CHAPTER X. GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION. Ownership of homes-Public-school attendance-Parochial-school attendance Status of children in the households studied-Citizenship-Ability to speak English[Text Tables 234 to 250 and General Tables 92 to 100.] In addition to the comparative industrial progress and efficiency of the races of recent and former immigration represented among the bituminous mining employees, it is of even greater interest and importance to consider the general progress and adaptability, together with the tendencies toward permanent settlement and assimilation, manifested by the mine workers of foreign birth. These tendencies have a wider significance than the purely industrial phases of immigration because they are concerned with the immigrant races in the light of their desirability as members of American communities and as participants in the social and political life of the country. These conditions affecting their general progress and adaptability are set forward in the present connection because the expansion of the mining industry has made necessary the presence of the large immigrant population, which in turn has been responsible for bringing into existence conditions and facts of vital importance to American life and institutions. OWNERSHIP OF HOMES. One of the best indications of a disposition to adopt this country as a permanent home, as well as a mark of thrift and of desire for advancement, is found in the extent to which the different races of mine workers of foreign birth acquire property and homes in this country. Facts bearing on these questions, secured from a study of 1,358 families, are presented in the next table, which shows the number and per cent of families owning their homes, by general nativity and race of head of household. 451 TABLE 234.—Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity and race of head of family. Of the races represented in the above table by 20 or more families, the Russian alone, with 38 families, reports not a single case of home ownership. Of the foreign-born, the Germans show the largest proportion owning their homes, the Ruthenians, South Italians, North Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Magyars, and Croatian, following in the order named. Of the 1,358 families from whom information was secured, only 9.2 per cent own their homes. This may be attributed to the fact that few opportunities of acquiring a home are open to men of any race. Almost all the mining companies refuse to sell company houses to their employees in the detached mining communities. Only in exceptional instances have the employees any opportunities for buying homes, the companies finding it a better policy to retain the houses because of large profits arising from rent payments, and for the additional reason that mine workers may be evicted in the event of a strike. The opportunities to purchase homes are therefore limited to the comparatively small numbers of employees who live in larger centers of population or who work for the few companies that encourage the owning of homes. PUBLIC-SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. One of the greatest factors of assimilation is the school system of the bituminous localities. In or near each mining village public schools are conducted. These are usually ungraded, with a term of from six to eight months a year, and, with the parochial schools, constitute the chief opportunity for the children of immigrant families to secure an education. In order to obtain some information by races, showing the age, sex, and number of children in attendance, data on these topics were secured from a number of these schools in different mining villages. The results are shown in the table next presented. |