“During the war between the states I was a rebel, and continued one in heart until this great war.  But now I am a devoted follower of Uncle Sam and endorse him in every respect.”

DIVERSE ELEMENTS IN OUR NATION

The fact that our nation contained in its population large numbers of people from practically every country of Europe caused no little anxiety when we entered the European war.  Our population embraces a hundred different races and nationalities.  Of these, ten million are negroes and three hundred thirty-six thousand are Indians.  Thirty-three million are of foreign parentage, and of these, thirteen million are foreign-born.  Five million do not speak English, and there are one thousand five hundred news papers in the United States printed in foreign languages.  Five and one-half million above the age of ten years, including both foreign and native, cannot read or write in any language.  New York City has a larger Hebrew population than any other city in the world, contains more Italians than Rome, and its German population is the fourth largest among the cities of the world.  Pittsburgh has more Serbs than the capital of Serbia.  It is said that there were more Greeks subject to draft in the American army than there were in the entire army of Greece.  Would all these people be loyal to our nation, or would they divide it against itself?

LOYALTY OF DIVERSE ELEMENTS

The war, in fact, showed us that there were some among us who had never really become “members” of our nation and who were dangerous to our peace and safety.  It also showed us the danger that comes from the presence of so many illiterates, or of those who cannot use the English language; for such people, even though loyal in spirit to the United States, cannot understand instructions either in the army or in industry, and otherwise prevent effective cooperation.  And yet the most striking thing that the war showed us in regard to this mixed population is that the great mass of it, regardless of color or place of birth, is really American in spirit and loyal to our flag and the ideas which it represents.

NATIONAL SAFETY DEPENDS ON HARMONY

Another weakness within our nation that the war emphasized is the lack of harmony between wage earners and their employers.  There were many sharp conflicts between them.  Strikes occurred, or were threatened, in factories, shipyards, mines, and railroads, that blocked the wheels of industry at a time when the nation needed to strain every nerve to provide the materials of war.  This lack of harmony between workmen and employers, which in war threatened our national safety, has existed for many years and has always been an obstacle to national progress.  But the common purpose of winning the war caused employers and wage earners, in most cases, to adjust their differences.