[5]Assistant Secretary Herbert Kaufman before the Senate Committee on Education presented facts and figures which accentuate the seriousness of the national situation. Among other things he said:"The South leads in illiteracy, but the North leads in non-English speaking. Over 17 per cent of the persons in the east-south Central States have never been to school. Approximately 16 per cent of the people of Passaic, N.J., must deal with their fellow workers and employers through interpreters. And 13 per cent of the folk in Lawrence and Fall River, Mass., are utter strangers in a strange land."The extent to which our industries are dependent upon this labor is perilous to all standards of efficiency. Their ignorance not only retards production and confuses administration, but constantly piles up a junk heap of broken humans and damaged machines which cost the Nation incalculably."It is our duty to interpret America to all potential Americans in terms of protection as well as of opportunity; and neither the opportunities of this continent nor that humanity which is the genius of American democracy can be rendered intelligible to these 8,000,000 until they can talk and read and write our language."Steel and iron manufacturers employ 58 per cent of foreign-born helpers; the slaughtering and meat-packing trades, 61 per cent; bituminous coal mining, 62 per cent; the silk and dye trade, 34 per cent; glass-making enterprises, 38 per cent; woolen mills, 62 per cent; cotton factories, 69 per cent; the clothing business, 72 per cent; boot and shoe manufacturers, 27 per cent; leather tanners, 57 per cent; furniture factories, 59 per cent; glove manufacturers, 33 per cent; cigar and tobacco trades, 33 per cent; oil refiners, 67 per cent; and sugar refiners, 85 per cent."You will agree with me that future security compels attention to such concentrations of unread, unsocialized masses thus conveniently and perilously grouped for misguidance."They live in America, but America does not live in them. How can all be 'free and equal' until they have free access to the same sources of self-help and an equal chance to secure them?"Illiteracy is a pick-and-shovel estate, a life sentence to meniality. Democracy may not have fixed classes and survive. The first duty of Congress is to preserve opportunity for the whole people, and opportunity can not exist where there is no means of information."It is a shabby economy, an ungrateful economy that withholds funds for their betterment. The fields of France cry shame upon those who are content to abandon them to their handicap."The loyal service of immigrant soldiers and sailors commit us to instruct and nationalize their brothers in breed."The spirit in which these United States were conceived insists that the Republic remove the cruel disadvantage under which so many native borns despairingly carry on."How may they reason soundly or plan sagely? The man who knows nothing of the past can find little in the future. The less he has gleaned from human experience the more he may be expected to duplicate its signal errors. No argument is too ridiculous for acceptance; no sophistry can seem far-fetched to a person without the sense to confound it."Anarchy shall never want for mobs while the uninformed are left at the mercy of false prophets. Those who have no way to estimate the worth of America are unlikely to value its institutions fairly. Blind to facts, the wildest one-eyed argument can sway them."Not until we can teach our illiterate millions the truths about the land to which they have come and in which they were born shall its spirit reach them—not until they can read can we set them right and empower them to inherit their estate."If we continue to neglect them, there are influences at work that will sooner or later convince them who now fail to appreciate the worth of our Government that the Government itself has failed—crowd the melting pot with class hates and violence and befoul its yield."We must not be tried by inquest. We demand the right to vindicate the merit of our systems wherever their integrity is questioned or maligned."We demand the right to regulate the cheating scales upon which the Republic is weighed by its ill-wishers."We demand the right to protect unintelligence from Esau bargains with hucksters of traitorous creeds."We demand the right to present our case and our cause to the unlettered mass, whose benightedness and ready prejudices continually invite exploitation."We demand the right to vaccinate credulous inexperience against Bolshevism and kindred plagues."We demand the right to render all whose kind we deem fit to fight for our flag fit to vote and prosper under its folds."We demand the right to bring the American language to every American, to qualify each inhabitant of these United States for self-determination, self-uplift, and self-defense."Dr. Philander P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, in his analysis of the illiteracy figures of the census, said:"Illiteracy is not confined to any one race or class or section. Of the 5,500,000 illiterates as reported by the census of 1910, nearly 3,225,000 were whites, and more than 1,500,000 were native-born whites."That illiteracy is not a problem of any one section alone is shown by the fact that in 1910 Massachusetts had 7,469 more illiterate men of voting age than Arkansas; Michigan, 2,663 more than West Virginia; Maryland, 2,352 more than Florida; Ohio, more than twice as many as New Mexico and Arizona combined; Pennsylvania, 5,689 more than Tennessee and Kentucky combined. Boston had more illiterates than Baltimore, Pittsburgh more than New Orleans, Fall River more than Birmingham, Providence nearly twice as many as Nashville, and the city of Washington 5,000 more than the city of Memphis."It is especially significant that of the 1,534,272 native-born white illiterates reported in the 1910 census 1,342,372, about 87.5 per cent, were in the open country and small towns, and only 191,900, or 12.5 per cent, were in cities having a population of 2,500 and over. Of the 2,227,731 illiterate negroes 1,834,458, or 82.3 per cent, were in the country, and only 393,273, or 17.7 per cent, were in the cities."
[5]Assistant Secretary Herbert Kaufman before the Senate Committee on Education presented facts and figures which accentuate the seriousness of the national situation. Among other things he said:
"The South leads in illiteracy, but the North leads in non-English speaking. Over 17 per cent of the persons in the east-south Central States have never been to school. Approximately 16 per cent of the people of Passaic, N.J., must deal with their fellow workers and employers through interpreters. And 13 per cent of the folk in Lawrence and Fall River, Mass., are utter strangers in a strange land.
"The extent to which our industries are dependent upon this labor is perilous to all standards of efficiency. Their ignorance not only retards production and confuses administration, but constantly piles up a junk heap of broken humans and damaged machines which cost the Nation incalculably.
"It is our duty to interpret America to all potential Americans in terms of protection as well as of opportunity; and neither the opportunities of this continent nor that humanity which is the genius of American democracy can be rendered intelligible to these 8,000,000 until they can talk and read and write our language.
"Steel and iron manufacturers employ 58 per cent of foreign-born helpers; the slaughtering and meat-packing trades, 61 per cent; bituminous coal mining, 62 per cent; the silk and dye trade, 34 per cent; glass-making enterprises, 38 per cent; woolen mills, 62 per cent; cotton factories, 69 per cent; the clothing business, 72 per cent; boot and shoe manufacturers, 27 per cent; leather tanners, 57 per cent; furniture factories, 59 per cent; glove manufacturers, 33 per cent; cigar and tobacco trades, 33 per cent; oil refiners, 67 per cent; and sugar refiners, 85 per cent.
"You will agree with me that future security compels attention to such concentrations of unread, unsocialized masses thus conveniently and perilously grouped for misguidance.
"They live in America, but America does not live in them. How can all be 'free and equal' until they have free access to the same sources of self-help and an equal chance to secure them?
"Illiteracy is a pick-and-shovel estate, a life sentence to meniality. Democracy may not have fixed classes and survive. The first duty of Congress is to preserve opportunity for the whole people, and opportunity can not exist where there is no means of information.
"It is a shabby economy, an ungrateful economy that withholds funds for their betterment. The fields of France cry shame upon those who are content to abandon them to their handicap.
"The loyal service of immigrant soldiers and sailors commit us to instruct and nationalize their brothers in breed.
"The spirit in which these United States were conceived insists that the Republic remove the cruel disadvantage under which so many native borns despairingly carry on.
"How may they reason soundly or plan sagely? The man who knows nothing of the past can find little in the future. The less he has gleaned from human experience the more he may be expected to duplicate its signal errors. No argument is too ridiculous for acceptance; no sophistry can seem far-fetched to a person without the sense to confound it.
"Anarchy shall never want for mobs while the uninformed are left at the mercy of false prophets. Those who have no way to estimate the worth of America are unlikely to value its institutions fairly. Blind to facts, the wildest one-eyed argument can sway them.
"Not until we can teach our illiterate millions the truths about the land to which they have come and in which they were born shall its spirit reach them—not until they can read can we set them right and empower them to inherit their estate.
"If we continue to neglect them, there are influences at work that will sooner or later convince them who now fail to appreciate the worth of our Government that the Government itself has failed—crowd the melting pot with class hates and violence and befoul its yield.
"We must not be tried by inquest. We demand the right to vindicate the merit of our systems wherever their integrity is questioned or maligned.
"We demand the right to regulate the cheating scales upon which the Republic is weighed by its ill-wishers.
"We demand the right to protect unintelligence from Esau bargains with hucksters of traitorous creeds.
"We demand the right to present our case and our cause to the unlettered mass, whose benightedness and ready prejudices continually invite exploitation.
"We demand the right to vaccinate credulous inexperience against Bolshevism and kindred plagues.
"We demand the right to render all whose kind we deem fit to fight for our flag fit to vote and prosper under its folds.
"We demand the right to bring the American language to every American, to qualify each inhabitant of these United States for self-determination, self-uplift, and self-defense."
Dr. Philander P. Claxton, Commissioner of Education, in his analysis of the illiteracy figures of the census, said:
"Illiteracy is not confined to any one race or class or section. Of the 5,500,000 illiterates as reported by the census of 1910, nearly 3,225,000 were whites, and more than 1,500,000 were native-born whites.
"That illiteracy is not a problem of any one section alone is shown by the fact that in 1910 Massachusetts had 7,469 more illiterate men of voting age than Arkansas; Michigan, 2,663 more than West Virginia; Maryland, 2,352 more than Florida; Ohio, more than twice as many as New Mexico and Arizona combined; Pennsylvania, 5,689 more than Tennessee and Kentucky combined. Boston had more illiterates than Baltimore, Pittsburgh more than New Orleans, Fall River more than Birmingham, Providence nearly twice as many as Nashville, and the city of Washington 5,000 more than the city of Memphis.
"It is especially significant that of the 1,534,272 native-born white illiterates reported in the 1910 census 1,342,372, about 87.5 per cent, were in the open country and small towns, and only 191,900, or 12.5 per cent, were in cities having a population of 2,500 and over. Of the 2,227,731 illiterate negroes 1,834,458, or 82.3 per cent, were in the country, and only 393,273, or 17.7 per cent, were in the cities."
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