Evening star., 1941-06-26
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

New England French-Canadians or
Arkansas hill billies may be the future
masters of America.
This was the prediction before the
American Association for the Advance
ment of Science here today of DR.. Carle
C. Zimmerman, Harvard University So
ciologist.
The time may come. he predicted.
when the Southern mountaineer Will
colonize New England because OF his
great virility compared with other ele-
ments of the population. At the same
time, he said, the only foreign" element
that is not losing its virility is that OF the
"Canuck" who has drifted across the
Maine and Vermont borders from
Quebec.
The Irish he discounted as only the
second wave of the first migration" who
happened to arrive a little later than
the Mayf1ower, differed from the popu-
lation they encountered only in religion,
and quickly fitted into the general pat
tern. He also discounted the poSsibili-
ties of the migrants from the east and
south of Europe who have been obliged
to overcome great language and cul-
tural barriers, and have lost much of
their natural vigor in the process.
New England, he pointed out, has
been the cradle of the population of much
of the Northern United States but the
first settlers were ill-adapted for the task
that lay ahead of them of forming
homogeneous country. The habit OF set
tlement in large villages and the pecu-
liar type of architecture developed from
the first, he said, leaves little doubt as TO
the section of England from which they
came-the extreme southeast, west and
northwest. There, from time imme-
morial the small family had been popu-
lar. Also the population was not nat
urally agricultural. The Puritans and
pilgrims were obliged to take to the land
for a time but took to trading and manu-
featuring as soon as possible.
Consequently, he said, there is evidence
that the population already was on the
decline by l7O0 and in 1900 each 1000
women in Massachusetts, gave birth to
only between 500 and 900 children-half
the rate of the rest of the country.
Divorces became easy. In l849 came
the famous omnibus law in Connecticut.
A judge was empowered to grant dl-
vorce for a large number Of specified
reasons and in addition 'for any other
cause" which seemed to him sufficient.
This, said DR.. Zimmerman, was the be-
ginning of Reno. but was thoroughly in
accord with the New England way of
life
Then came the Irish. They were, said
DR.. Zimmerman, Catholic Puritans,
delayed sector of the first colonization"
At first there were slight bars to their
absorption in the older population. They
became, for the most part, mill workers
and rapidly followed their predecessors
into manufacturing. trade and the pro-
fessions. Already, DR.. Zimmerman said,
the Irish birth rate is declining and the
race is becoming, like the Puritans be-
fore them, almost completely urbanized.
From the first they seldom took kindly
to the farmers.
Following them came the French
Canadian. Here, said DR.. Zimmerman,
'is rural type which has kept the
virility of the Europe of the Reforma-
ton" For a couple of centuries in Que
bee, he explained. the race kept its agri-
cultural tradition and its big families.
1t came across the border speaking
different language but yet with some
slight familiarity with English. The in
dividual had no abrupt transition from
his own culture, since he was able to
proceed slowly southwark in communi-
ties of his own people. As the result he
had no great barrier to overcome, and
yet kept his racial identity.
The LatinS and the Slavs, said DR..
Zimmerman, may be only a strange in
terlude. The barriers against them were
high and they have not been able to
overcome them to the point Of becoming
dominant anywhere.
The hill billy from the Southern
mountains, however, has very large
birthrate, Dr.. Zimmerman pointed out,
and is expanding rapidly in all direc-
tions. He fits naturally into all types
of American culture and has no Ian
guage barrier to overcome. In many
cases his ancestors were New Englanders
and it is quite likely that in few gen.
erations he will be ousting the Poles
and the Armenians from the farms
abandoned two generations ago by the
Yankees or the Irish.