The Children of the PoorRiis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
History
The Children of the Poor
Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
Child welfare -- New York (State) -- New York; Poor; Poor -- New York (State) -- New York
On Monday the children cast their votes in the Society's twenty-one
Industrial Schools, with all the solemnity of a regular election and with
as much of its simple machinery as was practicable. Eighty-two per cent.
of the whole number of enrolled scholars turned out for the occasion, and
of the 4,306 votes cast, 88, not quite two per cent., voted against the
flag. Some of these, probably the majority, voted No under a
misapprehension, but there were a few exceptions. One little Irishman, in
the Mott Street school, came without his ballot. "The old man tored it
up," he reported. In the East Seventy-third Street school five Bohemians
of tender years set themselves down as opposed to the scheme of making
Americans of them. Only one, a little girl, gave her reason. She brought
her own flag to school: "I vote for that," she said, sturdily, and the
teacher wisely recorded her vote and let her keep the banner.
I happened to witness the election in the Beach Street school, where the
children are nearly all Italians. The minority elements were, however,
represented on the board of election inspectors by a colored girl and a
little Irish miss, who did not seem in the least abashed by the fact that
they were nearly the only representatives of their people in the school.
The tremendous show of dignity with which they took their seats at the
poll was most impressive. As a lesson in practical politics, the occasion
had its own humor. It was clear that the negress was most impressed with
the solemnity of the occasion, and the Irish girl with its practical
opportunities. The Italian's disposition to grin and frolic, even in her
new and solemn character, betrayed the ease with which she would, were it
real politics, become the game of her Celtic colleague. When it was all
over they canvassed the vote with all the solemnity befitting the
occasion, signed together a certificate stating the result, and handed it
over to the principal sealed in a manner to defeat any attempt at fraud.
Then the school sang Santa Lucia, a sweet Neapolitan ballad. It was
amusing to hear the colored girl and the half-dozen little Irish children
sing right along with the rest the Italian words, of which they did not
understand one. They had learned them from hearing them sung by the
others, and rolled them out just as loudly, if not as sweetly, as they.
[Illustration: THE BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS IN THE BEACH STREET
SCHOOL.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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