Right well does the Emigration Review [published in Poland] note the fact that the clash [between Poles opposed to the clergy's intervention in Poland's politics and the friends of the clergy] is often carried on in a bold American way--without decorum. The Europeans often have no idea of the true origin of our dissensions, as they often discard our newspapers reluctantly before getting through reading an entire article.

Be that as it may, the fact is that our press has progressed a great deal. In the beginning, journalism here was exclusively in the hands of people who had at best a limited knowledge of journalism, grammar, spelling, and style. A gift of various newspapers edited here, to show samples of their contents, would make a splendid collection for some humoristic newspaper in Europe.

With the influx of immigrants, there were some who possessed some knowledge of journalism. It is true that some lacked editorial ability, but having an education, they succeeded in attaining the necessary experience in this field. There are already a few Polish newspapers here that are just as good as the best in Poland. Any deviations from old-country standards are made necessary by the conditions we have to face here. Though only a few, we have them.

In these various newspapers--let's not mention their names, since this would be like thrusting a hand into a hornet's nest--our hostilities are carried on. The conservative faction strives to point out the benefits derived from the clergy's cultural influence, the importance of sending our children to Polish parochial schools, and the need for supporting patriotism on the principles of religion. The liberal faction, on the other hand, strives to make the majority of our priests here appear as exploiters, as men only interested in their own material welfare. They maintain that the public should get rid 3of the clergy's influence, and from time to time they try, by means of strange arguments, to dissuade the Poles from sending their children to parochial schools. They base this antagonism on their own peculiar interpretation of patriotism.

We dare not deny that, under certain circumstances, the division of the Polish parties here is similar to that in the old country--especially in Galicia. Here as well as there, one party can be called conservative and the other liberal. However, the fundamentals here--the extent of their leaders' accomplishments, their point of view concerning different matters, the reasons for their differences of opinion, and the manner in which the struggle is conducted--are entirely different from those in Europe. Were we called upon to go into details and give our opinion of where the struggle is bitterer, where lack of unity is greater, and where an understanding is less probable, we would say that the situation is worse in Galicia than here, even though there the combatants do it elegantly, with silk gloves, 4not in the "bold" American way.