A MAGAZINE OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP
THE MAN WHO CAN HONESTLY SAY TO
THE WORLD: "I AM AN AMERICAN”
WOU WHO HAVE taken an oath of allegiance to the United
* States of America and raised your eyes toward the flag that
symbolizes the faith in your new allegiance, should bear in mind
that your citizenship is of no real value to yourself or to the coun
try of your adoption, unless your heart speaks in accord with your
lips and unless you can open your soul before your God and
Maker and conscientiously and out of a full heart say: “I am an
American!” If you have the courage of your convictions you
should have no trouble in repeating this declaration, by which you
have sealed your citizenship, in the face of all those wh o scoff,
doubt and sneer. You may at times feel discouraged, you may
have just cause to be hurt and your heart maybe deeply wounded
when thoughtless Americans, lacking the true American culture
and refinement, make fun at your speech because of your accent
and limited vocabulary, but if you remain true in your allegiance;
uphold and obey our laws, fighting without malice and vindictive
ness for the things you know to be right, living and working for
the American principles of freedom, justice and equality, then your
life will be a constant vindication of your faith and your citizenship
will be a credit to yourself, the country and the people you came
from and an inheritance to your American children which they
will be proud of for generations to come.
No matter what your race or nationality may be, no matter
your religious belief, if you have embraced the common faith of
all Americans and accordingly subordinated all your other inter
ests in life, then you have stricken the hyphen from your life and
you have a just equity in all that is proclaimed American—even
the hundred per cent Americanism—which cannot be invalidated
by any amount of insinuations and crudely expressed indictments
by those whom fate gave the breath of life on American soil.
UGUST, 1923
PORTLAND, OREGON