No one will deny that we, the Lithuanians of America, have, not in a small way, been doing our bit in the promotion of enlightenment by circulating books and newspapers in Greater Lithuania.

I shall mention the books published by the Vienybe Lietuvninku, Lietuva, the lovers of the Motherland Society, and independent individuals, and [I shall also mention the] competition in the printing of textbooks. J. Zilinskas writes in the Mokykla, a supplement of the Lietuvos Ukininkas, that the Americans have expanded more than 4,000 rubles on this matter. Let us also mention the donations of the Lithuanian Alliance of America the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Alliance to the Marianapole Lithuanian Girls' School, and the National Building; to the students and to the Teachers’ Alliance; and the donations for revolutionary purposes, etc.

I will not take it upon myself to enumerate everything, but it seems that what I have stated is sufficient to prove that we, the Americans, do not ignore the enlightenment of our Motherland. If this matter should progress even further by such degrees, then the merits of the Americans in the history of Lithuania's renaissance will be quite important.

The propagation of enlightenment in Greater Lithuania is greatly aided by the newspapers. But do many in Lithuania read newspapers? It is difficult to learn about this since the publishers hide (the true figures of circulation). However, about 20,000 copies can be estimated. This means that one out of two hundred receives a newspaper in Lithuania. In America there are about 20,000 readers of Lithuanian newspapers. Since there are about 500,000 Lithuanians in America, this means that one out of every twenty-five Lithuanians receives a copy. Therefore, we see that ten times as many Lithuanians in America receive newspapers as do Europeans.

Why do our brothers read so little? First of all, the Lithuanian villagers 3 have less money than the Americans. The circulation of the newspapers is also hampered by poor organization in the post offices, their remoteness, and the independence of the police. The well-known sluggishness of the Lithuanians is also a cause. Finally, the priests curse the progressive newspapers in their churches, destroy them on their visits to parishioners, refuse to hear the confessions of such readers, and attempt to squeeze in their own papers, etc.

We see that there are not a few obstacles hampering the reading, of newspapers and, at the same time, the promotion of enlightenment in Lithuania. We cannot, in our time, even save enough capital for the reorganization of the postal service because the Russian government would sooner expend a thousand or more for the upkeep of the monopolies, jails, and spies than for the opening of a post office or library. It is very difficult for the progressives to combat two forces: the worldly and the spiritual, both of which work together. The worldly force has arms: cannons, guns, swords, etc.; the spiritual is on the side of the heavenly and worldly (government, and wealthy) powers and is armed with miraculous and steel weapons, whereas a progressive person must 4 stand up in the battle without any weapons.

It is true that a book is mightier than all the swords and, with its help, we can win and we expect to win. But today we know that our people are not comprehending. When they learn and understand themselves the sluggishness will disappear; then there will even be enough capital; and neither the disorder in the postal service, nor the police, nor the priests will be able to do any harm.

I learned that last year, 1909, of all the books published in Lithuania, eighty per cent were of a religious nature. This is a sign that we do not yet know how to use this "new weapon". For psalms, prayer books, "Lives of the Saints" and other "Lives" will not teach a person how to improve his farm, nor a trade or occupation, nor will they show how we can have a better life. We need education. Therefore, brothers, to work!

The time is coming to subscribe to newspapers for 1911. Let every Lithuanian- American, who has sympathies for his nationals, decline from discarding a news-5 paper after he has read it. Rather, let him paste a stamp on it and send it to Lithuania to his brothers, sisters, friends, and poor acquaintances. To many Americans a dollar or two is little money and they do not even feel it when they spend it. Yet, that kind of money buy, let us say, the Lietuvos Ukininkas ($1.70 a year in Lithuania) or the Lietuvos Zinios (only $2.20 a year in Lithuania). In the meantime the Lithuanians, having received a newspaper as a gift, will be greatly benefited. They will get used to reading and will learn how to manage their farms better, for the Lietuvos Ukininkas writes much about farming. Later they themselves will subscribe to the newspapers.

Let us not forget that the newspapers and books are now our most important sources of enlightenment since we do not have our own schools in Lithuania and will not have any soon. Let us not forget that they are the paths which will lead us to a better future.