those of low degree." The theory of democracy has always been opposed to the idea that races differ inherently in capacity for self-government. Americanization is nothing but democratization of men who feel alike but do not understand one another. The native and the foreign born are really one; Americanization is the process of mutual discovery of this fact.

III

PUBLIC-SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

We shall need to revise our conception of the term "school" in view of the recent expansion of all sorts of educational forces, and the multiplication of all kinds of educational instruments. Democracy and the educational process go hand in hand; the one cannot expand without increase of the other. To some the word "school" may recall the little red schoolhouse and the period of childhood; to another the term brings a recollection of the substantial city structure and its teeming occupants. In any case the picture is incomplete if it shows only the child and the youth as the natural beneficiaries of the process of education. We have recently sent four million men to school to learn the art of war; we have had the school for the soldier and the school for the officer; we are re-educating our disabled soldiers. We have had schools to train our shipbuilders and schools to train the new workers in war industries. We have schools for our firemen, policemen, and teachers, and we have schools for diplomats and schools for journalists. Revising Shakespeare's adage that "all the world's a stage," we may say to-day that all

the world is a school, and that our "seven ages are spent as students in a school rather than as players in a drama.

The world of the immigrant has been neither a stage nor a school, but usually the ditch with its drudgery, or the factory with its grind. A more detailed account of present provisions for the schooling of the immigrant may follow at this point. The public evening school, discussed in the preceding chapter, is chief among all forms of provision. A letter of inquiry dated December, 1918, was sent by this Study to 2,404 school superintendents of places in the United States having a population of 2,500 or over, as listed in the 1917 directory of the United States Bureau of Education; the letter included a stamped postal carrying a question as to whether or not the given locality afforded special educational work for the foreign born; a second letter was sent on March 15, 1919, to 975 places still unheard from, inclosing a similar return card and urging reply in order that our statistics might be completed. Responses have now been received from 83 per cent of all these places. The detailed returns by states are given in Tables XXVI and XXVII found in the Appendix.

PRESENT FACILITIES INADEQUATE

These responses have brought out several striking facts. If an immigrant from a non-English-speaking country chooses to learn English in the public schools here, he must select with care

the place of his residence in this country, for only one city in five has any public-schooling provision. It is evident from the statistics gathered that his chances of finding a school in any urban community increased 40 per cent from 1914-15 to 1918-19; but he also has an eight times better chance if he goes to a place having more than 1,000 foreign-born residents than if he goes to one having less than that number. If he will also pick out a place having a population of over 25,000, he will have about seven chances in ten of finding public-schooling provision; on the other hand, he has one chance in ten in a town of less than 10,000 population. The accompanying tables bring out these points.

Table I shows the number of places reporting public provision for the foreign born for the school year 1918-19, with the similar reports for 1914-15 recorded in Bulletin No. 18 of the Bureau of Education.

It is evident that there has been in general an increase in the number of places having facilities; the number has increased from 350 places in 1914-15 to 504 in 1918-19. But more important still is it that an increase should be found in the class of places which, roughly speaking, needs it most. Although it cannot be stated dogmatically, in general those places having over 1,000 foreign-born residents can be said to have more of a problem than those having less than 1,000 foreign born. Of this class of cities, 318, or 37 per cent, had some work in 1914-15, and 419, or 48 per cent, reported such

work in 1918-19. The increase for these places has been greater than that in the country at large, but the provision may still be said to be only half of what is needed.

There were ten states in the country in 1910 whose foreign-born population exceeded 500,000. These states contained approximately three

TABLE I

PLACES REPORTING PUBLIC SCHOOL PROVISION FOR FOREIGN BORN IN 1914-15 AND 1918-19 BY GROUPS OF STATES

1 Places listed in Educational Directory, Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 18 (1917-18), Table 7. The list is made up chiefly of places with over 2,500 population in 1910, but includes 64 places having less than 2,500.

2 New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, having over 500,000 foreign born in 1910.

3 "Non-immigrant" designates states having less than 500,000 foreignborn population.

4 All 1914-15 figures based on reports listed in Bureau of Education Bulletin No. 18 (1916), Table 7.