of the opportunity of studying French, or Italian, or Spanish, or German, at the age when a mastery of foreign idiom and pronunciation is most naturally and readily acquired, such laws are an unmerited affront to countless foreign-born, public-spirited, patriotic citizens. Is a man a better American if he forgets the land of his birth and if he deprives his children of all knowledge of the traditions, art, literature, culture, and language of his forbears? Surely such a standpoint has no place in true Americanism.

There can, of course, be no question as to the right and duty of the state to see to it that all children receive adequate instruction in the English language and in the history, government, institutions, and ideals of the United States, and all laws designed to make such instruction obligatory on all schools of whatever character are highly commendable, but the absolute prohibition of the use of a foreign tongue under any circumstances in grades below the high school savors of the dictatorship exercised in an autocratic state and can scarcely hope to win approval in the ultimate tribunal of democracypublic opinion.

Many such laws likewise have been unAmerican in the spirit which engendered them; a spirit in the sponsors of doubt and distrust toward fellow citizens, a spirit which prompted public condemnation without a hearing of a large portion of the foreign-born element of the population, a spirit which arrogated to native

born Americans all that there is of patriotism and loyalty.

Laws are interpreted in accordance with the apparent intent of the legislatures which enacted them, and in many cases it is almost impossible to grasp the full significance of a law unless the conditions surrounding its enactment are thoroughly understood. The statutes themselves, however, often give a clew to the motives which actuated their makers. In this connection it may be interesting to compare the recent statutes of Nebraska and New Hampshire.

CONTRAST OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NEBRASKA

New Hampshire has passed very comprehensive educational legislation, while Nebraska has enacted very drastic measures; the legislation in both states was prompted in large measure by the activities and recommendations of the state councils of defense.

The following regulations regarding the use of the English language were set up in New Hampshire under an act "in amendment of the laws relating to the public schools, and establishing a state Board of Education," approved March 28, 1919:1

1. In the instruction of children in all schools, including private schools, in reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, geography, physiology, history, civil government, music, and drawing, the English language shall be used exclusively, both for the purpose of instruction therein and for purposes of general administration.

1 Act of March 28, 1919, Sec. 13.

2. The exclusive use of English for purposes of instruction and administration is not intended to prohibit the conduct of devotional exercise in private schools in a language other than English.

3. A foreign language may be taught in elementary schools provided the course of study (or its equivalent) outlined by the state Board of Education in the common English branches-that is, in reading, writing, history, civil government, music, and drawing—be not abridged, but be taught in compliance with the law of the state.

In Nebraska, "an act relating to the teaching of foreign languages in the state of Nebraska imposed the following restrictions:1

No person, individually, or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial, or public school, teach any subject to any person in any other language than the English language [sec. 1].

Languages other than the English language may be taught as languages only after a pupil shall have attained and successfully passed the eighth grade as evidenced by a certificate of graduation issued by the county superintendent of the county in which the child resides [sec. 2].

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five (25) dollars, nor more than one hundred (100) dollars, or be confined in the county jail for any period not exceeding thirty days for each offense [sec. 3].

Whereas an emergency exists, this act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval [sec. 4].

Something of the spirit and attitude of the legislators, and something of the atmosphere and conditions in the respective states, may be gathered in an examination of current legislation and 1 Senate File No. 24 (1919), Chap. 249.

of the circumstances attending the enactment of the laws above mentioned. The foreign-born population of New Hampshire, according to the census of 1910, constituted 22.5 per cent of all the inhabitants of the state. New Hampshire has had to deal with a most delicate situation in the matter of its parochial schools. Most of the parochial schools are French, and no nationality is more tenacious of its traditions and language; moreover, religious considerations were inseparably bound up with the language question. The state Council of Defense was most careful to secure the co-operation of the authorities of the Catholic Church, and the letter of Bishop Guertin, published in Chapter IV, evidences the finest spirit of co-operation. That a policy of co-operation need not mean compromise or militate against efficiency is apparent from the resolutions unanimously adopted by the state Board of、 Education of New Hampshire on October 15, 1919, as follows:

WHEREAS, Under existing laws the legal duty of the board will not be performed unless all children of school age in the state have an opportunity to obtain a sound commonschool education and avail themselves of such opportunity.

Resolved, That the approval of the board shall not be given to any private school which does not comply with the following requirements:

An approved private school must (1) provide instruction and other educational opportunities as nearly equal as may be reasonably possible to those given in the public schools in the same city or town; (2) be maintained for thirty-six weeks in each year, at least five hours a day, and five days in the week, in a sanitary building; (3) be equipped with

reasonably suitable furniture, books, maps, and other necessary appliances; (4) make the reports required of public schools of the same grade on forms provided by the board; (5) teach substantially the same subjects as those prescribed by the board for the public schools of similar grade; (6) use the English language as the basic language of instruction and administration as prescribed by Laws of 1919, Chap. 106, sec. 13; (7) be carried on in such a manner as to effectively prepare the pupils for the exerci e of the rights and the discharge of the duties of American citizenship, and from the teaching of the prescribed studies produce educational results substantially equivalent to those produced by the teaching of the same studies in the public schools.

Resolved, Further, that it is the legal duty of the board to revoke its approval of any private school if, and whenever, it fails to comply with the foregoing requirements.

The foreign-born population of Nebraska, according to the census of 1910, was 14.8 per cent of all its inhabitants. The population of the state is largely German, and German Lutheran and Catholic parochial schools flourished. The following excerpt from an article on the important changes in Nebraska's school laws, by G. W. Luckey, of Lincoln, Nebraska, in the Educational Review of September, 1919, depicts conditions attending the enactment of the recent legislation and indicates the present trend of saner and calmer judgment:

The state legislature was selected as a war legislature, and the good-intentioned but meaningless or undefinable term Americanization played an important, if not determining, part in the election and subsequent legislation. The mistaken judgment in selecting the membership of the state Council of Defense, and the disappointing judgment of that body in arraigning and publicly condemning as dis