March 1926
THE UNITED AMERICAN
convictions and a well defined appreciation of honor.
These men would rather have died in defense of their
honor than permit anything to happen that should
place the stain of dishonor under their names.
They chose their cause, and America has long since
wiped out the line of distinction between the men who
wore the blue and the men who wore the gray in that
crucial conflict. Yet, though most of these brave men
have passed beyond, the stigma has been allowed to
stand in the records and the descendants of those
noble spirits of the Civil war are invariably made to
suffer for the blunders of departmental functionaries.
Some of the grandchildren of these illustrious
champions of the cause they believed to be right,
fought in the world war for the United States, yet
they are being denied admittance in American patri
otic societies because of the stigma of desertion at
tached to the names of their noble grandfathers.
The matter was first brought before congress in
1917, and five years ago the senate passed a bill re
storing honor to the veterans, but it was defeated by
the house.
In 1924 both houses approved removal of the
stigma against the veterans in a rider to an appropri
ation bill but in a last minute legislative rush it was
dropped when the two houses could not agree on
other amendments-
Admiral A. O. Wright, who for years has been
working to have the stain removed, will again bring
the matter before congress. He is now seeking the
support from all southern states for a united stand to
cause the record to be corrected and have the resigna
tions of these men properly accepted and recorded.
The matter will this time be presented in a separate
bill in which the demand will be made that Uncle Sam
restore full honors to these veterans who helped to
test that American principle we prize in common.
The true American will stand at sober attention
when the flag goes by, but he cannot bubble over with
enthusiasm until we strip the fetters from the
Goddess of Liberty and cut the bonds that hobble
American Justice.
AN IMMIGRANT WITH A WILL TO SUCEED
A FTER A BATTLE lasting over six years a Finnish
mother has at last succeeded in uniting her little
family of self and three children, William 21, Rachel
17 and Barthel 18, in an American home in Minnesota.
After conferring with her children, Mrs. Frank
Apuli, residing in a rural community in Finland, decid
ed in 1919 that America offered better advantages than
Finland held for her and them. She left the three
children behind in the old country while she set out
alone for America —- she did not have money enough
to buy tickets for the whole family. In America she
saved with great care and finally was able to send a
ticket to .William, the oldest of the three. After his
arrival, the new immigration laws went into effect and
made it almost impossible for the plucky immigrant
woman to find means to bring the younger children
here after she had saved enough for their transpor
tation. There was only one way in which this could
be done: if she became an American citizen she would,
as such, have no difficulties to unite her family. With
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a resolve to master the language, learn America’s
history and become eligible to citizenship, Mrs. Apuli
started io school. She studied hard and having
learned the language she started her further education,
working and saving all the time. Last November she
was admitted to citizenship and immediately arranged
to have Rachel and Barthel, the younger children, leave
Finland for the new homeland. Upon their arrival
in this country early this year the teachers and officials
of Brainerd gave a reception to this determined little
woman who had spent more than six years in bringing
her family to America.
A dire circumstance drove Mrs. Apuli to the
Americanization schools. Now she is happy because
of that circumstance which has made of her an intelli
gent unit in the American citizenry. The first thing
Mrs. Apuli did, after the two children arrived, was
to enroll them in the American public school.
It pays to get better acquainted with Uncle Sam.
THOSE WHO PROTECT US WHILE WE SLEEP
Ep EW PEOPLE when they retire at night give any
A thought to the sentinels that trudge up and down
the streets through the long hours from sunset till
sunrise, on the look-out for murderers and thieves
who ply their trade under cover of darkness, or the
watchmen in the fire stations about town who are
sitting at attention the whole night through, ready
for any signal of fire. In the morning papers we often
read of the heroic exploits of these guardians of life
and property, without much thought of the hazards
they brave in arresting the yeggs and criminals here
and there at work, and in putting out a mean fire that
quite frequently endangered the lives of thousands
of people in peaceful slumber around the scene of
the threatened disaster.
In the homes of the policeman and the fireman
on duty there is more tension then in any other home,
for husband and dad is engaged in a combat with
ruthless enemies — criminals and fire. These enemies
know no mercy, therefore the sad message is pot
uncommon: “He fell last night, pierced by a bandit’s
bullet,” or, “He went into the burning building and
never returned.” .
These sentinels are worthy of fair wages. The
efficiency of the Police force in Portland, on the point
of crime suppression, is best attested to by comparing
Portland with the other cities along the Pacific
border. From this point considered, Portland is the
leading city, The criminals find it too difficult to
operate successfully in Portland, hence they give other
cities the benefit of their presence. The work of
the Portland Fire Department! This is the answer
to the query why the Fire Insurance rates are lower
in Portland. Here again it’s exceptional efficiency
that counts.
But when the wage scale of the two departments
in Portland are compared with those of the same
departments in the leading cities on the west coast,
then it cannot escape our attention that Portland is
paying less then its neighbors for better service than
they receive.
These are the basic thoughts that enter when we
are asked to consider the measure to be on the Port-