SLAVS ON SOUTHERN FARMS. 9 



numbers are located in the States of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and 

 Virginia. Possibly the total number of Slavish farm operators in the 

 United States, composed chiefly of Poles, Bohemians, and Slovaks, 

 will largely exceed 100,000. 



RACE AND ORIGIN OF THE SLAVS. 



Before we proceed further, who are the Slavs ? 



Prof. Oscar Peschel, of Leipzig, says they are out of the great Indo- 

 European family of the Letto-Slavonic stem of the north European 

 Aryan group. He places their origin in the " region of the Danube." 

 Prof. Lubor Niederle, of the Bohemian University at Prague, sub- 

 stantiates this in his statement that the Slavs are of "central European 

 origin." Prof. S. Zaborowski-Moindron, of the Ecole d' Anthropologic, 

 at Paris, cites their origin as "north of the Carpathians, where, 

 through ancient usage, they were called Veneti, which people pene- 

 trated as far north as the Baltic littoral at a very remote period and 

 were the propogators of the rite of cremation." 



In describing the physical appearance of the Slavs, Prof. Niederle, 

 who is the author of SlovansJcy Svet, says: 



Anthropologically, the Slavs are characterized by a most rounded head, good 

 cranial capacity, medium stature, and good physical development. In complexion 

 they range from brunette to blonde, the former predominating among the southern 

 Slavs, while blondes are more numerous among the northern parts of the stock. 



He divides the Slavs of to-day into the seven following groups : 



(1) Russian stem. 



(2) Polish stem. 



(3) Luzice-Serbian (Serbs) stem. 



(4) Bohemian (Cechs) and Slovak stem. 



(5) Slovenian stem. 



(6) Serbo-Chorvat (Servians and Croatians) stem. 



(7) Bulgarian (including the so-called Macedonians) 



stem. 



Grouping all of these peoples together, Prof. Niederle estimates 

 that in 1910 there were m the world more than 150,000,000 Slavs. 

 Of this number he says 70 per cent are of the Russian stem, 13 per 

 cent Poles, 7 per cent Bohemians and Slovaks, 4 per cent Bulgarians, 

 and comparatively few Slovenians, Croatians, Servians and other 

 Slavish people. He estimates that in the United States we have 

 about 1,500,000 Poles, about 500,000 Slovaks, possibly 300,000 

 Bohemians, about 300,000 Croatians and Servians, 100,000 Slovenians, 

 and only comparatively few Bulgarians. Although not so stated 

 by Prof. Niederle, there are also at least 300,000 Slavs of the Russian 

 stem in the United States. 



Turning to closer consideration of these several races, the large 

 number of Poles found in the United States makes it interesting to 

 consider them rather closely, especially with regard to such tenden- 

 cies as they may exhibit toward leaving the industrial centers and 

 settling on the land. This, together with a brief account of the 

 Slovak farmers in Arkansas, the Bohemian farmers in Texas, and 

 the Bohemian and Slovak farmers in the southside Virginia counties 

 will be helpful in understanding possibly a little better our Slavish 

 farmers, and will show us one method by which the idle acres of the 

 South can be turned into highly productive and valuable agricultural 

 areas. 



S. Doc. 595. 63-2- 



