The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-09-28


or a special part Of a country is In
proportion to what the population is.
The material. educational, moral and
religious condition Of a community
depends to great extent on the con-
dition and qualities Of the people who
live in the community.
II we examine some Of the quail
ties of the Norwegians, Swedes and
Danes think we shall find that they
are such that they have helped to
bring about the present conditions in
the northwest. l say "helped to bring
about because do not mean to
claim all the honor for the Scandi-
navians. When speak about the
part which the Scandinavians have
played in the development Of the
northwest l do not in any way mean
to belittle what others have done. But
l have been asked to speak of what
the Scandinavians have done, not
what people Of other nationalities
have accomplished.
Scandinavians are Industrious.
The Scandinavians are class OF
industrious and Woodworking men
and women. 1t is blessing to a
young man that he has been brought
up to work, that he has acquired the
working habit and that he has learned
to love work. A man who has ac-
uuired the working habit and who
has learned to love work can not be
idle. Besides, hard work does not
only develop strong muscles but 1t
also develops strong will power and
endurance. The Scandinavian peoples
have been brought up to work. Es-
pecially in the case of the Norweg-
ians and the Swedes their countries
are such that they had to work, II
/ they wanted to live. 1t was case OF
root hog, or die" And 1t has not hurt
them any. 1t has made them strong
| both physically and mentally. And
when the Scandinavians came over to
this country, they did not come here
! to put up peanut stands, they came
here to work. And a man who has
fair intellectual ability and who is
willing to work can not help sue
ceeding in this country, for there Is
no country. in. the world where there
are such opportunities as in this
country. The greater part Of the
; Scandinavians come to this country
with nothing but two empty hands.
But Uncle Sam said to them: 4 give
you, absolutely free of charge, 100
acres of land; all ask Of you Is that
you build yourself home on 1t and
that you pillow 1t, harvest 1t and pock-
ct the profits A man who cannot
succeed under such circumstances
we'll, he Is not Scandinavian. When
the Scandinavians settled in the Red
river valley they did not file on their
quarter section with the intention OF
putting up q claim shanty and stay
ing on the land the least possible
time allowed by the law and then
prove up, sell out and move to some
other place. They came with the in
tention Of making it their home, and
a home means something quite differ
emit to the development of commune
ty from place where man simply
stays while he is looking for chance
to sell out. The scandinavians have
built homes in the northwest, and II
navians have contributed to the de-
velopment Of the northwest along
these lines, you may visit any Scan
dinavian settlement and look at the
farms and the homes.
The great danger now to the Scan
dinavians In the northwest are the
riches which they are accommodating
and the Injuries which they are en-
| joying. Will the son who is riding
to town in an automobile develop the
manly qualities which his father who
drove a pair of oxen possessed?
Religious Influences Wholesome.
I think / dare say that the religious
and moral influence of the Scandi-
navians in the northwest has been
wholesome. The Scandinavians as a
rule did not bring very much with
them to this country. But in their
emigrant chests were almost invari-
ably found a bible, prayer book, a
hymn book and cathechism. And
the best part of 1t was that they did
not only have these books in the chest
but the great majority had a goodly
portion Of the contents In their heads
and many in their hearts.
| do not mean to say that the Scan
dinavians are more religious than
other people who have settled in the
northwest, but there is one thing
which l wish to call attention to in
this connection. In this country
\ church work is largely confined to