CHAPTER VII.

GENERAL PROGRESS AND ASSIMILATION.

Ownership of homes-Status of children in the households studied-CitizenshipAbility to speak English-[Text Tables 69 to 81 and General Tables 42 to 50].

OWNERSHIP OF HOMES.

The accumulation of property is not only indicative of thrift on the part of the owner, but if the owner is a person of foreign birth it also exhibits a tendency toward permanent settlement in the United States. In this connection the following table is submitted which shows, by general nativity and race of head of family, the number and percentage of families owning homes.

TABLE 69.-Number and per cent of families owning home, by general nativity and race of head of family.

The above table shows that of the 253 families studied in this industry the largest proportion, or 59.7 per cent, own homes, the foreign-born reporting 63.4 per cent, as compared with 19 per cent of the native-born of native father, white. Among the foreign-born the small proportion of English who own homes stands out in striking contrast to the proportion of the other races. The Slovaks, 90 per cent of whom own homes, show considerably larger proportions than do the Finns, Slovenians, or Swedes, and a much larger proportion than do the Croatians.

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STATUS OF CHILDREN IN THE HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED.

The table next submitted shows, by general nativity and race of individual, the percentage of children 6 and under 16 years of age in the households studied who were at home, at school, and at work.

TABLE 70.-Per cent of children 6 and under 16 years of age at home, at school, and at work, by general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

[This table includes only races with 20 or more children reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

Information was obtained in this industry for only 189 children. Of that number, however, by far the largest proportion, or 81.5 per cent, are at school, 17.5 per cent at home, while the remaining proportion are at work. The foreign-born report no children at work, a slightly larger proportion at home, and slightly smaller proportion at school than is shown by the total for all children. The native-born of foreign father, on the other hand, show 1.5 per cent of the children at work and proportions at home and at school that vary little from the proportion shown for all children. Among the native-born of foreign father, none of the English or Swedes, and only a very small proportion of the Finns, are at work, while of those at home, the proportion of Finns is very largely in excess of the proportion shown by either of the other races. Of those at school, on the other hand, the English show a slightly larger proportion than the Swedes, who in turn show a considerably larger proportion than the Finns.

CITIZENSHIP.

The extent to which the iron-ore miners have acquired citizenship, or have taken the preliminary steps, is set forth in the table next presented, which shows, by race, the present political condition of foreign-born 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 71.-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.]

Of the 1,019 males studied in the preceding table, 37.9 per cent are fully naturalized and 22 per cent have first naturalization papers only. The proportion of the several races who are fully naturalized ranges from 72.1 per cent of the Swedish to 9.8 per cent of the South Italians. The proportion of each race having expressed their intention of becoming citizens ranges from 30.5 per cent of the North Italians to 8.2 per cent of the Slovenians.

The table following 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 the time of coming to the United States.

TABLE 72.-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.]

Of 1,019 male employees who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming to the United States, and who have been in this country five years or over, 37.9 per cent are fully naturalized and 22 per cent have first papers only. Of 586 who have been in the United States from five to nine years, 13.3 per cent are fully naturalized and 26.6 per cent have first papers only, while of 433 with a residence of ten years or over, 71.1 per cent are fully naturalized and 15.7 per cent have first papers. Of all employees reporting who have been in the United States five years or over the Finns show the largest proportions, or 40.8 per cent, who were fully naturalized. The North Italians and Polish employees follow in the order named, but in much smaller proportions. The North Italian employees show the highest per cent having first papers only and the Poles the smallest percentage. In the groups including employees who have been in the United States from five to nine years and ten years or over, the Finns show the highest per cent who are fully naturalized and the Poles the lowest in the five to nine year group and North Italians in the group of ten or more years' residence.

The following table shows, by race of individual, the present political condition of foreign-born males in the households studied 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 73.-Present political condition of foreign-born males 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 of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

As showing the interest manifested in American citizenship by the foreign-born males in this industry, it will be seen from the preceding table that of the 105 males in the households studied 43, or 41 per cent, are fully naturalized and 20, or 19 per cent, have secured first papers. Only two of the races, the Finnish and Swedish, show as many as 20 males reporting complete data. As between these two races it will be noted that much more interest has been manifested by the Swedes than by the Finns, 17 of the 21 Swedes, or 81 per cent, having become fully naturalized and an additional 3, or 14.3 per cent, having secured first papers, while of the 21 Finns only 5, or 23.8 per cent, have become fully naturalized and an equal proportion have secured first papers only.

The following table shows, by race and locality, the present political condition of foreign-born male employees who have been in the United States each specified number of years and who were 21 years of age or over at time of arrival:

TABLE 74.-Present political condition of foreign-born male employees who have been in the United States each specified number of years and who were 21 years of age or over at time of coming, by locality and by race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

This table includes

[By years in the United States is meant years since first arrival in the United States. only races with 100 or more males reporting in each of two or more localities; the total, however, is for all foreign-born.] IN UNITED STATES 5 TO 9 YEARS.

The preceding table shows that of the foreign-born male employees who were 21 years of age or over at the time of coming to the United States and who have been in the United States five years or over, the proportion in Michigan who are fully naturalized is very much larger than the proportion in Minnesota who are citizens. The percentage of foreign-born male employees in Michigan who have first papers only is also considerably larger than the percentage of those in Minnesota having first papers. Among foreign-born male