The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1920-08-09

within n comparatively short period
OF timc--which. OF course, we have
no intention OF doing. The problem
IN how best to bring the alien To
citizenship and to such interest in
the affairs of tho country as TO as
sure his irrcyoCahlc allegiance,
Fellow Immigrants.
Suppose, turning back to that,
that l should have found among my
fellowIeXpatriatcs some with longer
and fuller experience OF Italy and
the Italians who could convince me
not only that II was my duty to be-
come an ltaiiaa citizen but that the
benefits OF that step to myself md
my descendants would far outweigh
any OF the disadvantages Shich had
induced my montnl twrcstlinss.
Would | not thereafter be better
and more ardent Italian than II |
had been driven or Cajoied by ltal-
ian propagandists, whom | only half
Understood and OF whose disiutcr-
estcdness l was far from assured?
IN there amy reason To regard
American citizenship 40 lightly as to
believe that It's merits have not be-
come known to at least some OF the
more Intelligent OF every single ma
tionality sheltered under our flag?
The contrary is beyond question.
There Is not n single community
containing aliens where there are
not among these eloquent advocates
of AmcriCanizatlon. Not all OF
them may be convinced that this lis
Gods country" and It's citizens the
chosen OF the Lord. Less flattcring
reasons may inspire some of them,
as. for instance, the practical one
that America offers greater oppor-
tunitica for the frugal and indus
trious than any other land and that
It's future IL more secure, also, that
even with due allowance for all fair
criticism, America comes nearest to
granting equal opportunity to all.
Fortunately. there is an instru-
men peculiarly adapted for the pur-
pose OF making available such ma
tive sources OF influence in every
community In this country. That Is
the local newspaper. II the govern
ment ana the private societies aud
individuals interested In American
ization would cooperate with the
local editors wherever there are
aliens. they would find an easy road
TO practical achievement, American
journalism is so developed as to be
IA perfect instrument for this pur-
pose,
Trust the editor. He knows how
and II need hardly he said that
ha hug tlt "a ha1
got into the war and the authors Of
the country organized for patriotic
propaganda under the name of the
NiEilantcs, the editors all over the
country opened their columns freely,
Al that Is necessary In To give them
"A free hand and not seek to inter-
fcre
Your editor knows best how 20
find the men In each colony who
are most trusted by their fellows
and hest qualified TO lead them into
the right paths. lie will know how
20 interest them by the proper pub
licity, how to feature their work and
their accomplishments how TO sup
ply them with the information
needed to correct the thousand and
one misapprehensions and mlsun-
derstandinEs, how TO guido them
along the mazcs which lead to n cor
rect comprehension Of Americanism
and TO the goal of citizenship, More
over, In doing all this the editor will
develop many points Of contact with
the aliens which will surely be OF
mutual advantage, There are pos
sibilities In this guidance for the cdi-
tor ms well as tor those whom he
leads, which he will be the first to
realize, ana this viii certainly not
lessen his ardor.