--- title: Work among the Foreign-Born url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/17-work-among-the-foreign-born/ description: Work among the Foreign-Born, from How We Advertised America by George Creel. section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg) [Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/) · Book · [How We Advertised America](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/) # Work among the Foreign-Born This text - **Work:** [How We Advertised America](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/) - **Author:** George Creel - **Published:** 1920 Full details - **Rights:** Published in the United States in 1920, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States; the Internet Archive lists the scan as not in copyright. Creel died in 1953, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years. Chapters 1. [Dedicatory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/01-dedicatory/) 2. [Foreword](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/02-foreword/) 3. Part I: The Domestic Section 4. [The “Second Lines”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/03-the-second-lines/) 5. [The “Censorship” Bugbear](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/04-the-censorship-bugbear/) 6. [The “Fourth of July Fake”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/05-the-fourth-of-july-fake/) 7. [The Committee’s “Aircraft Lies”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/06-the-committee-s-aircraft-lies/) 8. [Relations with Congress](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/07-relations-with-congress/) 9. [The Division of News](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/08-the-division-of-news/) 10. [The Four Minute Men](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/09-the-four-minute-men/) 11. [The Fight for the Mind of Mankind](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/10-the-fight-for-the-mind-of-mankind/) 12. [The Battle of the Films](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/11-the-battle-of-the-films/) 13. [The “Battle of the Fences”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/12-the-battle-of-the-fences/) 14. [The War Expositions](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/13-the-war-expositions/) 15. [The Speaking Division](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/14-the-speaking-division/) 16. [The Advertising Division](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/15-the-advertising-division/) 17. [The “Americanizers”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/16-the-americanizers/) 18. [Work among the Foreign-Born](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/17-work-among-the-foreign-born/) 19. [A Wonderful Fourth of July](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/18-a-wonderful-fourth-of-july/) 20. [The “Official Bulletin”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/19-the-official-bulletin/) 21. [Division of Women’s War-Work](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/20-division-of-women-s-war-work/) 22. [Other Divisions](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/21-other-divisions/) 23. [Showing America to the Foreign Press](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/22-showing-america-to-the-foreign-press/) 24. Part II: The Foreign Section 25. [The Fight in Foreign Countries](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/23-the-fight-in-foreign-countries/) 26. [America’s World News Service](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/24-america-s-world-news-service/) 27. [The Foreign Mail Service](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/25-the-foreign-mail-service/) 28. [Fighting with Films](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/26-fighting-with-films/) 29. [Breaking through the Enemy Censorship](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/27-breaking-through-the-enemy-censorship/) 30. [France, England, and Italy](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/28-france-england-and-italy/) 31. [The Work in Mexico](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/29-the-work-in-mexico/) 32. [The Work in Switzerland](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/30-the-work-in-switzerland/) 33. [The Work in Holland](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/31-the-work-in-holland/) 34. [The Work in Spain](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/32-the-work-in-spain/) 35. [The Work in Scandinavia](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/33-the-work-in-scandinavia/) 36. [The Work in the Orient](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/34-the-work-in-the-orient/) 37. [The Work in South America](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/35-the-work-in-south-america/) 38. [The Russian Campaign](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/36-the-russian-campaign/) 39. Part III: Demobilization 40. [After the Armistice](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/37-after-the-armistice/) 41. [“Americanizing” Mittel Europa](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/38-americanizing-mittel-europa/) 42. [Confusion and Neglect](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/39-confusion-and-neglect/) 43. Appendix 44. [The American Newspaper Publishers’ Association](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/40-the-american-newspaper-publishers-association/) 45. [“Savagery” vs. Sanity](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/41-savagery-vs-sanity/) 46. [Publications of the Committee on Public Information in the United States](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/42-publications-of-the-committee-on-public-informat/) [← The “Americanizers”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/16-the-americanizers/) [A Wonderful Fourth of July →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/18-a-wonderful-fourth-of-july/) **Content note:** Quotes wartime anti-German language, including "Hun", and period terms for racial and national groups. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was) THE loyalty of "our aliens," however, splendid as it was, had in it nothing of the spontaneous or the accidental. Results were obtained only by hard, driving work. The bitterness bred by years of neglect and injustice were not to be dissipated by any mere war-call, but had to be burned away by a continuous educational campaign. The real America had to be revealed to these foreign-language groups — its drama of hope and struggle, success and blunders — and their minds had to be filled with the tremendous truth that the fight against Germany was a fight for all that life has taught decent human beings to hold dear. This campaign succeeded because the Committee avoided the professional "Americanizers," and steered clear of the accepted forms of "Americanization." We worked from the inside, not from the outside, aiding each group to develop its own loyalty league, and utilizing the natural and existing leaders, institutions, and machinery. We offered co-operation and supervision, and we gave counsel, not commands. As a consequence, each group had its own task, its own responsibility, and as soon as these facts were clearly understood the response was immediate. Mr. Edwin Bjorkman, the auther and publicist, was selected to go to the Scandinavian group with the plan, and in a short while the Americans of Swedish birth and ALEXANDER KONTA vM JOSEPHINE ROCHE (J^ JULIUS KOETTGEN Bfl.../iafc__ M ROBERT E. LEE DR. ANTONIO STELLA EDWIN BJORKMAN descent organized the John Ericsson League of Patriotic Service with the following Executive Committee: Harry Olsen, president, Chicago, 111.; Harry A. Lund, vice-president, Minneapolis, Minn.; Edwin Bjorkman, secretary, New York; Henry S. Henschen, treasurer, Chicago; Chas. S. Peterson, chairman Finance Committee, Chicago; Gustaf Andreen, Rock Island, 111.; J. C. Bergquist, New York; J. E. Chilberg, Seattle, Wash.; Andrew Langquist, Chicago; Othelia Myhrman, Chicago; Eric Norton, St. Paul, Minn.; and Victor Olander, Chicago. Then came the Jacob A. Riis League of Patriotic Service, formed by the Danes, with this Executive Board: Max Henius, president, Chicago; Sophus F. Neble, first vice-president, Omaha, Neb.; John C. Christensen, second vice-president, Chicago; Carl Antonsen, secretary, Chicago; Jens C. Hanse, treasurer and chairman Finance Committee, Chicago; Axel Hellrung, New York; Henry L. Hertz, Chicago ; William Hovgaard, Washington, D. C.; Halvor Jacobsen, New York; and Truels P. Nielsen, Seattle, Wash. Because of the large number of Norwegian-American clubs, societies, and fraternal organizations throughout the country, all busy with patriotic work and war activities, no separate Norwegian organization for this purpose was deemed advisable or necessary. Moreover, every prominent Norwegian-American stood ready at all times to assist with his counsel and influence, and among those of great service to the Committee may be mentioned Magnus Swensen, Madison, Wis., federal food administrator of Wisconsin, and Mr. Herbert Hoover's chief assistant in Northern Europe; Mr. Lauritz S. Swensen, Minneapolis, former United States Minister to Norway; Mr. John P. Howland, Chicago ; Attorney Andrew Hummelarid, Chicago ; Birger Osland, Chicago, major in the United States army, attached to the American Legation, Christiania, Norway; Joachim G. Giaver, president of the Chicago Norwegian Club, Chicago; Mr. Hauman G. Haugan, director of the State Bank of Chicago; Oscar M. Torrisen, Chicago; Louis M. Anderson, publisher of Skandinaven, Chicago; Mr. A. N. Rygg, vice-president of the Norwegian News Co., Brooklyn, N. Y.; the Rev. J. A. O. Stub, Minneapolis; and many others. The Finns formed the Lincoln Loyalty League, with O. J. Larson as president and J. H. Jasberg as secretary. The Roman Legion, under the brilliant leadership of Dr. Antonio Stella and Dr. Albert Bonaschi, proved a power among the Americans of Italian birth and descent, and I have always felt that it was this body, as much as any one other source of strength, that enabled Italy to make such an amazing recovery from the Caporetto disaster. In that hour of despair, cablegrams and letters were poured into Italy from the United States by the thousands, going from individuals, pastors, societies, and associations, calling upon the soldiers of Savoy to stand fast, that the Americans were coming and every dollar and every life in America was pledged to victory. Charles Pergler, now representing the Republic of Czechoslovakia in Japan, was our reliance always in dealing with the peoples from Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia, and when Dr. Thomas Garrigues Masaryk came to the United States he put himself wholly and generously at our disposal. For work among the Poles we had Paderewski, as a matter of course, wonderful in his devotions, enthusiasm, and genius for leadership, and there was also Sigismund Ivanowski, that great painter and even greater man. John Wedda, John Smulski, and many others, actuated by the same pure passions, were also sources of strength. Then there were our close contacts with the Serbian Legation and the Japanese Embassy; with Captain Stoica, representing the Rumanians; with Doctor Hinkovic, representing the Jugoslavs, and with Doctor Szlupas of the Lithuanian National Council. Work among the Hungarian population was intrusted to Mr. Alexander Konta of New York, who gave time, money, and finest faith to a difficult and thankless task. It was not only that certain vicious factional elements threw every possible obstacle in his path, but he was equally attacked by The New York Tribune and similar papers that made a business of chauvinism. Undismayed and undiscouraged, Mr. Konta continued the work, and the American-Hungarian Loyalty League played no small part in our national unity, for men of Magyaj stock figured importantly in the coal and steel industries. The American Friends of German Democracy was another organization that had to run the gantlet of secret disloyalty and a stupid chauvinism. The pro-Kaiser brand of German-America fought it as a matter of course, and murder threats were common. The word "democcracy" was an offense to the majority of the "better class," who derided the idea of a German republic as "imbecile" and "impudent." The chief enemies, however, were pseudo-patriots and hue-and-cry newspapers, none of them losing a chance to harass. Also, at regular intervals, some broken-arched representative of the Department of Justice would stalk into the office, convinced that he had unearthed a "nest of German spies." I did not put the full force of the Committee behind the American Friends of German Democracy until its personnel and purposes had been subjected to every investigation, but only the intimacies of contact gave me full appreciation of the courage and patriotism of the men in charge of the movement. For instance, the president was Franz Sigel of New York, the son of that general of the same name who, after having fought for liberty in Germany, came to the United States and offered an exile's sword to Lincoln. Its honorary president was the late Dr. Abraham Jacobi, the famous physician who, after having been imprisoned for his liberal opinions by the Prussian government, fled to this country to become a beloved citizen and an honor to the medical profession. The most powerful spokesman of the movement was Rudolph Blankenburg, the former Mayor of Philadelphia, whose death in the spring of 1918 deprived America of one of its ablest and most honored public servants. J. Koettgen, the secretary, and the heart and soul of the movement, was another of those free minds who had long been fighting the Prussian system. He was of German birth and blood, but no heir to the traditions of Plymouth Rock had a finer, more virile conception of what it meant to be an American. Among the men who helped most at all times were Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, celebrated as a statistician; Dr. S. Adolphus Knopf, chosen by the War Department to instruct the American soldiers in France how to keep free from tuberculosis. In Chicago it was Mr. Otto C. Butz, who gathered round him all the actively patriotic Americans of German descent. In Wisconsin Mr. Karl Mathie did yeoman work for the cause of America and democracy. Some of the strongest supporters of the movement were business men like the late William Sleicher of Troy, N. Y., and Charles J. Schlegel of New York. From Cleveland, Ohio, a steady stream of personal letters, appeals, and pamphlets went out from Dr. Christian Sihler, the son of the German officer and clergyman who many decades ago came to Fort Wayne, Ind., to establish one of the most flourishing Lutheran communities. Miss K. Elizabeth Sihler seconded her brother's efforts in Fort Wayne. Dr. William Bohn addressed hundreds of meetings attended by people of German origin, and understood, as did few others, liow to arouse the feeling of American loyalty. Mr. William Forster of New York and Mr. Richard Lieber of Indianapolis proved most convincing and effective speakers. Prof. Otta Manthey-Zorn, the son of a German missionary, who would not bow his knee to Bismarck and brought his band of missionaries into the free atmosphere of the United States, stirred the interest of the German-born in the New England States. Mr. Henry Riesenberg, a business man, formerly of Indianapolis, now of New York, employed all of his spare time in addressing public meetings. The most effective work, however, was probably done by the host of plain men and women whose names are not widely known. There was, for instance, Mr. George Schauer of Indianapolis, who acted as organizer for Indiana. A Bavarian peasant who settled in the United States after having been ill-treated in the German army, Mr. Schauer attacked his task with rare enthusiasm and devotion, and soon became indispensable to all patriotic organizations in Indiana. Then there was Mr. William R. Bricker, the organizer for Pennsylvania, to whom the war provided the opportunity to prove his great organizing abilities. The work of the organization was carried on through many activities. During the war, hundreds of meetings were held throughout the country. Among the bodies that gave the most powerful support must be mentioned the Turners, whose democratic origin and tendencies lined them up quite naturally on the side of the United States and its cobelligerents. About a million pamphlets were distributed, chiefly to members of the thousands of clubs and benefit societies formed by the people of German blood. One of the most notable publications was the edition of Lichnowsky's famous memorandum, with an introduction by Mr. Koettgen. The pamphlet was republished in full by many German-language newspapers in this country, and proved itself an effective answer to the lies spread by German propaganda. Throughout the war the German Bureau kept in closest touch with the German-language press of the United States. A weekly bulletin was published both in German and English. The German edition was sent to two hundred German-language newspapers and reached about two million readers. The English edition went to four hundred American newspapers published mainly in those parts of the country where the German population is numerous. The American newspapers expressed themselves in the most laudatory terms about this press service. Some of the most interesting work was done abroad. Nearly every member of the American Friends of German Democracy was eager to send some word of good counsel to his blood-relations in Germany. The justice of America's cause was always emphasized, but the chief point would be that it was high time for the Germans to get rid of the Hohenzollerns and militarism. These documents were smuggled into Germany by the foreign representatives of the Committee on Public Information, a number of methods being used. Rather amusingly a splendid appeal written by Capt. A. L. Helwig, an American soldier born in Hamburg, Germany, and a member of the Executive Committee of the American Friends of German Democracy, was carried across the line quite openly. One day, in a certain Scandinavian country, the courier of the German Legation, just about to leave for Germany, was stopped by a very military-looking stranger who performed the Prussian kotow in the most approved fashion. This stranger, handing the courier a great bundle of pamphlets, stated that they were to be delivered to the newspapers and Socialist groups in Hamburg by order of the German Minister. The courier carried out the commission and Helwig's appeal created no little furor in Hamburg. The most effective contact, however, was with the German refugees in Switzerland, a brilliant, fearless group of radical democrats headed by such men as Doctor Greeling, author of Jy accuse, Doctor Muehlon, and Doctor Rosenmeyer. These publicists, exiled from Germany by reason of their fight against Prussianism, published the Freie Zeitung, a biweekly paper that managed to slip across the line in considerable numbers. Dr. Frank Bohn, proceeding to Switzerland as the representative of the American Friends of German Democracy, established co-operation arrangements that continued until the armistice. A steady stream of articles went to the Freie Zeitung from the United States, and each week several thousand copies of the paper came to the United States for distribution among the German-language press, clubs, and societies. At first the Germans pretended not to notice the American organization, but finally they could not contain their wrath. Some of the most prominent German newspapers published violent articles against the American Friends, and "dirty pigs" came to be a favorite epithet. All these bodies worked well and successfully, but as time went on it was seen that more direct methods were necessary, and in May, 1918, the Division of Work Among the Foreign-born was formed. Miss Josephine Roche, in virtual charge of all these various activities from the first, was made director of the new division, and it is to her faith, vision, and rare devotions that the amazing results were due. Under Miss Roche, the government frankly established direct and continuous contact with fourteen racial groups through the following bureaus: the Italian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Russian, Jugoslav, Czechoslovak, Polish, German (American Friends of German Democracy), Ukrainian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, and the Foreign Information Service Bureau. While the bureaus all had the same aim for their work, and all employed similar methods, each group presented problems entirely its own and demanded specialized attention. The press and the organizations, national and local, were the nucleus of the work, and in the cases of the Italian, the Czechoslovak, and the Scandinavian groups these activities met every need. For other foreign-language groups, such as the Russian, Polish, Jugoslav, and Ukrainian, the press alone was not a sufficient means of contact: either it was not as widely distributed and influential among them or the considerable degree of illiteracy among the people made results from the written communication incomplete. The publication of pamphlets and considerable work through trips was therefore undertaken by these bureau managers. The Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, and Ukrainian bureaus did about an equal amount of their work through press and organization contacts and through field-work. For the fourteen foreign-language groups there are approximately 865 foreign-language newspapers. About 745 of this number were issued regularly, and it was to these that the division sent its press services. Only 32 papers did not use the material, all but three of these being small papers of a highly specialized character; 96 per cent, of the papers availed themselves extensively of the material. Very many papers used all but a few releases, and it was a frequent occurrence to have foreign-language papers come in carrying on their front page two or three columns of the bureaus' material. National and local organizations, fraternal, educational, religious, beneficial, and social in type, are a powerful factor among the foreign-speaking groups. Their conventions bring together hundreds of delegates from all the various centers of the foreign-language groups, and their activities are far-reaching. The information on government activities, prepared in the form of bulletins or circular letters by the bureaus, and sent to these organizations, was invariably given the most effective distribution to members. Draft and registration circulars, regulations issued by the Passport Control Division of the Department of Stale, income-tax provisions, were carefully and thoroughly distributed by them. They also gave most valuable and suggestive advice as to the needs and desires of their groups for instruction and understanding. While there was no need to issue literature in any large quantity because of the facilities offered us for reaching foreign-language groups by their press organizations, the following pamphlets (in addition to the German) were printed as a result of a desire and need found to exist for them and had a distribution of about one hundred and twenty thousand: "America in War and Peace," in Ukrainian; "A Message to American-Hungarians," in Hungarian; "Abraham Lincoln," in Russian; "League of Nations," in Russian. All bureau managers, either when initiating the work or at frequent intervals during its continuance, learned through personal conference the situation among their groups and gained complete confidence from their people in their work. Lectures were very popular, and the following letter received by a representative of the Russian bureau will give an idea of how eager these people were for the truth: You have done very much for the Russian colony of the city of - — . You even made our Bolsheviki think and speak about education. I often think now that if we had in several people like you, many of the Russian workmen would have been saved from the Utopian Bolshevism, would not believe its idle promises, and would learn to govern themselves independently. Several of our members were present at the lecture and all were very much pleased and grateful to you. Our group has authorized me to ask you to come to live in . You are a man of science, and we have no educated people among us. You know that the mind of the Russian workmen has been moved from its former standpoint; it wants to go somewhere, but it does not know the way. If you, the intelligent people, will not help it to find the way, other unscrupulous people will take advantage of the occasion. The Foreign Information Service, first directed by Mr. Donald Breed and after that by Mr. Barrett Clark, was designed to encourage the foreign-language groups of America by releasing stories telling of their co-operation with the government in such matters as the Liberty Loan, the Red Cross, etc., and to assist the foreign-language press not only in securing prompt and efficient co-operation with the government departments, but by informing the American people through the native-language press of the work that had been done and was now being done by the foreign-language press in helping the foreigner to become a better American. Over fifty such stories were released to thirty-three hundred American papers, these titles conveying the general idea: "The Jugoslav Club," " Greek- American Boys Are Genuine Patriots," "Lithuanians Support Fourth Liberty Loan," "The Czechoslovaks in America," "Ukrainians in America Eager for Education," and "Russian-Americans Aid America in Bond Sales." Fourteen "News Bulletins," giving a number of very brief accounts on the activities of the foreign-born, were also sent out. In addition to information service through press organizations, all bureaus did considerable translating of letters and articles for government departments and furnished them numerous reports concerning their group. Highly intensive, as well as extensive, work was done in co-operation with the office of the Provost-Marshal- General. All the bureaus released for days before registration the fullest and clearest instructions which received columns of space daily in the press. Provost-Marshal- General Crowder wrote us the following letter in regard to the bureau's achievements: I have already expressed to Mr. Creel my appreciation of the invaluable work done by all members of his staff in contributing to publicity on Registration Day. But I have an especial sentiment of gratitude to yourself, because the task of reaching the foreign-born, who are unfamiliar with our language, seemed to me to be one of the most difficult, and perhaps beyond power of achievement. But as I read your report of the methods employed, I am convinced that the task was fully accomplished. The daily arrivals of newspapers in foreign languages show how wide-spread are the ramifications of influence of your office, and have revealed to me what a powerful and effective agency the government possesses. Your tact, energy, and ingenuity in utilizing this agency to its fullest command my admiration, and I offer my personal thanks. Far more exhaustive was the work done in co-operation with the Internal Revenue Department in explaining and helping work out the provisions of the revenue bill affecting aliens. A most critical situation was created among the foreign-speaking people by the law's failure sufficiently to define the terms "resident" and "non-resident" aliens, and by its provision that employers should withhold 8 per cent, from the wages of then* non-resident employees, their total tax being 12 per cent, as against the 6 per cent, paid by citizens and resident aliens. The matter came to the attention of our bureau managers through letters and personal appeals from their people all over the country. Altogether nearly 3,000 of these appeals came in, showing a state of complete bewilderment and wretchedness, and the two following, from different language groups, will give some idea of the situation: RUSSIAN BUREAU: I, - — , beg the Russian Bureau to help me. The Russian immigrants are not able to pay the war [probably income] taxes. Some time ago I read in the papers that only those who earned more than $1,000 a year have to pay the tax and only on what they earned over $1,000; and I have paid $12.07. But now in the factory they withhold more, and tell that I myself must pay $145 for last year, and if I have to pay for this year also, I will have to pay more than $300. And so I have to work, but do not get money to live on. And I beg the Russian Bureau to answer my prayer, and to tell me what is going to become of the Russian immigrants. GENTLEMEN: I wish to send my complaint against the - in St. Joseph, Mo. I am a poor man, and working very hard for my living. I do not know who is wronging me, either United States government or the company. In the office they asked me whether I will go back to Europe; I answered yes. Then they told me that I have to pay the tax. I asked them what kind of a tax? For the year 1918. I said, all right, how much I have to pay? $25, they told me. I said, never mind! Then they withhold my one week and half wages. I thought that I would get the third week pay, so I could pay to the grocer and the storekeeper. But nevertheless they withheld the third pay. I was supposed to get $19.58, and they gave me only $3.80. What will I do; poor unfortunate man? I went to the superintendent and asked him for receipt. He refused. Now, whom shall I ask for it? I asked him whether I will get full pay for the fourth week? He said, no! To tell you the truth, I cried after I left the office. I really do not know how I can make a living. Please accept my request, and help me in my grievance. Is it the same proceeding for everybody, or only for me? Does America allow the companies to exploit the poor people in such way? Instead of withholding the tax on each pay-day, many employers took it in a lump sum, frequently amounting to an entire week's wages, or more. Many aliens in the resident class were considered non-residents because of their refusal to sign a "blue slip" stating intention of residence which they believed meant they could never go back to Europe for a visit, and was some sort of an enforced citizenship paper. An additional grievance was that receipts for wages thus withheld were rarely given. In attempting to alleviate the various grave injustices, the Internal Revenue Department in Washington showed most unusual sympathy and breadth of vision. Treasury decisions were extensively revised and any number of regulations drawn up with the intent of bettering matters. Our bureaus released from ten to twenty explanatory articles and gave their attention and answers to all the individual inquiries. Of equal importance with this work of reaching the foreign-speaking groups with information, as described, was what this work had revealed about these groups. The war gave a chance for a dramatic and striking manifestation of their services and loyalty to the country. After the armistice their interest and devotion was just as great in helping in the difficult transition and reconstruction problems. The same unreserved spirit with which they had enlisted in the army, and in the Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamp campaigns, marked their efforts in peace, in encouraging all their people to become citizens, to learn English, to carry out any suggestions coming from government sources. Numerous printing concerns offered to print and distribute among their people books on American history, civics, and the Constitution. Editors of several groups ran serials on citizenship and wished to carry translations of the best American stories in their papers. They asked us to suggest these and to get translation rights for them. For years national unity and progress have demanded the release of the neglected potentialities of our millions of new Americans into a fuller participation in our country's 14 19? life. For this there is necessary a mutual process of education of native and foreign born. Full information on American life, opportunities, customs, and laws must reach the men and women coming here from foreign lands immediately upon their arrival. Necessarily it must be in their own language. The more they learn in this way of our fundamental democracy and the possibilities for them and their children in this country, the keener become their desire and efforts to learn "America's language." To withhold this information or delay it until, according to theoretic calculation, these immigrants have had time to acquire English, is deliberately to create a period of cruel bewilderment and false impressions for them which dampens whatever enthusiasm they had originally to study English. The numerous un-American conditions and injustices to which so many immigrants have fallen victims must be wiped out. Explanations and instruction about America given to the fullest extent carry little weight when individuals have been unjustly wronged. The ignorance of many native-born Americans about European peoples and their contemptuous attitude toward persons with different customs from their own are just as serious obstacles to assimilation and unity as the tendency of some immigrants to cling to Old World ways; understanding must come, on our part, of the heritages of these new-comers, their suffering and struggles in Europe, and the contributions they bring us if we will only receive them. The devotion of the men and women associated with Miss Roche was such that each deserves detailed mention, but space permits only this grateful record of their names: Swedish Service First directed by Mr. Olaf P. Zethelius, and after his death in charge of Mr. H. Gude Grinndal Norwegian Service Mr. Sundby-Hansen Danish Service Mr. Viggo C. Eberlin Finnish Service Mr. Charles H. Hirsimaki Dutch Service Mr. James J. Van Pernis Polish Bureau Miss Wanda Wojcieszak Ukrainian Bureau Mr. Nicholas Ceglinsky Lithuanian Bureau Mr. Julius Kaupas Czechoslovak Bureau Mrs. Anna Tvrzicka German Bureau Mr. Julius Koettgen Hungarian Bureau Mr. Alfred Markus Italian Bureau Dr. Albert C. Bonaschi Russian Bureau Mr. Joseph Polonsky Jugoslav Bureau Mr. Peter Mladineo [← The “Americanizers”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/16-the-americanizers/) [A Wonderful Fourth of July →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/18-a-wonderful-fourth-of-july/) How We Advertised America, George Creel. Published in the United States in 1920, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States; the Internet Archive lists the scan as not in copyright. Creel died in 1953, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/creel-how-we-advertised-america-1920/).