The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-06-07
NUMBER %.
Our Foreign Population
lFrou N. PitsaburEh ComnsrelAl.I /

] Fron the Ptt4burBh ComLnsEeiAA
A writer in the Cincinnati VoLketpeuI.d
has been exploring the census reports for
! interesting results, touching the most i'm
! portant national elements Of the American
population among smployIaents. One con
spicuouS result he finds to be that the
Anglo American shuns rough Or hard work,
and IN far a possible turns to his own sd
vantage the labor Of others The German
prefers work with his hands, but work
which makes some demand upon the brains,
such as manufactures and the mechanical
arts afford IrishmeR do the heavy work,
showing y preference for the pick and the
spade. and yet very many Irish, quite as
many Of them, indeed, as of the Germans,
become dealers, and an astonishing num-
Der Of them find employment in the work
ing of the railroads. The strength Of the
German element, immigrants and their
children, Is estimated at some what more
than 10, 900, 900; that Of the Irish element
at somewhat less, and that of the native
American, negroes included, at nearly H.
OOO, 900. Of 5,OO0,O 900 Of farmers (uslng
round numbers) nearly 300, 900 arO Ger
mans, and 1873, 900 are Irish. From
comparison ~ these numbers it appears
that immigrants Of both natiOnalities be-
take themselves more generally to the
cities and towns than Is commonly sup
posed, as in proportion to the relative mum
bers Of the population there ought to be at
least 600 900 Of German and Irish farm
ers. Ii IA also well known that Germans
are more partial than Irish To- farm life
In Wisconsin, the State which has the
largest German population, they form the
great majority Of the 10000 farmers
There are IA, 900 Irish farmers IN the State
In Ohio there are 800, 900 farmers, of whom
q, 900 are immigrant Germans, and only
Z 800 Irish are given
How little taste Americans have for
what is called service Is fact universally
known, while the Irish in their natural
state are known to be impartial to the EN-
ployment. They also possess in their
original state excellent qualifications for IT,
But, alas in republican America they are
apt to lose both the taste and the aptitudes
According to our authority, of a million ~
servants in the United States AZ, 900 are
Germans and l20, 900 are Irish 1t is
guessed that the negroes, not separately
specified, make up three-fourths Of the rest
In trade and the transmission Of goods
So, OOO persons are employed, ~ whom
ll2, 0OO are Germans and ll9, 900 are Irish
In the ecclesiastical state 1t seems thar
ne ther Germans or Irish make much show
relatively, as Of 43, 900 clergymen. only
2. TAG are Germans and about II 900 are
lrishmen. OF the >, 2SG journalists, 3l4
are Germans and Ia Irish Dy birth. Our
German contemporary feels at liberty tn
exult III the fact that IN the entire country
there are only 81 German "shOwmen ana
showwOmen "a fact which seems to prove
that Germans hold slightly by hunlbug
OF l20, 900 teachers, only 5000 are Ger
mans and 2,0OO lrlsh; while OF =, oGU musl-
clans, 2, 400 are Germans and 800 irish
Ii is often made a reprOach To Germans
that they like the business Of keeping ss-
looms II appears, however, from the
census that Of the 81 900 drinking house
keepers only III 900 are Germans, and only
4,OOo are Irish. vi the IA 900 barkeepers
3, 5OO are German and 1893 are Irish.
of the million OF more day laborers
229, 900 are Irish and 96, 900 are Germans.
and uf the Ia 600 railroad labOrers 81, 900
are Irish, and 800 are Germans The
contrast Is significant. as 1T shows that the
Germans, thanks to their schooling are
less generally than the other nationality
compelled TO enga5s in work utterly rude
and unskllled