Alma record., 1920-04-01
WOOD CREATED BIG
IMPRESSION HERE

(tOnLlnued from page oHeJ
against perhaps $50 before the war.
The Government cannot possibly sell
for what they cost. They were built
under conditions which greatly in
creased the cost. This is matter of
the past. The money is spent and
we have the ships. The vitally I'M
portant thing now is to place them
under the American flag and lay the
foundation for Merchant Marine
which will soon place large proper
ton of the worlds carrying trade in
our hands. This can be accomplished
either through the Government sell
ing the ships TO commercial firms on
terms which will make it possible for
them to buy them; or by leasing the
ships on terms which will be an in
ducement to our shipping firms to
lease them. The maintenance of
ships which are suitable for the Nav
al Reserve can be aided by the pay
ment to their crews of a small month
iy stipend, an arrangement under
which the ships and crews would be-
come available for the Navy in case
of need.
"As soon as the war is over, it is
probable that there will be a flood of
immigration coming into this country.
Our labor has a right to protection
against the horde which may come
here with an idea that liberty means
license and who do not bring past
traditions of their own which are de-
sirable. We must see to it that only
the right kind comes. In other words,
we must look into the quality of our
immigration as we never have before.
The flood of immigration will come
largely from the war-swept areas of
southeastern Europe. 1t may be com
posed largely of people who have new
er lived under representative govern
ment. who have been part of the
great forces Of disorganization and
destruction which have swept over
Europe people who have no sym
pathy with our institutions or ideals.
I'VE do not want and we must not
permit this class Of people to come
to us. We have put about all the
sand in our cement that it will stand
We need a certain amount of immi-
grafton for development of our agri-
culture, our business and our indus
tries. and we welcome the man or wo-
man who comes here for the purpose
of adopting our ideals supporting our
/ institutions, living up TO our stand
ards But we must turn our faces
! like flint against those who came here
declaredly opposed TO our form of
government and imbued with ideas
and theories of government, or lack
of government, which are deadly.
"Then again, we have our schools.
said TO you moment ago that |
thought the women were going to
take more interest in our schools. We
have all got to take more interest in
them. Our teachers in colleges and
schools are undeIpaid from one end
Of the country 90 the other. This
teaching force in our universities and
schools is doing a work second to
none that is being done in this coun-
try Our country rests largely upon
its public school system. We want
to keep it up to the highest possible
level of efficiency. These men and
women who today are teaching the
youth of this country, the children OF
our land, are forming the characters
cf the men and women of tomorrow
AS they are taught today SO will they
be thinking and acting tomorrow. II
, is most dangerous situation TO fai
to give proper attention to the schoo
system. Our teaching force is fight
ing that silent battle against ignor
ance and prejudice upon the outcome
| of which depends in no small meas
ure the stability Of this republic
: They know they are underpaid, ant
we know it. They are unhappy an,
discontented. and a great many o
best men and women in the teaching
force are leaving. They are goinl
into other lines of endeavor. The!
feel they have right to make th
best use of their talents and to fin,
D q position where they can earn a rea
sOnable return for their labor, wher
they can afford to have a little bit o
y pleasure, TO marry, to raise a famil.
} and TO give their children a reason
able opportunity"
y Following the address at the Woo
Luncheon. the party, which includes
y Captain Roosevelt left for Muskegor
where Major-Gencral Wood gave a
address Saturday.