The Saint Paul globe., 1903-07-26

Seventy five thousand persons in
Chicago over the age of ten years are
unable to speak English in the sense
that speaking English is recognized
among the masses of the people. Or
dinarily to speak English is regarded
as a knowledge of the language Suffi-
cient to enable the person SO speaking
it to associate in a business and social
way with the English-speaking people
of his environment That $4,000 such
persons have not this use of the Eng
lish language in Chicago becomes one
of the most suggestive features in the
cosmopolitanism of the city,
New York Alone Leads Chicago.
Compared with Chicago, no other
city in the United States, save New
York, can approach these figures. AS
stated both New York state and Penn
sylvania have nonEngliSh speaking
populations far in excess of those of
Illinois, and even Texas, With f0e,975,
approaches closely Illinois 105,398 who
have no knowledge of the language of
the country. New York state is in the
lead of all others, however. with, 226,-
$50 who do not speak English. though
above the age of ten years.
Compared with the 1880 nom Eng
lish speaking residents of Chicago, the
other great cities show: In New York
city, 1903; Philadelphia. $1,000; Buff
falo, 1925; Cleveland, 22,535; Pitts
burg, 1878; Milwaukee. 24,610 San
Francisco, IL, ,430, and Fall River, Mass,
10,146.
Women Outnunaber the Men.
Taking the $4,000 persons in Chicago
who are without knowledge Of the Eng
lish language, it is interesting stos OBJ
serve in the figures how the needs of
J,rae Il
him the knowledge of@English out of
all proportion to the women. Thirty
thousand of these people ignorant Of
English are men, While 45,000s'of them
are women. IT'S ir9tow oopS ,ta'ilt-.s
Among the women, thousands of
whom become domestics. there is moth
ing to induce the learning of the lam
guage," said a student OF conditions in
Chicago. "In many of the small adVer
tisements seeking domestics you will
find at the bottom of the ads the hne,
German preferred or Swedish pre-
ferred.' In nearly every such case this
is to be taken as a distinct notice to
the applicant that she need not know
English when she comes or undertake
to learn it after she comes. This is the
main fact accounting for the sharp
contrast between the men who know
English and the women who know it"
Above all, those ages at which the
greater number are listed, according to
the United States census, are the ages
between twenty four and forty four
years, when the individual is of most
worth, economically, to the commu
nifty.
"Of course this is the age period
when most immigrants are moved to
come to America continued the stu
dent "They come here almost direct
ly from European ports without hav-
ing any schooling in English. and with
little or no preparation for assimila-
tion. Settling down among their own
nationalities. it is frequently the case
that the requirement of the English
Germans Learn Most Readily.
"Of all the European countrymen
who come to the United States igno-
rant of English, the Germans take
most readily to the task of learning IL
in the quickest time. This comes from
the fact that more trained artisans
come from Germany than from any
other of the nom English speaking
countries of Europe. The fact that the
German takes in such large field Of
endeavor in the United States makes
it all the more necessary that he set
to work to learn the language. In
many cases it is absolutely necessary
that he master the language before he
can hope for employment at ALL
"This widespread knowledge of the
arts and trades causes the German
immigrants to scatter in the cities. In