. Not that the sins of those in high
places are to be charged upon the poor immigrant, for he rarely if ever
belongs to that class. The statement may be true that the great rascals
are of native stock. But that only increases the peril. The masses that
come to us from southern Europe certainly will not raise the moral or
commercial, any more than they will the political or intellectual,
level. If we do not raise them they will tend to lower us; and much of
what they see and hear can have nothing less than a demoralizing effect.

[Sidenote: The Only Safeguard of Liberty]

Where shall we find the zealous and consistent Christians who by
sympathetic contact will represent the true spirit of Christianity, and
make the elevation of the aliens possible? The supreme truth to be
realized is that nothing but Christianity, as incarnated in American
Protestantism, can preserve America's free institutions.

[Sidenote: Spread of Socialism]

Ex-President Seelye, of Amherst, said that socialism is the question of
the time, and this is more apparent with every passing year. Socialism
has its source in the foreign element. It is not native to America. Its
swelling hosts are composed almost entirely of immigrants of recent
coming. It is found not only in the great cities but is spreading
through the farming sections. Now, there is a truth in socialism that
must be intelligently dealt with; and there is a Christian socialism
that should become dominant. And this is the only force that can check
and counteract the foreign socialism that would sweep away foundations
instead of ameliorating conditions and remedying evils.

[Sidenote: Migration a Severe Test]

In the same way, Protestant Christianity is the only agency that can
save us from the moral degeneracy involved in migration, even if the
immigrants were of our moral grade before coming. As Dr. Strong says,
the very act of migration is demoralizing. All the strength that comes
from associations, surroundings, relations, the emigrant leaves behind
him, and becomes isolated in a strange land. Is it strange, then, that
those who come from other lands, whose old associations are all broken
and whose reputations are left behind, should sink to a lower moral
level? Across the sea they suffered restraints which are here removed.
Better wages afford larger means of self-indulgence; often the back is
not strong enough to bear prosperity, and liberty too often lapses into
license.[85]

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