10 JULY 1920, Page 14

THE AMERICAN LEGION.

[To TRE EDITOR Or TYE " Eascrnoi."] Sia,—As a member of the American Legion may I state that naturalization in every phase is part of the very spade work of each well-organized and well-run post of the American Legion? Does the Editor of the Spectator suggest that in matters of citizenship one can serve two masters—the country of our birth and the country of our habitation? Without transgressing one's privileges as a guest, may I further state that such views on citizenship are amongst the most powerful of the "peaceful" weapons used by Germany? It is axiomatic that a country depending as America did, and will again, on emigration cannot afford to have a large body of workers indifferent or antagonistic to the duties and privileges of citizenship. Nor is it well that this decision should be left to times of great strain as in the case of the most distinguished citizen you ever acquired from America, Henry James. It seems plain, yet obligatory to the average American, that it is only decent to be a citizen of the country which supports him. Why should a country which is sufficiently good to support a man not be sufficiently good to vote in? It is like living with one's wife's family and not caring whether the old people can pay rent. I have, Sir, had the pleasure and profit of reading the Spectator for a quarter of a century in three Con- tinents.—I am, Sir, &o.,

FRED W. HAMILTON

(late of the American Expeditionary Force, France). Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, Ireland.