The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-01-28
Home EvangeIizatiOn.

At time when many good people
are paying money out of their abund-
ance to the support of Christian mis-
sions in foreign lands, it is interesting
to notice and proper to commend the
efforts of the executive committee of
the Lackawanna Presbytery to locate,
in this vicinity, home mission for the
secular as well as spiritual regenera-
tion of people of foreign tongues. We
understand the purpose of this new
mission to contemplate, at first, the
instruction of these speakers of for
eign languages in the use of the Eng
lish tongue, to the end that they may
eventually fit themselves and likewise
their children to become useful as we'll
as moral citizens of this, their adopted
country; and also progressive members
of the Christian church.
There are, in the upper coal fields,
and near by, probably about $4,000 per-
sons who do not know how to speak,
read or write the language in which
the laws that nominally govern them
are framed. The two counties of Lack
awanna and Luzerne had according to
the census of 1890, a total population
of 3iS, ,29l, of which 1l0504 were foreign
born. By analyZing the 25,SO5 males
and 20,j95 females in our own county
who belonged to this class, We may ap-
prOXimate to an idea of what percent
age of these residents do not under
stand English. The census shows that
2S4 We're born in Canada or Newfound-
land; in South America; in Cuba or
the West Indies; 14,524 in Ireland; 7,547
in England; 1,27O in Scotland; SSH in
Wales; 7,2i2 in Germany; 1859 in Aus
tria; 13 in Holland; 3 in Begium 4l0
in Switzerland; Il in Norway; 100 in
Sweden; 46 in Denmark S53 in Russia;
1913 in Hungary; y, in Bohemia; 7S1 in
Poland; 14l in France; 1909 in Italy;
in Spain; in China; in Australia, and
So born at sea or in countries not speci-
fled. In Luzerne county, the number
of Austrians was 3,62S; Russians, 1856;
Hungarians, 5,1O4; Poles, :, ,40S, and Ital-
ians, 1861. 1t is no reflection upon
these foreign-born residents to say that
the number Of them who are unskilled
in the English speech comes chiefly
from Austria, Italy, Russia, Hungary,
and Poland. Many Austrians, some
Italians and a few Hungarans and
Poles are educated in their own Ian
guage but not in English. Remember
ing that there are, in addition to these
foreign-born persons, almost as many
again who, while born in this country,
of foreign-born parentage, are not yet
being generally educated in the English
language, it seems to US a safe con-
clusion that there are, altogether, TO-
600 non-English-using residents Of the
region included within the bounds of
the Lackawanna Presbytery.
Up to this time the burden of in
structing these people in English has
been assumed almost exclusively by the
Catholic church. That church has done
valiant service in this direction, with
out flourish Of trumpet or effort to at
tract attention. We would be the last
to underrate the good influence of the
Catholic church upon this yet unassim-
ilated portion of our population. Yet
1t is growing evident, from day to day,
that the Protestant churches have a
larger duty inthis matter than they have
hitherto discharged. If instead of pay
ing quite so much heed to the nude
nomads of mid-Africa or to the dusky
denizens of Patagonia the various
Protestant denominations, either in
conjunction with their Catholic neigh
bors or separately. would do what they
could to hasten the incorporation of
this now undigested home element into
the body polite, we are radical enough
to believe that the net result would,
in a few years, be infinitely better for
all concerned.