CHAPTER IX.

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS.

Literacy-Conjugal condition-Visits abroad-Age classification of employees and members of their households. -[Text Tables 222 to 233 and General Tables 82 to 91].

LITERACY.

It is important to note the high rate of illiteracy which is characteristic of the greater number of races of recent immigration. This situation is of significance not only from the standpoint of industrial efficiency but also in its social and political aspects.

The following table, which is the result of a study of 48,747 employees, exhibits the general literacy of bituminous mine workers in Pennsylvania, showing the per cent who read and the per cent who read and write.

TABLE 222.-Per cent of male employees who read and per cent who read and write, by general nativity and race.

(STUDY OF EMPLOYEES.)

[This table includes only races with 40 or more males reporting. The totals, however, are for all races.]

TABLE 222.-Per cent of male employees who read and per cent who read and write, by general nativity and race-Continued.

The above table includes information from 48,747 coal miners, of whom 6,406 are whites native-born of native father, 900 are native negroes, 4,497 are whites native-born of foreign father, and 36,944 are foreign-born. Of the whole number reporting, 85.2 per cent are able to read and 83.5 per cent are able to read and write, or, in other words, 1.7 per cent more are able to read only than are able to read and write. In the case of a very few races this difference between those able to read and those able to read and write is marked, the greatest difference being found in the Lithuanian race. Comparing all native-born persons with all foreign-born, 96.8 percent of the former are found to be able to read, while only 81.6 of the latter are able to read. Persons native-born of foreign father show 98 per cent of their number able to read and write, as compared with 97.2 per cent of the whites native-born of native father. Of the races native-born of foreign father, it is seen that those whose fathers were born in Scotland, Germany, England, Wales, and Ireland show high percentages of literacy. Those whose fathers were born in Italy show the lowest percentage of literacy, 90.3 per cent being able to read and 88.7 per cent able to read and write. Of the foreign-born, the Swedes show 100 per cent able to read and write. The five next in order are the Scotch, Dutch, English, Germans and Welsh. The Greeks, with 57.3 per cent able to read, and the Ruthenians, with 58 per cent, show the smallest proportions in this class. A larger proportion of the North Italians than of the South Italians are able to read. The Lithuanians, Servians, and Poles show practically the same degree of literacy. The Slovaks, with 81.8 per cent able to read, and the Slovenians, with 83.1 per cent, may be considered slightly more literate than the Lithuanians, Servians, and Poles.

Data were also secured from all persons 10 years of age or over in the households studied. These are presented in the table following, which shows the per cent of persons 10 years of age or over who can read and the per cent who can read and write, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

TABLE 223.-Per cent of persons 10 years of age or over who read and per cent who read and write, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

(STUDY OF HOUSEHOLDS.)

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

The above table shows that of the entire number of 4,217 persons, 77.3 per cent can read and 75.3 per cent can both read and write. Of those who can read, 79.9 per cent are males and 73.7 per cent females, while of those who can both read and write, 78.6 per cent are males and 70.6 per cent females. Of the total number reporting, 3,469, of whom 73.1 per cent can read and 70.7 per cent can both read and write, are foreign-born; 748, of whom 96.9 per cent can read and 96.7 per cent can both read and write, are native-born of native father; and 600, of whom 96.5 per cent can both read and write, are nativeborn of foreign father. Of the foreign-born who can read, 76.6 per cent are males and 67.9 per cent females, as compared with 98.7 per cent males and 98.6 per cent females in the group of whites nativeborn of native father, and 97.7 per cent males and 95.2 per cent females in the group of persons native-born of foreign father; while of the foreign-born who can both read and write, 75.1 per cent are males and 64 per cent females, as compared with 96.1 and 98.6 per cent males and females, respectively, in the group of whites nativeborn of native father, and 97.7 and 96.5 per cent of males and females, respectively, in the group native-born of foreign father. Upon the whole, the percentage of literacy of the males is greater than that of the females. Of the foreign-born races, the largest percentage of literacy is shown by the Bohemians and Moravians, 97.5 per cent of whom can both read and write-the males reporting 100 per cent. Following the Bohemians and Moravians are the Germans, who report

96.6 per cent able to read and all of these persons able also to write; and the Magyars, 91 per cent of whom can read and 89.1 per cent of whom can both read and write. Among the Germans the females report a higher per cent of literacy than do the males, the former reporting no illiterates, as compared with 6.1 per cent of the latter; on the other hand, 6.8 per cent of the males and 11.8 per cent of the females of the Magyar race are unable to read, and 9.2 per cent of the males and 13 per cent of the females are unable to read and write. The Slovaks, Roumanians, North Italians, Poles, and Ruthenians follow the Magyars in the order named, the Slovaks reporting 18.6 per cent of their number unable to read and 21.6 per cent unable to read and write, while the Ruthenians report 34.2 per cent unable to read and 34.9 per cent unable to read and write. In the case of the above-mentioned races the males report a smaller per cent of illiteracy than the females, this per cent being greater with some than with others. For instance, the North Italians report 17.8 per cent males, as compared with 37.9 per cent females, unable to read, and 18.2 per cent males, as compared with 38.5 per cent females, unable to read and write. The Poles report 26.8 per cent males and 30 per cent females unable to read, and 29.5 per cent males and 35.5 per cent females unable to read and write.

The Ruthenians are followed by the Lithuanians, Croatians, South Italians and Russians, reporting 41.5, 51, 53.2 and 57 per cent, respectively, unable to read, and 47, 54.2, 53.2 and 58.2 per cent, respectively, unable to read and write. The Russian females show a larger per cent of illiteracy than the females of any other race, over threefourths of them being unable to read or write.

Of the persons native-born of foreign father, the per cent of each race able to read and write is the same as the percentage of persons who can read. The largest percentage of literacy is reported by the Germans, 98.6 per cent, as compared with 98.2 per cent of North Italians, 97.1 per cent of the Poles, and 94.8 per cent of the Slovaks. No illiteracy among the German and North Italian males is reported, while the females of these two races report 2.6 and 4.2 per cent, respectively, illiterate. The Polish females are not so illiterate as the males, the former reporting only 1.9 per cent unable to read and write, as compared with 3.8 per cent of the latter. Little difference exists in the percentage of illiteracy of the males and females of the Slovak race, the males reporting 4.7 per cent, as compared with 5.7 per cent of the females.

Of the native whites, 98.6 per cent can read and 97.3 per cent can read and write. Of those who can both read and write, the females report a larger per cent than the males, or 98.6 per cent, as compared with 96.1 per cent of the males; of those who can read only, the males report 98.7 per cent, as compared with 98.6 per cent of the females.

The literacy of foreign-born persons in the Pennsylvania coal fields is further analyzed in the table next presented. This table sets forth the per cent of foreign-born persons in the households studied 10 years of age or over who can read and write their own or any language, according to years in the United States and race of the individual.