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 BALKAN SLAVS 
 
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 in oAmerica and a4broad 
 
 
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 An address delivered 
 
 'By 
 
 Alexander Grau Wandmayer 
 
 formerly Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the Ukrainian Government 
 
 with the International Commission for the 
 
 Liquidation of Austria 
 
 before students of racial backgrounds 
 at 
 
 ^^B 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 JULY 28th, 1922 
 
The Balkan Slavs 
 
 in America and 
 
 Abroad 
 
 An address delivered 
 
 By 
 ALEXANDER GRAU WANDMAYER 
 
 tormerly Commissioner Plenipotentiary of the Ukrainian Qovernment 
 
 with the International Commission for the Liquidation of Austria 
 
 before students of racial backgrounds at 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 July 28thy ig22 
 

 By Tiransfer 
 
 APR 3 1923 
 
 Max Schmetterling, Printer, 42 Bond St., New York 
 
I have been invited to speak on Balkan Slav life and culture, 
 a subject on which information is not readily obtainable in books 
 or other publications. It has also been suggested that I omit 
 politics and history — an extremely difficult task. We are living 
 in an age of print and communication, and no writer, speaker 
 or student who believes that his observations and speculations 
 are original, can be sure that the very thing he may say, has not 
 previously been observed and said by others. Moreover, it is 
 no less difficult to speak of the life and culture of races and 
 nations, without alluding, at least, to their history and political 
 life. Is not the character of a race or a nation the product of 
 its history and the nature of its soil? And is not national char- 
 acter influenced by politics? Has the world at large any fair 
 idea as to what extent Prussia was influenced by the political 
 ideals and teachings of Treitschke, Fichte, Bismarck, or List? 
 Or, to use a better illustration : compare English life and culture 
 under Victoria, with English life and customs under Cromwell! 
 
 Balkan Slav life, social attitude, habits, folk-lore and music 
 were and are, to this day so interwoven with politics, that it is 
 almost impossible to draw an accurate picture of these nations 
 and races without touching upon their historical past and the 
 political athmosphere prevailing in those countries today. The 
 rough and changeable climate of the Balkan mountains; and the 
 prolific soil whicih, nevertheless, is tillable only with great efifort, 
 in some parts of those wonderful and wildly romantic regions, 
 have been instrumental in rearing and nurturing of races as hard 
 and tenacious as their rocky native hills. The Balkan Slavs have 
 ■been for centuries the puppets of Turkish, Magyar and Russian 
 intrigues; for centuries they have been oppressed by the Turk, 
 and often decimated by merciless invaders. Yet it was their great 
 cohesiveness and unyielding character which enabled them to 
 withstand unspeakable cruelties and to escape extermination. 
 
 The Balkan Slavs represent the most remarkable racial blend- 
 ing, and it was this blend of various Indo-European and Asiatic 
 
tribes, that imprinted upon the Balkan Slavs many unsympathetic 
 as well as many admirable traits. To the students of ethno- 
 graphy, the Balkan is a very interesting field, indeed; and it is 
 amazing that many a traveler — ignorant of the language of these 
 various races, their habits, characteristics and aspirations, past 
 and present — undertakes to write books and articles on these 
 peoples. Such travelers often come to the Balkans with pre- 
 conceived opinions, according to their political affiliations, and 
 — consequently — ^their views are either pregnant with contempt 
 or undue praise and admiration. 
 
 We must bear in mind that the Balkan Slavs, in spite of their 
 continual gravitation toward European and, particularly, West- 
 ern civilisation, are intrinsically Orientals. (Above all, it is 
 Byzantine culture, the Greek Oriental Church, which has left 
 to this day its deep imprint on the minds of the Balkan Slavs 
 whose language is Slavonic, although a very considerable number 
 of them are of Mongolo-Tatar origin. It would lead too far to 
 go into the history of the Balkan races, particularly as this is not 
 the object of this paper. My purpose is to answer the following 
 questions : 
 
 ( 1 ) Who are those immigrants who come here in such large 
 numbers from the Balkans, and whom we know as Balkan Slavs ? 
 
 (2) What is their actual or potential contribution to Amer- 
 ican culture and the enrichment of American life? 
 
 (3) What are the qualities and characteristics that prevent 
 their adjustment to American life? 
 
 (4) What are the conditions which now interfere with an 
 intelligent appreciation of the Balkan Slav group in the United 
 States ? 
 
 (5) What, therefore, should constitute the emphasis in the 
 educational program outlined for them? 
 
 I shall have to speak, then, of Serbs, Croatians, Slovenes, Bos- 
 niaks, Bulgars, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins, Roumanians and 
 Dalmatians, although all these races and nations are not the 
 only inhabitants of that Eastern portion of Europe known as the 
 Balkan Peninsula. Apart from the nations above mentioned, 
 there are also Turks, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Albanians, 
 Gypsies, and other tribes in the Balkan, though — with the ex- 
 
ception of the great percentage of Turks — ^their number is neg- 
 ligeable. 
 
 I shall not attempt to vouch for the exactness of the various 
 population statistics given below. 
 
 The country known today as Jugo-Slavia, or the Kingdom 
 of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, has a population of about 
 14,000,000 and is composed of Serbia, Croatia, Slavonia, Dal- 
 matia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Istria, Montenegro and a large part 
 of former Hungary. 
 
 We see, therefore, that the country embodies a mixture of 
 races and nationalities, united by one common language (although 
 the Slovenian idiom slightly differs from the Serbian or Croatian). 
 There is, however, a prominent cultural disftiinction between 
 Serbs and Croats, Dalmatians and Slovenes. The Serbs have a 
 more Byzantinian culture; they are all members of the Greek- 
 Orthodox Church, and they write and print with the characters 
 of the old Slavonic or Cyrillic alphabet. The Croatians, Sloven- 
 ians and Dalmatians, on the other hand, are Roman Catholics, 
 and have used the Latin alphabet for centuries. But almost 
 all races of the Jugo-Slavia of today seem to be of the same 
 stock. In general, they are tall and nimble, with well-shaped 
 heads, oval faces, and of light complexion. They are buoyant, 
 vivacious and intelligent. 
 
 This cannot be said of the Bulgarians and Roumanians who 
 are generally short, sturdy, and of swarthy complexion. Their 
 skulls are short, thick, and strong, and they are of rugged health 
 and strength. Therefore, speaking of a person of endurance 
 and perseverance, the Greek will say : ''This man has a Bulgarian 
 head." The chin and the mouth of the Bulgarians and Rouman- 
 ians are generally large and strong, and the Bulgarians are often 
 recognized by their strong features, that is, their long and straight 
 noses. The population of Bulgaria is about 6,000,000, while that 
 of Greater Roumania, to which under the Treaty of St. Germain 
 was allotted all of the Dobrudja, Transylvania, Bucovina and 
 Bessarabia, amounts to nearly 18,000,000. 
 
 While it is true that the Roumanians claim to be the descend- 
 ants of Roman Colonists (Dacia was a penal colony of the Roman 
 Empire), the influence of Slavic blood was so strong, that it is 
 
often very difficult to distinguish between the Roumanian and 
 the Bulgarian. There is also a great number of fair Bulgarians, 
 particularly in the North of Bulgaria. 
 
 AH the races of the Balkan have in common : admirably 
 developed muscles, fit for the hardest v^ork; self-sufficiency and 
 obstinacy. Serbians, Croatians and Dalmatians or Montenegrins 
 are quick-tempered and passionate ; the Bulgar and Roumanian, 
 again, slow and phlegmatic and obdurate. The Roumanian is 
 fond of good living ; the Bulgarian, on the other hand, is modest ; 
 but all of them, Roumanians, Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins or 
 Slovenes alike, are political beings so to speak, and all are ready 
 to fight and die for their political ideals or for a strip of land. 
 
 Another feature common to all the Balkan races, is their sus- 
 picious nature and a constant mistrust. Their thrift is so great 
 as to approach the brink of avarice. All of them are talkative, 
 very proud and boisterous. Their intelligence and natural gift 
 for foreign languages is comparable only with the similar aptitude 
 of educated Poles and Russians. 
 
 The natural resources of the Balkans are very rich. There are 
 ore deposits, extensive forests, fertile soil. Yet, numerous dis- 
 tricts of the Balkan are extremely poor, owing to their mountain- 
 ous character, viz. : Herzegovina, Montenegro and Dalmatia ; and 
 the poor population of these regions generally emigrate. 
 
 The Dalmatians belong to the oldest Slavonic immigrants in 
 this country. They are great sailors and they have settled here 
 largely in the so-called maritime States. 
 
 Dalmatia, as has (been said, is a poor country, one of Nature's 
 step-children, and has been systematically empoverished by 
 Austria for more than a century. 
 
 In literature the Balkan Slavs have not accomplished much. 
 Early Jugo-Slav literature is mainly of a religious type, produced 
 under the Serbian Czars in the fourteenth century. After the 
 disaster of Kossovo, in 1389, and the Turkish conquests, Slavonic 
 culture seemed to be doomed. In fact, from then until the nine- 
 teenth century, nothing has been written: folk-songs and poems 
 were transmitted orally. 
 
 The great majority of the Balkan Slavs consist of peasants, 
 and all are very democratic. There is no nobility ; but the peasant 
 
land-owner feels like an aristocrat, and is therefore, possessed 
 of considerable self-reliance. All are diligent and religious; 
 they have much respect for authority, and love family life. 
 Divorce is almost unknown in the Balkan. While it is true that 
 the Balkan Slav woman is not always considered as the fore- 
 most person in the family, the stranger who would dare molest 
 the wife, sister or daughter of a Balkan Slav, would be roughly 
 dealt with. 
 
 Of course, there were sad exceptions under Austro-Magyar 
 domination, when public houses were openly maintained and the 
 proceeds of the business of shame divided between the keepers 
 of those houses and the police. But such exceptions exist even 
 in highly civilized countries. 
 
 Owing to the parsimonious inclination of the Balkan Slav, the 
 extensive hospitality practised in other Slavic countries is not 
 much in evidence in the Balkan, but the general attitude toward 
 friends is not ungenerous. 
 
 The village woman is completely defenceless before her hus- 
 band or the elder of the family. A young girl is rarely per- 
 mitted to marry for love. Material considerations form the basis 
 of marriage. But the Balkan is coming abreast of the times, and 
 the woman of today employs not only her muscular strength, but 
 her mental faculties as well. We find today, in Jugo-Slavia and 
 in Bulgaria, many intellectual women — ^physicians, school teach- 
 ers and office workers. 
 
 There is a great local field for the improvement of public 
 institutions and hygienic conditions, and a vast number of in- 
 tellectual workers is required. 
 
 In many cases, particularly in the cities, the Balkan woman of 
 today is not content with a professional career. She also takes 
 an active part in politics and in the social struggle. 
 
 There are not many industrial establishments, except primitive 
 domestic industry. Generally speaking, the inhabitants of the 
 Balkan are farmers. The Bulgarians breed sheep, the Serbs hogs, 
 and all of them have a pronounced ability of acquiring money. 
 The educated classes are now journalists, or lawyers, or teach- 
 ers; and if there is war, they all turn soldiers. 
 
 All the Balkan races are very fond of music. Their melodies 
 
and musical motifs are often used by European composers of 
 musical comedies. The women have great skill, and show good 
 taste in making embroideries. The so-called Bulgarian em- 
 broidery is often admired in this country. 
 
 The Balkan nations are also great dancers. Their summer 
 picnics and other out-door socials are charming affairs. There 
 we find beautiful girls, their hair adorned with flowers, dressed 
 in sleeveless embroidered blouses. Outside of the villages they 
 build a bonfire, sitting around it and singing national songs. Soon 
 they are joined by young men in their best attire, with daggers in 
 their wide belts, and the girls at once arise and refuse to sit down 
 again until their male friends request them to do so. A'nd again 
 they begin to sing, this time in the form of questions and answers. 
 And then they dance the so-called "Kolo" (all around the fire). 
 The men behave well, and no ill-chosen word is allowed to destroy 
 the delicate procedure of love-making. After the dance the girls 
 pin their flowers to their wooers' breast as a token of affection. 
 
 The moral standard is exemplary. And the simple, mostly 
 out-door life led by the Balkan Slavs, accounts for their good 
 health and longevity. Centenarians are not rare in the Balkan. 
 Families with 12 to 14 children are by no means unusual. For- 
 merly, newly married couples used to live and work on the farm 
 of the bridegroom's parents, but in later years this practice has 
 been abandoned. Conditions became too crowded. If the young 
 scion of a large family is studiously inclined, the family will 
 save for years in order to ena)ble the ambitious child to obtain a 
 higher education. If the student enters one of the professions, 
 the whole family — of course — shares in the glory. 
 
 Balkan proverbs are very characteristic. For instance : **You 
 cannot extinguish fire with straw." — "There are no heroes with- 
 out wounds." — "The vineyard needs not prayer, but the spade." 
 — "The Amen cannot be cashed." — "He who chases two hares, 
 will not catch any." — "The angry buyer has empty pockets." — 
 "He who drinks on credit becomes doubly intoxicated." — 
 "Health without money is the worst disease." — "A word does 
 not make a hole." 
 
 Or such proverbs in rhyme : 
 
"Death destroys — ^exterminates, 
 Hath for nobody regard. 
 With death, Hfe slowly exfoliates, 
 Against death there is no guard. 
 
 Everyone from near and far, 
 And dear to our loving heart, 
 If called before the eternal bar: 
 Forever he then must part." 
 
 This, of course, is only a very faint and incomplete picture of 
 the Balkan Slavs at home. We shall now proceed to the 
 question : 
 
 What is the actual or potential contribution of these nations 
 to American culture and the enrichment of American life? 
 
 Unless we are prepared to admit that wealth is the basis of 
 civilization and culture, there can b'e no speculation as to the 
 value and desirability of these peoples in our midst. 
 
 They are the producers of wealth, and without wealth there 
 is no civilization. 
 
 Their actual contribution to American civilization is hard 
 work, performed with pride and enthusiasm. America always 
 needs hard-thinking and hard-working men and women. The 
 native American of today is over-specialized. We have too many 
 experts, drawing high salaries in return for a few hours' service. 
 We have highly over-paid experts in corporation law, psychology 
 and medicine; we have hairdressing, manicuring and finger- 
 print experts, and what not. And, as a consequence, we often 
 run short of everything, and if it were not for the strong muscles 
 of those people from the Balkan, we might revert to barbarity. 
 
 The very basis of our life is agriculture! Now, these people 
 from the Balkan are skilled farmers and horticulturists. They 
 are experts in gardening; they are mining our coal, and forging 
 our iron and steel. The people of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Lacka- 
 wanna and Gary, Indiana, can tell us what the Serbs, Croatians 
 and Slovenes mean to America, and all the steamship companies 
 appreciate the value of the Dalmatian longshoremen to the ship- 
 ping business. 
 
 Now-a-days, coal, steel and iron are essential to our very 
 existence. These are the basic industries, without which our life 
 
would be wretched and miserable. The Balkan Slavs are mostly 
 represented in these basic industries. It was due chiefly to their 
 great exertion that the war was won by the Allies. Shortage of 
 coal, steel and iron is responsible for Russia's debacle. Russia 
 had twenty million fighting men, but owing to the break-down 
 of her rolling stock and the impossibility to repllace it, Russia 
 nearly perished. Without sufficient coal and steel, that is rolling 
 stock, iNew York would starve and not a single house could be 
 built. And if all of us enjoy a fair degree of comfort, we are 
 indebted above all to the strong and sound muscles of the Balkan 
 Slavs and their great endurance. 
 
 Without the hard toil of these people, Andrew Carnegie might 
 have died a telegraph operator and America could not boast of 
 magnificent libraries and other foundations for the advance- 
 ment of science; and only he who is cognizant of these facts, 
 can grasp the extent of the actual or potential contribution by 
 the Balkan Slav to American culture and the enrichment of 
 American life. 
 
 The moral qualities and artistic nature of the Balkan Slav 
 have been mentioned before. 
 
 There is a great difference of opinion regarding the effects 
 (moral, social and economic) of immigration upon American 
 standards of living. However, a comprehensive inquiry of the 
 United States Immigration Commission into the antecedents of 
 workers in the mines and manufacturing establishments has 
 shown that more than 50% are of foreign birth, and that thirty- 
 seven of the fifty-six distinct races employed, came from the 
 South and East of Europe. 
 
 It has been said that immigrants from Southern Europe are 
 on the lowest level of the industrial scale. Personally, I do not 
 consider railroad repairs, done chiefly by Croatians and Slovenes, 
 as the lowest level of the industrial scale. Of course, imany 
 thousands of newcomers have not had any industrial training 
 and experience abroad, and can at first be employed only as 
 common or unskilled laborers, but they are able and willing to 
 learn, and after a year they are promoted to other tasks requiring 
 skill and involving better pay. 
 
 It has been ascertained by the Immigration Commission after 
 
 10 
 
careful study, that approximately one tenth of all families in- 
 vestigated owned their homes and that the percentage of home 
 owners among the native whites was less than half as large as 
 among immigrants. Less than 6% of natives, and more than 
 io% of the foreign-horn owned their homes. In the latter 
 category the Slovenians ranked with more than ii%. How- 
 ever, we may assume that, owing to war prosperity, this figure 
 has doubled. 
 
 As to the question: 
 
 "What are the qualities and characteristics of the Balkan 
 Slavs, that prevent their adjustment to American life?", I would 
 say that no such qualities or characteristics exist. If they fail to 
 adjust themselves to American life, it is because American 
 society does not care for them; because America on the whole 
 has no understanding for them; because they are considered by 
 Americans as inferior races ; because they are often without pro- 
 tection ; because they are treated as outlaws ; and because their 
 life and health means less to the native American than the life 
 and health of a dog. In the industrial centres, they are called 
 Hunkies, Huns. They have no standing in the community and 
 justice is often granted them with reluctance. The native Amer- 
 ican isolates himself from the immigrants as if they were afflicted 
 with a contageous disease. There is no social intercourse between 
 natives and these immigrants, and intermarriages are rare. And 
 these deplorable conditions afford an opportunity for the most 
 pernicious influences of criminal schemers, usurping for them- 
 selves the right to guide and direct the immigrant. From the 
 representative of his native land down to the crooked lawyer and 
 fake-banker, all prey upon the immigrant, and the worst influence 
 is exerted by certain organs of the foreign language press which 
 rarely finds a good word for American institutions, always 
 pointing out the crimes committed in this country and never 
 mentioning the many noble qualities, broadmindedness and 
 natural sense of justice of the genuine American. This type of 
 immigrant press has but one object: to control public opinion 
 in immigrant localities ; to give publicity to its unreliable banking 
 and money- forwarding schemes ; to secure deposits from immi- 
 
 II 
 
grants without giving them sufficient security; and to supply the 
 immigrants with foreign news of special interest. 
 
 This immigrant press is often subsidized and controlled by 
 foreign Consuls and Legations and everything is done to prevent 
 the immigrant's Americanization. 
 
 The same may be said of immigrant churches. Prior to the 
 World War, Russia had comparatively few genuine Greek- 
 Orthodox emigrants. Yet, no less than 800 priests and mission- 
 aries were supported in this country by the former Russian Holy 
 Synod of St. Petersburg. There were so few real Russians in 
 the United States that the Russian Church authorities, after 
 erecting a magnificent Cathedral in Chicago, had to appoint a 
 Jew trustee of the Church. This, of course, . was done for 
 political purposes — mere Pan-Slavistic propaganda. The same 
 policy was pursued by the Magyars. The Hungarian Govern- 
 ment sudsidized Magyar churches in this country of less than 
 ten members. 
 
 For the salvation of Croatian and Dalmatian souls, the Russian 
 missionaries considered themselves as the only divine agents. 
 Serbia, as a matter of fact, had only very few nationals in this 
 country, and was too poor to support churches. Yet, a year 
 after the creation of Jugo-Slavia, the Consul General of that 
 country had to be sent home by our State Department, because 
 he attempted, through corruption and intimidation, to secure 
 control of a Croatian paper published in New York City. 
 
 These are the powerful agencies and characteristic phenomena 
 which prevent the Balkan Slavs from adjusting themselves to 
 American life. It is to be deeply regretted, that the native 
 churches do little or nothing at all to promote fellowship of 
 natives and foreigners, such as exists among the natives. The 
 native churches are indifferent to immigrants, and their inaction 
 is due to race prejudice and the alienation of the church from 
 the poor laborer. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, the 
 Y. M. C. A., are passing by a great opportunity for patriotic 
 service in this regard. The conditions interfering with the intel- 
 ligent understanding of the Balkan Slav group in the United 
 States are the total lack of proper agencies, educational and 
 
 12 
 
social institutions, which could acquaint Americans with these 
 foreign groups; the amazing indifference of the native American 
 to immigrants; and the recent galHng propaganda of certain 
 ultra-chauvinistic papers against immigrants in general^ and the 
 helpless, ignorant and friendless foreign element in particular. 
 
 Now, as there can be no difference of opinion in regard to a 
 certain class of immigration being not only desirable, but of vital 
 importance to this country, and as all of us realize that a constant 
 influx of new blood and brawn is essential to the operation of 
 mining, manufacturing, road building, gardening and farming 
 enterprises, there remains the problem of selecting and Ameri- 
 canizing the immigrant. There can be no question that America 
 has a right, yea, a sacred duty to determine who is to be admitted 
 to these shores and who is to be rejected, not only because those 
 admitted are liable to become a public charge, but also because 
 they are apt to destroy Anglo-Saxon civilization and American 
 ideals. 
 
 With this end in view, I believe our established agencies to be 
 inadequate. Even under the present restrictive immigration law, 
 on occasions where the S. S. Companies are rushing in their 
 human freight in order not to exceed the quota permitted, it is 
 impossible for the immigration authorities properly to sift that 
 human material. Always predisposed toward sparing immigrants 
 and their families trouble, so far as possible, the process of selec- 
 tion is naturally incomplete, and for that reason it will ultimately 
 be necessary to establish Immigration Agencies in those European 
 countries which are the principal labor supply centres for the 
 United States. There, on the spot, the American Agency could 
 not only make the preliminary examination of the prospective 
 immigrant's health and mentality, but also ascertain the essential 
 data with regard to his pedigree, his past moral behavior, in 
 short : his record. Only in this manner shall we be able to exclude 
 criminals and the insane. 
 
 As to the final question : 
 
 "What, then, should constitute the emphasis in the educational 
 program outlined for them?", I should condense this program 
 to a few words : Teach the immigrant English, and when he is 
 able to follow you, instruct him in civic matters; remind him 
 
 13 
 
constantly of his privileges and his duties towards this country. 
 In this manner you will Americanize him. By learning English, 
 he will emancipate himself from the pernicious influence of 
 foreign agencies and from other pestilential factors. He will 
 begin to appreciate clearly the difference between liberty and 
 oppression, (between democracy and autocracy, or criminal olig- 
 archy. He will not blindly follow degenerate and corrupt demag- 
 ogues, and he will learn to distinguish the legal froim the illegal, 
 the possible from the impossible. 
 
 Here is a wide field for patriotic work, for teachers and 
 educators, and for all with good will toward this country. 
 
 The Inter-Racial Council has so far been engaged in collecting 
 daita and studying the immigrant, his life and attitude, and it is 
 now time to begin constructive work through education and pro- 
 tection. In every community of this country where foreigners 
 are settled, irrespective whether temporarily or permanently, the 
 Inter-Racial Council should establish a branch office acting under 
 the direction or advice of a central organization; and school 
 teachers, city officials and other responsible persons should com- 
 pose the committees in control of the branches of the Inter- 
 Racial Council. Distinterested lawyers and district attorneys , 
 should be invited to employ all possible means in the protection 
 of the immigrant, irrespective of whether the law-breaker be an 
 American or a fellow-countryman of the victim. 
 
 Foreigners coming here to toil without knowledge of the 
 language of the country and of American institutions, are like 
 mute children. They need guidance and protection. European 
 administrations are paternal, their criminal procedure is inquis- 
 itive. Here we are supposed to govern and to protect ourselves. 
 A victimized imimigrant cannot understand why we are not al- 
 ways able to protect him, because he does not know anything 
 about the constitutional guarantee accorded a defendant, nor is 
 he aware that the whole hurden of proof rests on the accuser. 
 Again, it is not unusual for an immigrant to be convicted of 
 crimes he never committed, because of his inability to follow the 
 proceedings, while the absolutely incompetent Court interpreters 
 are often called upon to interpret a language which is more 
 foreign and unknown to them than the language of this country 
 
 14 
 
is to the immigrant. In European countries. Court interpreters 
 are educated people with legal training, while in this country 
 these public servants are mainly drafted from quarters where no 
 one would expect to find them. 
 
 During my many years' experience with foreigners, innum- 
 erable tragedies directly resulting from the immigrant's ignor- 
 ance of English have come to my attention. 
 
 Familiarity with the language of this country will also open 
 the immigrant's eyes and liberate him from his Consul's 
 guardianship. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be of interest to mention where Balkan 
 Slavs are located in this country, that is : in which States they 
 are working and prospering. 
 
 Serbians, Croatians, Dalmatians, Montenegrins are to be found 
 in larger groups in Montana, California, Washington, Minnesota, 
 Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oregon, Iowa, Nevada, South Dakota, 
 Ohio, and even in Kentucky ; while Bulgarians in larger numbers 
 have permanently or temporarily settled in the States of Wash- 
 ington, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, 
 West Virginia, Ohio, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, 
 Wisconsin, Arkansas and Indiana. 
 
 Their principal occupations in this country are: mining (coal, 
 ore and minerals), manufacturing of steel and iron; ranching; 
 farming; gardening; shipping; repairing of roads; railroad and 
 canal construction ; and other work most essential to our well- 
 being. 
 
 The Balkan Slavs are not congesting our cities, and though 
 segregated in the industrial centres of this country, they can still 
 be reached by those patriotic Americans who have a sympathetic 
 understanding for the needs of the country, and who are willing 
 to take part in educating and protecting the immigrant. Im- 
 migrant Aid Societies should be controlled only by Americans. 
 Personally, I have no confidence in Aid Societies controlled and 
 managed by foreigners or Americans of foreign birth, as too 
 much foreign politics enters into such organizations. American 
 citizens of foreign extraction should 'b'e consulted and trusted 
 only after proof of their not being affiliated with foreign govern- 
 ments ; of having no ambition to receive decorations from foreign 
 
 15 
 
potentates; and of their work not being subsidized by foreign 
 governments. Mingle with the foreigner, take an interest in 
 him and his family, and you will see that he will soon trust you 
 more than his own countrymen. If be still deals with the banker, 
 notary public, steamship agent and others of his own nationality, 
 it is because he is compelled to do so, his ignorance of English 
 preventing him from applying to real American institutions. 
 
 Besides the teaching of English, social features (such as 
 parties, dances, visiting, etc.) should be provided for. The 
 immigrant should be brought into a close relationship of a per- 
 sonal and sympathetic nature, and he should be made to feel at 
 home. If we accomplish this, we shall earn his gratitude and 
 appreciation, and thus Americanize the immigrant. 
 
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