THE FOOD CRISIS AND AMERICANISM 7 



find the free school system a perplexing, if not a men- 

 acing, problem, what may we expect in our country, 

 where one decade brings from all quarters of the 

 globe an immigration equal in number to 10 per cent, 

 of our own population, each group having its own lan- 

 guage, traditions and habits? Citizenship can make 

 only temporary advancement where labor is being de- 

 graded. While remuneration has something to do 

 with the dignity of labor, it does not necessarily make 

 it dignified. Labor itself must be intelligent and self- 

 respecting, as well as honored and respected, if it 

 makes permanent advance. The supreme purpose of 

 our public schools should be the development of char- 

 acter. It is not the form of government, but the char- 

 acter of its people, which rules the destinies of a 

 nation. 



More than 95 per cent, of our immigrants are of the 

 manual laboring classes. One of their first and most 

 important steps in the direction of citizenship is the 

 attitude they assume toward manual labor. If, like 

 the original New Englanders and the early immigrants 

 coming to this country, they look upon it as an honor- 

 able vocation, a stepping-stone to the best and highest 

 things in life, their self-respect, respect for others, 

 and respect for property rights will grow, and they 

 will soon be assimilated and rapidly become an integral 

 and valuable part of the American people. If, on the 

 other hand, they, like a large percentage of the Amer- 

 ican youth, become imbued with the thought that 

 manual labor is without honor, their self-respect will 

 be lowered. One who daily does that which he thinks 

 degrading, no odds how innocent the act, will in time 



