746 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. [vol.xv. 



The percentage of illiteracy for various localities represented in recent draft examinations is as follows: 



Locality. 



New York State 

 South Carolina. . 

 Minnesota 



Date of draft. 



May 25,1918 

 July 5,1918 

 July 24,1918 



Number 

 examined. 



8,965 



981 



4,692 



Number 

 illiterate. 



Percentage 

 ofilliteracy. 



1,484 

 487 

 670 



16.6 

 49.5 

 14.2 



The above figures are most significant in light of the fact that the drafted men from New York State include 

 many foreigners. In spite of that fact the percentage of illiteracy (16.6 per cent) seems to be very small when com- 

 pared with the percentage of illiteracy found among the men reporting from South Carolina. In fact the percentage 

 for the latter group was found to be so high as to make us doubt the accuracy of the data. A check was therefore made 

 as follows: The records of all South Carolina men in one company were analyzed, with the result that of the 177 men 

 in the company 109, or 61.6 per cent, were illiterate. It seems from this check that the percentage of illiteracy (49.5 

 per cent) for the whole group from South Carolina is probably correct. 



Such a percentage of illiteracy as is found among the men from South Carolina is startling. Among Virginia 

 negroes reporting at Camp Lee, Va., in the fall of 1917 the percentage of illiteracy was 40 per cent. The conclusion 

 is that the problem of illiteracy among South Carolina drafted men is a most serious one. 



