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CHAPTER V.

GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION.

Citizenship Ability to speak English-Employers' opinions of recent immigrants[Text Tables 159 to 163 and General Tables 110 to 112].

CITIZENSHIP.

The extent to which foreign-born employees have acquired or manifested an interest in attaining citizenship is set forth in the following table which shows by race the present political condition of foreignborn male employees who had been in the United States five years or over, and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to this country:

TABLE 159-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.]

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It

a Not computed, owing to small number involved.

appears from the above table that 45.2 per cent of the foreignborn male employees, for whom information was secured, are fully naturalized, and that 24.8 per cent have first papers only. Of the races, for which the percentages have been computed, the Swedes and English, in the order mentioned, have the largest and the Slovaks and Poles the smallest proportion fully naturalized. The proportion

of those having first papers only is largest for the North Italians and Slovaks, in the order mentioned, and smallest for the Poles and Swedes.

The interest exhibited by the iron ore miners of foreign birth in acquiring citizenship after designated periods of residence in this country may be seen from the following table, which shows by years in the United States and race the present political condition of foreign-born male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States:

TABLE 160.-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 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.]

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It appears from the above table that 18.5 per cent of the foreignborn employees, for whom information was secured, who have been in the United States from five to nine years, and 76.1 per cent of those who have been here ten years or over, are fully naturalized. Of those who have been here from five to nine years, 34.7 per cent, as compared with 13.4 per cent of those who have been here ten years or over, have first papers only. The percentages for the Finns, the only race for which the percentages are given, show the same tendencies as do the percentages for all foreign-born employees.

ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH.

The table next presented shows by race the proportion of foreignborn male employees of non-English-speaking races who were able to speak English.

TABLE 161.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees who speak English, by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 40 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all non-English-speaking races.]

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Of the foreign-born male employees, for whom information was secured, 57.3 per cent speak English. All of the French Canadians speak English. With this exception, the proportion of employees who speak English is largest for the Swedes, Slovaks, and Finns, in the order mentioned, and smallest for the Croatians.

The tabulation next submitted makes possible a comparison of the relative proportion of immigrants able to speak English by age at time of arrival in this country. It shows the per cent of foreign-born male employees of non-English-speaking races who were able to speak English, by age at time of coming to the United States and race."

TABLE 162.-Per cent of foreign-born male employees who speak English, by age at time of coming to the United States and race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only non-English-speaking races with 100 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all non-English-speaking races.]

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It appears, from the data presented in the above table, that 97.5 per cent of the foreign-born male employees for whom information was secured, who came to the United States when under 14 years of age, can speak English, as compared with 55.9 per cent of those who came here when 14 or over, and 57.3 per cent of all employees. All of the employees, of the races for which the percentages are given, who came to this country when under 14 can speak English. The proportion of employees who came here when 14 or over who speak English is largest for the Swedes and Slovaks and smallest for the Croatians and North Italians.

The advancement manifested by mine workers of foreign birth and of non-English-speaking races in acquiring an ability to speak English after designated periods of residence is set forth in the table next presented. It shows by years in the United States and race the percentage of foreign-born male employees who speak English.

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TABLE 163.—Per cent of foreign-born male employees who speak English, 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 non-English-speaking races with 100 or more males reporting. The total, however, is for all nonEnglish-speaking races.]

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It appears from the above table that 33.3 per cent of the foreignborn male employees who have been in the United States under five years, as compared with 80.4 per cent of the employees who have been here from five to nine years can speak English, while 95.3 per cent of the employees who have been here ten years or over, and 57.3 per cent per cent of all employees have such ability. In the case of every race for which the percentages are given, there is an increase in the proportion of employees speaking English with length of residence in the United States. This increase is rather less marked among the Slovaks and Swedes than among the individuals of other races. All of the Slovaks and Swedes who have been here ten years or over and a large proportion of those who have been here under five years can speak English.

EMPLOYERS' OPINIONS OF RECENT IMMIGRANTS.

Finnish. Of the recent immigrants, the Finns are more numerous than any other race on the Marquette and Gogebic ranges, and a great number of employers on these ranges prefer them and think them somewhat better all around than other races of recent immigrants. However, it is the opinion of many that there is a greater difference among the Finns than among the members of any other race. It would seem that there are two general classes in the region: One, the Finns from that side of Finland next to the Scandinavian Peninsula, commonly called Swede Finns, because they speak Swedish; and the other, the ones from the Russian side of Finland. They are reputed to be good workers and very effective when they work, and all of them, or a majority, are physically rather strong and robust. They are not so regular in work as the Italian and Pole, but are more cleanly about their persons and in their homes than are those races. They live in less crowded houses and generally demand better living accommodations with regard to houses, water supply, and other conveniences, than do those races. They learn English more quickly, take considerably more interest in civic affairs, and are especially good at sending their children to school. All the employers interviewed attributed many good qualities to the Finns, but, generally

speaking, their Socialistic tendencies counterbalance this from the standpoint of the employer. Socialism seems to be much stronger among the more recent arrivals than among those who have been in the United States several years. They are more inclined to build homes than are other races of recent immigration. On the Marquette, to which range they have been coming longer than to any other, a great many of them own small tracts of land from one to two or three miles from the towns, and in summer they raise small vegetable crops in connection with their work in the mines. Fewer of them than of any other race return to Europe or send money back. This race has never been so prominent on the Menominee Range as on the others, the Finns constituting less than 10 per cent of the labor force of the first-named range and more than 20 per cent on the other two.

Italian. At present this race constitutes 15 to 18 per cent of the labor force of the three ranges. The proportion varies with different employers, as high as 60 per cent of some forces and as low as 5 per cent of others being of this race. By far the greater proportion of the Italians in the field are North Italians, and a considerable number of them come from the Province of Tyrol, in Austria.

Opinions are somewhat varied regarding the Italian as an employee. A majority of employers interviewed say that the Italian is apt, and is a very regular and steady worker, but not so hard nor so effective a worker as the Finn, though vastly more tractable. The Italians do not maintain so high a standard of living as the Finns and do not Americanize so quickly. They are less cleanly as regards both their homes and their persons. While they are quite thrifty, they are as a rule not home builders, but save their money to take back with them, or even, in some instances, send it back to invest. They do not take the interest in civic affairs nor in becoming citizens that is shown by the Finns. Within recent years a considerable number of South Italians have come to these ranges. They are employed almost entirely as unskilled laborers, and, while they are very regular, are less effective and live under worse sanitary conditions than any other race employed.

Polish. This race is common to only two of the ranges of northern Michigan, the Menominee and the Gogebic. A few Poles are employed on the Marquette Range, but not enough to make them a factor in the labor supply. The Poles are as a rule industrious and regular workers, but hardly so apt as the Italians. They maintain about the same standard of living, and drink a great deal, especially of beer. The Italians drink considerable beer and wine, but not to such excess as do the Poles. The Poles are also like the Italians in that the number of men compared to the number of families is very high, and in many instances they maintain the "boarding-boss" system and live in rather crowded and unsanitary conditions. There is very little Americanization, and practically no interest in civic affairs. In one row of houses owned by a mining company near Ironwood there are 25 houses, the occupants of which are principally Polish and Austrians (mainly Croatians). Each house has four rooms and one family, and about 200 men live in the 25 houses, or an average of 8 men to the family.

Austrian. There are not so many Austro-Hungarian races nor so many individuals belonging to these races on the Marquette Range

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