the best information I could get as to the amount of illiteracy in foreign countries, advanced countries. I would like to read one statement in connection with this that is taken from our own Federal census, the Thirteenth Census, volume 1, page 1139, which states that in some of the more advanced European countries illiteracy is so uncommon that questions regarding it are not included in the general census enumerations. The CHAIRMAN. For the sake of the record, have you got these charts on a small scale to give to the stenographer, so that they may go into the record? PERCENTAGE ILLITERATE The percentages of illiteracy are for 10 of the most advanced nations and are the latest available. Illiteracy figures directly comparable to those of our census are diffcult to obtain since, as the Federal census states, "in some of the more advanced European countries illiteracy is so uncommon that questions regarding it are not included in the general census enumerations." Mr. NORTON. They are in the Senate hearings, and I think could be secured. I recently corrected the proofs. You will notice that among the more advanced countries, with which we would like to compare the United States, that the United States stands tenth in the percentage of illiteracy, being exceeded by those that are given above it. [Indicating on chart.] Mr. HASTINGS. Would it interrupt you to ask what you mean by illiteracy? Do you mean one who can not read or write or one who has not attained a certain grade? Mr. NORTON. It means in most cases here the ability to read and write. Mr. HASTINGS. That is what I wanted to know as to all of those figures. Mr. NORTON. And a very conservative definition of reading and writing. The Federal census definition of illiteracy is "no schooling whatever." That is, if you will consult the introduction to the section on illiteracy in the census report, you will find a statement something like this: "Illiterates are those persons who have had no schooling whatever." That refers, of course, only to those 10 years of age and over, and most of these figures here refer to persons 10 years of age and over. In other words, it is a minimum definition of illiteracy. If you raise the definition, as was done in the draft, to ability to write letters home and to read newspapers in English, illiteracy would come up to something like 25 per cent. That is, those who could not answer yes to the question whether they could read a newspaper or write a letter home constitute 25 per cent of our population. The next table gives some outstanding facts on these 5,000,000 illiterates in the United States. In the United States at this time, according to the Federal census, there are 5,000,000 illiterates or 5,000,000 people who have had no schooling whatever. To be exact, there are 4,931,000 who are totally illiterate. Of course there would be double this number who can read and write a little, but not enough to do it with facility. Then in this table more than half are native-born illiterates, over 3,000,000 of them [pointing out figures on chart]. So our illiteracy problem is not primarily brought in from foreign lands. Of these three million, 1,800,000 [pointing to figures on chart] are negro, and 1,242,000 are native white illiterates. You would probably have to double or treble that if you were to include those who have had inadequate schooling to fit them for citizenship in a great democracy. There are nearly half a million minor illiterates, between 10 and 21, which shows that within the last few years we have been manufacturing illiterates in our own country. In other words, this illiteracy does not all come down from previous generations. Mr. HASTINGS. You say these last are between 10 and 21 years of age? Mr. NORTON. Yes; between 10 and 21. This next chart goes a little more into detail; it presents illiteracy figures on the State basis. You will probably be interested to know the States that have the most illiterates. You will notice that two of the first three States in the number of illiterates are Northern States, New York and Pennsylvania. The lines are graphic representations of the number of illiterates in the different States. New York has far more illiterates than any other State in the Union, nearly half a million. Then comes Georgia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and a number of the Southern States. Then some of our other States. Mr. DOUGHTON. Are you still using the same definition as to illiteracy? ILLITERATES IN UNITED STATES "NO SCHOOLING WHATEVER" 4931,905 TOTAL ILLITERATES དད 3084733 NATIVE BORN These figures are all from the Federal census. The three words at the top are also quoted from the census. Mr. NORTON. Yes. I use that rather than the Army draft definition, because there is no question whatever about the people indicated by these figures being really illiterate; they are at the bottom in education; they can not even write their names in most cases. If I wanted to use the Army draft definition I could put this line way out here [indicating on chart]. But this represents absolute illiteracy. Mr. DOUGHTON. That gives numbers and not percentages? Mr. NORTON. These are numbers, yes; 425,000 in New York, representing those who have had "no schooling whatever." The quotation at the top of the chart is from the Fourteenth Census, Volume 3, page 10. Mr. DOUGHTON. That is for all ages? ILLITERACY-1920 CENSUS REPRESENTING ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE HAD NO I NEW YORK 2 GEORGIA 3 PENNSYLVANIA 4 LOUISIANA 5 TEXAS 6 ALABAMA 7 NORTH CAROLINA 8 MISSISSIPPI 9 SOUTH CAROLINA 10 VIRGINIA 11 TENNESSEE 12 ILLINOIS 13 KENTUCKY 14 MASSACHUSETTS IS OHIO 16 NEW JERSEY 17 ARKANSAS 18 CALIFORNIA 19 MICHIGAN 20 MISSOURI 21 FLORIDA 22 WEST VIRGINIA 23 CONNECTICUT 24 MARYLAND 25 OKLAHOMA 26 INDIANA 27, WISCONSIN 28 NEW MEXICO 29 ARIZONA 30 MINNESOTA 31. RHODE ISLAND 32 COLORADO 33 KANSAS 34 IOWA 35 MAINE 36 WASHINGTON 37 NEW HAMPSHIRE 38 NEBRASKA 39 DIST OF COL. 40 DELAWARE 41 NORTH DAKOTA 42 MONTANA 43 OREGON 44 VERMONT 45 SOUTH DAKOTA 46 UTAH 47 IDAHO 48 NEVADA 49 WYOMING 1425002 328,838 31 2,699 299,092 295,844 278,082 241,603 229,734 220,667 195,159 182,629 173,987 155,014 146,607 131,006 127,661 121,837 95,592 88,046 83,403 71,811 69,413 67,265 64,434 56,864 52034 50,397 41,637, 39,131 34,487 31,312 24,208 22,821 20,680 20,240 18,526 15,788 13,784 10,509 10,508 9,937 9,544 9317 8,488 8,109 6,264 4924 3802 3,149 The figures given for each State as to the total number of illiterates are from the 1920 census, as is the quotation at head of the chart. Mr. ROBSION. I want to compliment your table. The witnesses have been emphasizing too much the need of this legislation for people in the highlands of the South. I have always taken the position that this was needed all over the country. That does not confine it to one section or one State, does it? Mr. NORTON. No. The CHAIRMAN. Kentucky has a pretty good record there. Mr. HASTINGS. I always understood that Montana has less illiteracy than any other State, but it is the forty-second State according to that. The CHAIRMAN. Wyoming stands high. Mr. HASTINGS. Of course it is somewhat in relation to population, but, when you are considering the vote, the numbers are important. Montana could have the least percentage, could it not, and yet have a little larger number than these others? Mr. NORTON. Yes. This next chart deals only with native-born illiterates. Mr. DOUGHTON. This other chart includes both? Mr. NORTON. Yes; native and foreign born. Mr. HASTINGS. And this is still above 10 years of age? Mr. NORTON. Yes; native born, black and white; nearly 2,000,000 black and something over a million white, showing how the native born illiteracy problem is largely confined to the Southern States. But the whole problem as shown by the previous chart is not at all a southern problem exclusively; it is a national problem, because two of the first three States are Northern States. Mr. LOWREY. You might give some of those figures. Mr. NORTON. Georgia has 327,000 native-born illiterates; Louisiana, 288,000; Alabama, 276,000; North Carolina, 238,000; Mississippi, 228,000; South Carolina, 220,000; Virginia, 192,000; Texas, 182,000; Tennessee, 181,000; Kentucky, 152,000; Arkansas, 120,000; Florida, 68,000; Missouri, 65,000; West Virginia, 54,000; Pennsylvania, 53,000; Maryland, 50,000; Ohio, 46,000. Did you want all of them? Mr. LOWREY. That gives us an idea. Have you any statistics as to what proportion the Southern States are white? Take Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, what proportion of those are white? Mr. NORTON. Yes. I was going to present some tables on this problem of illiteracy. Will you please pass these around, each member retaining one? May I ask that these tables, as well as the charts, be put in the record? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. NORTON. Now, to answer the question you have just asked, if you will turn to Table 3, column 2 gives the number of native white illiterates and the percentage will be found in column 4. If you compare that with all native born, the chart preceding, you can quickly tell what are white and what are black. For example, take Alabama. There are a total of 276,000 illiterates, native born. Now, of that number 65,000 are white. The remainder, of course, are black. In Arkansas, for example, there is a total of 120,000 native-born illiterates. Of that number 41,000 are white. Is that clear? The CHAIRMAN. About a third are white, then? |