--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Bennion, Milton collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 26 number: 3 published: 1923-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Milton Bennion, "Americanizing Americans", *Improvement Era* 26, no. 3 (January 1923): 231–232.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2603unse start_page: 231 end_page: 232 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1923-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2603unse publication_year: 1923 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1923, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Americanizing Americans Americanizing Americans By Dr. Milton Bemiion, Dean of the School of Education, University of Utah The most characteristic documents in American political history are the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution. Americanization of an individual must include his absorption of the pervading spirit of these two great docu- ments. What is this spirit? The spirit of the Declaration is found in the fact that the revoluntionary patriots were willing to sacrifice their property, their pleasures, and, if need be, their li\es that their future countrymen might enjoy "life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- piness." Are there not many Americans today who have failed to absorb this spirit? With many has not the notion of liberty and pursuit of happiness degenerated into a mere license and pursuit of pleasure? The pervading spirit of the Constitution centers around the idea of union for the common good, as expressed in the preamble: "To form a more perfect union, establish justice, in- sure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, pro- mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." As the revolutionary fathers built upon the most advanced political and social principles of their age and staked their all in defense of their convictions, so should Americans today be influenced by the best thinking of their time as a means of determining conduct. In this respect every American youth ai well as every foreigner in America needs Americanizing. The best thinking of this age holds, with the Declaration of Independence, that all governments exist for the good of the governed, but it also holds that no individual can properly claim the right to do anything that is contrary to the general welfare. Constitutional government is established to promote the general welfare and properly has authority to enact laws restraining individuals from engaging in anything that is a menace to society. The use of narcotics and intoxicants is such a menace. Officers of the law are convinced that a large percentage of crime is traceable directly to the "dope habit." Once ad- dicted to the use of narcotics, men will lie, steal, rob ; and wom- en will sell their virtue as a means of satisfying their abnormal 232 IMPROVEMENT ERA cravings. Many of the youthful victims of this habit are, moreover, personally less responsible for their condition than is society which has tolerated traffic in these soul-destroying drugs. As to the evil effects of the use of intoxicants, consider the danger to life that would result from free use of liquor by motorists. This is only one of the many ways in which use of intoxicating drinks is a menace to human life, to say nothing of the menace to public morals. Yet large numbers of our American-born, as well as for- eign-born citizens, are so absorbed in their own personal plea- sures, and so little concerned with the public good, that they will denounce and resist enforcement of laws prohibiting traffic in these destructive agencies. Instead of giving thoughtful con- sideration to the purpose of these laws, and the principles upon which they are founded, and the grave consequences to society of failure to enforce them, these un-American citizens express their contempt for these laws and their determination to nullify them by anarchistic methods. Some of these violators of the law make of it a business; others are just ignorant or thoughtless and might be reformed bv a campaign of public education. Even among the well educated and generally progressive citizens there are those who drift in the current of poular senti- ment. They seem to have forgotten that every intelligent citi- zen is supposed to judge a law on its merits, to consider the principles involved, and the good to be accomplished through its enforcement. Others dodge the problem of law enforcement, chiefly because it does not harmonize with their jellyfish dis- positions. Real Americanization calls for the grasp of fundamental ethical and political principles, thoughtful consideration of cur- rent social problems, and backbone to stand consistently and persistently for the right. M. I. A. Slogan We stand for a pure life through clean thought and action. "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, 0 Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." (Psalms 19:14.) There are men to whom their friends would never tell vul- gar stories. It is the highest tribute that can be paid to their characters. Do your friends tell vulgar stories to you?