Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/316

 304 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

New York stand higher in the percentage scale than Illinois? Why should it have, in fact, only 704 more illiterate children between the ages of ten and fourteen years than Illinois? New York has more immigrants, more manufacture, more commerce, of the character which absorbs the labor of children ; why, then, should it have only 704 more illiterate children between the ages of ten and fourteen years, and stand higher in the percentage table than Illinois?

The answer to this is that its laws have long been, and still are, better than those of Illinois in one important particular; namely, the requirement that children under the age of sixteen years must be able to read and write English before they begin to work in manufacture. This law has been in force since 1892. For twelve years, therefore, the schools of New York city have been flooded with pupils between the ages of six and sixteen years, eager to learn to read and write English in order to be able to go to work. And the results are visible in the decennial census of 1900.

It is, however, not immigration, nor commerce, nor manu- facture, which determines the amount of illiteracy among chil- dren ; but the excellence or the defects of the laws of the states. If immigration, manufacture, and commerce made the burden of illiteracy too great for the laws to master, New York should stand at the foot of all the states, for it has all three in greater degree than any other state. Instead of this, however, we find at the bottom of the list of all the states exactly those which are crying out for more immigration, commerce, and manufacture; namely, the great agricultural states of the South.

The second test the departure of the pupils from the schools and their recorded acquirement at the moment of departure can be applied at any moment, in any city, by a scrutiny of the rolls of the different classes in the public schools.

Colorado requires the completion of the work of the first eight years of the public schools, or an equivalent in work done in other schools or at home. The pupils must be ready to enter the high schools. An examination of the rolls, showing the age and the class reached by all the pupils at the time of leaving scbool,