Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress with the Annual Message of the President, December 4, 1871
Mr. Andrews to Mr. Fish
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a translation of the report by Count Lewenhaupt, the Swedish and Norwegian chargé d’affaires in Washington, on emigration, made to his government on the 17th November last; also a printed copy of the same, in the Swedish language.
The report has been communicated to the Diet and to the Storthing. It has been extensively published in the newspapers of Norway, but as yet only extracts from it have been published in the Swedish journals.
The spirit of the report appears to me to be excellent. Taken together, I think Americans could not regret its extensive circulation in Sweden and Norway. Count Lewenhaupt states that a majority of emigrants from these kingdoms prosper in the United States. He has, however, as might be expected in treating of so extensive a topic, fallen into a few errors. He states that it happens “very” often that the [Page 794] wages due from railroad companies to emigrant workmen are not paid. That homestead land is not now to be acquired within ten Swedish miles (sixty English miles) of the railroad, whereas the fact is that there is a plenty of land subject to homestead entry, in several States, within one Swedish mile of the railroad. Also, that a capital of 600 riksdaler ($160) is essential in order to begin a homestead settlement. That sum, or more, would of course be advantageous; but inasmuch as a settler, especially if a single man, can be absent from his homestead as long as six months at a time in order to earn wages, many a man can get along very well whose capital at the start is only his hands and his health. He also states that the Swedish and Norwegian immigrants are indifferent what ticket they vote; that they would vote the democratic ticket as soon as the republican, if they could thereby better advance one of their countrymen in political position. My observation in the northwest leads me to quite the contrary opinion. These adopted citizens take a real interest in politics, and are ardently attached to the anti-slavery side.
On receiving information from Mr. Consul Gade that the revision of the report, as published in the newspapers of Norway, made, it appear that the people of the United States were opposed to immigration, (arising, as I suppose, from an incorrect rendering of the Swedish word “Rikena” as States instead of Kingdoms, where it occurs near the top of the third page of the printed copy,) I yesterday addressed a note to the minister for foreign affairs, requesting him to have the matter placed in its proper light before the Norwegian public. I inclose a copy of my communication, and shall be glad to learn that my action is approved by the Department.
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches to No. 56, inclusive.
I am, &c.,
[Translation.]
Report of the Swedish Norwegian chargé d’affaires in Washington, concerning the emigration from the United Kingdom to the United States of America.
As emigration forms the chief point of contact between the United Kingdoms and the United States of America, and a great part of the legation’s business proceeds from commissions which are sent in from the home-staying relatives of the emigrants, I herewith have the honor to present some information respecting emigration in general, and also to account for the circumstance that the commissions committed to the care of the legation cannot be performed with greater dispatch.
The greatest part of the emigrants arrive at New York via England, by English steamboats. A small number of about five thousand arrived, however, during last year, by American steamboats via Copenhagen. A direct transfer of emigrants with steamboats from the United Kingdoms to America does not take place, the cause of which is, as far as Sweden is concerned, that the Swedish law does not permit any vessel to carry so great a number of passengers as is allowed in some other countries. The emigrants complain, however, more of the bad fare on board than the narrow space.
On their arrival in New York, the emigrant steamers disembark their passengers on a cape which shoots forward in the harbor, called “Castle Garden.” They are there received by the “commissioners of emigration,” or the committee appointed by the city of New York to superintend emigration. Very ample means are at the disposal of this committee, since all emigrant vessels arriving at New York must pay a duty of 7 riksdaler 50 ore, ($2,) for every emigrant. The means thus collected, which annually amount to more than 2,000,000 riksdaler, are applied partly to the support and enlargement of the emigrant home, situated on an island called Ward’s Island, at the inlet to New York, and partly to cover the expenses of the committee at Castle Garden for [Page 795] the harboring and forwarding of the emigrants. All emigrants arriving at New York have a right, in case of need to free board and lodging at Ward’s Island during the first five years; the subsistence afforded them there is of course of about the same quality that is bestowed in the poor-houses, because the emigrant home else would become overcrowded. According to what is stated in the last animal report of the committee, it occurs, nevertheless, that emigrants apply for admittance at Ward’s Island during the winter, in order not to be obliged to spend their summer earnings, which they place in some savings bank. During the year 1869, more than two hundred and sixty thousand emigrants arrived at New York, and of these, fourteen thousand lodged for shorter or longer time in the emigrant home. The whole number of the emigrants harbored there, was, on an average, one thousand three hundred and eighty-four. The most part sojourn there only for a short time, until they may recover from some occasional illness, or receive answers to letters from their relatives in the interior of the country, or else in waiting for employment. Some there are, however, who, in consequence of mental disorder, incurable sickness, and inability to provide for themselves, continue to live in the emigrant home during five years, and afterward are admitted for life-time in the common poor-house, though the greatest part of such emigrants are, by the care of the committee, sent back to their native country. The last year no Swedish or Norwegian emigrants were to be found in the common poor-house in New York.
In 1869, twenty-five thousand and fifty-five Swedish and five thousand nine hundred and three Norwegian emigrants arrived at New York. The cause of the comparatively low number of Norwegians was probably due to the circumstance that the Norwegian emigration had mainly taken place via Quebec. Of these Swedish and Norwegian emigrants, six hundred and sixty-three Swedes and fifty-eight Norwegians were taken up in the emigrant home, of whom three hundred and ninety-nine Swedes and twenty-two Norwegians were admitted in the hospital. Thus it is found that the number of Swedes and Norwegians received at the emigrant home, compared with the whole number of arrived emigrants, was as follows: Swedes above 2 per cent., and Norwegians not fully 1 per cent. The ground for this is probably to be found in the circumstance that the number of Norwegian emigrants already settled in America is considerably greater than that of Swedes, whereas the Norwegian element of emigration has of late years perceptibly decreased, and those Norwegians who are now arriving in America consequently find a greater number of relatives and friends there.
On their arrival at Castle Garden, the emigrants are received by a Danish commissioner, engaged in the service of the committee, who with great readiness affords all necessary information. In the Castle Garden the emigrants can exchange their money, and receive there a memorandum, stating as well the amount which was brought in, as the amount they got in exchange. There they are also supplied with railroad-tickets to all places in the United States, and conveyance for themselves and their luggage to the railroad station, without coming in contact with a mass of loose people that lounge about the Castle Garden at the arrival of every emigrant vessel. If the emigrants have arrived without any settled aim, they may apply to the work-office in Castle Garden, and, while they are waiting for employment, either betake themselves to Ward’s Island, or to those other hotels which are recommended by the committee, and whose owners are allowed entrance in Castle Garden, on condition of placing their hotels in some measure under the superintendence of the committee. It is sometimes very difficult, however, to get employment; and those emigrants are consequently in a far better plight who have some settled purpose in view, and know any person upon whose assistance they may depend during the first period.
To engage a special agent in New York, in order to assist Swedish and Norwegian emigrants is needless, and would be, moreover, out of the question, since the committee would not allow such one admittance in Castle Garden, and the agent accordingly would not even have opportunity to see the greater number of the emigrants. The motive for refusing entrance in Castle Garden to the agent, is partly owing to the opinion prevalent throughout America that emigration is detrimental to the United Kingdoms, and that the government, therefore, seeks to counteract it, and partly the impossibility to avoid collision between such an agent and that employed by the committee, unless the superintendence over the whole Swedish and Norwegian emigration were delivered over to the Swedish-Norwegian agent—an arrangement with which the committee of course, is little disposed to comply. A Swedish-Norwegian agent would, therefore, only be able to assist such emigrants as wished to remain in New York, and accordingly venture to betake themselves out of the pale of Castle Garden. The serviceableness of such an agent is, besides, far from being obvious. If an emigrant does not succeed in getting employment at the work-office in Castle Garden, there is no reason for supposing that the aid of the agent in this respect would be of avail, and if an emigrant needed money, he could, of course, expect no assistance of the agent, because in such a case the demand would be so immense, that no means would suffice. A credulous emigrant would nevertheless be liable of being cheated by the runners, because the agent could not always and incessantly follow him.
From the Castle Garden almost all Swedish and Norwegian emigrants set out for [Page 796] the West, where they have friends and relatives, and arrive generally at Chicago without accidents, though the newspapers are now and then stating how some credulous emigrant has been deprived of money and luggage.
In Chicago there is, however, no establishment corresponding to the Castle Garden, and the emigrants are there greatly exposed to being defrauded by unprincipled Swedes and Norwegians who have not succeeded in procuring themselves any other more advantageous occupation than that of cheating their countrymen. The emigrants who remain in Chicago are allured by runners to hotels, where they are obliged to pay two or three times the prices agreed upon, and as their means are ordinarily very scanty, they are very often brought under the necessity to give their tranks in pawn. There is, to be sure, an emigrant-house in Chicago, which is supported by voluntary contributions of the Swedish population, but as the greatest part of the Swedes in Chicago live in straightened circumstances, the means of the emigrant-house are insufficient for the great emigration; and the hardships which the emigrants meet with in the emigrant home in Chicago are undoubtedly greater than those they left behind in their native country. Such emigrants as have tickets for direct conveyance to the West, and accordingly only pass through Chicago, are nevertheless very often plundered there. A great number, perhaps the half part of the emigrants, have bought the tickets on credit, or else received them from their already emigrated relatives, who, instead of sending the traveling expenses, prefer to send tickets, partly because the money intended for the voyage has sometimes been employed for other purposes, partly because the emigrant companies give respite with the pay for the tickets when the buyer is well known. The whole cash of the emigrant at his arrival in Chicago consists, therefore, very often of two or three dollars, and of this pittance he is deprived in Chicago. According to perfectly agreeing statements made by emigrants who passed through Chicago last summer on different days, this takes place in the following manner: At his arrival in Chicago the trains are changed, and the fresh train starts from another station than that where the arrival took place. A Swedish and Norwegian runner now presents himself, and informs the emigrants that their tickets certainly entitles them to depart with the fresh train, but that the transport of the trunks from one station to another is not performed by the emigrant company which has sold the tickets, but by a separate company, viz, the express company; and in proportion to the size and weight of the trunks, one, two, or three dollars are demanded of them. The emigrant protests, but his fear of not getting his trunk along with the train causes him finally to pay. It occurred last summer that a party of emigrants, consisting of a wedded couple, two wives, whose husbands were settled in Minnesota, and five children, were in this manner stripped of all their money. The consequence was that the whole party must go without subsistence during their journey from Chicago to St. Paul, in Minnesota, which took about four and twenty hours. At their arrival in St. Paul, the ticket was no more valid, but it was found that the place in question was five Swedish miles (thirty English) distant from St. Paul. Now it was certainly possible to make the trip in two hours at $2 a person, but as the party was quite destitute of money, one of the husbands was obliged to set out on foot to search out the relatives, and afterward, during the following day, return with money to St. Paul. The women and children must meanwhile remain in St. Paul, with the prospect of going without food for twenty-four hours longer, whereas, if they had not been cheated in Chicago, the whole party would have been able to arrive at the place of destination without any trouble.
There is no doubt that this sort of cheating is carried on at a large scale, and as emigration is so extensive, it is of course very lucrative, but there is no possibility to prevent it in Chicago. The only means to check it would be to request the concerned emigrant agent in Sweden and Norway to note down separately on the ticket or contract that the company takes upon itself the transport of the luggage in Chicago. The emigrant company which forwarded the above-mentioned emigrant party did, upon inquiry, declare that it takes care of this transport without any pay, but it seems probable that this duty is not always performed. According to statements made by other emigrants, it appears that emigrants arriving via Quebec are, at the border, liable to the same kind of imposition, although the notices received in this respect have not been so complete as to afford matter for a closer inquiry. Custom-house officers, or runners who pretend to be such, ask the emigrant for a duty of one, two, or three dollars in proportion to the weight and size of the trunks, independently of their contents, which commonly consist of clothes, implements, &c. Such effects and generally personal appurtenances are, however, according to the now valid law, of which an abstract is subjoined, exempted from duty, and the emigrant needed, consequently, only to refuse when a similar extortion was attempted.
The question whether the prospects of the emigrant, after he has arrived at a settlement in the West, are so promising that the emigration generally may be thought advisable, is, of course, a matter well known to the settler. All settlers do unhesitatingly answer it, and this answer without exception is the same, viz: the question whether a person ought to emigrate or not, depends exclusively on his personal circumstances [Page 797] and his capacity to shift for himself; some ought to emigrate, others do best to remain at home. This answer is, indeed, also the only one that can be given. A question of quite another kind is, whether the greatest number of emigrants settled in the West succeed in attaining a better condition than that which they left, or might have expected to have met in their native country. To a person who has frequented the settlements there can be no doubt in this respect. The greatest number succeed very often to work themselves up to a position considerably better than if they had remained at homeland most of the emigrants declare themselves contended with their lot. This fact is undoubtedly due to the circumstance that these emigrants are a young, vigorous, and orderly people. It is an exception to find an emigrant who has carried money with him, and it is a prevalent opinion among the settlers that a person who possesses a farm, and is in easy circumstances, ought not to emigrate in hope of of becoming rich here. To make one’s fortune in the West is required a thrifty energy to work the soil, and to buy betimes a piece of land where the railroad has not reached, and the land, therefore, is cheap. The land being once bought, its value increases with incredible rapidity in proportion as the railroad advances and the population becomes larger. Whereas, if the emigrant does not possess health and strength, and his expenses for the support of his family will not allow him to make savings for purchase of land, he cannot generally expect to arrive at a condition exempted from cares, and still less can he hope to attain easy circumstances.
The most thriving settlements are situated in Illinois, and were established twenty-five years ago. From the nearest railroad station the distance is commonly not above one or two Swedish miles. At the station there is a little town, and the traveler gets easily a carriage, but ordinarily without a driver. The road is, however, easy to find; there are no by-paths, but only one road, which leads directly to the settlement, that is situated at a skirt of a wood. The settlement consists of a great many fine farms, surrounded by fertile fields of maize and wheat. Ordinarily there is a Lutheran church, and there are instances of church buildings which have cost as much as 180,000 Swedish riksdalers. The houses are made of joist-work, with whitewashed board linings, and have commonly four windows in the lower story, but only two in the upper one, which last thus only stretches over the half of the house. The buildings remind us of the small villas in the environs of Stockholm. Besides the dwelling-house, one sees commonly the little log-house where the emigrant lodged during the first years. The total absence of out-houses strikes immediately the eyes. Stables and cow-houses are unnecessary in consequence of the mild winter; cattle and horses are therefore kept under sheds, covered with straw, but open at the sides. Barns are not required, because the crop is thrashed with a machine on the grain fields. It is not unusual that a rich farmer, who at his arrival some years ago begun with pawning his trunk, is now the owner of a neat, well-arranged farm of about 360 acres, the greatest part of which is open ground, seven cattle, nine, horses, besides valuable farming implements and machines. As the price of the ground in Illinois is now 150 riksdalers per acre, and as an ox or horse costs 300 to 450, a colt 180 to 225, a cow 150 riksdalers, such a farm may at the present time be estimated from 60,000 to 70,000 riksdalers. Particulars respecting the manner in which a poor emigrant may succeed in becoming a rich farmer all agree. A lately arrived emigrant may get employment at a farm with a monthly pay of 60 riksdalers, for eight to ten months, with board and lodging, and though he may shift for himself during the winter months, yet he is able generally to save 300 to 400 riksdalers a year. A man’s day-work during the harvest time is often paid with 4 riksdalers, 50 öre. Railroad-workers receive 5 riksdalers, 25 öre a day. This is, however, hard work, and it happens, moreover, very often that the wages are not paid by the railroad company.
After the emigrant has succeeded in saving about 1,200 riksdalers he buys two horses, wagon and plow, and may then earn monthly 150 riksdalers, but must then provide for himself.
Twenty years ago land could be obtained in Illinois for 7½ riksdalers, and about ten years ago for 15 riksdalers; and as a single acre sown with wheat might yield an income of between 42 to 84 riksdalers, it was of course easy to buy land. The land being once purchased, it rose in value every year, in proportion as the railroad progressed, and the supply of laboring people became greater. An emigrant without means can at present not hope to buy land in Illinois, but is obliged, in order to enjoy the same favorable circumstances, to betake himself to the western tracts of Minnesota and Kansas. One ought not, however, to imagine that all inhabitants in a settlement are well off. Close by the rich farmer one meets a poor emigrant who possesses only 5 acres, and continues to dwell in the little log-house, although both arrived at the same time at the same place. In the rich farmer’s log-house is harbored a latterly arrived emigrant family, consisting of a wife and four children, all in rags. The household furniture is made up of a bed, a chair, a cradle, and the great chest. Being asked, the wife relates that the family has been settled there a year; that the husband has been sick, but that he has now again got employment as a carpenter, in the nearest town, with a daily pay of 4 riksdalers, 50 öre, of which he, however, for his daily subsisttance [Page 798] expends 1 riksdaler, 50 ore; that she and her husband possessed a farm, but that it was bought on credit, and that the income did not suffice to pay taxes and duties; that the “pastor,” and master, and mistress, had dissuaded them from emigrating, but their relations had encouraged them; that they possessed not a single ore (¼ cent) when they arrived at the settlement; that they had not been obliged to starve outright, in consequence of the charity of some wealthy fanners, but that she, whose parents were independent peasants, had never found herself in so straitened circumstances as during the last year; that a daughter of fifteen years of age, and a son of twelve years of age, were already gone out as servants; that as soon as the husband had succeded to save some money, the whole family would go to Kansas, but did not intend to return to Sweden; first, because it is not worth the while to think of what is impossible, and then, when we see how well off is Pär Olsson, we also may hope that things may turn out just as well for us! At some distance thence there lives a tailor, who is possessed of a little house and a few acres of land, an old horse, and two cows. Since his arrival at the settlement, twenty years ago, he has incessantly worked on very hard; but not being a farmer he has not met with the good fortune of his neighbors, and though he annually saves 300 riksdalers, yet he says that the future looks dark, because his strength is lessened and the family numerous.
In Minnesota one meets with Swedes and Norwegians on all railroad trains. Some go to Kansas to look for land, while others, on the contrary, are going from Kansas to Minnesota for the same purpose. The greatest part of them are young laborers returning toward the east and the more wealthy States, where wages are somewhat higher, in order to earn needful money for purchase of land. They have ordinarily been two or three years in America, and in consequence of the great many different persons with whom they have been in contact, these years have had a considerable influence on their experience of the world and their mental energy.
Along the railroad, which extends toward the west from St. Paul, one meets a great number of lately arrived emigrants, because, as the railroad ends and the older settlements cease, the emigrants must at the beginning remain here to become somewhat acquainted with the new circumstances before they finally go to settle on tracts that are comparatively little populated. As the soil is not so yielding, the climate harder, the settlements younger, and the railroad but recently finished, the well-being is less there than in Illinois. The houses are not so neatly built, and many settlers still live in the log-houses. Some settlers, who have fixed in miserable woodland tracts, live in very narrow circumstances, and even in extreme indigence, though they bought their land sixteen years ago. Here one sees, however, also extensive prairies, and the wealthy farmer driving his reaping-machine harnessed with four horses. At one railroad station, which was opened a few years ago, there is already a little town that, with its small wooden houses, presents a very fine view on the even prairie. Near by the station there stands a large grain store-house. This, as well as some very large shops, belongs to American merchants dwelling in the larger towns, but almost all the other houses are possessed by Swedes. The hotel, where board may be obtained for 15 riksdalers 75 öre a week, belongs to an American, who deals besides with agriculcultural implements, but its management is intrusted to a Swede, formerly a corporal, who has already learned the English sufficiently to be understood, though at his arrival at the station a year ago the whole of his English vocabulary consisted of the single word “wrork.” His monthly pay is 105 riksdalers and board. Beside the hotel, there is a little house with only one room. This house belongs to a Swedish tailor, who arrived a year ago with wife and children; he had borrowed the expenses needed for the passage from another emigrant, but has not been able to earn enough for paying back his debt. At the passage over the lake of Michigan, while the emigrants sat closely crammed up on the narrow deck, an intoxicated emigrant thrust another on the knee of the tailor’s wife, who was pregnant. The consequence was a premature child-birth on board the vessel. At his arrival in Milwaukee, he was obliged, therefore, to remain at a hotel, and as his means shrunk away in paying the doctor’s fee and the bill of the hotel, he must pawn the trunk in order to come further. In the course of the year he had, however, succeeded to build the little house, which, along with the furniture, had cost 600 riksdalers, but the land he had not been able to buy. As this land, which was saleable last year for only 150 riksdalers, had meanwhile increased to a value of 600 riksdalers, he was now in the untoward plight to remove the house. He and his wife repented bitterly that they emigrated, and have firmly resolved to return to Sweden as soon as possible. As he, for some time, had not met with any work in his trade, he had applied to a farmer for work, but his chest was too feeble to endure the hard labor in the fields. His nearest neighbor was another Swedish tailor, who had also arrived there a year ago, with his family. This latter had, however, given up his trade, and as he was possessed of a little stock of money, he had opened a tavern and bought some cows, the supporting of which cost nothing at all, because they found abundant pasture on the prairie before the house. In the middle of the square stands an emigrant house, which belongs to the town; the emigrants may there get shelter over their heads for some short time. It was now occupied by [Page 799] a Swedish emigrant family, which was placed in a most distressing plight. The husband, who had been a skillful joiner, had not succeeded in getting employment in his trade, but had been obliged to seek Work of a carpenter. In the course of the year he had, however, been so successful as to earn about 300 riksdalers, or the needful money for the passage of his family, upon which he had immediately bought tickets for the wife and the children, because it seemed so tedious! On the arrival of his family, he was accordingly without means, and as he was at the same time disabled to work in consequence of a deep sore in his foot, caused by treading on a large nail, he was obliged to take recourse to the emigrant home with his family. The wife, a young woman of engaging appearance, still wearing the national dress peculiar to her birth-place, told that she could weave and sew, but no work was to be found, adding, “that it should be, indeed, so impossible to get work in America, I had never thought.” As she had two small children, and the husband was sick, and besides not strong, work on a farm was quite out of question.
As there is still good stock of land belonging to the State, and according to existing law every emigrant can obtain 160 acres for the moderate price of 42 riksdalers, it appears very strange that all do not take advantage of this opportunity to become landowners. The truth, however, is that the emigrant in this case must settle down on the land, which cannot be done without necessary means for purchase of implements, cattle, and something to subsist on during the first year. The capital which a settler thus needs can be calculated to at least 600 riksdalers. These tracts are certainly only ten Swedish miles distant from the railroad, but the roads are bad, and the only vehicle is a wagon drawn by oxen. The nearest neighbors of the settlers are the Indians. These live, however, on a friendly footing with the settlers, and it happens very often that an Indian presents himself with venison-steak, in order to have it exchanged for a cup of coffee. During the first year the settlers live a very hard life, and if the tract is woodless he must lodge in a but dug in the ground. Many prefer, therefore, to buy railroad land, which may be had at 15 riksdalers per acre, at a distance of one Swedish mile from the railroad, and in the neighborhood of some settlement which already possesses a church and congregation.
Swedish and Norwegian maid-servants are very much sought for, and obtain ordinarily service without trouble in the towns, with a monthly pay of 24 to 36 riksdalers. It is, however, indispensably necessary for them to know some person, who may afford them needful shelter the first days, until they may obtain some service.
It is impossible to make a journey in the west and return without being fully persuaded that the chief and almost exclusive motive for emigration is the hope of arriving at better and more easy circumstances, and there is little doubt that the greatest number succeed in realizing this hope. As regards the assertion, often put forth in the newspapers, that emigration is occasioned by the emigrant’s love of liberty, which does not allow him to endure the political oppression, or as it is preferably termed in the American journals, “the slavery of his native country,” we think this to be entirely unfounded, as far as the political system of the country is concerned. The Swedish and Norwegian settler in the West procures generally the rights and privileges of an American citizen, and as the republican party is preponderating, his votes are generally given, in accordance with the prevailing opinion in the district where he lives, to some republican candidate, of whose political views he has only a very imperfect idea. He takes little part in the political conflicts, and commits willingly the arrangements of the concerns of the community to the native American, because the settler still is apt to consider the Lutheran congregation as the community. If the number of the settlers becomes so great that they may reasonably claim to have a countryman chosen to some public office, only in such a case they evince some particular interest in exercising their rights of election, but even then their political way of thinking is so little determined that they will vote with the democratic party if the object in view would thereby be more surely attained. The settler is aware of no direct advantage in his right of casting a voting-ticket for a person that he has never seen, and who generally is an American; but he perceives and appreciates, on the other hand, another circumstance quite novel to him, which materially conduces to his every day well-being, and this is the general and thorough social equality prevailing there; here we are all peasants; there are no lords and gentlemen among us; and no one need pull off one’s cap! This sense of equality, which gives rise to the American custom of addressing all persons with “sir,” has, on the contrary, as regards the Swedish and Norwegian settlers, produced a quite opposite effect. All titles are cast off, and all address each other, at their first meeting, with “du,” (you.)
The settler who directly is transplanted from his native country to the west, fancies, of course, that this social likeness is dependent on the republican form of government, but it is, in truth, only a necessary consequence of the fact that all persons in the west possess the same education, the same habits of life, and the same chances of having the necessaries of life supplied, on condition—which commonly is the case—that they are possessed of a pair of sinewy arms. In Chicago the social equality is already less, and in the other States there is, in a social regard, a great dissimilarity, although the causes [Page 800] in operation are not the same as in Europe. One thing, however, which they unanimously admit of being better managed in their native country is justice! To judge of letters which, from time to time, are arriving from emigrants who have emigrated to States where there are no Swedish settlements, these emigrants appear to be in a very sad plight, owing to their want of knowledge in the language and other peculiar circumstances, especially when the American employer refuses to fullfil the terms of a contract. If, as sometimes takes place, the emigrant mentions his need and complains of his grievances to the nearest consul, this last can do nothing more than to direct the emigrant to the proper American authority, unless it may happen that both parties are living at the place, in which case the vice-consul may attempt what can he effected by friendly mediation. The business of the vice-consuls who are appointed in the west consists mainly in assisting the legation with concerns in the way of inheritances which are committed to its care. Besides a small income for attestations and certificates, a vice-consul can expect no other compensation than the allowance which is granted to him in cases when inheritances are actually obtained; and, as the assistance of the legation is mainly solicited with respect to the difficulties which often are connected with the obtaining of an inheritance, the direct income of a vice-consul is far from being proportionate to the pains taken. That there are persons, however, who are found willing to accept such offices, may be explained from the fact that the vice-consul at the same time ordinarily is a commissioner and emigrant agent, and that he, moreover, in consideration of his employment in the service of the government, generally enjoys the confidence of the emigrants, and, consequently, may find opportunities to extend his private sphere of business. The circulation of money which is brought about between Sweden and Norway by emigration, amounts annually to a sum many times greater than the whole value of the export and import of goods put together, and the means which, in the way of assistance, are sent from emigrants to their relatives in Sweden and Norway come up to very considerable sums. The creditable firm of Messrs. F. Winslow & Co., Danish bankers at Chicago, No. 2 South Clark street, is very much solicited by emigrants; and it is known that they have sometimes forwarded monthly transmissions of 120,000 riksdalers to Sweden alone for several succeeding months. It is probable that the greatest part of these means was designed to be used in Sweden and not for traveling expenses, because the emigrants, as has been previously stated, prefer to buy the tickets in America.
When the legation is requested to procure an inheritance, the respective heirs usually suppose that the minister, in consequence of his official position, will afford better aid than a private agent. This is, however, most frequently not the case; and the only advantage is, that the heirs are insured against the risk of being obliged to open a lawsuit against their own agent. Here there are no administrative authorities to whom recourse can be taken, in order to obtain information respecting the possessors of the inheritance, who are living in the far-off west; the minister can, therefore, do nothing more than to write to the vice-consul, and this last must commit the cause to some known person residing in the same locality where the deceased had been settled. If no vice-consul is to be found in the neighborhood, the minister must write directly to some advocate, and then it often happens that the letter of the minister rests unanswered. It occurs frequently that the heirs cannot state anything more respecting the inheritance than that they have received letters from a certain emigrant, whose name is stated, and who has offered himself to procure the inheritance, but that they do not venture to give him authority. The only thing which then can be done by the vice-consul is to write to or inquire for this emigrant, and as his motives in writing to the heirs were owing to his hope to earn something by procuring the inheritance, he of course shows himself dissatisfied with the mistrust of the heirs, and is little inclined to afford necessary information. When, finally, the inheritance is discovered, it is found to be in the hands of some person who has already become accustomed to consider it as his property. A request must then be made at the proper authority about the appointment of a “public administrator,” or procurator, and the settling of the inventory of the succession takes, ordinarily, two years. Ultimately, it happens very often that the administrator, in his turn, raises difficulties, and as it always is possible that the court of justice, in case of a lawsuit, may declare that the administrator has proved that the expenses for the adjustment of the inheritance, which commonly are very heavy, and other outstanding debts, have drained off the whole of the resources, the minister ventures not to incur the risk of paying, himself, the lawsuit expenses, and as the heirs themselves neither are willing nor able to guarantee the expenses, sometimes all hope of obtaining the inheritance must be given up.
The language spoken in the settlements is, strangely enough, very little mixed up with English words, and even the younger generation, which is born in America, speak their mother tongue without the least trace of English accent. Children and young people generally acquire very rapidly the English, but persons of a more advanced age seldom attain any readiness in the language, and there are instances of persons who now speak the English worse than some years ago, when emigration was less extensive. One meets often with persons in the settlements who have been two or three [Page 801] years in America without knowing more English than the word “yes,” which always is used instead of “ya,” which word is entirely banished from the Scandinavian languages. At one of the Swedish churches in Chicago is found a school where the whole instruction is given in the Swedish language, but in the so-termed Sunday-school, which is frequented by the generation growing up in America, and therefore has stood in a closer contact with the Americans, the Swedish pastor must convey the instruction in English.
The Swedish and Norwegian emigrants settle, each nation for itself, but they appear, at least in the country, to live in perfect harmony. The inhabitants in a settlement are accordingly all of the same nationality, and even from the same provinces. That branching out of emigration which goes on in the West is a natural consequence of existing conditions there. Emigration cannot fix on one place, but must proceed with every year toward the west, and the reason why the lately arrived emigrants do not remain in the older settlements, is the same which impelled them to emigrate from their native country, viz, the hope of a more easy living.
The Scandinavian population in the west, of which of course a great part is born in America, is calculated to amount to about 500,000, whereof 300,000 are Norwegians, 175,000 Swedes, and 25,000 Danes.
It is believed that the different nationalities will remain unaltered so long as emigration continues on the same large scale, and by this means the languages and the relations with the native countries are kept up; but it is likely that the Scandinavian nationalities thereafter will gradually wear out, and that they will not get so firm a footing in America as the German nationality. The main ground of this lies in the fact that the Germans are considerably more numerous. They are computed at four to five millions, and as they began to emigrate at a time when there were no railroads, the first emigrants remained, generation after generation, at the same place, in consequence whereof whole districts are peopled with Germans. This population is also in several cities, and especially in New York, which city, in regard to the number of German inhabitants, is one-third in order next after Vienna and Berlin—so numerous that it can live perfectly independent for itself. European emigration, it is supposed, will continue for many years to the same extent as hitherto, but prospects are becoming less and less alluring for every year, in consequence of want of wood toward the west, the greater distance, and increased traveling expenses.
Of late years an incessantly increasing number of Swedish and Norwegian emigrants have departed to the Southern States. Respecting the prospects of the emigrants there, I have not obtained any near information; but even in case that full information might be had in this respect, and it were perfectly ascertained that those emigrants who have emigrated there have more chance of success, yet I am firmly convinced that the publishing of this information would not have the least influence on their choice of place for settlement, because they always emigrate in pursuance of letters from previously emigrated relatives, or oral statements of emigrant agents, on the words of whom they place implicit faith.
The Government of the United States has this year published statistical tables concerning wages and living expenses in the different States, and as both the English and American journals are agreed that these tables will be of great use to the emigrants in their choice of places of settlement, I herewith have the honor to subjoin a copy, along with an abstract made by me respecting the States of Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas. I am persuaded, however, that it is impossible to draw just conclusions respecting the preferableness of one State to another, because the tables do not contain any information about a matter of the greatest importance to the Swedish and Norwegian emigrants, viz, the means of obtaining land, and the chances for the increase in value of the land.
The State of Maine brought in last summer some Swedish emigrant families, and though the land, which was situated in the northern part of Maine, and belonged to the State, was sold at the low rate of 1 riksdalers 50 ore per acre, or 240 riksdalers for 160 acres, with a term of three years allowed for payment, each family obtained moreover, as a gift, 100 acres, together with necessary dwelling-houses, with the view and in the hope that emigration, in consequence of letters from these emigrants to their relatives in Sweden, should take the direction to Maine. This hope appears already to be partly realized, as the number of emigrants is stated to be one hundred. It looks likely, however, that the increase in value of the land in these distant tracts will not take place with the same rapidity as in the West, along the great transit railroads. The West is possessed, moreover, of the peculiar and great advantage that the emigrant at the beginning can remain in an older settlement, and meanwhile get somewhat acquainted and familiarized with the new circumstances before he comes to a determination with regard to the purchase of land.
[Untitled]
Sir: About a week ago I bad the honor to mention to the acting chief secretary of the Foreign Office that I had been informed that Count Lewenhaupt’s report on emigration, of November last, as published in the newspapers of Norway, stated that “it is the general opinion in America that emigration is prejudicial to the United States, and that, consequently, the Government wishes to oppose it,” &c.; but on receiving from the acting chief secretary a printed copy of the report in Swedish, and finding it contained no such remark, I was led to believe the error had been made by some one of the newspapers in Norway, and that it would soon be corrected there.
Since then, however, I have received reliable information that the version of the report, as above quoted, has not only been published in the newspapers throughout Norway, but that it is the same as officially communicated to the Storthing.
I certainly need not assure your excellency that both the people and the Government of the United States estimate very highly the emigration from Sweden and Norway. The statement above referred to, published as it has been throughout Norway, has done them, I fear, no little injustice in Norwegian opinion; and assuming that it is an incorrect version of what Count Lewenhaupt has actually reported, I hasten to request that you will have the kindness, as far as is in your power, to place the matter before the Norwegian public in its proper light.
I have, &c.,
His Excellency Count Wadtmeister, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs.