HERALD Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 53 — NO. 42
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE, MIST, P. 0. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEXAS
2.%; OCTOBER 29, 1965
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER The week from 25 to 31 October has been designated as "Freedom Week," in commemmoration of the '79th anniversary of the building- of the Statue Of Liberty. This statue, located on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, was recently designated a national shrine by President Johnson, and houses the Museum of Immigration. The Congress recently enacted a new immigration bill, liberalizing immigration quotas from southern, eastern, and southeastern Europe. The bill simply states that from now on those wishing to emigrate to America will be admitted on the basis of their skills and their close relationship to those already here. Under the old National Origins Quota System, the ability of new immigrants to come to America depended upon the country of their birth. Only three countries were allowed to supply seventy per cent of all the immigrants. Families were often kept apart because the husband or wife or child Were barn in the "wrong" country. The new bill abolishes all that. This Nation was built by a nation of strangers. From a hundred different places or more, they poured forth into this empty and strange land, joining and blending in one great Nation. The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources; because it was nourished by so many cultures and tradi-
The advantage of a study of history is that it keeps you from feeling so important. • • Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
• Sittin' and wishin' Won't improve our fate; The Lord provides the fishes, But we gotta dig the bait. tions and peoples. When the earliest settlers came and poured into this wild continent there was no one to ask Where they came from. The only question was: Were they strong enough to endure the long voyage; were they strong enough to clear the land; were they enduring enough to create a haven for freedom, and were they brave enough to die for liberty if it became necessary to do so? Today, under the new law, they will continue to come .because of what they are, and not because of the land from whence they came. In his closing remarks durin,g the signing ceremonies, President Johnson had this to say: "Over my shoulder you can see Ellis, Island, whose vacant corridors echo today the joyous sound of long-ago voices. And today we can all believe that the lamp of this grand old lady is brighter today, and the Gold Door that she guards
gleams more brilliantly in the light of an increased liberty from all the countries of the globe ... " • • Finally, may we quote here the poem by Einma Lazarus, which is graven on a tablet within the pedestal on which the Goddess stands: The New Colossus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from iand to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beaconhand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild oyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities fame. "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempesttost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"