New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-10-15

~ ~ ~" 'l'''i'
for the young mans (I n
character and habits as ~
we are for his training. ~
We want the best iniu- W-jL
enceS to surround him
for all wenty four
hours of his day and
our responsibilities have
not ceased until we have made of him not only a
frst-class soldier, but a high-spirited, welledu-
Gated American citizen"
All this is encouraging; every thinking man
Knows that one of the most serious questions In
our national life is illiteracy in its various forms
and with its various qualifications. When the
Americanization bill was before the last session Of
congress 1t was shown that twenty-four and niEe-
elevenths per cent Of our soldiers could not read,
write or speak the English language. 1t was
further stated that there are over 5000 900 people
in this country over ten years of age who can
neither read, write nor speak the English language,
and that at least 80 per cent of them are native
born. This is a good many people. Senator Ken
yon helped us realize this vast army Of illlterates
by saying one day:
"Mr. President, If the illiterates and the foreign
born who can not speak our language should be
reviewed from "A stand in front of the White
House, marching by two abreast, and marching %
miles a day, it would take two months of solid
marching for them to pass the reviewing stand"
This fact is particularly important just now
because as someone has said:
"Discontent is m%umbling and violence Is ranting
on all sides. America is on trial before 10000
soap boxes; chaos Is everywhere seeking recruits
from the ranks of misunderstanding and illiteracy.
Illiteracy is a pick-and-shovel estate, n life sentence
TO mentality. Democracy may not have fixed
classes and survive. An outbreak of hoofand-
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 lncapables. If n
hundred million of us stand together, we must
think together and that without foreign accent"
Former Secretary of the Interior Franklin X.
Lane put the thing in a nutshell when he said:
AN uniformed democracy is not n democracy"
This uniformed democracy is to be pitied. The
thousands of misguided men today in America
are in a sense to be pitied. As Senator Kenyon
said:
"They do not know the purposes of America.
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 ever 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 are eager TO know America for them
selves and for their children. If they cannot
read or speak or understand the American Ian.
guage, how can 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 freedomf'
Boys of foreign birth have gone out to fight for
the nation just as loyalty as those who we're
born in this country. The long rolls of honor of
those who have been left on the fields of France
contain the names of nearly every nationality on
earth. There is good material here for American
ization. The melting pot 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 a trip down to Camp Grant, for instance,
where a 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-
On. Major General Crowder was there. So was
Secretary of War Baker.
The latter was on 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 were over 1000
of them. women as well as men.
This fall they will be distributed among our
army camps, and the modern regular will go to
school. Enlistments are for either one or three
years. Each IL months officials expect to turn
back into civil life 100000 m%ilitarily and vocation
ally educated men.