixed
classes and survive An outbreak of hoof- and
mouth disease would compel instant remedial laws
and funds to contain the menace within bounds
1t is even more incumbent upon us TO defend
healthy citizenship against civic incapables If a
hundred million of stand together, we must
think together and that without foreign accent"
Former Secretary of the Interior Franklin X
Lane put the thing in nutshell when he said.
"An uniformed democracy is not a democracy
This uniformed democracy is to be pited. TIL.
thousands of misguided men today in America
are in sense to be pitied AS Senator Kenyon
said:
da knovy tIa
for they have had no opportunity to learn. They
do not know that this is in fact the land of the
poor boy that men have given their lives that
the doors of opportunity might be open to
the children of tomorrow; that the opportunities
for their children are the best of any nation on
earth Our country is to blame because the chance
has not been presented for them TO know. Many
of them eager to know America for them
selves and for their children. If they cannot
read or speak understand the American lam
guage how they know the wonderful stories
of opportunity In this country? How can they
understand the heights to which their children
may attain in this land of freedom?"
Boys of foreign birth have gone out to fight for
the nation just Loyalty those who were
born in this country. The long rolls of honor of
those who have been left the fields of France
contain the names of nearly every nationality on
earth. There is good material here for American
ization The melting rot cannot boil unless there
is fuel under IT, and that fuel is education"
So what the United States army is doing is JUST
so much fuel under the melting pot
Take trip down TO Camp Grant, for instance
where few years ago the national army was in
the process of hasty manufacture. Here recently
were to be found general staff officers by the doz-
en- Major General Crowder was there. So was
Secretary of War Baker
The latter was hand to address a sort of
normal school graduating class. which for one
month had been meeting to prepare for the work
of educating the soldier. There over 1000
of them women well men.
This fall they will be distributed among our
army camps and the modern regular will go TO
school Enlistments for either one or three
wears Each u months officials expect to turn
back into civil life 100000 military and vocation
ally educated men,