Show THE scandinavian ELEMENT IN commenting on the character of mormon converts many slurs are thrown out concerning the relative number of scandinavians the local journalistic mall mallner ner that never loss loess an opportunity to defame and belittle everything mormon talks with frequent scorn about the scandinavian element as though the fact of the presence of such people was sufficient to show the degraded character of population this all comes ot of ignorance mingled with prejudice and e egotism I 1 cism the idea that everything american must be superior to anything foreign seems to be taken for granted and the very name of scandinavian to mean something inferior and to be ridiculed we think that neither the people of utah in particular nor of the united states in general have any cause lor for such invidious remarks as are often indulged in concerning a thrifty ty sober and productive people who readily assimilate to american life lif e and institutions tut ions and make a strong and sturdy addition to the race that boasts in the term native born the real native is the indian the white stock is a composite piece of ef human architecture a product of many grafts on the human tree and the nervous and slender so called native americans Ameri canis greatly improved in his generations by a scandinavian or german cross the swede the dane and the norwegian is each seen best to advantage in his own countr country y and no one wilo has traveled in those regions and noted the progress that has been made there under many natural disadvantages es will join in the contemptuous remarks which are often made in regard to scandinavians that is if he has any sense of justice and propriety the scandinavians are as a rule law abid ing peaceful industrious saving 11 and steady they are courteous good natured gentle and h hospitable 9 they they are physically robust and as fine w ineda of healthy handsome and attractive manhood and womanhood can be seen seea in copenhagen Copen hanen stockholm and as la in any other european capital paring curing the recent disturbances in centres bentres ot of trade and manufacture when foreign elements were so conspicuous in riot and turmoil the scandinavians were not found to figure in the fray in chicago they number not less than acty thousand the tribune of that deity city declares that thai although some 0 1 thein were amons among the strikers none were among the rioters they acted I 1 in a lawful manner they wanted their rights as much in uch as anybody any body but didiot attempt to obtain them by violence the numbers of scandinavians in the northwest where they most do congregate are thus given by the inter ocean states swedes norwegians Norwegia ns danes illinois illi wisconsin sin j michigan ch a n 0 6 iowa toft t 6 ball out nebraska 2010 kansas 1358 im the new york mail and express says ot ol them fc These are a class of immigrants who strive to assimilate as rapidly as they can to americans aud and whose zeal in learning our language laws literature customs and institutions is one of i of the most hopeful signs of their future no one who is familiar with the scandinavians Scandinavian of utah Uta licau can have failed to notice tile the facility with which they the younger portion especially acquire the language and customs of the country and identified with its institutions they are eager to obtain citizenship and they rapidly advance in everything that makes good stable and useful members of society those of them who have reached maturity before coming to this lang land retail retain an accent that betrays their nationality and it is this that often exposes them to undeserved ridicule they are frequently underrated because of their lack of understanding at first of our langhage lang lan oage gaage and are aie charged with a dullness which is IR only attributable to that lack and no mat iter how quickly they may acquire the language their pecullar peculiar pronunciation still gull goes against them anem with thoughtless people who never reflect upon the figure aney would cut themselves if chev tae had to talk swedish in sweden or danish in denmark the presence of many scandinavians 4 in utah is no discredit to mormonism and no drawback to mormon merit we consider them a benefit benedit to the country and an element of strength and we number among our bosc esteemed acquaintance gentlemen and ladies of culture and who are arc undervalued and misunderstood by many simply because their tongues have not been trained to trip trip easily over the peculiar difficulties of modern english pronunciation cia tion we say welcome and aad success to the scandinavians for of them generally speaking no american community cumin comin unity need be the least ashamed |