St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-05-01
The scandlnaylans in America.

The Scandinavlans in America.
K. c. Babcock writes of the Scandina-
vians in the May Atlantic OF their re.
lation to American life and institutions
he says:
1t is a suggestive fact that so large a
proportion of the Scandinavians are set
tied in the distinctively agricultural
states. A glance at map showing the
locations of the various foreign clements
of our population would increase the sig
nifcance by disclosing how much greater
that proportion is with the Scandina-
vians than with any other class of ifnmi-
grants. The most reliable figures OBJ.
tainable indicate that, of the Scandina-
vans, one out of four engages in agricul-
ture; of the Germans, one out of seven;
of the Irish, only one out of twelve. But
this fact alone must not be over-empha-
sized. 1t does not follow that immi.
grants are desirable because they choose
the country rather than the city. The
value OF the Scandinavians is that they
choose pursuit in which they excel.
In order to understand the conditions
and tendency of the generation of today,
something must be added from a close
study of these children of the north,
among the mountains of Norway, on the
broader fields of Sweden and Denmark,
in their towns, and by the all-surround-
ing sea. Any one who has investigated
the situation on both sides of the water
will realize that no class or section can
be neglected in such study, for the i'm
migrants have come from all grades of
society and from all parts of the three
countries. Many times, in various par
ishes and cities in Norway and Sweden,
have asked men, as met them, if they
had relatives or intimate friends settled
in America, and / cannot recall a single
negative answer. Peasants in out-of- the
way valleys in the Norwegian mountains
or in northern Sweden, fishermen, trades
men in the cities, editors, government
officials, and university professors,-al
gave me the same reply. Every class is
bound to America by the closest ties.
An excellent example of one of the Swe-
dish nobility settling in the United States
is found in the late Baron Nils Posse,
who was so well known in educational
circles. Not since the English immigra.
ton OF the seventt enth century has there
come to us such complete representation
of all classes of a civilized community.
The typical Swede is aristocratic, asser-
tive, fond of dignities; he is polite, viva
cious, bound to have good time with
out any far look into the future Yet he
is persistent, and capable ofgreat energy
and endurance. He is fond of music. In
literature his best work has been the
lyrics and epics Of BelIman and Teguer.
The typical Norwegian is, above all,
democratic. He is simple, severe, intense,
often radical and visionary. There lies
an unknown quantity of passion in him,
capacity Tor high, even turbulent en-
deavor, but rarely the qualities ola great
leader. He too is fond OF music, but with
a dramatic element. In his literature of
this century, even more than in his mu-
sic the dramatic predominates. The
towering figures of Bjornson and Ibsen,
great in both drama and novel, belong
not merely to Norway, but to the world.
The Dane is the Southerner of the Scan
dinavians, though still a conservative;
gay, but not to excess. He is preemi
nently a small farmer or a trader, ready
and easy-going, not given to great risks,
but quick to see bargain and shrewd in
making it. His interests have led him
out from his small kingdom in all direc-
tions, so that he, more than his brothers
to the north, has yielded to foreign in
fuences. His best literature has been
romantic.