States, or their Bibles, nor can they keep personal or business accounts.  An uninformed democracy is not a democracy.  A people who cannot have means of access to the mediums of public opinion and to the messages of the President and the acts of Congress can hardly be expected to understand the full meaning of this war, to which they all must contribute in life or property or labor.—­Secretary Lane, Annual Report, 1918, p. 30.  From letter to the President.

Ask at home:  What is “illiteracy”?  What is the difference between an “illiterate” and a non-English speaking person?

Debate (or discuss): 

Resolved, That all persons of sound mind in the United States should be required by law to attend school until they are able to speak, read, and write English fluently.

Resolved, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of English to foreigners should be left wholly to the states without interference or aid from the national government.

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Constitution of the United States before they receive their “naturalization” papers?

What does “knowing how to read” mean?

Debate: 

Resolved, That no native-born American should be permitted to vote who cannot read intelligently.

What is being done in your community and in your state to eradicate illiteracy and to teach English to foreigners?

THE PRINTING PRESS AND NEWSPAPERS

Next to language itself, the most important invention for the communication of ideas is the art of printing.  It made possible the book, the magazine, the newspaper.  The writer of this book is enabled to communicate with boys and girls whom he will never see by means of the printed page and the pictures which the book contains.  By the same means the ideas of people who lived long ago have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day will be passed on to later generations.  Most wonderful is the modern newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home of the land the important happenings in the world during the preceding twenty-four hours.  In cities several editions are printed during the day.  The newspaper enables the merchant to communicate, through advertisements, with possible buyers, and the farmer and business man to keep posted regarding crop conditions and market prices.  Most newspapers have special departments for different classes of readers—­a woman’s page, a children’s column, a page devoted to sports, another to market conditions.  Most of them also have a department in which individuals may ask questions or express their own opinions regarding questions of the day.  The “local newspaper,” with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond the county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in stimulating a community spirit.

THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH