Page Twelve
THE UNITED AMERICAN
devotion, the spirit, which built America. When he
has come to know these things, he will have that intense
pride in his country which every citizen should, have.
In the fourth place, he must understand and believe
in our government. To acquire this attitude, he must
study its fundamental ideas ; he must come to think of
his relations to his fellow's in the tolerant, sympathetic
way which is the spirit of America. It is with such
attitude of mind that he should read the descriptions of
the machinery of our government and should observe
the workings of that machinery wherever he can. It is
only thru such study and such observation and with
such democracy of feeling that the citizen can get the
knowledge of and the attitude toward our government
he should have.
In the fifth place, the citizen must know and obey
our Jaws. America never willingly confers citizenship
upon an unlawful person. We have too many law
breakers among our native born; we can not afford
to take any chances of adding to the number. Hence
the alien seeking citizenship must take care that his
record is good in that respect, and when he has reached
his goal he must take care to merit and hold his
reputation as a lawful citizen. It is only thus that
he can gain the confidence of his newly acquired fellow
citizens.
In the sixth place, he must be respectful to
authority. We expect from our citizens respect for
our courts, our congress, our. president, This is not
because of the men holding the offices; they may be
little worthy of respect. The offices, however, repre
sent the government, are the agencies in which its
authority is vested, and they must receive our respect.
If the officers are weak and incompetent, it is our duty
to elect to their places men in whom we can place con
fidence. Again I repeat that public office is a public
trust, deserving of the attention of our finest citizens.
In the seventh place, we expect from our citizens
their loyalty. By this we mean devotion to their country,
a desire to advance its interest, to strengthen its
government, and to bring added prosperity and happi
ness to its people.
In the last place, the American citizen must feel
that he owes America his deepest devotion. That is,
he must be entirely willing to sacrifice for her, to
serve for her, if need be, to fight in battle for her.
Citizens with this attitude of mind are good citizens.
We who are the citizens of today, must try to give our
children and the would-be citizens within our gates
such an attitude. Upon the commonness of such citi
zens depends the safety, the prosperity, thé happiness
of all the people of America.
A SCHOOL OF CITIZENSHIP FOR
NATURALIZATION
(Continued from Page Six)
thoroughly informed with idealism is the basis of good
citizenship.
One difficult problem has been the lack of material
which might be given the petitioners for study. There
is no texbook for such a course in government. Years
have been put into its development. Another great
problem has been to meet the needs of all, types of peti
tioners. These include university professors, teachers,
ministers, lawyers, men and women of all proféssions,
DECEMBER 1925
boys, business, men, foremen, mechanics, everybody.
The foundation is laid by presentation of the course
in day and evening classes. Because there is a
center to which petitioners come from all parts of
the city the number in thé school has become large
enough to make it possible to have special classes for
many of the special needs. There are review classes
with informal oral tests covering the course from the
different aspects and study classes for national groups
who need special help on account of lack of language
or education. Those needing such help are referred
to advisors who make individual programs and give
them personal attention and coaching. There are
twenty such day and evening classes for adults con
ducted in the public schools of Los Angeles. It is a
graded school of citizenship for naturalization in which
the needs of all types are met as nearly as possible.
Many come nearly every evening for three months or
morè, others about twice a week.. No school probably
ever had more attentive or more interested students.
Sometimes American born wives who lost citizen
ship by marriage before September 22, 1922, complain
about having to take the course in order to have citi
zenship restored. Usually, however, they express
appreciation of the: course and often return to the
naturalization office to suggest that all native born
should have to take such a course in citizenship.
One university professor admitted to citizenship
on a school diploma, wrote: “I enjoyed every lecture.
The truth is I dreaded the idea of having to attend
lectures on citizenship and tried to persuade myself
that it was a foolish arrangement to make me, a uni
versity professor, take them. But I changed my mind
completely as soon as I heard the first talk. It was
a privilege and pleasure to listen. Civics is now an
interesting subject, a live-subject, a study in biology.”
The new citizens maintain the People’s Civics
Club, which meets on the first Friday evening of school
months. The speaker is some officer of national, state,
county, or city government who discusses some phase
of government with which he is familiar from an
inside view. Many who have become voters return
to continue their education for intelligent citizenship.
The program usually includes vocal and instrumental
music rendered by present and former members of the
school among whom are some famous musicians.
Chicago is having an average of two murders a day which
suggest that her slogan of “I will’ would as well be “I kill!’1
-—St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
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