Literacy equals intelligence?
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:16 am
The following excerpts are from an article in The Protestant Standard Saturday 10 April 1880 p 6, dealing with 1879 immigration to Australia.
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IMMIGRATION."
The report of the Immigration Agent; laid on the table of both Houses of Parliament about a month ago, has at length been published................
When the details of the Irish immigration come to be considered, it would appear there are sectarian influences at work. The number of Protestants from Ireland is only 286, while the Roman Catholics number nearly 2090. The former surely bear a much larger proportion to the latter than this, but it seems to be managed in this way :—
Emigration appears to be encouraged principally from Roman Catholic counties. One county —namely, Clare— supplied 469 immigrants, and Tipperary 266 ; while the whole of Ulster, which contains 9 counties, only 495. ......................
It would be interesting to know on what grounds this preference to South of Ireland immigrants is shown.
It certainly cannot be on the ground of superior intelligence. Of the adult English immigrants from England, 67 only could not read; while of the Irish adults, 138 could not read, and of those from Scotland, only six were in that position..............