The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-01-09
MAKING AMERICANS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS


ing article in the current number of the Century
magazine entitled "American and Immigrant
Blood, Study of the Social Effects of Immigra-
tion" that should be read by every citizen of the
Mesaba range and communities everywhere where
the foreign element is large and where it's Aneri-
canization is a problem, as it is here. The following
is an extract from it. 1t is startling true of very
many Mesaba range communities.
"By their presence the foreigners necessarily
lower the general plane of intelligence self-res-
traint refinement, orderness and efficiency.
With them of course comes increase of drink
and of the crimes from drink. The great
of men among them leads to sexual immortality
and diffusion of private diseases. A primitive
midwifery is practiced and the ignorance of the
poor mother fills the cemetery with tiny graves.
The women go about their homes barefoot and
their and clothing reek with the odors of
cooking and uncleaniness The standards of
modesty are Elizabethan. The miners battle in
the kitchen before the children and the females
of the household and women soon to become
mothers appear in public unconcerned. Many
of the foreigners attend church regularly, but
their noisy amusements Danish the quiet Sun
day. The foreign men, three-eights of whom
illiterate, pride themselves their physical
strength, rather than their skill and will
ing to take jobs requiring nothing but Drawn
barriers of speech, education and religious
faith split the people into unsympathetc even
hostile camps. The Slavic thirst multiplying
saloons up to one for every 26 families, is
municated to Americans and results in an in
crease of liquor crimes among all classes. In
like familiarity with the immodesties of
the foreigners coarsens the native born"
piled to anthracite town of 5000 in the Pen
nesyvania coal regions, but with some slight mod
fications they the startling, true story of prac
tically every town and city on the Mesaba range
We believe that Professor Ross had in mind the
city of Virginia and ex-Superintendent of Schools
Lafayette Bliss when he wrote the following
"In polyglot mining town of Minnesota is
superintendent who has made the public
school bigger factor in Amercanzation than
have found it anywhere else. The law gives
him the children until they Is, and he holds
them all. His school buildings civic and
social centers. Through the winter, in his high
school auditorium which seats 1900 persons, he
gives of entertainment which is self
supporting, although his talent for single
evening will cost much $780, BY means of
the 400 foreigners in his night schools he has
grip the voters which his foes have learned to
dread. Under his lead the community has
broken the mine boss collar and won real self
government. The people trust him and bring
him their troubles He has jurisdiction over
everything that effect the children of the
town and his conception is wide. WELDING both
legal and moral authority, he is, it were,
corporation president and medieval bshoproll
ed into
"This sets no limit to the transforming
power of the public school, He insists that the
right sort of schooling will not only alter the
preston, but will change the shape of the
skull and the bony formation of the face. In his
Office is beautiful taboret made by a "wid boy"
within year after he had been brought in
kicking and screaming. He SCOTS at the fear of
lack of patriotism in the foreign-born and their
children. He knows just how to create that
sentiment He has flag drills and special pro-
grams, and in the Fourth of July parade and
the Decoration Day procession the schools have
always fine float. He declares he build
human beings to order and will not worry about
immigration so long the public school is given
a chance at the second generation"
In the foregoing truth and rot are about even
ly mixed. Mr.. Bliss made fine record as sup
erintendent of the schools of this city and for
it he is cheerfully given credit. Virginia is far
from being polygot mining town. No one here
ever welded the powers of a corporation presi-
dent and medieval bishop rolled into one. The
mine boss collar is largely a myth. Time was
when the mining interests attempted mistaken
domination of local school and municipal affairs,
but that has practically passed entirely here and
it is passing rapidly in every community on the
range The mining companies were not co-erced
into their present attitude. They have of recent
years realized that sentiment and business NAV