Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1920-10-14

we are for his training. ~
:; g.; :; ): !; :; :
hours of his day and
our responsibilities have
not ceased until we have made of hin, NOT on,, q
nlst-ciass Soldler but high-spirited, well-edu-
Gated American citizenn
All thls is encouraging; every thinking man
knows that one of the most serious questions in
our national life is illiteracy in IFS yorous forms
ana with It's various qualifications. When the
AUGMENTATION bill was before the last session of
congress 1T was shown that twenty-four and nne-
eleVenths per cent of our soldiers could not read
write or speak the English language 1t was
Iurther stated that there over 100000 peope
IN this country ten years of age who can
neither read write nor speak the English language
anu that at least 90 per cent of them are native
born. This is good many people. Senator Ken
yon helped us realize this vast army of illterates
by saying one day:
MIR. President If the illiterates and the foreon
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 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 mumbling and violence is rantng
on all sides. America is trial before 10000
soap boxes; chaos is everywhere seeking recruits
from the ranks of misunderstanding and illiteracy
lteracy is pick and shovel 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 ncapables If
hundred million of stand together we must
think together and that without foreign accent"
Forlner Secretary OF the Interior Franklin X
When ha cojd
IAN uniformed democracy is not democracyo
This uniformed democracy is to be pitied. The
thousands of misguided today in America
are in 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 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 speak or 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 as 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 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 few years ago the national army was in
the process of hasty manufacture Here recently
be found general staff officers by the doz-
en-. Major General Crowder there. So was
Secretary of War Baker.
The latter was on hand to address 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 well
This fall they will be distributed among our
army camps and the modern regular will 90 TO
school. Enlistments for either one or three
years. Each - months officials expect to turn
back into civil life 1GaO00 military and vocation
ally educated men.