Men are not naturalized just be
cause they speak the English lan
guage, although that Is one ot the
first qualifications. It is required,
not because the English language
Is a better language than any
other, but because it happens to
be the language of the vast ma
jority of our people. Our Declara
tion of Independence, our consti
tution, our laws are all written In
English, I wish that all our citi
zens, naturalised and alien, could
use the English language. This
would do away with foreign lan
guage newspapers, which for some
time now have been discussing
Immigration. Translations reveal
that editors of these papers as
sume to speak more authorita
tively upon this subject than pa
pers printed exclusively in Eng
lish. They tell us in foreign
tongues the duty of the American
people. Their views, of course,
are diverse.
If I had my Individual say I
should stop immigration for a few
years and devote myself to tho
task of getting rid of the foreign
languages now used in this coun
try, not because of any opposition
to the man of foreign birth who
desires to be a law-abiding citi
zen, but because our election laws
are so loose that many foreigners
who have the right of suffrage
support wrong principles, not
through malice or evil intent, but
as the result of the demagogical
talk of naturalised Americans.
tVe spend money to teach tho
English language and the prin
ciples of our government to for
eign-born citizens. This Is a proper
expenditure of public ,funds
against which I offer no protest.
But I submit there is a short cut
which will save time and troublu.
