Of 12,874 foreign-born employees shown in the preceding table, 65.5 per cent can speak English. Of those who have been in the United States under five years 31.9 per cent speak English, of those with a residence of from five to nine years 62.5 per cent speak English, while 92.2 per cent of the foreign-born employees who have been in this country ten years or over can speak English. In each period of residence except that from five to nine years, and in the total, the Danes show the highest percentage who speak English, while the Swedes show the highest percentage in the group including employees with a residence of from five to nine years. In the group including employees with a residence of under five years the Poles show the smallest percentage, while of those who have been in this country from five to nine years and ten years or over the Slovaks show the smallest proportions who can speak English.

In the group of employees who have been in the United States under five years, from five to nine years, and in the total, a higher percentage of the males than of the females can speak English, while in the group including those with a residence of ten years or over the proportion of females who can speak English is somewhat higher than that of the males having this ability.

REPRESENTATIVE COMMUNITY A.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

General description-Industrial significance of the community-General causes for immigration-Households studied-Members of households for whom detailed information was secured [Text Tables 110 to 113 and General Tables 70 and 71].

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

The estimated population of Community A in 1909 was 60,000 individuals, of whom about two-thirds were immigrants. The city is located in an important, well-drained agricultural region in the Middle West, and has an elevation above mean sea level of about 735 feet. Transportation is furnished by seven large trunk lines, several shorter railways, an interstate electric railway, and several interurban lines.

INDUSTRIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY A.

Community A is, according to the census of 1900, a city of 35,999 inhabitants. There is a slight preponderance of the native-born of foreign father, as 32.7 per cent of the total population of the town is composed of this class, as compared with 23.8 per cent each of the native-born of native father and of the foreign-born.

There are 9,015 wage-earners in the city, and of these 2,701, or 29.9 per cent, are employees in the carriage and wagon factories, and 1,559 more, or 17.3 per cent, are employed in the manufacture of agricultural implements. The total production for each of these two industries is $4,933,701 for the first and $2,744,001 for the second, forming 32.2 per cent and 17.9 per cent, respectively, of the total value of the manufactured products of the city.

In 1905 Community A ranked seventh in the United States in the production of agricultural implements, and, as may be inferred, ranks very high in the manufacture of carriages and wagons, as Indiana ranks third in the United States and the community manufactures carriages and vehicles to the value of 32.4 per cent of the total product of the State.

The community was settled in 1820 by a small group of fur trappers, who established a trading post and erected permanent homes. These early settlers were joined from time to time by other families seeking homes, and in 1831 the settlement was laid out as a town and made the county seat, being incorporated in 1835. In 1850 the census of the United States enumerated 1,652 persons in the community. During the decade 1851 to 1860 the population was more than doubled, the federal census reporting a population of 3,803 in the latter year.

The progressiveness of the community was exhibited in another manner in the year 1852, when the now mammoth vehicle-manufacturing establishment was erected. This plant was followed in 1855 by the erection of the most important plow works, and in 1868 by the establishment of a sewing-machine cabinet factory. After the founding of these plants the industrial development of the town was rapid. In 1865 the town was granted a city charter and with the establishment of a number of industrial concerns of different kinds, the entrance of several important railroads, and with the rapidly increasing population the community began its struggle for the control of commerce in the district. The census of the United States placed the population of the new city at 7,206 in 1870; in 1880 at 13,280; in 1890 the return was 21,819; in 1900, 35,999; and in 1909 the population was estimated to be 60,000. By examining the above figures it will be noticed that the growth of the city has been regular, the population about doubling itself every ten years. This increase in the population has been due chiefly to immigration.

GENERAL CAUSES FOR IMMIGRATION.

The early immigrants settled in the community, prior to 1870, largely to make homes, that being the most important consideration influencing the first settlers in the region, and owing to the desire to join kinsmen or fellow-countrymen who had already settled in the locality. From about the year 1870 to the year 1910 the community has offered the alien settlers not only a congenial home among persons from the same fatherland, but the opportunity to secure regular employment in several of the largest industrial establishments in the country engaged in the manufacture of vehicles and agricultural implements. During this latter period there has also been another factor at work in bringing immigrants into the community, especially the Poles, which has greatly increased the foreign population of the city. This has been the importation of foreign labor by two of the most important industrial plants. The general causes of immigration to Community A, in view of these facts, may be grouped under two heads: First, the desire to establish permanent homes, which influenced the majority of the settlers from 1820 to 1870; and, second, to secure employment in the plants manufacturing agricultural implements and vehicles, which has been the chief attraction for immigrants since the year 1870.

HOUSEHOLDS STUDIED,

A total of 345 households were studied in Community A the heads of which were employed in agricultural implement and vehicle manufacturing establishments. The table following shows the households studied, according to general nativity and race of head of household.

TABLE 110.-Households studied, by general nativity and race of head of household.

In this locality 345 households were studied; those households whose heads are foreign-born constituting 58 per cent, while the households the heads of which are native-born of native father and native-born of foreign father constitute 25.2 and 16.8 per cent, respectively, of the total number of households studied. Among those households the heads of which are foreign-born the Magyar households constitute a slightly larger proportion of the total number of households studied than do the Polish or German households, and a very much larger proportion than do the Hebrew households, the last named constituting only 6.1 per cent of all the households studied. Among those households whose heads are native-born of foreign father the Polish households constitute a considerably larger proportion of the total number of households than do the German. MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR WHOM DETAILED INFORMATION WAS SECURED.

The table below shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, persons in the households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured.

TABLE 111.-Persons in households studied and persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

In this locality 345 households in which there are 1,696 persons were studied. Of this total number of persons 65.4 per cent are in households whose heads are foreign-born; 13.9 per cent are in households whose heads are native-born of foreign father; and 20.7 per cent are in households whose heads are native whites born of native father. In households whose heads are foreign-born the number of persons in Magyar households constitute a slightly larger proportion of the total number of persons than do those in Polish, a considerably larger proportion than those in German, and a very much larger proportion than those in Hebrew households, those in the last-named households constituting only 5.7 per cent of all the persons in the households studied. Among the persons in those households the heads of which are native-born of foreign father, it will be noted that the number in Polish households constitute a very much larger proportion of the total number of persons than do those in German households. It will also be noted from the preceding table that the persons for whom detailed information was obtained in the various households constitute proportions of the total similar to the proportions shown for all persons in the households studied.

The following table shows, by general nativity and race of head of household, the sex of persons in the households studied for whom detailed information was secured.

TABLE 112.-Sex of persons for whom detailed information was secured, by general nativity and race of head of household.

of

Information was obtained in this locality for 1,548 persons, which number 51.1 per cent are males and 48.9 per cent females. Of the foreign-born a slightly larger proportion are males, while of the native-born of foreign father and native-born of native father the proportion of females is slightly in excess of the males. Among the foreign-born the Poles alone show a slightly larger proportion of females than males, there being no marked difference in the proportions shown by any of the races. Of the native-born of foreign father a larger proportion of the Poles are males, while of the Germans the reverse is true.