Harding was convinced that assimilation would heighten patriotism and felt there is a connection between communication and assimilation. He also claimed that any foreign language provided an opportunity for the enemy to scatter propaganda. Harding became the only governor in the United States to outlaw the public use of all foreign languages. He addressed those issues in an edict whose title was the Babel Proclamation, which prohibited all public communication in any language other than English. It forbade the use of foreign languages in public, over the telephone, in school, and in religious services.