RACE MIXTURE AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 9 i 



and fifty who can. In the Eastern States the second generation 

 is less numerous than in the West. The influence of our schools 

 is apparent, for, if we take Massachusetts as an example, we find 

 that of the native-born population one per cent are illiterate, 

 while of the foreign born twenty per cent are illiterate. 



Another influence of the social environment is the exercise of 

 political rights. Here the second generation can not be looked 

 upon as foreigners, as all persons born or naturalized in the 

 United States are citizens thereof. The terms of naturalization 

 are such that the foreign born may become citizens in five years. 

 Whatever may be the dangers of foreign influence upon our 

 government, surely one of the best methods of assimilating the 

 discordant elements is to make all classes feel that they have an 

 interest in our institutions, by the exercise of political rights. If 

 this process of assimilation had not been going on, we should be 

 able to notice some effect upon legislation in the different States. 

 Assimilation is promoted by the participation in the holding of 

 property. Thousands of foreigners have availed themselves of 

 the land grants by the homestead and other laws. Having vested 

 interests, they are loyal to the Government, for very few property- 

 holders become anarchists. Self-reliance and independence also 

 tend to attach the foreigner to our institutions. Our system is 

 not paternal in its character, but the guarantees of civil liberty 

 are so broad that they offer the greatest measure of individual 

 action. Every man's house is his castle, and some writer has said 

 that, although the snow and rain may blow in, the king can not 

 enter. The prominence given to labor in America is also con- 

 ducive to the assimilation of the foreign elements. A new dignity 

 has been placed upon labor here, and we are passing over from 

 a political to an economic attitude, which will have its effect upon 

 all classes. Titles and rank, which have done so much in the Old 

 World to keep the classes alienated, are unknown here, and their 

 absence is the means of encouraging foreigners to accept the 

 responsibilities of citizenship. Economic influences which have 

 frequently been overlooked, are also a potent factor in the assimi- 

 lation of races. I have already referred to the dignity of labor 

 in this country. The laborer is not regarded as depending upon 

 a wage fund for support, but he is looked upon as an integral 

 part of society, receiving a share in distribution. There are 

 causes at work affecting consumption, and society is in a dynamic 

 state. Changes in the economic order of consumption are taking 

 place which tend to raise the standard of life. Economic con- 

 ditions induce the foreigner to leave his native land and come to 

 America. On arriving here, he is probably influenced as much 

 by the standard of life of our people as by any other cause. He 

 enters the field of labor and attempts to reach our standard of 



