Evening star., 1924-05-21
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL !. COLLINS.

| A mass meeting was held last Sun
| day under the auspices of the Wash
! ington Board of Trade and presided d
over by Chief Justice Mccoy of the
| District Supreme Court. The topic
under discussion was how to Ameri
! caniZe the $4,000 aliens residing in
| the National Capital, who are neg
| Iectful OF their privilege of becoming
| American citizens
1t was announced that the Board
| of Trade was putting on a thirty da Y
| campaign OF naturalization. with the
| view of demonstrating to these aliens
their shortcoming in failing to take
out their citizenship papers The diff
! ticulties of the boards task appear
| greatly enhanced by the necessity of
| explaining to these potential voters
| that they will have the privilege of
exercising their franchise in the Dis
! trict OF Columbia just as soon as the
| native sons gain the same privilege
and that it is their manifest duty to
make ready.
: A distinguished sociologist has de-
| fined Americanization as it is gen
| orally practiced. as being something
done to somebody by somebody else"
| The alien Is taught how he should
think in America. and how he should
| put out of his mind the ideals and
! teachings of his native land. He is
| to become inoculated with the ideals
| of America before he can be melted
down and nodded in the cast of Il
| real or, rather, a naturalized Amer
| lean.
This may not be the process pro-
| posed in the thirty day naturalization
| campaign in Washington. 1t Seems
slow and tedious process to apply
to $4,000 aliens who should all be in
duced to become non-voting natural
| lied American citizens within thirty
| days.
At the Sunday conference upon this
| subject Miss Alton, who has been doing
| brilliant work for several years as the
| head of the Americanzation School of
| Washington. called attention to the fact
| that the foreigners coming to US have
something to give, rs well as something
| to take. and that we should meet them
! and take what they are so willing to
| give. for "one of their endowments is
/ culture.
1t is often a great surprise to Ameri-
cans to discover that broken English is
not the invariable sign of crude ideals
| or lack of appreciation of taste and
| is also true that the immigrant is not
| the greatest sinner in lacking patriotic
instincts and a yearning for the better
things in government.
| \
Two boys were overheard disput-
| ing as to which one was the happier
| in the love Of his parents. One was
| the son of devoted parents; the other
|
| hold. The first taunted the adopted
| boy:
Your parents don't love you like
| mine do me, for my father and
mother are my. real father and moth
| er. You're just an adopted boy"
"Y-a-a-s." faltered the waif, but
| your parents had to take you; mine
! chose me-"
What have been the dreams, the
| ideals of freedom. the instincts of
| love of a country that would vouch-
safe opportunity. which have drawn
the thousands of every nationality to
choose the United States of America?
| What rebuffs have the immigrants
| experienced from the moment they
landed and fell into the hands of in
| terpreters and sharks who fleeced
| them and turned them adrift in a
| foreign land! 1t has been officially
/ stated that so per cent of the immi-
| grants are thus cheated upon landing,
| and when, after their early expert
ences, they will develop patriotic
feelings for the land of the free"
how much greater is their loyalty
| than that of the native who has
| known no such rebuffs and yet neg
lects to exercise his legal rights and
| perform his lawful obligations as a
| citizen! Not half of the authorized
| voters of America exercise their
| franchise. and probably not quarter
| attend political meetings, read politi-
| cal debates or have even a hazy com
| prehension of the living issues on
| which the electors are expected to
/ pass judgment.
|
| According to the 1920 census, there
were in that year $4,000, 900 men en-.
gagged in manufactures and farming,
and 4,250,000 in merchandising-a to-
tai of nearly 27,000.e00 men, presum-
ably all voters. There were as many
women-all voters. That makes q
total of about 100000 potential
voters, yet there were cast for Mr..
Harding's election 16,152.200 ballots
and for Mr.. Cox. s.147,353 votes, and
lfer the Prohthitionist Socialist and