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]
[Sidenote: Why Foreign Colonies are Perpetuated]
This result of migration is at once an evil and an opportunity. Breaking
away from the old associations leaves room and necessity for new ones.
Upon the character of these the future of the immigrant will largely
depend. Here is the Christian opportunity. See to it that the new
associations make for righteousness and patriotism. If the immigrant is
evangelized, assimilation is easy and sure. It is recognition of this
fact that leads the Roman Catholic Church to keep foreign colonies in
America as isolated and permanent as possible. The ecclesiastics realize
that children must be held in the parochial schools, so as to avoid the
Americanization that comes through the public schools, with the
probable loss of loyalty to the Church. The parents equally must be
kept away from the influences that would broaden and enlighten them. Dr.
Strong tells of large colonies in the West, settled by foreigners of one
nationality and religion; "thus building up states within a state,
having different languages, different antecedents, different religions,
different ideas and habits, preparing mutual jealousies, and
perpetuating race antipathies.
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