to learn the English language and one year later he entered a college with what assistance I was able to give him. Later, he attended an institution in Pittsburgh and became a court interpreter. One time in our city one of our prominent men made a speech and he blamed our industrial unrest largely upon the foreigner who came here with "no ideals"-he said--and sought to undermine our American institutions. This Slav felt that criticism bitterly, and wrote a reply for one of our papers. I can not forget the beautiful way in which he put the longing, the aspirations of the foreigner for equality in America with us Americans in our enjoyment of the liberty that has descended to us; and one of the things this man said in his reply was, "What does constitute an American? Is it the accident of birth? We men who come from foreign lands to man your mines and your railroads and your factories, are we to have no portion of this heritage? To me," he said, "An American is he who is of the spirit, who longs for opportunity, appreciates liberty, and is willing to lend all his powers to help defend its mighty principles. We, who come from foreign lands, hoping for sympathy from you people and receiving only such criticism, what must we think of America?" Well, that young man learned the English language well, gained an increased education here in America, became a very useful citizen, afterwards took out his papers and is now a citizen of the United States, and, if you deem this to be the best testimony of citizenship, he, a native of Hungary, a nation with which the English speaking people are engaged in war, is now a soldier in the army of the United States, and when our troops go abroad he will go with them to fight-"To make the world safe for democracy." This man received sympathy in America; he was aided to learn the language; he is a good American and, as time goes on, will no doubt be called upon to suffer for the institutions of the land he has adopted as his own. This is a real story out of life. There are thousands like it in America.

These people ought to have our sympathy. Effort should be put forth vigorously to teach the language. I am glad to say that in the industries where I have occasion to go—and I visit a great many communities in the business in which I am engaged-we find the employer changing front totally on this and many other like questions. I am glad to bear testimony to one of our big institutions in Allentown, the Phoenix Silk Company. The superintendent, Mr. Edward Soleliac, is a man well known in the State. He has gone so far as to pay the tuition of his young people of any nationality to the State College Extension School in Allentown in an endeavor to set an example for the manufacturers of Allentown so that they will join with him and others who desire to give the foreign people the fullest opportunity to gain a better education and make themselves useful together with us in this great land. I predict safely, that

after the war is over-whenever that shall be,-men of any race who desire to cast in their lot with us will be so valuable to us that we will put forth great efforts to afford them the fullest opportunity to develop. Already under the cloak of a language they do not understand, men of power, men of spirit, men of genius, are lost to us; but once we help them unlock the mysteries of our language they themselves will give to us a free and willing service. I think the day is coming in Pennsylvania when we will take more interest in their education, when every manufacturing plant, mine or mill will have its own educational department, there to teach the folks the language they need that-and then to offer further general education and advance them in technical education, and if America does not do this thing how can we hope to hold our own in the world that the war has forced to become more efficient and more technical.

In my estimation, conventions like this year after year are doing a wonderful work for us in bringing together men of diverse views; bringing together men of different economic interests, so that we, who are the burden bearers of this common problem, can understand each other and bend ourselves to a common solution. I feel strongly the need of a great improved educational system in Pennsylvania. There ought not to be any privilege denied to any man or woman in this Commonwealth who desires to improve their condition and if we are to have a truly democratic country we must not allow any people to come to us from any part of the world to live among us without notice; to struggle on year after year without sympathy. We need to extend to them a hand that will help them over the trying places and if they are to be valuable to us we should lose no opportunity to educate and Americanize them. We are going to do things differently after the war. We are going to take more human interest in these people. We used to consider them as so much material in the industries, but now the human being is of too much value because we are killing off so many in the war that we cannot afford to allow any genius to go to waste as we have in the past; we want to take these foreign men, imbued with a spirit for education and development in American ideas and customs, and longing for knowledge. We want to develop that longing; we want to use these lives that American citizenship may be raised upon a higher plane; and that the brotherhood of man may be established permanently in this America.

CHAIRMAN EMERSON:

The next number will also be one of the discussions held over from the morning session by Mr. H. H. Wheaton, of the United States Department of the Interior.. Many of you have met Mr. Wheaton and are familiar with his former work here in Pennsylvania with the Department of Labor and Industry, so he does not come as a stranger to us.

I take great pleasure now in introducing Mr. Wheaton to you.

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AND THE MAKING OF AMERICANS.

By H. H. WHEATON, Specialist in Immigrant Education, in charge of the "America First" Campaign, Bureau of Education, Department of Interior, Washington, D. C.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, with all of the ceaseless activity in which we are engaged at the present time, with all of our discussions, with all of the things that we are doing today, the most important thing of all in America, the most important thing to America is to win the war. (Applause.) Every activity, every thought, every motive, every intention, must be correlated to that one purpose of winning this war in the interest of the liberty which we have established here and in the interest of universal democracy. To win the war we must have an internal line of defense; we must have a united people back of the fighting line. Without a united people back of this fighting line in France our efforts will go to naught. We will disagree among ourselves and will be subject to specious moves on every hand. I am here to sound a note of warning and to tell you that organized anti-American propaganda among immigrants is going all over the United States, propaganda which is aimed at the very roots of our National unity; propaganda which is intended to break down our internal line of defense. That propaganda is in such insidious form that it is not noticeable to the average American. I dare say that you gentlemen sitting here are not aware that soap-box orators in the streets of New York are telling the foreigners of the East Side that the President of the United States has disbanded Congress; has seized the reins of government and that we no longer have representative government and suffrage in this country; that we are being subjected to taxation for the purpose of paying an indemnity to Germany. These are some of the things which are being circulated from a hundred insidious agencies in the streets of New York, in Philadelphia, in Chicago, and in the large industrial centres. In certain places immigrants in this State are being told that if they go to the night schools and enroll, they will be subject to the draft; that if they go to the building where the local exemption board is sitting, the board will seize them and put them in the army. Hence our night school attendance has fallen off in this state and, in fact, all over the United States and today we are not reaching the immigrant population

through the instruction that Dr. Roberts has illustrated this morning because the immigrants are being kept out of schools by this antiAmerican propaganda.

Since the war began, fires have increased over four hundred per cent; strikes and industrial difficulties have been instigated by antiAmerican influences. In our munition plants, in our war making industries, fires and explosions have been caused by the same influences-in our grain elevators and in our chemical making plants. With this kind of propaganda going on all over the country it behooves every American citizen to put his shoulder to the wheel and endeavor to help to solve the problem of Americanizing the immigrant. However beneficent it may be to help our fellow-men; I am first of all interested in America, and in doing for America what should be done for America. I am more interested in the campaign to unify the people of the many diversified nationalities we have in this country. Do you know that we have over one hundred races and nationalities here, comprising thirty-three millions of foreign extraction, thirteen million of foreign birth, three million who do not talk the English language? Since the census was taken over four million have come in from non-English speaking countries. One million six hundred and fifty thousand are illiterate; three million of military age are unnaturalized; one hundred thousand are debarred from citizenship by statutory provision. Men have come from every section of the globe, men who have every kind of political belief, men who have every species of custom, men who come from races radically removed in origin from our own.

Now, that is the problem which confronts you and it is an intimate knowledge of this un-Americanized mass in this country that enables the psychological Bureau of the German government to know where to strike with anti-American propaganda. This bureau is more intimately acquainted with the psychology of the American people and its constituency than Americans themselves, and they are playing upon it for every inch of advantage which it is going to give them. I tell you, gentlemen, that in the City of New York the Mayor's Committee on Aliens is worrying over the situation, and it fears that when America is put to the real test in this war that in our large industrial centres, such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and others, we will be found wanting. They fear that this disunited condition in America is going to be one of the principal factors which will cause us to lose the war if adversity starts against us. Now, to overcome this, there is being quietly organized a proAmerican drive to begin on January 1st, 1918. Chambers of Commerce are already being registered to participate. Very shortly the appeal will be sent out to the industries, the patriotic societies have already been lined up and many other forces. So that, before the

1st of January, we believe that we will have co-operating in one nationwide movement, to counteract this anti-American propaganda, all of the principal commercial industrial, civic, patriotic, and fraternal orders and organizations in the United States. It is to make an appeal to you as members of industrial corporations and as members of labor unions that I come here today, and I take this opportunity to invite you to participate in this undertaking.

I am not going to discuss the paper of this morning because it bears on the technical side of the question of training immigrants for American citizenship. I am more interested at present in overcoming the anti-American propaganda going on among immigrants constantly than I am in the technical processes of educating them. True, we must have a fine technique, but more than that we must have a united country by all means; we must have a people here that stands behind the fighting lines and are willing to put down their last dollar, to put down their lives, if need be, to win the war. Can we depend upon the industries of Pennsylvania and the labor unions of Pennsylvania, the women of Pennsylvania, and the patriotic spirit of Pennsylvania to help us do this truly American job? (Applause.)

CHAIRMAN EMERSON:

I am sure that if Mr. Wheaton had sent out his letters and they were available here today that every man and woman in the room would be only too glad to enroll in the movement such as he has described it. The next best thing we can do is to be on the lookout and when these letters are ready, to sign them then.

The first item on the afternoon's program is an address on "How Organized Labor can be of Service in the Prevention of Industrial Accidents," by James H. Maurer, President, Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, Harrisburg, Pa.

I take great pleasure in introducing Mr. Maurer to you.

HOW ORGANIZED LABOR CAN BE OF SERVICE IN THE PREVENTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS.

By JAMES H. MAURER, President, Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, Harrisburg, Pa.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, we have listened to some very able addresses in the last two days and I fear that I can hardly say anything that has not already been said. You have heard labor

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