The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-07-16
SCANDINAvIANS AS CITIZENS.
Readily Adapt Themselves to COndi-
tione in Which They Are Placed.

The great adaptability of the Sean
dinavians to the circumstances and
customs of their adopted country is ac-
knowledged on all sides. Whenever
and wherever they have tranaplanted
themselves, whether in England in the
ninth century, in Normandy in the
tenth, in Sicily in the eleventh, OF in
America in the ninete anth, the same
process of transformation has taken
place. No other people in all lis his
tory has such a record. In the United
States they have eagerly learned Ing
lish, and have quickly done SO because
of it's similarity to their own language
in structure and vocabulary. OF course
men who have come hither as adults
always prefer the old speech, and in
some districts in the country and in
Scandinavian quarters of the cities 1t
will be heard almost exclusively, be-
cause of the large numbers Of the for
eign born. But the second generation
quite invariably choose English, and
many of them have forgotten the Ian
guage of their fathers. At a town con-
ventiOn which l attended in 1894
in Illinois in a large Swedish COM
munity, the proceedings went on
smoothly in English for some time, I'M
til an elderly Swede became somewhat
puzzled and asked the chairman. a
young Swede. to explain the matter in
Swedish. From that point all motions
nro nj ynn in Swedish Rayn0rl<c Xynrp
addressed to the chair in both Ian
guages.
In matters of religion Scandinavians
have shown a peculiar faculty in con-
forming to the bad American custom of
multiplying denominations. In the
home countries, though there is now
practically complete liberation, the eX-
istence of a state church and an Epis-
copal organization have maintained d
good degree of uniformity. Neither of
these restraining influences has ever
operated in this country. There have
been no bishops to check the tendency
of diversity. Liberty to adopt any
creed and to change church relations at
will is freely used. The zeal of the
Norwegian in controversy has found
even a better field in the church than In
politics. Before 1890. when three di-
visions united. there were five bodies
of Norwegian Lutherans. while the
Danes were comfortable with two, and
the Swedes Jagged behind with only
one. What the Swedes lack in Luth-
eranism they make up in dissenting
~sects," though non Of them have been
converted in this country.
The statistics of intemperance and
illegitimacy, which are sometimes so
alarming in parts of the Scandinavian
countries, do not appear to find a par
allel among Sc~andinavianS in America.
But all such statistics are unsatiSfac-
tory, and frequently Enthusiastically.
Generalization is, therefore, unsafe.
There are drunkenness and illegitimacy
among them here, but l have not OBJ
served that it is more difficult to main
tain order and decency in a city like
Minneapolis with it's Norwegians and
Swedes than in st. Paul with its Irish
and Germans. OF the pauper and Grim
inal classes the Scandinavians have a
smaller proportion than any other alien
element except the British, while of the
insane, judging from Minnesota, they
seem to have a larger percentage than
the Germans or British. Unfortunate
ly in ordinary statistics Of this nature
the second generation is usually put
down as native born with no hint as to
parentage beyond some popularity of
name.-Atlantic Monthly.