LeRoy Hodges

“ It becomes harder to carelessly class them as “undesirable immigrants,” for even the most prejudiced of us in the South are forced to recognize in them some merit, as they have proved that they can do on southern farms what we ourselves are apparently unable to do.
A deeper feeling of sympathy also awakens in us as we realize in our more sober moments that with the coming of the Slavs to the South we are recruiting in part the army upon which we must depend to build the greater nation through the building of a greater South. ”

“ What the South needs more than an increased railroad traffic is the redevelopment in the breasts of her people of loyalty to the high ideals of right, individual liberty, and the honorableness of unselfish, constructive public service. ”

“ Instead of the Dutch and Flemish, English, French, German, Irish, Scandinavian, Scotch, and Welsh home seekers of yesterday, the tide of immigration now casts upon our shores Slavs, Magyars, Greeks, Russian Hebrews, north and south Italians, Syrians, Turks, and other people from southeast Europe who are emigrating to better their economic condition. ”

“ We begin to see that we of the South owe these people a certain duty. The best interests of the Nation, as well as those of the South, demand that as they come to make their homes among us, we meet them with kindness, with fairness, and with an appreciative understanding of their needs. ”

“ The new citizens who come to live in the South must respond to these ideals. They must come to be southerners, and in being southerners, to be truly Americans; they must come, accepting established institutions; and must join in the national life of the South as home makers and as guardians of the integrity of the white race.
By actual demonstration the Bohemians and their Slavish brothers have proved that with proper treatment, and when accepted as men at a man’s worth, they can measure up to these requirements. ”

“ To-day the colony enjoys the full confidence of the people of southeast Virginia, and in the city of Petersburg and their respective counties they are very highly regarded.
Slavs they are, every one of them; Slavs, however, who are proud of their origin, and who are zealous in their efforts to command the respect of their fellow citizens—Slavs who are loyal, patriotic Americans. They are respectful of the traditions of the old South, and are eager, active builders of the new South. ”

“ Among the Slovaks, due to adverse local conditions and governmental restrictions placed upon them by both the Austrians and the Magyars, the number who can read and write is possibly as low as 40 per cent.
As a people, however, the Slovaks have never had a real chance to properly develop themselves or to make any noticeable progress, for what the various European governments have not denied them their religion has. It is a well-known fact, for instance, that among the Protestant Slovaks in Europe the percentage of illiteracy is as low as among the Bohemians. ”

“ In Prince George County, which alone has about 1,200 Slavs, of which possibly 40 per cent are Bohemians and the rest Slovaks, the largest foreign population of any of the counties in the group, is found the highest percentage of improved land. This is true in face of the fact that no more than 69 per cent of the total land area of the county is in farm lands. For instance, the improved farm lands compose just a little over 48 per cent of the county’s total farm area, while in none of the other south-side counties does the proportion exceed 38 per cent. ”

“ The effect of the poor whites and negroes moving from the farms has been partly counteracted by the influx of farmers from the Northern and Western States, and by small groups of immigrants who are leaving the industrial centers of the North and Middle West to go on the land. Neither of these movements, however, is sufficient to meet the demand for industrial labor in the South, nor to people our millions of vacant acres. The future economic development of the South is therefore dependent on immigration. ”

“ In the whole colony, which is represented to a certain extent in all of the so-called nine south-side counties, including Amelia, Brunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Nottoway, Prince George, Surry, and Sussex, there are possibly as many as 3,000 Slavs. Slovaks predominate, and, it is interesting to note, they hold a place equally as high as the Bohemians. There are a few Russian Poles here and there, particularly in Surry and Sussex Counties, and a few scattering families of Lithuanians and Slovenians. All of these people are engaged in agriculture. ”

“ The Federal Bureau of Immigration reports that thousands of the recent immigrants return to Europe each year after a residence in this country of from about 5 to 20 years, with, in some cases, large savings to invest in Europe. These people are returning abroad to invest their American-made money in the agricultural lands of Europe, for which they have to pay from $200 to $500 per acre, without any real knowledge of the agricultural opportunities in the South. ”

“ Upon entering the United States they turn to the mills, factories, and mines to take advantage of the high wages offered, although the majority of them have been reared as tillers of the soil.
The recent immigrants are primarily agriculturists. They labor and save under the most discouraging conditions and make the utmost sacrifices in order that they may some day return to the land. Among the Slavs this desire for land ownership dominates their daily life and gives them inspiration to stand the fierce competitive struggle in the industrial centers. ”

“ Whether the South will put forth an effort to properly people her vacant, man-hungry acres or not, sooner or later she must face the consequences of an alien immigration if she would fully attain that industrial and commercial supremacy for which our leaders are clamoring and which destiny seems to have ordained. A greater industrial development of the South is coming as surely as the day follows the night. ”

“ Business men of Petersburg will not resent, in the sense of becoming , the slurs cast upon our “Bohemians” by this speaker, but will regret that he failed to inform himself more accurately before expressing his opinion. Action was also immediately taken in the matter by the Chamber of Commerce of Petersburg which has resulted in a satisfactory explanation from the incautious visiting speaker. A most hearty public indorsement of the Slavs has been expressed, and all classes of citizens have united in voicing their approval of them as agricultural settlers for the south-side Virginia counties. ”

“ All American students of European history also know the story of the ancient glory and the final fall of the Polish Empire. They know too of the exploits of Count Casimir Pulaski, the exiled Polish soldier and famous general of the American Revolution; and many Americans are sufficiently informed to look back with pride to the services rendered America in the Revolution by Thaddeus Kosciusko, the great Polish patriot. ”

“ Only a great people could build and maintain a city like the modern Prague—that splendid modern-ancient municipality of more than 600,000 inhabitants. There we find, in spite of the germanizing policies of the overlords of the Bohemians, a genuine Bohemian city. Possibly no more than 7 per cent of its population now are Germans. ”

“ This colony forms an independent group, and visiting among themselves is almost the only form of enjoyment indulged in on account of the isolation of the colony, although the younger people occasionally hold dances. The Slovaks associate freely with the Americans in the county and in the towns when they are abroad, and no prejudice exists against them in any part of Arkansas. As a race and as farmers they are highly respected.
There are about 75 men of voting age in the colony, over 90 per cent possessing full naturalization papers. ”

“ Many of the settlements which have been established since 1890 are the result of a shift in population from the older colonies—the settlements on the “Panhandle” are a direct result of this tendency.
Bohemians throughout the Texas colonies send their children to the district schools. In some of the towns a parochial school is also maintained. Considering the settlements as a whole, however, school attendance is comparatively poor. A very small percentage of the children pursue their education beyond the grammar grades, although a few are found as teachers in the public schools. ”

“ It is therefore possibly the Bohemians, with the possible exception of the Slovaks, more than any of the other Slavish races, about whose national, racial, and literary history so little is known and who at the same time command such an interest among the people of the South. This interest in the Bohemians on the part of the southern people is intensified by their coming among us in such large numbers as agricultural settlers. ”

“ Instead of the Polish peasants who had emigrated from Europe direct to the agricultural regions of this country seeking permanent homes, the movement became an immigration of Poles to the agricultural regions from the cities and industrial communities of the United States, where they had been engaged in the coal and ore mines, quarries, steel mills, and other industrial establishments. ”

“ The erection of iron and steel plants, sugar refineries, tobacco factories, railroad, power, and lighting plants, chemical and woodworking establishments, and the development of coal and iron mining has attracted the native white farmers and mountaineers from the small farms and remote rural districts to the industrial centers. The resulting urban development has also lured the negroes from the country to the cities, where they are annually growing less efficient as a dependable labor supply. ”

“ Homes of the Poles in Texas are neat and are often comfortably furnished. They mingle with other races very little and seldom intermarry, but maintain a rather high moral standard, and local merchants testify to their honesty. ”

“ These people are largely unskilled laborers from the industries and small farms of Europe, where the highest wage is small compared with the lowest industrial wage paid in the United States. Nearly 75 per cent are males, while 83 per cent are between the ages of 14 and 45 years, being producers rather than dependents. ”

“ Let us assure ourselves, then, that there will be no “immigration problem” in the South, for it is within our power to avoid these so-called dangers if we will only face the situation squarely and properly. ”

“ In doing this we would not be inviting economic ruin and social degradation, as certain chronic pessimists and political demagogues would have us believe, for the success of the immigrant agricultural colonies already established in the South show that under proper conditions and encouragement the recent immigrants, especially the Slavs, make very desirable citizens. ”

“ Karnes County includes Panna Marya, the oldest permanent Polish colony in the United States. Here they are chiefly cotton farmers. About one half own their farms, while the other half rent the land they till under the “cropper” system.
They usually produce a much larger yield of cotton per acre than the average native Texan. This is possible, first, because the Poles work in the fields themselves, while the native Americans generally employ negroes to do their work ”

“ On all sides they enjoy the confidence of and command the respect of the Virginians—they are foster children of the Republic who are growing into the fullness of true citizenship under the care of the old mother State. ”

“ Because, too, of the subordinate position of the Crown lands of Croatia and Slavonia within the Hungarian Kingdom, there is not the same interest centering around the Croatians, or the Slovaks for that matter, as around a people possessing a more pronounced national integrity. ”

“ Located 12 miles from the nearest railroad on the open prairies, the place has no natural advantages for settlers. On the whole, however, this colony has done remarkably well. In some instances, during the early years of the colony, the men were forced to return east and work a part of the year in the mines in order to support their families and to secure the necessary funds for the improvement of their farms. ”

“ In these colonies there is also a marked inclination for social intercourse, and the monotony of farm work is frequently broken with picnics, dances, and other social diversions. These Bohemians are fond of music and dancing. ”

“ One very prominent rural church crowns a hilltop in the midst of a wilderness where the land as far as the eye can reach is only sparsely settled—not more than 20 farms are visible. As widely scattered as this congregation is, it furnished $15,000 in cash toward building a brick church. ”