The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-07-30
scANolNAvlANs AS CITIZENS.
Readily Adapt Themselves to Condi-
tions In Witch They Are Placed.


tions In Witch They Are Placed.
The great adnptabillty of the Scan
dinavlans To the circumstances and
customs Of their adopted country is ac-
knowlcdged on all sides. NhcI,ver
and wherever they have tran3pllntcd
Themselves, whether In England In the
ninth century, In Normandy in the
tenth, In Sicily in the eleventh. or in
America in the nincto nth, 5hc same
process of transformation has taken
place. No other people In all its his
tory has such II record. In the United
States they have eagerly learned Eng
llSh, and have quickly done So because
of its similarity to their own language
In structure aud vocabulary. or course
men who have come hithcr M adults
always prefer the old speech, and IN
some districts In the coulry and IN
scandinavian quarters of the cities IL
Will bc heard almost exclusively, be-
cause of the large numbers of the for
cign born. But the second generation
quite invariably choose English. and
many of them have forgotten the Ian
guagc of their fathers Al n town con
vcntion which | attended In 1904
In Illinois In large Swedish com
munlty the proceedings went on
smoothly In English for some time. I'M
I'll an elderly Swcdr became somewhat
puzzled AMI asked the chairman. u
young Swrdc. 10 explain the matter IN
swedish. From that point all motions
were given In Swedish. Remarks were
addressed To the chair In both Ian.
guagps.
In matters of religion Scandnavians
90 r'9''u peculiar Faculty in con-
forming 20 The bad American custorl of
multiplying denominations. In the
home countries. though There Is now
practically complete liberation, the cN-
istcncc of state church and an EplS-
cOpal organization have maintained a
good degree of uniformity. Neither of
these restraining influences has ever
operated in this country. There have
been no bishops TO cheek 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 better field In the church than in
politics. Before 1890, when three Ill.
visions united, there were five bodies
of Norwegian LuthrranS. while the
Danes were comfortable with two. AMI
the Swcdcs Jagged behind with only
! one. What the SwcdcS lack in Luth-
cranism they make up in "diSscnting
srcts," though none of them have been
converted in this country.
The statistics of intcmpcrancc and
illrgitimaCy, which are sometimes So
alarming In parts of the Scandinavian
countries, do not appear To find par
| allcl among ScandlnavianS in America.
But all such statistics are unSatisfac-
tory. ana frequently untruStworthy.
| Generalization is, therefore. unsafe.
There are drunkenness and illrgitimncy
am.ng them here. but | have not OBJ
served that II Is more difficult 10 main
tain order and dcccncy In n city like
Minneapolis with It's Norwcgians and
Swedes than in 81. Paul with It's Irish
aud Germans. OF the paupor and Grim
iual classes the Scandinavians have II
smaller proportion than any other alien
clement except the British. while Of the
insane, Judging from Minnesota. they
seem TO have Il larger percentage than
the Germans or British. Unfortunate
~ in ordinary statistics of this nature
the second generation Is usually pur
down ms native born with no hint as to
parcntagc beyond some pcculiarity of
uame.-Atlantic Monthly.