ASSIMILATION AND PROGRESS 361 
Europe who have had a long period of residence in 
this country. 
There is a rapid advancement in the proportion of 
persons able to speak English corresponding to an 
increased period of residence in the United States. Of 
the total number of 211,000 immigrant wage-earners 
in mines and factories studied by the Immigration 
Commission who had been in this country less than 
five years, only 28.6 per cent, could speak English, as 
contrasted with 59.6 per cent, with a residence of five 
to nine years and 83.1 per cent, who had been in the 
United States ten years or over. The smallest pro 
portion of employees able to speak English with a 
residence under five years were, in the order named, 
the Cuban, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Turkish, Ruthenian, 
Polish, Macedonian, Greek, Finnish, Lithuanian, South 
Italian, Russian and Rumanian races, all of which fall 
below the general showing for the total number of 
foreign-born wage-earners who have been here that 
length of time. Of the employees with a residence of 
five to nine years, the Cubans exhibited a percentage 
of only 15.2, and the Spaniards of 16.4, with ability 
to speak English, while the French-Canadians, South 
Italians, Montenegrins, Poles, Portuguese, and Ruthe- 
nians showed less than that for the average within 
this residence period. Of the employees who had 
been in the United States ten years or longer, the 
Cubans, Spaniards, Mexicans, Portuguese, South Ital 
ians, Servians, Syrians, Poles, French-Canadians and 
Magyars, all of whom had less than four-fifths of 
their number able to speak English, indicate, in the 
order mentioned, the least progress in this regard. 
As regards the males from southern and eastern 
Europe with a residence of ten years or over, the