JUNE 1925
THE UNITED AMERICAN
among Indians, for last year on one of the Indian
Reservations there were conducted four night schools
in the rural communities. One of these night schools
counted among those in attendance not only the native
American (the Indian), the half breed, and the native
white, but also Greek and Syrian who had taken up
land on the Indian Reservation. An Indian woman
eighty-four years of age learned to read and write.
Another Indian woman came to night school to learn
to write her name so that she could sign her daughter’s
report card. North Dakota’s problem is different "rom
in. ny states in that the ¡ literates and near-illiterates
are scattered over a wide area. This means more indi
vidual service, for it is more difficult to conduct evening
schools for a very small group covering several miles
than those found in a large city.
The Parent-Teacher Associations in North Dakota
have done a great service in the interest of Americani
zation and Adult Education. Through their meetings
the foreign-born people have realized for the first time
what it means to be American citizens. These persons
have become more interested in the education of their
children and their own educational attainments.
GETTING THE CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY —
GATHERING IN THE SHEEP
A pert analysis by a friend of Americanization
A LARGE NUMBER of immigrated sheep have for
some time been roving at large, shy of every
American corral. In sizable flocks they have been seen
from time to time browsing in the lowlands of indiffer
ence and along the swamps of carelessness that lie ad
jacent to the state of ignorance. The roving habit is
bad for all domesticated animals. It tends to make them
wild and reckless and destroy their general usefulness.
During this prolonged period of roaming at large they
have developed a canny instinct of stealthiness which
can be easily discovered as they are seen moving about
cunningly, to cover their tracks, scrupulously shy of
every open road that might lead into the common
pasture where the domestic herd is grazing, where
quality predominates and every sheep is rated strictly
on the basis of its domestic value. A great number of
immigrated sheep, whose habits have been changed,
have become the most valuable animals in the domestic
herd thereby proving that there is plenty of quality
in the flocks that are roaming at large, a constant
source of grief and anxiety.
Should anyone discover a stray flock of these
sheep, don’t' shoo them but try the friendly call.
Winning a few here and a few there away from the
stray herds will have a tremendous effect upon the
remaining ones which eventually will bring the stray
ing number down to a negligable few. These can
then, in time, be captured and, if void of any quality
for domestic usefulness, be locked up and put out of
the way or shipped back to the country from which
they came.
The campaign to corral the stray flocks of immi
grated sheep is now in progress. Every available
citizen is wanted to train for the work in order that
it may be done intelligently and in such a way that
a rehabilitation of the greater number may be made
certain. There are now a lot of wild-goose chasers
Page Twenty-three
on the job whose poor success does not seem to dismay
them in the slightest degree, judging by the way they
spend public time and money in unabated, fruitless
pursuits.
There are many ways in which the individual can
help when eager to coordinate his own ideas with
those of others, instead of running amuck with
myriads of illy conceived and badly executed plans
which eventually will destroy the usefulness of the
individual so minded and so engaged.
The conscientious, unselfish worker who never
borrows or steals the plans ahd maps of any other
worker on the job, but applies himself diligently,
out in the open, and acts squarely in the interest of
the common good will receive ample reward in pro
portion to his fitness as the campaign progresses. The
judge who passes upon individual qualifications and
bestows the rewards, is none other than the general in
chief — Uncle Sam!
BUILDERS
Anon.
DIFFERENT PEOPLE regard life in different ways.
The individual’s contentment and success, in its
large sense, depends much on his viewpoint.
Once a passerby stopped three stonemasons who
were working on a church structure and asked them
what they were doing. “I am earning my wages,”
said one. “I am laying a brick,” said another. The
third answered. “I am building a church.” He alone
of the three had vision.
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