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Show 1,1 CITIZENSHIP. ! I Two hundred thousand Americans will visit j Europethis year. They will spend on an average ! $1000 each. That means $200,000,000. That ex- j ' plains the fact that, while this country has a large ! foreign balance of trade in its favorj somehow the . gold reserves do not increase correspondingly. We do not complain that Americans go abroad, i There is a great deal of education to the thought- ' ' J ful man or woman in travel. To the thoughtful ' American who goes abroad it is a term in the school of patriotism, for such an one invariably returns a better American than when he went ' away, for he does not fail to see the vast advan- 1 tages which our country possesses over every ' ; other land on earth, and he realizes why a million j people annually drift away from their native homes in Great Britain and on the continent to come to our country. And this impells the thought that this differ- j ' ence between our own and every other land should ! I be more carefully taught in our schools. The ' ' difference between the principles that govern ? should be impressed upon the mind of every I ! child, for that will kindle patriotism in the hearts 'j ; of the people, and patriotism is the only real sal vation of a nation, i J . Another thought should follow. That is, that ' f . ' while two hundred thousand Americans are able ; to go abroad, there are several millions left at ' home who are not prospering and against whom $ the door of opportunity seems closed. There are a thousand missionary organizations in the world, ; 1 but how many societies are working to move the i surplus population in some sections out where i they can find employment and make homes? I What would hot the $200,000,000 carried abroad ! , I , this year, mostly by pleasure-seeekrs, accom- i j; plish if used to make homes for the very poor of I the land, for those who have lost hope? The list 1 of crimes and suicides published every morning in the daily papers are convincing proof that all the people of this country are not doing all they can, to make our country great and its people : i The chief place for work is in the schools. If ; I every child could go out from school with the 1 i belief that ours is the very best country and un der the very best government in the world, and if their brains and hands could have received the needed training to equip them for useful work, there would be less crimes, more happiness, and with the happiness, more patriotism than there is now. The strength of our country rests in the quality qual-ity of the citizenship of the people. There should be a concerted effort to exalt that citizenship. |
