The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 179

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

179

must be denied. When it is said of him that he
brings loathsome diseases with him and that he is
the scum of the earth, it should be remembered
that such remarks are wide of the mark. The care
taken at our ports of entry make it almost im-
possible for such persons to enter our country.
From the viewpoint of illiteracy it must be ad-
mitted that the problem is acute. The percentage
of illiterates among the later immigrants, Italians,
Russians, Poles, and Hungarians is far greater
than it was among the immigrants that came from
Northern and Western Europe. But let us not
forget that these illiterate immigrants mostly come
from the rural districts of their several countries,
where the educational facilities are very poor. The
test of literacy is by no means a safe standard in
deciding the desirable character of the immigrant,
since the undesirable class, the criminal, comes
from the city and therefore, as a rule, is well
educated. Then, too, we should not hold against
the foreigner the love he retains for his native
language. Some of the most bitter opponents of
American ideals speak the language of our country
very fluently, while some of the most loyal Ameri-
can sentiments have been expressed in foreign
tongues. .

The claim is sometimes made that the United
States is receiving the worst elements of Europe;
that the better class does not come to America; and
that this cannot result in anything good for our
country. In answer we make bold to say that if
it were a question of wealth or education, there
would be some point to that argument. Only
in exceptional cases have the wealthy and educated
left the conveniences and advantages of European
countries to come here. And experience has proved
it in the past, and is proving it now, that the
children of these very foreigners have taken, and
are taking, places of leadership and rapidly

became, or are becoming, the backbone of America. _

When education takes the place of ignorance;
when intelligent Christian faith displaces super-
stition; when the living Christ takes possession of
these stalwart peasants from Europe, —then they
will become living stones in the building of our
nation and the Church of Christ.

The Slavs in Our Country.

The home of the Slavs in Europe is east of an
imaginary line drawn from Venice to Leningrad.
The Russians occupy the eastern part of Slavdom,
the Czecho-Slovaks the central part, and the Jugo-
slavs the southern section. With the exception of

the Lithuanian and Lettish dialects there is a
strong family resemblance to be found in the
languages spoken by the other Slavs, the Russians,
Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Croatians,
Serbs, Slovenians, Bulgarians, and the Wends.

These Slav immigrants were nominally con-
nected with some church in their native country.
The Russians are mostly connected with the Greek
Catholic Church, and so are the Serbs. The Poles,
as a rule, are Roman Catholics, and the same is
true of the Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenians, and
Croatians. The Ruthenians use the Greek liturgy,
translated into the old Slavonic tongue, but are
adherents of the Pope. Their priests are allowed
to marry. An appreciable number of Lutherans
are found among the immigrant Slovaks, Letts,
Lithuanians, Wends, and Poles. :

The Czechs in this country represent skilled
laborers, a large professional class, business men,
and many farmers. In Nebraska and Minnesota
are large farming communities of Bohemians.
They are also found in large numbers in cities like
Chicago, Cleveland, and New York.

The Slovaks are largely laborers and mechanics
in the steel and leather industries and in mining
fields: In the large cities, like Boston, Chicago,
Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, they are
owners of large manufacturing plants, with their
own banks and stores.

The Polish population in our country numbers
about three million. The greater number are found
in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Newark,
Jersey City, Erie, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo,
Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The Polish
people in our country read eleven dailies, forty-
eight weekly papers, and fifteen monthly publi-
cations.

The Jugoslavs, comprising Slovenians, Serbs,
and Croatians, though largely coming from the
rural districts and villages of their native land,
have here mostly settled in cities, where they are
working for the most part as unskilled laborers.

Most of the Russians in America come from .
Western Russia, regarded as one of the poorest parts
of that country, and Eastern Poland. Many of the
men are too poor to bring their families with them,
hardly having enough to pay their own fare. Being
unskilled in any kind of work, they usually are set
to do the hardest and dirtiest work in «foundries,
factories, and other such places. But among those
who in recent years have come to this country from
Russia there are possibly 6,000 Russians who once