ch, school, physician.
STRENGTH OF HOME TIES
When an immigrant has succeeded in establishing such a home in America
he invariably answers, when questioned as to whether he considers
America or the land of his birth to be his country, that America is his
country. And he goes on to explain, saying that America is a free
country, with better chances for everybody; that he has made his home
here; that his children have been born here; that they have better
schooling and much brighter hope for the future. For all these reasons,
he explains, he does not want to return to his native country except
perhaps on a visit, and he repeats again and again that America, not his
old country, is now his homeland.
There is no other tie that binds a man so closely to a country as his home.
No wonder, for home is everybody's center of the world, lookout tower,
refuge, and resting place. With it are associated the most intimate and
tender feelings a human being ever experiences, and naturally the same fine
feelings extend to the place in which one's home is located. So we speak of
fatherland, motherland, homeland, expressing in these words the close
intimacy between family, home, country, and ourselves.
[Illustration: LAND IS NOT THE ONLY STAKE IN AMERICA FOR THESE POLISH
PARENTS]
In direct distinction, the word "homeless" has implications of aimless
drifting, of destitution and misery, and of the indifference of a
"homeless" man to "his" country. Certain advocates of cosmopolitanism in
their agitation against patriotism often take advantage of the
importance of home in the relation of a man to his country when they
appeal to the "proletarians": "Do you own anything? Do you have even a
home in this country? If not, why then should you love it?"
Although a home means a little world by itself--much more than a piece
of land with a shelter on it--the establishment of a home, nevertheless,
involves, first of all, the acquisition of a piece of land, even though
it be the smallest suburban building lot with a twenty-five-foot
frontage. If the piece of land is large enough so that its owner, if he
is inclined to land cultivation, can make a living by working on it as
either gardener or farmer, so much the better.
IMMIGRANTS' LOVE OF THE LAND
It so happens that a large number of immigrants who come to our shores
with the intention of remaining here desire to establish a home, to
acquire land, and to become land cultivators in Am
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