48 True Americanism 



and can never rise as do their compatriots who be- 

 come straightout Americans. Thus it has ever been 

 with all people who have come hither, of whatever 

 stock or blood. The same thing is true of the 

 churches. A church which remains foreign, in lan- 

 guage or spirit, is doomed. 



But I wish to be distinctly understood on one 

 point. Americanism is a question of spirit, con- 

 viction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace. The 

 politician who bids for the Irish or German vote, or 

 the Irishman or German who votes as an Irishman 

 or German, is despicable, for all citizens of this com- 

 monwealth should vote solely as Americans ; but he 

 is not a whit less despicable than the voter who votes 

 against a good American, merely because that Amer- 

 ican happens to have been born in Ireland or Ger- 

 many. Know-nothingism, in any form, is as utterly 

 un-American as foreignism. It is a base outrage to 

 oppose a man because of his religion or birthplace, 

 and all good citizens will hold any such effort in ab- 

 horrence. A Scandinavian, a German, or an Irish- 

 man who has really become an American has the 

 right to stand on exactly the same footing as any 

 native-born citizen in the land, and is just as much 

 entitled to the friendship and support, social and po- 

 litical, of his neighbors. Among the men with 

 whom I have been thrown in close personal contact 

 socially, and who have been among my stanchest 

 friends and allies politically, are not a few Ameri- 

 cans who happen to have been born on the other side 

 of the water, in Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia ; and 



