The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1896-12-17
THURSDAY, DEC. II. 1896.
Bar Out the Illiterates.

Ia view of the fact that some of the
newspapers, in commenting on the re-
cent election, have intimated that the
foreign vote influenced the result OF
that election, we bog to scall at
tention to the fact that what most OF
the advocates of further restriction
want, and what the Lodge-Corliss bill,
shortly to come before the senate, aims
to accomplish, is not the exclusion OF
foreigners generally, but Of those who
are ignorant alike of their own Ian
guage, of an occupation, and of the
standards of living and character which
distinguish the American people.
Now, in regard to the recent cleo
ton, two things may be said: First, the
way a man will vote in particular
election is not test of his desirability
in other respects Second, bill like
the one proposed would have kept out
very small proportion of the foreign
born who voted in the recent election
either for gold or for silver, for Nc
Kinley or for Bryan.
Tt has been shown in the various
publications. on the immigration ques
ton that illiteracy and general I'M
desirablljty go together. The illiterate
are the SLav, Latin and Asiatic races
During the last fiscal year the average
dliiteracy Of immigrants from Austria
Hungary. Italy, Poland and Russia
was 4O.I per cent, while of those from
the United Kingdom, France, Germany
and Scandinavia it was only 81 per
cent.
Now, what part did the Slav, Latin
and Asiatic vote play in the recent
elections According to the census of
1890, .(part /, PIP, cxl, clxxvii,) if all
the males of voting age of those races
had been uaturalized and had voted in
the last election, the percentage which
their vote would have been of the total
vote would be as follows: United
States, 2.Gl; North Atlantic States,
3.O8; South Atlantic States, 05O; North
Central States, 254, South Central
States, O.6I; Western States, 500. But
not all these could have voted. BY the
census of 1890, (part III, PIP. GOO, 688)
of the Siav. Latin and Asiatic foreign
born ia. tue United States 800 per
cent. wers aliens. while of the British,
German aad Scandinavian only SO per
cent were aliens. The vote OF the
Stay. I,atla aud Asjatic elements OF
our population was. therefore, not over
Is ner ceut. of the total vote in the last
election. aad probably much less. 1t
is trIe that there has been a large I'M
mioratjon Of the Slav aud Latin peo-
pies during the last six years, and that
! asst wear they formed 81 per cent. OF
the total immigration. But 1t has oeen
shown both by census and by the tes-
fimony Of Che immigrants themselves
that thew do not go into the states
which were pivotal during the last
election, except to the city OF Chicago,
but cougregate on the Atlantic sea-
BOARD.
1t is therefore misleading to say that
the illiterate foreign-bOrn vote i'll the
recent election has any material bear
inc upon the question of excluding the
illiterate immigrants who are now pre-
senting themselves for admission. In
1880 the Slav and Latin immigration
was about one tenth of the total imml-
grafton; today it is more than half.
The people who built up the north and
west were the British, Irish, Germans
and Soandiuavians. These would be
practically unaffected by a reading and
writing test