CHAPTER VIII.

GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION.

Ownership of homes-School attendance Citizenship Ability to speak English[Text Tables 397 to 407 and General Tables 205 to 213].

OWNERSHIP OF HOMES.

The acquiring of property in the United States is another evidence of the degree of permanence and assimilation of the immigrant population. The following table shows the number and per cent of families in this community owning their homes, by general nativity and race of head of family:

TABLE 397.-Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity and race of head of family.

Of a total of 428 families for whom information was obtained 19.9 per cent own their homes.

The comparatively small number of native families show a greater tendency to own homes than do the foreign. Of a total of 44 native families, 45.5 per cent own their homes, as compared with only 16.9 per cent of the foreign-born.

Of the foreign races reporting, the Irish show the largest proportion of families owning homes, their figure being 50 per cent. Next follow the North Italians, with 35.3 per cent, and the Slovaks, with 27.5 per cent. None of the Servians, only 3.1 per cent of the Ruthenians, and 3.6 per cent of the Roumanians, are reported as owning their homes.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

The State in which Community B is located has a compulsory education law requiring the attendance at school of all children between the ages of 6 and 14 years. When the pupil has reached the age of 14

years, if it can be shown that he can read and write, he may demand a certificate to that effect, which excuses him from further school attendance. The superintendent of schools states that the law is rigidly enforced. Within the community there are 25 public schools with 235 teachers and an enrollment of 7,963, exclusive of high schools, which have an enrollment of 746. There are also three parochial schools conducted by the Slovaks, Poles, and Germans. No friction worthy of comment has been caused by the foreigners and natives attending the same schools. In four schools of the city the proportion of foreign-born pupils is about 85 per cent. Teachers find them easily controlled and very quick to learn. This is especially true of the Greeks and Italians.

CITIZENSHIP.

As evidence of the intentions of aliens in regard to severing connection with their native land and becoming thoroughly Americanized, an inquiry was instituted as to the number of foreign-born males who are American citizens or who have taken steps to that end.

The following table shows the present political condition of 1,180 foreign-born male employees who have been in the United States five years or more and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by race:

TABLE 398.-Present political condition of foreign-born male employees who have been in the United States 5 years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States.]

The table just presented shows that of a total of 1,180 persons reporting complete data, 24.2 per cent are fully naturalized, and 9 per cent have taken out their first papers. Comparing the various races, the English exhibit the largest proportion fully naturalized, their figure being 80 per cent; the Irish follow with 75 per cent, and the Germans with 53.4 per cent. None of the other races reporting in any considerable number have as many as 21 per cent naturalized, and the Croatians' figure is only 2.9 per cent. The South Italians, with 23.9 per cent, report the largest proportion having first papers only; the English show the least, or 5.3 per cent. For many races the percentages are not computed, owing to the small numbers involved.

The following table shows the present political condition of foreignborn male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States, by years in United States and race:

TABLE 399.-Present political condition of foreign-born male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States, by years in the United States and race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. This table includes only races with 100 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all foreign-born.]

In United States 5 to 9 In United States 10 years In United States 5 years

Of a total of 1,180 males who have been in the United States five years or over, 24.2 per cent are fully naturalized and 9 per cent have first papers only leaving 66.8 per cent who have evinced no interest in citizenship. Of those who have been in the United States under ten years only 5.2 per cent are fully naturalized and 9.6 per cent have first rapers only, while of those who have had a period of residence of ten years or more 54.9 per cent are fully naturalized and 8 per cent have first papers only.

Each race shows a decidedly larger proportion of those with a period of residence of ten years or over than of those with a period of residence of from five to nine years, who are fully naturalized, and each, except the German, shows a larger proportion who have first papers only in the longer period of residence.

The political condition of the comparatively small number of foreign-born males within the households studied who have been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, is here tabulated, by race of individual.

TABLE 400-Present political comhtion of foreign-born males who have been in the Caited States 5 years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of comAJ, by nice of indirdi.

The table shows that of the 155 males reporting, 37, or 23.9 per cent, are fully naturalized, and 19, or 12.3 per cent, hold first papers. These proportions are not very different from those indicated by the conclusions of the preceding table. The Irish and Magyars give results not unlike those arrived at in the other comparison, the Irish showing 6 naturalized and 1 with first papers out of 8 reporting, and the Magyars showing 3 naturalized and 4 with first papers out of 24 reporting. The Croatians show larger proportions than before, with 2 of the 27 naturalized and 3 holding first papers. The North and South Italians, Poles, and Slovaks, also, if reporting in sufficient numbers for the computation of percentages, would show larger proportions in this table. On the other hand, the Germans, who report between 5 and 6 naturalized in every 10 of the employees, have only 1 in 10 naturalized among the males in the household study. Additional data bearing upon the tendencies toward acquiring citizenship were gathered from the local records. The following table shows, by nationality of persons, the number who acquired full papers of citizenship in the community during the period October 27, 1906, to November 11, 1908:

TABLE 401.-Number of persons who have acquired citizenship papers, by country of birth, October 27, 1906, to November 11, 1908.

No definite information by race was obtainable, but out of an approximate local vote of 15,000 it was estimated that there were about 1,500 votes from the southern European races, in about the following order according to numbers: Italians, Slovaks, Magyars, Poles, Ruthenians, and a few scattering, with the Italians largely predominating.

ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH.

As a criterion of the Americanization of immigrants, the extent to which non-English-speaking races acquire the language of their adopted country was made a subject of investigation. This inquiry was made for the household study of all persons 6 years of age or over, belonging to non-English-speaking races. The first table includes some persons native-born of foreign father, but these are too few in number for separate tabulation.

TABLE 402.-Per cent of persons 6 years of age or over who speak English, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more persons reporting. The totals, however, are for all non-English-speaking races.]

The figures given in this table cover 1,070 individuals in the households studied. They bring out very clearly the difference naturally existing between the first and second generations in respect to the readiness with which they learn English. The foreign-born report only 36.5 per cent of their number able to speak English, while the native-born of foreign father-the children of immigrants-speak English in 94.4 per cent of the cases. More foreign-born males than females have acquired the use of English, but among the native-born the females show a somewhat larger proportion than do the males.

The variations among the foreign-born in respect to ability to speak English are striking, as is the difference between the two sexes in this respect. In the totals for both sexes it appears that the Italians-South and North-have the highest proportions of persons who speak English. But, while practically the same proportion of men in the two races speak English, a much higher proportion of the South Italian women than of those from the North