rts of New York
is less than in other parts.

[Sidenote: Different Opinions]

A third says it is not fair to count the children of foreign-born
parents as foreign; that they are in fact much stronger Americans in
general than the native children of native parentage; and instances the
flag-drills in the schools, in which the foreign children take the
keenest delight, as they do in the study of American history. But a
fourth says, with Professor Boyesen, that it takes generations of
intelligent, self-restrained, and self-respecting persons to make a man
fit to govern himself, and that if the ordinary tests of intelligence
and morality amount to anything, it certainly would take three or four
generations to educate these newcomers up to the level of American
citizenship.

[Sidenote: Conflicting Views]

One observer of present conditions says there is a lowered moral and
political tone by reason of immigration; and another agrees with a
leader in settlement work who recently said to the writer that he sees
no reason to restrict immigration, that wages will take care of
themselves and the foreigner steadily improve, and that there is in the
younger foreign element a needed dynamic, a consciousness of
Americanism, an interest in everything American in refreshing contrast
to the _laissez-faire_ type of native young person now so common. His
conclusion, from contact with both types, is that the intenseness and
enthusiasm of the foreign element will make the native element bestir
itself or go under.

[Sidenote: Mean between Extremes]

So opinions run, pro and con. There must be a mean between the two
extremes--the one, that God is in a peculiar sense responsible for the
future of the United States, and cannot afford to let our experiment of
self-government fail, however foolish and reckless the people may be;
and the other, that unless Congress speedily passes restrictive laws the
destiny of our country will be imperiled beyond remedy. We find such a
mean in that Americanization which includes evangelization as an
essential part of the assimilating process.

[Sidenote: Foreigners Everywhere]

As to the ubiquity of the foreigner all will agree. "Any foreigners in
your neighborhood?" asked the writer of a friend in a remote country
hamlet. "O, yes," was the reply, "we have a colony of Italians." Of all
such questions asked during months past not one has been answered in the
negative. Go where you will, from Atlantic to