St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-05-28
Letter from Wisconsin.


land, very different, at least, from that
of the country PORTIONS of the Eastern
States. The inhabitants of New Eug-
land are very largely of American ma
tivity, SO largely so that the native
American element mould almost entire
~ the character and manners of the
people. But here in the West, all this
is very different. Almost every Euro
pcau nation has furnished its full quota
t" the swelling population of the United
States. and these cmigiants have sought
houses on our broad and fertile pr;iiries
The northern nations of Europe. espe-
cially, are very fully represented in the
west Swedes. Norwegians. and Irish,
verywhcre abound. but, most numer-
Gus of all the foreigners who have come
to America i'll search of homes. are the
subjects of Kaiser William.-the solid,
substantial. GermauS
One can not travel far in any direc-
ton through the West even in distinct
lively American communities. without
finding a foreign element. Yet the
tendency seems to he on the part of
immigrants. tor those of the same ma
tionality To settle together. Thus YOU
will find Norwegian settlements. Swedc
neighh"rhnod>. and whole counties set
tied 10y the omui present German. 81
fan IL my observation goes. this di>po-
>iti"m nt he people of the same country
To make homes in the same neighhor-
hoods i very evident and | think the
same characteristic will he seen through
ont the West. While this is natural
enough. cannot help thinking It is in
some respects unfortunate tor the c"un-
try.
These Foreigners. who come To the
| uited states for homes. bring with
them the habits and customs of THEN
native countries. customs and habits
entirely an Americana. Now when they
locate in American communities. they
very soon lose their di>tiurtivrlv ma
ti"nal traits and MANNERS. and a>,ume
th">,. Of our Own people. This Is cspc-
ritlll true of the children Ii WAS my
good fort Iuc t" visit recently the pub
lie >chuol~ OF Milwaukee. of which
more than halt the inhabitants aIe
Germans. aud the only way III which
could Distinguish he children of foreign
parents WAS toy their names. nothing
III looks. manners. nr recitltiun> iudi-
eating Il difference OF nationality. But
this j. very different where the iui Gig Il
element in any locality i large enough
t" mould the character of tho rommun-
". La such INSTANCES. the people re
tam with great prr>istcncN the WAY
and even language of FathcTlaud.
know this L" he peculiarly true of the
Germans. The eastern counties of
Wisconsin are largely some counties
almost exclusively settled 10y Tcut"us.
Now an AmeIican. unless he under
stands German i, IS entirely unable
To talk with the people OF these com
muniIies rs he would he with Il native
of Bornen. And vet these Gcrmaus
have been III Wisconsin many of them
twenty-five or thirty Years. These
people are German. they talk German.
they teach their own language eXclu-
>ivelN To their children. and their schools.
when they have amy. are German. In
fact they are as completely Ttutonic in
habit and sentiment rs before. they left
the land of Bismarck. la such locali-
ties. it will be generations before the
foreign element becomes AmericaniIed.
And for this reason. think it is untor-
i'll many of our Western communities.
Sunday drinking. schutzentests.
and parades. and Il general disregard OF
all that Americans held sacred in con
nection with the sabbath. are some OF
the evils that have resulted from thi.
preponderance of the foreign elements
i'll many parts of the West. And these
things are to be deplored.
Yet in spite of some customs so dis
tasteful To Americans. the Germans
have many of the qualities of excellent
citizens. They are generally industrious
and economical. inclined to make and
keep money. Although they drink large
amount of lager-heer, there are few
drunkards among them. They are Il
peaceahle and lawabiding class OF
people usually they come t.
laws regulating the sale of beer and the
observance of Sunday. BY such lsgis-
lation the Teuton is touched in a tender
part. and his ideas of personal liberty
aroused. With him liquor laws are a
dead letter, and no Temperance crusade
will ever he able to reform German
community.
The winter throughout Wisconsin
has been of unusual severity There
was an uncommon amount of snow
with much intensely cold weather
The spring. too. has been cold, wet and
backward. The first day of MAY tive
inches of snow covered the ground
giving the landscape an aspect worthy
of January itself. Within the past few
days. however, a change has taken
place. Bright. clear days, and sun.
shine. full of promises of summer. ha.
wrought Il marvellous transformation
in the face of nature. The fields hav,
grown green, and trees and shrubs. re