The Devils Lake world., 1922-10-04

Let US take counsel together for the
awakening of America to her educa-
tcnal needs. The laws of the city
stand on the statute books Of nearly
all the states that call for the attend
ance of every child at school. In the
constitution of every state of the
Union is written guarantee of ade-
quate education for the youth of the
land. These guarantees are idle with
out their application; the letter is
empty without the spirit. We have
the word Of the law. Let US live up
to it. To the carrying out of the spirit
and letter Of the statutes that provide
for the education of the children of
America, the American Legion is ir-
revocably committed.
The education of American children
must be an American education. 1t
must prepare the children of America
for American citizenship. We Ameri-
cans must know the details Of our
government and our history as well as
we know the details of our daily lives
before we can fully and lightfully ar
rogate to ourselves the management
Of our national affairs. We must COM
pei the study of civil government and
American history in our schools until
every American citizen to be has ac-
quired full knowledge and COM
plete realization of the rights and
privileges and duties Of American citi-
zenship. To this privilege the Amer
lean Legion in national convention as
sembled has thrice committed itself
in no uncertain terms.
Hand in hand with this program of
education goes the program Of Amer
icanization. In furtherance of this
program it is urged that every school
house in this broad land shall fly from i
dawn till set of sun the flag of Amer
lea as the symbol uf that bright AM
erican ideal of which the school is
the living spirit and source; one flag
floating above all the schools as the
symbol of united nation, as a sign
of America made visible. And this
brings with it as a natural consequ-
ence. the establishment of one langu-
age. AS the flag is America made vis-
ible, so the language of Lincoln and
Jefferson is America made audible.
Community of language is the
strong fastener of the ties that bind |
mankind. The use Of common tongue :;
establishes strong union of the minds
of men that overleaps political bound
aries. We turn to Greek for the origin i
of the drama, to Latin for the origin
Of laws and to French for the first
beginnings of modern thought; but by
the Goddess of Liberty, we do not turn
to Greek or Latin or French for the
Declaration of independence of the
United States Of America. That docu-
ment and our Constitution comprise
our greatest national heritage. They
are the twin sources of the great cur
rent of the American life today. One
flag above our schools and one langu-
age in our schools,-the flag and the
language of America.
The greatest problem which con-
fronts the American Legion in it's
1AipoAGA VI @1ulC11SdIllLdClO1l, is LNe |
proper education of the alien. When
this man enters our country, it is the
language that he speaks above all
other factors, that determines his re-
sidence, his occupation, and the whole
character of his life in America. He
comes wandering into a great country
of alien speech where economic COM
petition rules with the rod of iron
and where manners and customs are
utterly new and strange to him. He
turns, therefore, to his old country
men, who have gone before. He settles
among them. speaks their language
and reads their journals printed in the
only language that he en- understand,
and thus, in his life and labor he adds
another unit to this assemblage of dis
tinct racial groups that are developed
in America. The Legion stands for the
education of all aliens who are here
and fit 70 rcitizenship, and the Legion
stands unequivocally for the exclu-
sion of the unfit. The Legion goes
even further than this ad stands for
the restriction of desirable aliens so