Thousands of Norwegian churches from ocean to ocean speak a language which can not be misunderstood. There Is also a Norwegian press which has done a great service in America. forwhich It has not always received the credit it deserves. All this is the work of Norwegian immigrants. Of these and of many other things we have good reason to feel proud . hence we also like to talk about them. As a change in this intellectual diet I shall venture to picture one -phase of the life of the Immigrant which. so far as I know. .has never yet become a subject for discussion. What I have to offer will. therefore. be only a few plain. homemade thoughts. The theme I have chosen is the peculiar position of the Immigrant ih his new environment. especially that phase of It which most appropriately can be called ".the tragedy of the immigrant." For a hundred years we have said nothing about It. possibly because a tragedy does not belong on a holiday program. but partly also because it is difficult to deal with. as it is not so easily visualized as churches. schools. and newspapers. though it is no less real. But there Is also this further reason. which probably ought to have been stated first. We have kept silent because those immigrants who have felt the tragedy keenest have preferred that nothing should be said about it. It is their own private burden. which they have had to carry alone. In this connection the term " tragedy " does not signify a mere outward occurrence. like a shipwreck. a railway accident. an epidemic. fire. or drought. as such happenings are not limited to any special class. The tragedy of the immigrant is a disaster taking place in the mind and soul of the individual. In many cases this tragedy is a more or less permanent condition. but it has several distinct phases. which I shall try to describe by means of a few illustrations. The trigedy begins with the departure from tile old home.
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