The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., May 01, 1923, Page 7, Image 7

MAY, 1923
THE WESTERN AMERICAN
7
opinion, at large in America during the war, which month’s issues of “Reform,” a Norwegian language
put all Germans in the same class.
weekly in Eau Claire, Wisconsin:
In order that this injustice never again shall be
The immigration question pops up ever so often. The great
done against any American of foreign birth, there industries are suffering from labor shortage. On the other
should be a wholesome and vigorous cooperation on hand we have the “patriotic” elements who are troubling them­
the part of all American citizens of foreign birth to selves because so many people come to America who can not
check up on the “freedom” of foreign language ex­ speak English and who therefore necessarily must be regarded
low down and ignorant beings suffering from natural an­
pression in America. This would go a long ways as
archistic tendencies. Continually there are the labor organiza­
toward preventing that a stigma should again become tions, opposed to immigration of labor, because they are afraid
attached to the very name of a citizen’s nationality, of wage reductions.
on account of the misdeeds committed by a few men­
But now we have also come to the point—have in fact al­
tally unassimilable individuals, converts to the un- ways been—that the heaviest- labor is being performed by
and immigrants. Even today you find Italians and
American creed so freely preached in the native Negroes
Finns in the copper and iron mines, Hungarians and Poles in
country’s language press that is issued in this the coal mines, people from the Baltic provinces in the' stock­
country.
yards and packinghouses, the Irish and the Scandinavians in
There should never again come the day in America the logging camps and sawmills and it is said that the fisher­
along the Alaskan coast are 95 per cent immigrated Nor­
that a foreign born citizen should feel that his citizen­ men
wegians. Almost all tradesmen are Germans and Scandina­
ship was on trial on account of his nationality and vians.
that he should feel inclined for that reason to repudi7
The appeal in our school system is, away from common
ate his place of birth among the people of which he labor. Even our second generation and almost the entire third
has become a part. Such instances were too numer­ generation of Norwegians (in America) have been educated
away from physical labor and the situation is identical with
ous in America during the war.
other nationalities.
These repudiations were perhaps in no instance
And there you are. The “undesirable” immigration is just
motivated by a desire on the part of any such citizen what we need the*most. Of hightoned people -with higher school
to erase from his own mind, if it were possible, the education and knowledge of our language we have a plenty.
memory of the land of his birth or with any regret There are lots of boys with high school education going idle
while the big industries are in need of men to do physical
that he had sprung from the soil and the source he labor.
There are many idle girls with good school education;
did, but it served a purpose of expediency (for busi­ but it is almost impossible to obtain a servant girl even for
ness and social reasons mostly), to keep the esteem good pay. In the cities parents are well satisfied if their
of fellow Americans and save what has the greatest grown girls can earn enough to clothe themselves by employ­
value to any American citizen—unquestioned equality ment in stores and offices.
So it is not so surprising that the immigrant question is
rights.
There may be neither valid nor sufficient reason ^lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||I|||||||||||||||||||||||l||||||||l|||||||||||||||||IIIHIIIIIIII>£
for any set or group of native Americans to exclude
the foreign born from close confidential affiliation on
I the common ground of patriotic citizenship, but the
cause for such action on the part of the overzealous
natives may again be traced to the work of these per­
fidious burrowing toads who claim citizenship but
make their living by that part of their nationality
I contingent which has consigned itself to remain in the
I immigrant stage, and eventually obtain, in lieu of
I "faithful service,” a royal decoration from the foreign
I potentate for whom they reserved a secret allegiance. I
1
The Western American has a collection of foreign
It costs no more to secure the finest busi- 1
I language press expressions of recent issue. Some of
ness college training—and the best is what |
I these will perhaps show us why some foreign born |
you demand.
|
I have not been very anxious to become citizens until
I public opinion made it rather unpleasant for them to
At this great college—we train you for 1
I be known as having lived half their lives as aliens in
SUCCESS
—then place you in paying posi- 1
I America and why others again have become bolshe-
I vists, I. W. W. and most anything else imaginable,
tions.
I save that of becoming Americans.
Enroll any time
Aside from “keeping the home fires” of the foreign
I countries bright and burning, some of the foreign
Free Catalogue
I language papers are giving considerable editorial I
I space to amuse the foreign language readers at the
I expense of “Americans.”
Whatever Americans think, say and do, is evidently
I so “sidesplitting” to at least some of the foreign lan­
guage editors, that they can not refrain from indulg­
BUSINESS COLLEGE
ing in a little “innocent” humor to make their readers
4th near Morrison
■ laugh with them at the funny antics of the Americans.
|
Phone Main 0590
Portland, Oregon
|
I Here is a sample from an editorial in one of last
Young
Men and
Women
Place Your Orders With The Western American Advertisers—and Tell Them Why