360 THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM 
These figures, taken as a whole, are especially re 
assuring. Complaint has been made that in many in 
stances the children are taught by foreign-born teach 
ers whose knowledge of English is so imperfect that 
the children are sure to fail to acquire a satisfactory 
knowledge of the language which they should use 
with accuracy. Altho, doubtless, there are individual 
instances where this is the case, the figures given 
above show that inasmuch as less than 6 per cent, of 
the teachers are foreign-born, this can not be a factor 
so significant as is often imagined. Generally speak 
ing, the native-born of foreign parents speak English 
with substantially the same accuracy as those native- 
born of native parents. In other regards there is no 
reason for believing that the equipment of either the 
foreign-born or of the native-born of foreign parents 
for the work of teaching is materially less satisfactory 
than that of the native-born. 
ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH 
Inability to speak English, as a matter of fact, is 
the greatest obstacle to the proper distribution of the 
recent immigrant population. It causes segregation 
of the immigrant races in industrial towns and large 
cities, and prevents proper contact with American life 
and institutions. Moreover, the recent immigrant, un 
til he has acquired a knowledge of English, must re 
main in the ranks of unskilled labor, even if he has 
been a farmer or has had technical training abroad. 
As soon as a knowledge of English is obtained, not 
only standards of living change, but there also occurs 
a distribution and proper adjustment upon an indus 
trial basis. This condition of affairs is quite plainly 
seen among members of races of southern and eastern