Evening star., 1923-05-13

Harding had been right.
HE was dearly beloved by those
who were most closely associated
with him-the men that had q chance
to see him at his daily tasks. the men
that saw every side of situations that
| confronted him-and they are deeply
mourning his demise. OF course. they
! appreciate that God in His infinite
wisdom does that which Is best, but
1t Is hard for them to console them
selves at his departure. The love of
ones associates is the greatest test
that can be given to mortal man."
X
lTHIs same friend of the late bishop
l. said:
There is one point that l want to
have ever remembered by the citizens
OF this country. and that was his
great love Of this. his adopted coun-
| try. He was a thorough American
and his Amerfcanism was OF the high
| est order. AS you know, he came to
| this country as a lad, but he soon
| learned to love the United States,
| and what has been said OF others may,
! justly be applied to him. You will
| remember that when the late Andrew
Carnegie was asked about his love
J for Scotland. the land OF his birth.
and how it compared with his devo-
tion to the country of his adoption. he
! said:
1t is like a mans love for his
mother and for his wife. He loves
| them both. but he chose his wife
| And so It was with Alfred Harding
He loved the land Of his birth. but
| he loved the land OF his adoption
| more. Upon every suitable occasion
he tried TO instill into the minds Of
his hearers the fact that this country
| offers far greater advantages than
| any other in the world. He spoke to
the young folks and taught them why
they should love all the things that
this nation stands for. In every way
he assisted in preparing the minds
OF immigrants for the realization of
| what liberty means. He never once
swerved from the idea Of teaching
the foreign born just what the Con-
stitution really means for humanity
He repeatedly urged the instruction.
! OF. and the caring for. the immigrant.
and one Of the greatest things that
he ever did along these lines was his
plea to the church. the beginning of
| which was +. Pluribus Cnum. In
this address he said:
| There are many people to he
| made into one. The foreigr-born
population of the United States is
over 20,0o0.000 (this was In 1879.
| equal to the total population of the
entire country in 1850. The immigra-
| tion is increasing. In ten years I2.-
100000 arrived. about the population
! of the United States In 1880.
The Strangers and the State was
| the next heading. and of this he said ::
From July. 1912. to June. 1919.
we received Africans. Bohemians.
Bulgarians. Croatians, Dalmatians.
Dutch. English. Finnish, French. Ger
man. Greek. Hebrew. Irish. Italians.
Lithuanians. Magyars. Polish, Portu-
| guese. Rumanians. Russians Ruthen
| ians. Scandinavians. Scotch, Serbians
| Slovaks. Syrians, Turkish and Welsh
besides other people, to the number
of 1.191.S92. Four-ffths of these
| strangers remain to become citizens
OF the state. Last year 1855 set
tied in New England. New York and
Pennsylvania: lo7.o6o in Illinois: 63.-
0o1 in Ohio. and the remaining 2S5-
| $40 scattered ali over the country
| This concentration in the eastern
! centers makes the assimilation of
| these foreigners into fellow citizens
| difficult. The foreigners are means
| to the upbuilding of our country
| There are 100000 Of them this year
l 4 2 Lob
! may become menace IL let alone to
be organized by the forces of discon-
tent. The nation depends upon its
! loyal body of citizens for support
| Two methods are open to the
state-restriction and education The
state finds restriction difficult to ap-
ply. Is the public school system by
! itself to accomplish assimilation in
| the face OF the new and increasing
] volume of Immigration
mo influence Is historically so
great In the making of a nation as
| religion. About one-half of the vast
| body Of our new foreign born citi-
| Zens. energetic. Industrious and ten
| times as prolific as the native popula-
| tion, is not attached to any Christian
| church. the immigrant is allowed to
! develop, the spiritual nature un-
! touched, and the result be a revolu-
! tion which shall sweep away the old
| ideals and the republic cease to be-
| the responsibility for the disaster
will rest not upon the state, but upon
the church. II the church wishes to
| shift this accountability, upon whom
| is 1t proposed to shift it?
Herein lies our opportunity and
our obligation. The Roman Catholics
| the eastern orthodox churches and
| other Christian bodies are doing
much. The Presbyterian Board of
| Home Missions now reports 400
| churches employing a foreign Ian
. guage. with a membership of $1,000.
and with over $4,000 in the Sunday
schools. 1t is our privilege not to
proselytize, but to bring into the fold
| the sheep which are scattered.
| 1.-The work is too large to be left
entirely to individual dioceses and
| parishes. We need a bureau of i'm
migration under the direction of the
| board OF missions to take up the
work for the whole church. 1t is a
work for church and country-a work
in which the state requires the aid Of
the church; for without the church
| the state cannot assimilate and form
this great body Of aliens into a united
| commonwealth
! LAS a result of this address per-
manent bureau of immigration was
i