THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA D.A.SOUDERS .THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA D. A. SOUDERS THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA BY D. A. SOUDERS SUPERINTENDENT OF IMMIGRATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES HATCH SEARS NEW SfJUr YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY * \ COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA. II PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTRODUCTION The New American Series consists of studies of the following racial groups, together with a study of the Eastern Orthodox Churches: Albanian and Bulgarian, Armenian and Assyrian- Chaldean, Czecho-Slovak, Greek, Italian, Jewish, Jugo-Slav (Croatian, Servian, Slovenian), Magyar, Polish, Russian and feuthenian, or Ukrainian, Span ish (Spaniards) and Portuguese, Syrian. These studies, made under the auspices of the In- terchurch World Movement were undertaken to show, in brief outline, the social, economic and re ligious background, European or Asiatic, of each group and to present the experience social, eco nomic and religious of the particular group in America, with special reference to the contact of the given people with religious institutions in America. It was designed that the studies should be sympa thetic but critical. It is confidently believed that this series will help America to appreciate and appropriate the spiritual wealth represented by the vast body of New Americans, each group having its own peculiar heritage and potentialities; and will lead Christian America, so far as she will read them, to become a better lover of mankind. ^The writer, in each case, is a kinsman or has had direct and intimate relationship with the people, or group of peoples, presented. First-hand knowledge and the ability to study and write from a deeply sympathetic and broadly Christian viewpoint were primary conditions in the selection of the authors. 5324H71 vi INTRODUCTION The author of this volume, Rev. D. A. Souders, D.D., first became interested in the Magyars when he was made pastor, in 1891, of the First Reformed Church, Irwin, Pa., in a county where 25 languages were spoken. He became successively a member of the Synodical Board of Home Missions in 1893, Superintendent of Missions in 1903, and Superin tendent of Immigrant Work in 1909, his interest in the Magyars and work among them growing with the years. His regard for them as a people and his success in work w r ith them led to his selection as the writer of this book. These manuscripts were published through the courtesy of the Interchurch World Movement with the cooperation of various denominational boards, through the Home Missions Councils of America. At this writing arrangements have been made for the publication of only six of the Series, namely, Czecho-Slovak, Greek, Italian, Magyar, Polish and Eussian, but other manuscripts will be published as soon as funds or advanced orders are secured. A patient review of all manuscripts, together with a checking up of facts and figures, has been made by the Associate Editor, Dr. Frederic A. Gould, to whom we are largely indebted for statistical and verbal accuracy. The editor is responsible for the general plan and scope of the studies and for ques tions of policy in the execution of this work. CHARLES HATCH SEARS. The cost of publication of this volume was guaranteed by the Board of Home Missions of the Reformed Church in the United States. Other Boards may order copies from the PUBLICATION AND SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD, Reformed Church Building, Fifteenth and Race Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., or from THE CENTRAL PUB LISHING HOUSE, 2969-75 West 25th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. CONTENTS Part I: European Background CHAPTER PAGE I MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTER ISTICS .13 A GENERAL TREATMENT II PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY . 25 (a) Political Situation 25 (b) Economic Conditions . . * . 28 (c) Social Conditions . . . . . 29 (d) Religious Conditions .... 37 Part II: The Magyars in America III IMMIGRATION . 51 IV CONDITIONS IN AMERICA .... 60 (a) Economic Conditions .... 60 (b) Social Conditions . . ... 65 V RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 78 AN INTENSIVE STUDY (a) Church Work among the Magyars . 78 (b) Magyar Reformed Churches . 4 89 (c) The Valley of Decision .... 97 (d) Forms of Religious Approach . . 107 VI SPECIAL PROBLEMS 112 (a) Leadership of Foreign Language Churches 112 (b) Forms of Religious Break-up . . 117 vii viii CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER VI [Continued] (c) Extra-church Movement . . . 119 (d) Pressing Need for Magyar Mission Lit erature ....... 123 (e) Parish Evangelism 125 (f) Religious Education .... 127 APPENDICES I Americanization as the Foreigner Thinks of It 135 II List of Magyar Publications in the United States 138 BIBLIOGRAPHY 143 INDEX 147 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Reformed Church and Parsonage, Toledo, Ohio . . 32 Magyar Church of Debrecszin, Hungary ... 32 Village Square and Protestant Magyar Church at Turkeve, Hungary 33 Typical Magyar Ministers, Father and Son ... 64 Magyar Reformed Singing Club, Toledo, Ohio . . 64 Magyar Protestant Orphans Home, Ligonier, Pa. . 65 Officers of a Beneficial Society, Lorain, Ohio . . 80 Foreign Mission Pageant, Magyar Young People, Bridgeport, Conn 81 Reformed Women s Society at Their Business Meet ing 96 Night School Maintained for Adults (Studying Eng lish) 96 Present Building of Oldest Magyar Church in Amer ica, Organized May, 1890, East Side, Cleveland, Ohio 97 Congregation at Service 128 Confirmation Class, Reformed Church, West Side, Cleveland ... .128 Daily Vacation Bible School of Magyar Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pa 129 PART I: EUROPEAN BACKGROUND THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Part I: European Background Chapter I MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS The Magyars came into Europe from Asia some time during the eighth or ninth century. They be long to the Ugro-Finn branch of the human family and are thus related to the Chinese and Japanese. Their only relatives in Europe are the Finns and possibly the Esthonians. Hungarian tradition says that two sons of Nimrod, Hunyar and Magor went hunting in the Ural Mountains and found in addition to game a very promising outlook for conquest in what is now Russia. They got their father s con sent to migrate to the new country and Hunyar went westward and became the founder of the country now claimed by the Finns while Magor remained in eastern Russia and was the leader of the people now known as Magyars. Authentic history relates that these people mi grated from southeastern Russia into the plains of Hungary with their flocks and herds in one great horde of a million souls in the year 896 A.D. under Arpad, founder of Hungary s first dynasty. Here they made a place for themselves which they have maintained ever since. Having come into the most 13 14 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA fertile part of Europe, the Alf old, called by a French writer the Jar din I) or, the garden of gold, they abandoned their nomadic life and became herdsmen and farmers. As might be expected from their origin the Mag yars are a virile, powerful race. They are such lovers of horses that there is a proverb, "The Mag yar was created on a horse. The Magyars of this period were "trained riders, archers and javelin throwers from infancy." In the 70 years follow ing Arpad s reign (who died in 907), the Magyar horsemen became the scourge and terror of Europe, ravaging Germany and Bavaria to the Rhine, and Italy as far south as Otranto. Otho I, king of Ger many and later founder of the "Holy Roman Em pire, " in 955 proclaimed them "the enemies of God and humanity." There is no certain connection be tween the Hungarians or Magyars of this period and the armies of Attila that devastated the Roman Em pire 600 years before, though the territory ravaged was much the same. From these incursions into the west and south they brought back booty and cap tives who all unwittingly to their captors helped to change them into a European nation. Christian missionaries. The Magyars became ac quainted with Christianity about A.D. 972 when their duke, Geyza, married a Christian princess, Sarolta, of Transylvania, whose father had been converted to Christianity while in Constantinople. It was a question of some time to decide whether the Greek or Roman Church should be recognized, but ultimately Adalbert missionaries from Ger many, who had labored earnestly from Wolfgang (917) to Geyza, prevailed, and Geyza s son, Viak, was baptized by Adalbert of Prague in 994, and was given the name of Stephan. He asked for the rec ognition of the Pope and was crowned by Sylvester II of Rome, A.D. 1001, and was designated by the MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 15 Pope, St. Stephan, "Apostolic King of Hungary/ Since his day, all Hungarian kings are crowned with his crown. Stephan I. Stephan proved himself a great king, a constructive statesman and a great Christian, and has ever been the great idol of the Magyar people. First he changed the constitution from a tribal union to a kingdom. Then he undertook the Christianiza- tion of the people, traveling from one end of the country to the other, preaching, baptizing, and or ganizing governments. He recognized the futility of conquests in the west and set about organizing his country into a stable form of government. In this he followed the models of western nations, subdividing the country into counties, establishing bishoprics and founding churches, convents and schools. He established a national council of lords temporal and spiritual and of knights of a lower order. Thus he gave form to the national assembly and prepared the way for the constitution which has ever since been the mainstay of the Magyar s civil and religious life. Fortu nately, too, his successors carried forward his work with a reasonable degree of fidelity, so that the na tion became more and more affiliated with European life and ideas. Great names. There are other great names of kings in the Hungarian history besides that of her first great " Apostolic King," Stephan. There is Coloman (or Kalman), the Learned (1095-1114), who was much in advance of his times and greatly improved the laws; Louis I, "The Great " (1342-1390), another great lawgiver. John Hunyadi (1387-1456), "the greatest general of his age," called "the Eaven Knight," because he had a raven with a gold ring in his beak on his coat of arms, who in the two great battles of Semendria and Belgrade saved Europe from the menace of Moham- 16 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA medanism ; and his son, Matthias (1456-1490), re garded by many historians as the greatest king in Hungary s history. But, as we shall see later, hoth the nobility and common people have furnished reformers and lead ers of undying fame. The Golden Bull. There is no written constitu tion of Hungary. This, like the English constitu tion, is the product of laws extending over a series of centuries. The first written document, similar to Magna Charta of England (1217), is the Bulla Aurea or "Golden Bull" of Hungary, granted by King Andrew II in 1222 A.D. The immediate purpose of the king, no doubt, was to strengthen the authority of the Crown against the encroachments of the oli garchy (Drage, p. 271), but in order to secure what he wanted he was compelled to make important con cessions to the nobles and lower estates. The main provisions of the Golden Bull, put into few words, are that " Breach of faith on the part of the sover eign makes rebellion lawful" (Drage, p. 271). True, the Golden Bull has been violated. It has been sus pended for fear of the people and at best it was a concession to the nobles rather than to the people themselves, but it has always served as an ideal toward which the people of Hungary has strug gled. For centuries the franchise in Hungary was lim ited to those who had secured privileges through concession of the king, but as the franchise has from time to time been enlarged, the provisions of the Golden Bull have served for the greater freedom of the people at large. The Crusades. The time of the Crusades is the darkest period in Magyar history, for, during that time the country was so devastated and depopulated that immigrants were invited from the west and from the Balkan provinces to take the places of slain and MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 17 captive Magyars and so were sown the seeds which have ever since grown harvests of serious racial, religious and national problems. Hungary had been under the Arpad dynasty for about two centuries, and under various other royal families for two cen turies more. Then came the Crusades, during which time the contending armies in turn ravaged the country. Hungary fed the famishing Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land and protected their broken remnants as they wandered back. The Magyars were not, however, left in undis puted possession of the land, but for several cen turies they were subject to invasion and were al ternately under the influence of western or eastern civilization according to the power of the invaders. It suffered one invasion of the Turks after an other, until, utterly exhausted, the losses of Magyars in Transylvania were so great that they invited Saxons from the west to migrate into the territory, and encouraged Eoumanian herdsmen from the east to take the places of herdsmen fallen in the wars. At the same time many people who fled from Turk ish cruelty in the Balkan peninsula remained to be come part of the Hungarian population. Thus was introduced the racial problem which has perplexed the Hungarian government ever since. The most disastrous of these invasions was that of the Ottoman Turks in the sixteenth century under Solyman, "the Magnificent/ which culminated in the battle of Mohacs (1526) and resulted in the di vision of the country between the Moslem and Chris tian. During all these centuries Hungary rapidly de clined and the country was finally divided into three parts. Transylvania became the refuge of the Hun garians; the Turks took possession of the central part and the Austrians secured a foothold in the western provinces. IS THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA The Hapsburgs. With this division of territory came the fateful rule of the Hapsburgs in the person of Ferdinand I, who was elected by the Hungarian Diet in December, 1526. It was hoped by the Hun garian nobles to secure help, in this way from the tyranny of the Turks, but they were grievously dis appointed, for, too often, the Hapsburg rulers saw in the Turk a help to keep the Magyars from assert ing their constitutional privileges and exercising their inherent love of freedom, so the Turk was rather helped than hindered in his oppression of the Magyar people. The policy of the Hapsburg dynasty was declared to be to make Hungary German, Catholic and poor, and according to their well-known motto "Divide et impera" to play off one race against another. She tried to carry out this dictum to make Hungary German, but failed; she tried to make it Catholic and succeeded in part ; she tried to make it poor and succeeded but too well. Austria never succeeded in her attempts to make Hungary a province of Aus tria. It needs to be emphasized that there never has been an Austro-Hungarian Empire but a Dual Mon archy, with two governments and one king and a Federal Parliament representing them. The Reformation. The division of the country helped to prepare the way for the progress of the Reformation in Hungary. The Turks still held the central part; two pretenders to the throne of Hun gary held the rest; John Zapolya the east; Ferdi nand the west; both contending for possession of the whole country. During their struggle for supremacy the Refor mation was allowed quietly to spread as it caused no disturbance. It took possession of the ground and priest and congregation compromised with each other. In 1549 a new confession was drawn up which King Ferdinand accepted and confirmed. The MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 19 first persecutions in Hungary were not by Koman Catholics, but between Calvinists and Lutherans, and not till the Jesuits returned in 1577 did the government take an active part in the suppression of the new faith. The Protestants rose in revolt led by Prince Bocskay, of Transylvania, and compelled the king to grant freedom of conscience and liberty of worship (1606), and these articles of treaty were incorporated with the laws of the land by the Diet (1608). When the king made an attempt to cancel the whole treaty he was deposed and his brother Matthias was raised to the throne. The state of the evangelical churches in Hungary remained, however, very uncertain for several centuries, till in 1781 the Edict of Toleration was granted by Joseph II. This placed Protestants in all points on an equal footing with Eoman Catholics. Eeligious freedom has been maintained ever since. We may, however, note in passing that the variety of religion represented in Hungary has added one more factor to the complications of the inter-racial problem since the Eoman Catholics have been in a large majority and in closest harmony with the rul ing house of Hapsburg; the Eastern Orthodox have held tenaciously to their faith and have been to a large degree influenced by the relation of church and state in other Eastern Orthodox countries; and be tween them the Protestants have sometimes been a helpless minority and at other times have held the deciding vote in parliament. Racial agitation. From the time when the Haps- burgs gained a footing in Hungary, till the begin ning of the World War, three distinct racial agita tions disturbed the peace of both Austria and Hun gary. First came the effort of Austria to make Hungary German and Catholic. Pan-Germanism. This continued with varied de grees of intensity from century to century till the 20 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA unsuccessful revolution of the Hungarians in 1848. It was intensified by the frequent agitations in be half of the Roman Catholic Church. It was further aggravated by the fact that when the revolution promised success to the Hungarians the Austrian government called in the aid of the Russian Slavs to subdue the Magyars. Pan-Slavism. Since the Hungarians already felt the pressure of the Slavs, both north and south of them they were the more thoroughly roused and alert to scent the Pan-Slav movement. Here again we must note the religious factor, for allegiance to a nation professing the Eastern Orthodox faith in volves also allegiance to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Pan-Magyarism. Under such circumstances it is not strange that there should have been all along a strong Pan-Magyar movement in Hungary. Though for centuries a minority of the population, the Magyars had been the largest single nationalistic element. They had been the most aggressive, most coherent and most progressive element; and by all odds the most masterful in administration among the diverse elements of the Hungarian population. The fears which agitated them have found confirma tion in a remarkable way in recent historv. Austria which sought to rule by playing off tTio Slav against the Magyar has been dismembered by the Slav till only one province remains German. And Hungary by the same influence has been reduced from a -popu lation of eighteen millions to five and a half millions and from a territory of 109,216 square miles to 24,605, the size of West Virginia. The Revolution of 1848. Three names stand out prominently in this effort to raise the people to higher standards of living and to the enjoyment of greater freedom : Stephan Szechenyi, Francis Deak and Louis Kossuth. Szechenyi was of aristocratic MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 21 lineage but sincerely interested in the welfare of the common people. He was a member of parlia ment, and labored faithfully in behalf of the people both in and out of parliament for 15 years, but he sought mainly to improve their living conditions and to counteract the Germanizing influence of the Court in Vienna, without aiming at any constitu tional changes. Kossuth, on the other hand, though also of noble birth, was a son of the poorer class of the gentry who support themselves by their own exertions, and so was in touch with the common people, a real "commoner." After 1840 the bulk of the nation and especially the small gentry whose predominant influence was making itself felt were unwilling to follow Szech- enyi, and became ardent followers of Deak and Kos suth. These men felt that economic reforms were not sufficient without a modern constitutional gov ernment. Kossuth was the editor of a newspaper and when the Diet in 1832 forbade newspapers to print reports of its deliberations, Kossuth wrote out these reports, had them copied and distributed among the common people, and when the govern ment sought to bribe him to silence he asserted his independence and defied the government. The re sult was his imprisonment for 3 years, during whicE time he prepared himself by the study of English to carry Ms cause to the free nations of the west. After being released lie began the publication of the Pesti Hirlap (still in existence) and through it "elec trified the masses who were always rea3y to give their unconditional support to his bold and far- reaching schemes." 1 Magyar characteristics. Chief and most promi nent among the characteristics of the Magyar is his intense and persistent patriotism. As quoted in an 1 Vambery, History of the Hungarian Revolution. 22 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA article published in the Saturday Evening Post of June 12, 1920, he dates everything back a "Thou sand Years, 7 and makes this a basis for all present and future nationalistic endeavor. His patriotism has all the faith, fervor, determination and hope of a religion. In fact it has been so interwoven with the religion of the country as to be almost in separable from it. The question springs to mind whether his patriotism has not partaken of the fatal ism of his eastern ancestors and the predestination of the Calvinistic religion which most of the Protes tants profess. It was aggressive nationalism which won them a place in Europe; that found expression in the Golden Bull; that armed them against the Turk; that again and again thwarted the purposes of their Hapsburg emperor-king; that inspired the revolu tion of 1848; that upheld them during the dark period from 1848 to 1867; that grave purpose and impulse and power to the wonderful development of Magyar government, culture and life during the last half century; that now maintains them under the un certainties of the present world upheaval; that gives them hope after defeat in war and the threatened loss of 66% per cent of their country, reducing it from 109,216 to 24,605 square miles. Temperly, in Westminster Review, January, 1908 (p. 4), says: "The Magyar race, none admires more intensely their virility, capacity and energy, their geniality and winsome qualities as a nation. In the region of politics the record of the Hungarian gov ernment since 1867 is full of great achievement suc cessfully executed. No nation has had more fire and vigor, more sturdy love of independence, etc." Magyar assimilating power. Though much has been said recently about their oppression of the lesser nationalities there has also been considerable willing acceptance of Magyar life, manners and cus- MAGYAR HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS 23 toms by people of the sub-nationalities. Many of these may have done so for preferment at the Haps- burg court but since the Hapsburgs were never much liked by the Magyars there must be some other ex planation. It provokes a Magyar to-day to tell him that some of his greatest heroes were of these na tionalities. Kossuth, their great liberator of 1848, a true Magyar, was the son of a Slav. Petofi, their poet of liberty during the revolution, was also of Slovak ancestry. " Intermarriage has been so com mon that it would be hard to find a Magyar who has not the blood of one or more of the sub-nationalities in his veins. Those whose mother-tongue is German, Slav or Roumanian enjoy perfect freedom in the use of their idiom. . . . When the abolition of the privileges of the nobility overthrew class distinc tions in 1848 all those who had received a good edu cation, of whatever nationality and rank of society became Magyars in tongue and in sentiment. Even children of foreigners recently settled in the coun try have become Hungarians in the first genera tion." 2 On the other hand another writer says: " Their Chauvinism is almost a disease, although sur rounded as they have been by enemies, excessive pa triotism has helped save the race from extinction. 3 Notable achievements. Among the notable achievements of the Magyar government since 1848 2 Delisle, in Hungary of the Hungarians. Quotations from Delisle are given prominence because he is a recent English writer of 1914 who seems entirely impartial. In his preface he writes "Some writers have sought to obtain the goodwill of the Hungarians by flattering them and their land. I prefer to regard the Hungarians as a people too magnanimous to be influenced by doubtful means; too great to be offended by honest criticism; too intelligent to resent the telling of a truth when sometimes it happens to be disagreeable." 8 Patterson, Arthur J., The Magyars : Their Country and In stitutions, p. 53. 24. THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA may be mentioned the overthrow of class privilege which exempted the magnates and nobles and a long list of professionals and clericals from taxation and put heavy burdens on all other classes ; the reclaim ing of waste lands which largely increased the cul tivable acreage and prevented devastating floods which cause loss of crops on the farms and death in the cities on the river banks ; improved the literacy of its people from 1880 to 1890 as the accompanying table shows : 1880 1890 Per Cent Per Cent Germans 68.25 79.63 Magyars 53.56 72.52 Slovaks 39.27 60.36 Servians 37.25 48.38 Roumanians 11.01 23.88 Ruthenians 8.64 17.78 (Delisle, Hungary of the Hungarians, pp. 213, 214.) created a labor bureau for peasant labor; established accident and old age pensions; created a building fund for peasant homes on the farms ; and more re cently (1912) enlarged the franchise. Schierbrand. recent writer (1917), says of the different races in both countries, "If each of them could but contribute to the general life his best quali ties what a gain that would be to Europe" and of the Magyars he writes : " If the Magyar would con tribute his eloquence, his political tact and skill of administration, his poetical and dramatic fire, etc., what a gain it would be !" Chapter II PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY (A) POLITICAL SITUATION It is well nigh impossible to write about the pres ent political situation in Hungary. The only source of information is a series of pamphlets published by a Commission of Protestant Hungarians to The Hague in 1919. We quote at length from one of these pamphlets entitled, " Backgrounds of our Church Crisis. " Under the head of "Our Country, Our Churches and the War," we read: "Our na tion was not even in her interior affairs in posses sion of her full sovereignty, but had to endure the autocratic tendencies of the court and of bigger and smaller political bosses subservient to the lat ter. . . . "Though we had a Parliament performing most constitutional formalities, this Parliament was by its origin and composition but a parody on the real feelings and intentions of our people. . . . "The will of our people could not be freely ex pressed at elections; ... we were not masters of our national destinies even at home, not to speak of those abroad. "We had no efficacious check whatever on the con duct of the forei.m affairs of our country. The only means of control was the delegation of the Hun garian Parliament before which the foreign min isters or their representatives appeared. This body, consisting largely of Lords and high officials, met only once a year (if it met at all) and adjourned at 25 26 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA the end of a few days session after merely deliver ing some prearranged speeches. Within the last ten years the Court managed to shut off from our coun try all adverse criticism of her own policy. Then came the World War, and the methods of the court to secure the help of the Hungarian na tion. The slogan of loyalty was given out, the men drawn to the colors and the country placed under martial law. . . . When the war became a clear-cut issue between free nations and autocracy and when the men in the ranks had time to ponder over the affairs of their country, . . . many went over to the pretended enemy while others remained only be cause of a sense of military duty and loyalty which, was more strongly developed in them. . . ." Effect on emigration from U. S. We can form some idea of the present effect of the political sit uation from statements of Hungarian pastors and foreign-exchange bankers in America. The former report that large numbers of their members have gone home during the first six months of 1920. Some estimates run as high as- 20 per cent. For eign-exchange bankers do not keep record of racial bookings but estimate that about 10 per cent of the Magyars in America will go home. They estimate further that most of those going are from Rou- mania and go because their families or relatives need their presence and help. Unrest in America. Since the Peace Conference assigned to Czecho-Slovakia, to Jugo-Slovakia and to Eoumania the larger part of the territory for merly belonging to Hungary many of the Magyars in the dissevered provinces are in very serious and uncertain situations. These write to their relatives and friends to come to their aid. This causes much unrest among Magyars in America. In every Magyar colony money is being collected for the aid of their families and relatives at home and in many PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 27 instances husbands and fathers here are induced by letters from home to return for their protec tion. Present indications as to emigration from U. S. Letters received from those who have gone home are likely to stem the outgoing tide, for more fre quently than not they bring information of great disappointment and severe suffering of which num erous examples might be given; one will suffice. Mr. Perzsotzy of Johnstown, Pa., had been in America for fifteen years. During this time he had been sending home money regularly for the support of his family who declined to come to America be cause the children were getting along well in the schools and one of the sons was a student for the ministry at the breaking out of the war. Mr. Perz sotzy became an American citizen and hoped to bring his family over with him so he returned home early in 1920. He found his son disabled and his family in extreme poverty. To make matters worse he was himself arrested and is now in prison be cause he had left the country in the first place be fore having finished the term of his army service. His experience is likely to deter any other Magyars in Johnstown from going home. The better informed Magyars in America say the result of present conditions in Hungary will be a very large migration from the dissevered prov inces, and that unless conditions in the territory remaining to Hungary improve very soon the only escape from intolerable conditions will be emigra tion either to North or South America, and that the evident preference will be the United States. The report of the Commissioner General of Im migration for 1919 is interesting on the subject but inconclusive, there being reasons for emigration from the United States and equally strong reasons to expect a large immigration. 28 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA (B) ECONOMIC CONDITIONS The economic development of Hungary has taken place within the last fifty years. Hungary by na ture is deprived of several factors necessary for economic development. She is largely an agricul tural country; she had only a very small seaboard before the war, and this by artificial arrangement, and has none now. She was restricted by some of the conditions of the Ausgleich or Compromise of 1867, by which she was required to sell her agricul tural products under free trade conditions to Aus tria and get her manufactured products from Aus tria under trade protection to the latter. Government aid. The present government, how ever, is wide awake to the economic interests of the country and has recently passed a number of acts to develop the economic resources of the country. The government welcomes foreign capital for the pur pose, and offers favors and concessions to foreign ers to locate their plants in the country. More than 500 such firms have been assisted since 1902 and they in turn have found employment for more than 15,000 Hungarians. The result has been that she has secured the latest discoveries and inventions as applied to industry and has in return secured also a large number of trained men among her own people ; the government making it obligatory to em ploy Hungarians whenever such can be secured. The government spent no less than $6,000,000 to se cure the above results. Industrial schools. A number of industrial schools have been established. " There were in the year 1914 four high grade industrial schools, twenty-three handicraft schools, one industrial school for girls and five artisans schools, the whole number accommodating 18,500 pupils. Besides these there are 460 apprentices schools with 66,300 PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 29 pupils. " The progress resulting is remarkable, for in 1869 only 9.4 per cent of the workers were em ployed in industries; in 1914 the percentage had risen to 15 per cent. Industrial insurance. There has also been legis lation helpful to the workers. In 1891 a law was passed requiring all factory hands to become mem bers of the sick fund which guaranteed them free medical attendance, medicine, and sick pay, as well as confinement allowance in case of wives, and de frayment of funeral expenses at death. The em ployer paid one-third and the employee two-thirds of the contribution. This was changed in 1907 so that each party paid one-half of the contribution. Postal Savings Banks. Post-office Savings Banks were established in 1886. For the first five years they were not popular and were run at a loss, but since then they have become a safe and popular help to the people and by the end of 1911 they had 780,000 depositors and held deposits to the amount of over $24,000,000 for the year. Other institutions patterning after these banks swelled the amount of deposits to almost $600,000,000, or an average of about $360 for each depositor. 1 These facts about economic conditions are mentioned because they have an important bearing on the customs of the Magyar people in America as applied to thrift, economy and benevolent cooperation. (c) SOCIAL CONDITIONS To understand why there has been so large a migration from Hungary during the last fifty years we must study the social as well as the economic and political conditions from which this migration sprang. 1 See Hungary of the Hungarians, Delisle, pp. 254-270. SO THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Society in Hungary. Society in Hungary was di vided for centuries into four distinct classes: (1) The magnates, or greater nobles, who secured their titles and their estates from the king for some spe cial service rendered in times of storm and stress. They have been therefore more closely allied with the royal court in Vienna and Budapest. They are even charged with having changed their language and their religion in order to be in favor at court. As a result they have lost the favor and respect of the lesser nobles who once were on friendly terms with them. Nobles. (2) The Nobles are the landed proprie tors who came into possession of their titles and estates centuries ago, because they bore arms in the conquest of the land. They are called the backbone of the country, who have held to the soil through all vicissitudes. They are the great middle class, the progressive class in Hungary, and are noted for the sincere and liberal hospitality with which they en tertain. The magnate does not manage his farm; the noble is proud to do so and his wife shares in the duty. He supervises the work on the field; she takes charge of household affairs. He is usually well read and speaks several languages. A knowl edge of English has become quite common among this class. Peasants. (3) Next come the peasants or farm laborers. They may be divided into two classes: Beres, or those employed for the whole year, and the Betyars, who serve for a few months during the busy season. The former are considered a part of the family and are usually well cared for and kindly treated. They occupy one end of the table, while the farmer and his family occupy the other. The Betyar or occasional farm hand does not fare so well. He works for wages and these are low and vary in amount according to season. The PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 31 amounts paid in 1906 were in spring time 34.4 cents; in summer 53 cents; in autumn 37.8 cents, and in winter 26.4 cents, being an average of 37.9 cents per day or $2.27 per week. Of course, this in cluded board and lodging, but both were of the plain est sort. The result was low standards of living, low morals and the least desirable class of farm labor. Tenant farmers. Another class of peasants are the small tenant farmers. Farms in Hungary are either very large or very small. Four classes of farms are designated: Dwarf (from 1 to 5 acres), 6.15 per cent of the arable land; small (5 to 100 acres), 48.77 per cent of the whole; middle (100 to 1,000 acres), 14.22 per cent of the whole; and large (over 1,000 acres), 31.19 per cent of the whole. There are 1,500,000 farms averaging 2% acres, and 4,000 averaging 4,630 acres. Large estates include practically all the forests ; arable land is much more in the hands of small proprietors and renters. More than half the arable land is owned by small holders. Middle sized farms are being bought up by land speculators and sold in parcels at exorbi tant profit to small holders who got the money from friends in America. Tradespeople. (4) The last social class to con sider is the Tradespeople of the towns, and the laborers of public improvements. The former con sists largely of Germans and Jews, for the Magyar is not remarkable for his business capacity. At any rate he is not a match for either the German or the Jew, which two nationalities have captured the greater part of trade and industry. Many Magyars were, however, driven into the city by adverse eco nomic conditions on the farms. These came largely from the peasant class, who sought labor at better w r ages on the government projects of reclaiming \vaste lands and building river retaining walls a 32 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA work which was practically completed about the years 1886 to 1889. Their only resource after this was in the factories in cities, which were few in number, or to migration to America. The government was not blind to the necessity of keeping its peasant population on the farm, but for a time the magnates and nobles were not willing to pay the price. After the revolution of 1848 the nobles surrendered many of their ancestral privi leges for the common good. Among these was the exemption from all taxes which they in common with the magnates enjoyed. The magnates refused simi lar action and since then there is little social fel lowship and considerable feeling against them both by the nobles and the peasantry. Farm laborers. It was the custom of farm labor ers to hire out in groups to work on the farms near their resident villages. There was no permanent human relation between them and the land owners for whom they worked, so they were influenced more and more by labor agitators to shirk respon sibility and in 1890, after several seasons of bad crops which prevented the land owners from pay ing the demands of ever-advancing wages, there was a great strike of farm laborers. In 1904, about 100,000 of them migrated to America and thousands of others went from the country into the city. Then the government took matters in hand and organized a farm bureau that could furnish 10,000 farm labor ers, who could be sent wherever needed, i.e., strike breakers under government control. For the good of these laborers the government furnished reading matter and entertainment ; revived the old farm and country fairs and festivals ; secured better housing, and provided a sick and old age pension, etc. 2 2 Booker T. Washington, The Man Farther Down, pp. 92, 93, 94, 95. REFORMED CHURCH AND PARSON AGE, TOIJiDO, OHIO. MAGYAR CHURCH OF DEBRECSZIN, HUNGARY . I I2lll|f g lljpll! I slfljjil * ^ |^xl^||^ 1 1 ;|ijgj| a M SI h PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 33 The farm laborers who sought work in town and city fared little better than their fellow countrymen who remained at home. For a time the government furnished labor on projects to reclaim marsh land and to control rivers in time of flood. This both furnished labor for thousands of unemployed men and in turn secured thousands of acres of land which formerly lay waste. This work was, how ever, practically complete by 1890, so the men em ployed upon it were set free to seek employment in the towns and cities or resume the quietness of country life from which they had emerged. The re sult was a glut of the labor market in the city and much loafing in the country. Migration to America was preferable to either. Housing of farm laborers. The government act of 1905 passed by recommendation of the minister of Agriculture, Dr. Daranyi, provided for the better housing of agricultural laborers which is worth not ing. It provides for the building of cottages by the government, or the providing of the material at cost for such buildings. The cost of material varied from $165 to $185 per cottage, to be paid back to the government in ten to fifteen annual payments; the peasant himself to erect the building. Each cot tage must have a plot of ground of from 1,000 to 1,200 square yards. In case the government builds the cottage it will cost from $155 to $310 and is to be paid for in from twenty to thirty annual pay ments. In 1905, $12,000 was expended for such pur pose; a year later the amount was increased to $63,000. In one year there were built 10,943 cot tages. One specification of the law is that during the period of its being paid for no alcoholic bever ages are allowed to be sold on the property. 3 3 Booker T. Washington, p. 95 seq. THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA EDUCATION State schools were established in 1875, but before that there had been many noted church, municipal, and private schools. The latest available statistics show the following: Number of Number of Number of Kind of School Schools Teachers Pupils Elementary Roman Catholic 5,305 9,431 710,799 State 2,744 5,291 316,005 Parish (Municipal) 1,417 4,314 265,094 Reformed 1,903 2,110 204,822 Greek Oriental (Uniates) . . 1,723 2,320 148,162 Evangelical 1,338 2,317 137,514 Eastern Orthodox 1,963 2,207 132,574 Jewish 466 903 35,594 Private 308 21,636 Unitarian 36 301 2,021 Colleges, etc. State Colleges 125 237 25,000 Teacher Training 89 8,000 Classical Colleges 178 . 3,341 54,199 Realskola 32 710 9,540 Universities 59 12,000 x of science 2 of technology 1 of law 10 of theology 46 1 1914-15. Museums. Anthropology, Commerce, Technol ogy, Industrial Arts, Agriculture, Geology, all at Budapest. Many of the principal towns have museums hardly inferior to these. Libraries. The National with 1,420,000 volumes and manuscripts. The Academy with 200,000 vol umes and manuscripts. The University with 400,000 volumes and manuscripts. PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 35 What results have these several grades of schools attained I The literacy of the people is given as follows: By Religion By Nationality Per Cent l j er Cent Jews (can read) . . . 83.03 Germans 79.63 Evangelical 82.26 Magyars 72.52 Reformed 75.52 Slovaks 60.36 Roman Catholic . . . 68.26 Servians 48.38 Unitarians 64.95 Roumanians 23.88 Eastern Orthodox . 23.86 Ruthenians 17.78 Greek Oriental (Uniates) 20.83 The result of all this educational endeavor for the last fifty years has given Hungary high rank among the nations of Europe for educational and cultural standing. We quote from Hungary of the Hwi- garians, p. 217. " Hungary with her 20,000,000 of inhabitants, ranks to-day (1913) next after Germany and France for her cultural means and the earnest efforts she puts forth in the interest of popular enlighten ment. Illiteracy of immigrants. Illiteracy in the home/ land as a whole was 18 per cent in 1910, while thalk of the farms was of necessity larger. Compared ) with the literacy statistics of America, Magyars fall short about 9 per cent. We have, however, only meager statistics about the Magyars separate from the immigration statistics of Austro-Hungary. Statistics from census reports for the years 1899 to. 1909 credit the Magyars as follows : Total number over 14 years of age 282,740 Total of those who could not read 32,170 Percentage of the illiterates 11.38 Compared with these figures are: 36 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Per Cent Polish 35.4 Roumanian 34.7 Slovak 24.3 Bohemian 1.7 Until 1867, education was entirely in the hands of the clergy. It will be seen from the table on page 34 that the Elementary schools are still largely parochial. The marked disproportion be tween the number of theological schools and those of science, law and medicine is due to sectarian schools. Out of 49 theological schools in 1900, 29 were Roman Catholic, 4 Eastern (Greek) Orthodox, 5 Uniate (Greek Oriental), 10 Protestant and one Jewish. There is no trace of literary production in the Magyar tongue before the twelfth century. Pre vious to that time all publications were in the Latin language, and until the close of the eighteenth cen tury, Latin was the language of the court, the higher schools and worship. The first alphabet for the Magyar language was a Latin one, invented by early missionaries. The monasteries became cen ters of arts, handicrafts, new methods in agricul ture, and focuses of civilization. The earliest trans lations were of legends and books of the Bible. Later came folk-tales, folk-songs and folk-sagas. Gutenberg s Bible was printed in 1456. An almanac was published in 1457. A few years later almanacs were published in Hungary under King Matthias. The Reformation inspired great literary produc tion. Epic, lyric and dramatic poetry and ballads; novels, short stories, satires, and philosophy were produced in this period. The first newspaper in Magyar was founded by Rath in Pressburg in 1780. The golden a^e of Magyar literature was the thirty years preceding the Revolution of 1848. To this period belongs Petofi, the great national poet, and PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY S7 Jean Arany, Szasz and Vorosmarty, poets of inter national fame. Arany translated Shakespeare, Tasso and Goethe, and Szasz translated Moliere, Hugo, Dante, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Goethe, Schil ler and Heine. The great novelists of the period were Jokai, Kemeny and Eotvos. (D) KELJGIOUS CONDITIONS In writing on this phase of the subject we wish to acknowledge our debt to an English book of joint authorship by L. Kellner, Madame Paula Arnold, and Arthur Delisle, published by the Pitmans of London, in 1912. We also acknowledge our debt to a number of Magyar Protestant missionaries, Eevs. Alex. Ludman, Alex. Kalassay, Alex. Harsanyi, and Louis Bogar. Since the promulgation of the Ausgleich or com promise agreement with Austria there has been re ligious freedom in Hungary for all phases of Chris tianity, but not all the religions have secured the same help from the government. While all were free, not all were recognized by the state. From the eleventh century till the Kef ormation, the Hun garians bore undivided allegiance to the See of Borne. The Slavs, however, in the meantime had requested the (Greek) Eastern Orthodox Church to send them missionaries and their request having been granted the Slav provinces of Lower Hungary were in the early part of the thirteenth century re ceived into the (Greek) Eastern Orthodox Church. Later on, some Greek priests with their people went over to the Roman allegiance. These are now known as the IJniate or Greek Oriental Church. They anoint the sick, baptize by immersion, admin ister communion in both kinds, and the clergy marry. It SPPHIS strange that such concessions should be made by the See of Borne and the ex- 38 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA planation is given by Count Julius Andrassy as: "The Hungarians never developed that zeal m per secution 01 heretics which tne ir ope expecieci of them. In spite of most urgent requests to the con trary they tolerated the J ews in the country and did them no harm." The dogma of papal iniallibility (1872) was published by only one Hungarian Bishop and he was compelled to resign his see. It is not strange therefore that a people of such independent spirit should take readily to the doctrines of the Reformation and that the Protestant Church began in Hungary before 1523, and has grown to a mem bership of almost four millions, including those of all racial elements of the population. Though the Magyar is passionately tenacious of Ms individual liberty he yet submits in a large de gree to the dictates of those in authority and among few people does the minister, or priest, or the officer of the state exercise such power. The king of Hungary has alwavs been the head of the church but he has delegated his ecclesiastical authority to three archbishops and under these are numerous bishops and lesser clergv, representing the various religions : Roman Catholic, Eastern Or thodox (Greek), and Protestant. The Hungarian government until its downfall, however, kept a controlling hand on the affairs of the church. The Minister of Public Instruction is also the Minister of Religion. He is appointed by the king and his views on matters, religious and ec clesiastical, must be known to the king before he gets his appointment. It was a foregone conclusion that he would be of the same religion as the king, a Roman Catholic. "The Catholic priest, the Prot estant pastor, and the Jewish rabbi are practically on the footing of state employees, the amount of their salaries, emoluments, and pension allowances being fixed by the government and paid out of a PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 39 fund raised by a tax per capitem." 4 Everybody, ir respective of denominational affiliation pays this tax. In one sense therefore everybody in Hungary belongs to some church. Even strangers living in Hungary for some months will be asked to register their preferences and be assessed on the tax list un less exempted by special request. Delisle, the au thor of the book referred to, gives this experience : When the official came to inquire about his religious affiliation he wrote Congregational on the Iden tity Form." By and by he received a demand note for the payment of one pound, ten shillings, about $7.50. He said: "I never trouble these people, never go to their churches, I receive nothing from them," and the document goes into the waste basket. A fortnight later a collector calls in person and should the citizen remain obstinate, the collector will pro ceed to appraise certain articles of his furniture as a preliminary to removing them if the amount be not paid within eight days from the date of the visit. Under such regulations the religious census sta tistics, we may conclude, are fairly accurate, al- thouo-h we cannot say so much about the effect upon the reli,2rious life of the people. It is usually supposed with reference to our alien population in America that the Protestant element among: them is a negligible quantity. However, this may be with reference to the aliens in general, it is not correct with reference to the Magyars. The following statistics are quoted from the Hun garian Census (1910) : Per Cent Roman Catholics 9,919,713, or 51.5 Uniate (Greek Oriental) 2,815,713, " 14.6 Reformed 2,441,142, " 12.7 Eastern Orthodox (Greek) 1,854,143, " 9.6 4 Delisle, Hungary of the Hungarians, p. 211. 40 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Per Cent Evangelical (Lutheran) 1,288,942, or 6.7 Jews 851,478, " 4.4 Unitarians 68,568, " .4 Baptists and others 14,760, " .1 This table gives the statistics for the respective religious bodies irrespective of language, so it must be compared with another table to arrive at the esti mated number of Magyars belonging to these re spective religions: Taking the respective religions separately it is found that: Per Cent Speak Magyar Unitarians 99.09 Reformed 98.24 Roman Catholic 60.50 Evangelical (Lutheran) 28.56 Eastern Orthodox (Greek) 13.39 Greek Oriental (Uniate) 1.39 By comparing these two tables we find there is in Hungary the following religious distribution of Magyars : Per Cent Roman Catholic 6,001,547, or about 60 Reformed 2,398,177, " " 24 Eastern Orthodox (Greek) 248,269, " " 2.4 Evangelicals 110,333, " " 1.2 Unitarians 67,944, " .68 Jews and others 999,700, " " 11.72 Of course, this is only an estimate and must be taken as such. On this basis we may, however, safely count that about 25 per cent of the Magyars are Protestant Christians. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCH OF HUNGARY It will be helpful in under st an din z Mae^ar mis sion work in America to cast a erlance at the organi zation of the Protestant church in Hungary. PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 41 Districts. The government of the Keformed Church of Hungary was at first based on a geo graphical distribution. There were five districts each with its own peculiarities of organization. 1. The Transylvanian, established in 1553 with David as bishop. 2. The Transtibiscan, established in 1562 with Melius as bishop. 3. The Cis-Danubian, established in 1570 with two Classes but both under one bishop. 4. The Trans-Danubian, at first under the direc tion of two superintendents, was made into one dis trict with one bishop in 1616. 5. The Cistibiscan was first organized into four Classes with one president in 1648, but was united into one district in 1735 when Szentgyorgyi was elected bishop. Episcopacy vs. Democracy. These facts are given to show that there was a tendency from the more democratic toward the episcopal organization dur ing more than 150 years. In general the congrega tions in Upper Hungary followed the Genevan plan of government while those in the southern districts adopted the episcopal form of government. Double presidency. This divergence of plan led to a compromise between the princes and the advo cates of presbyterial form of government by which there was a double presidency of Classes and Dis tricts (Clerical and Laical). The result was that the civil magistrates put two of their chief opponents into jail, one of them being a professor who had published a book on Elders Governing the Church. Between these two tendencies in addition to the op pressive measures secured against the Protestants by the "Roman Catholic hierarchy, the churches passed through many gloomy decades and even cen turies and, says Prof. Balogh, "The third centen nial of the Reformation (1817) was observed with 42 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA dismal prophecies, and the situation was not much changed till 1844. " Its organization. Coming to the organization of the congregation and higher ecclesiastical bodies there are some peculiarities. The officers of the con gregation are chosen from its membership, but among the elders there is one preeminent : the chief elder, or as he is called, the curator. He is usually a man of prominence in the social or political affairs of the community. His authority, if we may judge by the way curators in America speak and act, is often greater than that of the pastor. He will speak of my church, and my minister, and will tell both people and minister what to do. Of course, it may be that he is only more outspoken than some promi nent elders or councilmen in our American churches. Classis. The churches of a specified district in Hungary, usually a county, constitute a Classis. Here, too, the double arrangement of officers pre vails. There is a president, usually a minister, but there is also a curator of almost equal author ity. Synod. Next higher are the Synods, five in num ber and here again there is an ecclesiastical presi dent, a bishop, and a curator, a layman only, since the Synod is so much higher than a congregation or Classis, the curator is proportionately a more promi nent citizen of the territory of the Synod, a baron or count. General Synod. Highest of all is the General Synod, where the presiding officers are always a bishop and a baron or count. The bishop, of course, would have preeminence in matters pertaining to faith and doctrine, but the curator or civil president would negotiate all matters pertaining to the rela tion of church and state or as pertain to affairs in America. He would carry through all negotiations with an American church or church board. This at PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 43 least has been the experience of Boards in America dealing with Hungarian church officials. Conventus. The conventus is an executive body conducting the affairs of the general church in the interims of General Synods, which are held only every ten years. It consists of about sixty members (ex-officio), all the ecclesiastical and lay heads of the five synods, and other elected members. Reference is made to this organization of the church in Hungary to explain the church organiza tion among Protestant Magyars in America. The first fact that impresses a visitor to an American Magyar church is the authority of the minister and then little lower is the authority of the curator. These two men practically "run the church," for though the election may be somewhat tumultuous, the minister usually secures the election of his curator. Present religious conditions in Hungary. The estimate of present religious conditions in Hungary comes to us from the Hungarian Commission at the Hague from which we quoted concerning the politi cal situation. Beginning with a paragraph on the need of new spiritual connections the pamphlet says : "During the last two or three generations the time came finally for our churches to devote their atten tion to their own inner upbuilding. . . . Providence used our brethren in the West to give us the most valuable help." This came from the great Bible So cieties of England and America and from the Scot tish Mission" of the United Free Church of Scot land. Of the work of this "Mission" the writer says: "There is scarcely a single religious move ment on foot at present in Hungary the beginnings of which are not linked up somehow or other with this Mission." Among other agencies noted are the Presbyterian 44 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA World Movement; the influence of numerous Hun garian students from Scottish colleges and univer sities; the influence of denominations of recent origin in Hungary such as the Methodist, the Bap tist and the Seventh Day Adventist. i Though small in numbers and struggling with many difficulties due to their lack of a historical past in the country, yet these denominations soon exerted valuable influences . . . and became stimulating rivals in Christian ac tivities to the historical Protestant denominations." This significant paragraph occurs in the pamphlet quoted: "Unfortunately certain personal factors of our Reformed Church, in its dealings with the Home Mission Boards of some of the American sister churches sadly misread the real spiritual interests entrusted to them. They adopted an attitude with regard to the care of Reformed Hungarians in America . . . which prevented the rich fruits of a possible cooperation to ripen from the inner devel opment of their own church." There is promise in another paragraph : "All those movements which shape the future of Hungary s religious life most directly, are inti mately bound up with the religious forces of Great Britain and America; such as the Young Men s and Young Women s Associations, the Sunday Schools, the Christian Endeavor Societies, the Student Vol unteer Movement." "Repeated visits in Hungary of such world-wide known representatives as John R. Mott, Robert P. Wilder, Ruth Rouse, ushers in new stages of devel opment. From a private letter to the author, dated Febru ary 10, 1922, written by the pastor of a New York City Magyar Church, lately returned from Hungary, a very illuminating view of the conditions of Protes tant Church life in Hungary is obtained. He says : PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 45 "The sufferings of the war of four years, and the indescribable experiences of two revolutions in five months, and of Bolshevism and the Roumanian in vasion created a new atmosphere in our church in many senses. Multitudes, even outside the churches, disillusioned by all the experiments, both of the So cialistic and Bolshevik regimes, now turn with more trust to spiritual things, where they find consolation after their awful losses of material and other things. These good signs and the collapse of some of the Christian Churches (Roman Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, etc.) in the cities and the country, awak ened many of those ministers who themselves were but mildly interested in Spiritual things before the war. By these ministers our little group of Gospel- preachers was greatly interested and last summer, in one of our frequently repeated and successful ministers conferences, we determined to lay the needs and methods of supply before the General Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church just held in Budapest. We did that. There we started an Evangelistic campaign for the whole country. For preparation we established the First Religious Hun garian Tract Society and started the work with four colporteurs. As soon as we get from some source enough financial help to cover the expenses, we will send out fifteen of our best preachers to the country for a whole year. The doors are everywhere open for us. If we do not get enough help we will start the work with five preachers and they will do this work for three years instead of one as above pro posed. The Methodists and Baptists in Hungary are pushing ahead. This fact is also stimulating the historical churches of Hungary. The Roman Cath olic Church is making desperate efforts to get the leadership in everything (politics, etc.). They are mourning the failure of the coup of the Haps- 46 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA burg Charles, the ex-king of Hungary. We have the hope and assurance of the triumph of the Gospel in Hungary or we are lost." A plea for just judgment. Before closing this Study of the Magyar background in Hungary, it will be worth while, in the interest of history in its wider bearings, to note the debt which Christian civiliza tion owes to Hungary as a buffer state between it and Mohammedanism as that military religion is represented by the Turk with his greed for conquest, his disregard for all national and human rights and religious freedom. Again and again, in the reigns of Sigismund, Hun- yadi, and Matthias, and in 1683 with the assistance of Poland and its soldier king, John Sobieski, Hun gary drove the Turk back to his own soil. The battle of Vienna in 1683 broke forever his power and men ace to Europe. " Honor to whom honor is due." The Hungarian is no longer a "Hun" but a Magyar. Why should the Magyar of to-day be meas ured by or punished for the sins of his ancestors of a thousand years ago? HUNGARY S NATIONAL SONG Rise, Magyar, is the country s call ! The time has come, say one and all. Shall we be slaves, shall we be free? This is the question, now agree! REFRAIN : For by the Magyar s God above We truly swear, We truly swear the tyrant s yoke No more to bear. Alas! till now we were but slaves; Our fathers resting in their graves Sleep not in freedom s soil. In vain They fought and died free homes to gain. PRESENT CONDITIONS IN HUNGARY 47 But by the Magyar s God above We truly swear, We truly swear the tyrant s yoke No more to bear. A miserable wretch is he Who fears to die, my land, for thee! His worthless life who thinks to be Worth more than thou, sweet liberty! Now by the Magyar s God above We truly swear, We truly swear the tyrant s yoke No more to be:.r. The sword is brighter than the chain, Men cannot nobler gems attain; And yet the chain we wore, Oh, shame ! Unsheathe the sword of ancient fame! For by the Magyar s God above We truly swear, We truly swear the tyrant s yoke No more to bear. The Magyar s name will soon once more Be honored as it was before! The shame and dust of ages past Our valor shall wipe out at last. For by the Magyar s God above We truly swear, We truly swear the tyrant s yoke No more to bear. Written by ALEX. PETOFI. Translated by WM. N. LOEW. PART II: THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Part II: The Magyars in America Chapter III IMMIGRATION Distribution of Magyars in U. S. The census of 1920 classifies under "foreign white stock " those born abroad and those born here, one or both of whose parents were born abroad. . The Census Bureau has issued several bulletins concerning our immigrant population. The first reported 397,282 born in Hungary. The second 598,170 born in Hun gary and 512,735 born of foreign-born Hungarian parents, a total of 1.110,905. A later bulletin made it 1,129,796. It must be remembered that these fig ures are for Hungary before the war and include all people from Hungary regardless of race, such as Roumanians of Transylvania, now a part of Rou- mania, Slovaks of Slovakia, now a part of Czechc Slovakia, and Croats, Slovenes, Austrians and others living in the territory of Southwest and West Hungary. The last bulletin (issued June 28, 1922) gives the figures for Magyar "stock" as 268,112 for eign-born Magyars and 205,426 born in the United States of foreign-born parents, a total of 473,538. These are real Magyars, speaking the Magyar lan guage, and are the people concerning whom this book is written. Of these 473,538 the state of New York has 95,000, Ohio 88,000, Pennsylvania 85,000, New Jersey 47,000, Illinois 40,000, Michigan 26,000, Connecticut 15,500, Wisconsin 12,000, Indiana 11,000, Missouri 9,500, West Virginia 7,300, California 6,000, Minnesota 5,000. No other state has more than 3,000. 51 52 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Every state in the union has Magyar immigrants. The state with the smallest number (46) is Nevada. The cities with the largest numbers are : New York City 75,000, Cleveland 33,000, Chicago 31,000, De troit 23,000, Philadelphia 20,000, Akron, Ohio, 8,000, St. Louis and Bridgeport, Conn., 11,000 each, Mil waukee 6,000, Pittsburgh, Pa., 7,500, Newark, N. J., and Bethlehem, Pa., 5,500 each, Trenton, N. J., 5,000, Passaic, N. J., New Brunswick, N. J. and South Bend, Ind., 4,000 each, Toledo, 0., 4,000, Cin cinnati, 0., 4,000, Perth Amboy, N. J., 3,500, Buffalo 4,500, Youngstown, 0., 3,600, McKeesport, Pa., 3,000, E. Chicago, Ind., 3,000, St. Paul, Minn., and Los Angeles, Cal., 2,500 each, Roosevelt and Garfield, N. J., Baltimore and San Francisco 2,000 each, Jersey City, Lackawanna, N. Y., Eliza beth, N. J., Johnstown, Pa., Yonkers, N. Y. and Nor- walk, Conn., 1,800 each, Mansfield, 0., 1,400, Brad- dock, Pa., 1,300, Gary, Ind., Canton, 0., Columbus, O., 1,200 each, Barberton, 0., 1,150, Clifton, N. J., Alliance, 0., Elyria, 0., Aurora, 111., Racine, Wis., 1,000 each, Homestead, Pa., Kenmore, 0., Paterson, N. J., 900 each, Schenectady, N. Y., 800, Omaha, Neb., Denver, Col., Farrell, Pa., Portland, Ore., 700 each, Whiting and Hammond, Ind., Granite City, 111., Hoboken and Bayonne, N. J., New Haven and Tor- rington, Conn., N. Tonawanda, N. Y., Lakewood, 0., and Steelton, Pa., 600 each, Monessen, Pa., Oakland, Cal., Joliet, 111., Rochester, Tonawanda and Pough- keepsie, N. Y., and Phillip sburg, N. J., 500 each. The following cities and towns have less than 500 each: Connecticut, Derby, S. Norwalk, Hartford, Wallingford, Stamford; Pennsylvania, Hazleton, Freeland, Mt. Carmel, Sheppton, Weston, Pricedale, McAdoo, Etna, Star Junction, Sharon, Berwick, Elizabeth, Barnesboro, Windber, Beaver Falls, Throop, Brownsville, Winburne, Scalp Level, Shick- shinny, Vintonville, Ambridge, New Castle, Erie, IMMIGRATION 53 Duquesne, Seanor, Erwinna, Heilwood, Hoods Hol low, Yatesboro, Smithdale, Uniontown, Ferris, Ros- siter, Donora, Puritan, Clymer, Harrisburg, Nesque- honing, Smithton, Ellwood City, Punxutawney, Dee- gan, Avella, Masontown, Helvetia, Lloydell, Wilkes- Barre, Phoenixville, Orient, Federal, McKees Rocks, Palmerton, Sharpsville, Leechburg, Scran- ton, Syano, Zelienople, New Brighton, New Alexan der, Forbes Road, Clairton, Monongahela, Saga more, Red Hill, Van Meter, Vestaburg, Bruceton, Northampton, Luzerne Mines, Devault, Canonsburg, Crab Tree, Iselin, Irwin, Renovo, Expedit, Seminole, Aliquippa, Altoona, Mclntyre, Epton, Yukon, Board- man, Forest City, Millenauer, Benscreek, Macdon- aldton, Edri, Jessup, Lyndora, Cherry Valley, Studa, Oakdale, Portage, Coatesville, Stove, Argen tine, Springdale, Connellsville, Hanover Green, Kingston, Cuddy, Elinor, Shamokin, Benning, S. Bethlehem, Latrobe, Whitsett, Rankin, Willock, Mar tin s Creek, Allegheny, Keiser, Minersville, Black- lick, Snow-shoe, Pottstown, Wehrum, Mutual, Udell, Daisytown, Burdine, Lebanon, Westmore, Dunmore, Dickson City, Morrisdale, Traveskyn, Trauger, Oil City, Broughton, Charleroi, Glenwood, Vestaburg; Ohio, Fairport, Dillonvale, Hubbard, Murray, Ash- tabula, Barton, Medina, Collingwood, New Philadel phia, Drakes, Congo, Clay Center, Maynard, Fair- port Harbor, Tilltonsville, Martins Ferry, Hollister, Bradley, Ramsey, Adena, Connorville, Grand River, Niles, Lansing, St. Clairsville, Painesville, Mid- dletown, Rossford, Portsmouth, Robyville, New Comerstown, Bedford, Conneaut, Fremont, Glencoe, Rayland, Newark, Steubenville, Byesville, Ashtabula Harbor, Crescent, Glens Run, Gypsum, Startle, Bannock, Sweden, Jobs, Huron, Warnock, Coshoc- ton, Modoc ; New York, So. Tonawanda, Witherbee, Ithaca, Roseton, Depew, Garnerville, E. Kingston, Portland Point, Kreischerville, Peekskill, New Mil- 54 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA ford, Hudson, Hastings on the Hudson ; New Jersey, Alpha, Keasbey, Wharton, Franklin, Chrome, Franklin Furnace, Oxford, Eoebling, South Eiver, West Newark, Cliffside, Manville, Carteret, Wood- bridge, Oxford Furnace, Flemington; Indiana, In diana Harbor, Clinton, Sullivan, Terre Haute, Uni versal; Illinois, South Chicago, Westville, Harris- burg, Zeigler, West Pullman, Divernon, Waukegan, Clifford, Kincaid, Buckner, Hegewisch, Springfield, Decatur; Mart/land, Lord, Luke; Michigan, Kear- sarge, Muskegon Heights, West Detroit, Owosso, Port Huron, Wyandotte, Mohawk, Kalamazoo, Grand Eapids, Bellevue, Eed Jacket, Flint, Besse mer; Massachusetts, Boston, Everett, S. Boston; Georgia, Budapest ; West Virginia, Eed Jacket, Mor- gantown, Landraff, Glen Jean, Gary, Benwood, Clarksburg, Holden, Baxter, Keystone, Montana Mines, Tarns, Filbert, Farmington, Logan, Minotti, Ward, Viropa, Dobra, Thorpe, Algoma, Elkhorn, Hutchinson, Kempton, Wheeling; Virginia, Stonega, Pocahontas, Dante, Tom s Creek; Delaware, Wil mington; Colorado, Primero, Pueblo; Kentucky, Freeburn, McVeigh, Jenkins; Wyoming, Eock Springs, Sweetwater; Oklahoma, Coalgate; Rhode Island, Providence. The following table, showing the distribution of Magyars in the United States, has been prepared from the Census statistics of 1920. It contains the number of foreign-born and native-born Magyars in each state and the number of counties, cities of 10,000 or more population and other places where Magyars are found. From the table below it will be seen that Magyars are found in every state of the Union. They are found in more than half of the 2,873 counties and in 584 cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants, as well as in a great number of smaller cities, towns and rural districts. IMMIGRATION 55 1 C/Q rO I K| rO 1 s <u }t Z.*! ^ *" No. of other places where found New York . 53,653 41,758 62 57 11 Ohio 50,304 37,710 75 49 39 Pennsylvania . . . New Jersey .... Illinois 49,086 26,697 22,695 36,785 20,572 17248 62 21 73 75 39 42 104 16 41 Michigan 14,921 11,339 80 27 63 Connecticut .... \Visconsin 8,726 6,623 6,108 5,033 8 67 18 21 5 48 Indiana Missouri .... 6,172 5,327 4,691 4,349 58 57 28 10 35 50 W. Virginia .... California 4,130 3,470 3,139 2,627 35 56 9 24 23 40 M. inn eso t a 2832 2152 73 9 74 North Dakota . . Maryland 1,663 1,285 1,253 977 46 22 3 4 45 20 Massachusetts . . Virginia Colorado . 918 853 763 698 648 580 8 34 46 8 13 5 25 45 Kentucky 715 543 27 7 22 Washington .... Texas 698 621 530 472 100 28 10 75 Montana 616 468 45 6 41 Oregon 602 457 30 4 30 Nebraska 535 407 54 5 55 Iowa 493 375 Kansas 411 312 62 13 51 South Dakota . . Florida 386 252 293 192 55 30 2 6 55 25 Alabama 246 187 28 9 20 Wyoming 230 175 19 2 18 Tennessee 215 163 21 7 15 IjOuisiana . . 201 153 22 4 20 Oklahoma Vermont 205 173 156 131 41 8 10 3 32 7 Georgia 162 123 20 8 17 Idaho 154 117 Delaware . 143 108 3 1 2 56 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA rO B counties lund 1 ^ " 1 her places und s, A ^^ !*** o< 5 6 s s V ^ S J^ Q Q ^ w -S ^ <-j ^ ^ l ^ ^ 3 S o ^ 3 Dist. of Columbia 145 110 Arizona 140 106 Utah 118 90 Rhode Island . . . 116 88 5 1 6 New Mexico .... 86 65 14 1 15 Arkansas 71 54 24 5 20 Maine 48 35 New Hampshire. 74 34 m m North Carolina . 44 34 18 4 15 South Carolina . 37 28 14 4 12 Mississippi 31 23 Nevada 26 20 Total 268,112 205,426 1,411 584 1,248 Migrations in the United States. There has always been much moving from place to place among the Magyar people owing to changes in wages and kinds of employment. A slight increase of wages or a more agreeable kind of work may send them across the continent. A large majority of the men are single or men whose families are in the home land. It is therefore easy to go from place to place. It is, however, impossible to form an estimate of the magnitude of this migration. The only criterion would be the quarterly reports of missionaries to their respective Boards, and from these it appears that a missionary may report increases or decreases of membership in his congregation of from 10 to 20 per cent per quarter or possibly a change of 30 per cent per annum. Return to Hungary. In the matter of return to the home land we have more definite information, IMMIGRATION 57 for since the year 1907 the government gives by na tionality not only the number of immigrants but also the number of emigrants. From government re ports for the years since 1907 we cull the following facts : STATISTICS TAKEN FROM REPORT OF Til E COMMIS SIONER-GENERAL OF IMMIGRATION FOR 1921. TABLES XV, XV B, XVIII Immi- Year g rat ion 1908 24,378 1909 28,704 1910 27,302 1911 19,996 1912 23,599 1913 30,610 1914 44,538 1915 3,064 1916 981 1917 434 1918 32 1919 52 1920 252 1921 9,377 Emi gration 29,276 11,507 10,533 18,975 17,575 11,496 14,254 2,262 394 133 41 10 14,619 12,457 Net Immi Net gration Deported Increase -4^98 65 -4,963 17,197 i 42 17,155 16,769 304 16,465 1,021 46 975 6,024 39 5,985 19,114 269 18,845 30,284 99 30,185 802 2 800 587 4 583 301 2 299 -9 -9 42 2 40 -14,367 . . . -3,080 Total 213,319 143,532 69,787 874 68,913 From these figures we learn that in the fourteen years ending June 30, 1921, 67 per cent of the Mag yars coming in returned home, and 33 per cent re mained. The net gain for this period by immigra tion, only, was 68,913. Since the close of the World War, Magyars have been returning in large numbers. Some Magyar colonies report one-third of the people as either hav ing gone or going. The number returning in the year ending June 30, 1920, was 14,619, and in the year ending June 30, 1921, 12,457. In 1920 only 252 came in, but in 1921, 9,377. 58 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA No one can yet tell what the future will bring. The uncertainties of Hungarian politics, and the figures given above make forecasts mere guesses. The population of Hungary according to the pres ent proposed alignment of territory for Hungary makes the population almost exclusively Magyar. The population of Hungary as it was is reckoned at 18,264,533 ; that of Hungary as it is to be is given at 5,509,168. The percentage of Magyars in this ter ritory will be 89.4 per cent as over against 54 per cent in Hungary before the war. Inquiry of Magyars in different cities shows that those returning are largely from the eastern coun ties of Hungary, and from agricultural communities in Hungary. An illustration shows to what extent this prevails. A Magyar Eeformed man came to bid farewell to his pastor while the writer was present. He told of fourteen other men from the same congregation who were going on the same vessel. When told of the unsettled condition in the eastern part of Hungary he said : i That is just why I am going home. I have a wife and four children living in territory now oc cupied by the Eoumanians and my wife writes that they are in great need, having been deprived of most of their furniture and all the food they had not hid den away in the fields. What should a husband do when he gets such a letter! I go. The men who go with me go for the same reason." Similar condi tions are reported from every Magyar colony of any size. Will they return again? The answer to this ques tion usually is: "Yes, unless we find conditions in the homeland much improved from what they were when we first came to America." They are hopeful that this will be the good fortune of Hungary and therefore the inference is that those going home will remain. Others say, "No, we are going home to IMMIGRATION 59 bring our family to America. America has been good to me, it will also be good for my family. No one can tell what the trend of migration will be. As we have seen even the Commissioner of Immi gration in his report for 1919 is very uncertain. Since the new Hungary will be almost exclusively agricultural, the Commissioner-General of Immigra tion thinks it is not unreasonable to expect that when something like normal conditions are restored in central and western Europe, Hungarian agriculture will find itself in a highly favorable position, and this would normally act as a powerful restraint to emigration. It is therefore only a vague guess what will be the trend of immigration from Hungary to the United States. Chapter IV CONDITIONS IN AMERICA (A) ECONOMIC CONDITIONS The moral and industrial status of the Magyar in America is according to Prescott F. Hall, Immigra tion, p. 61, "higher than that of the Slavic races, but they are more high-strung and nervous and less adaptable, for example, than the Slovaks. . . . And they do not readily assimilate or adopt our citizen ship. " Magyars are credited with about $16 per capita when they come to America. While here they are industrious and send home large sums of money for the benefit of their families or other relatives. One out of thirteen is said to be a skilled laborer. Social effects of economic conditions. This is a difficult estimate to make. Eichmond Mayo-Smith of Columbia University well says: "We can compare the constitutional and administrative systems of dif ferent countries and say which unites the greatest security for life and property with the greatest lib erty of the individual. . . . But there is no adequate expression for the degree of morality, or even its respect for law, much less for the tone of its social life and the loftiness of its social ideals. . . . We are in the same position when we try to measure the social effects of immigration. ... It would be ab surd to trace effect back to specific cause or say that certain desirable things are an inheritance from our American ancestry and that others, undesirable ones, are the result of immigration. We can only study tendencies and distinguish certain character- 60 CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 61 istics of the American people before the immigration commenced and say whether we are preserving or losing them." The same reasoning pertains to the Magyars in America. We must bear in mind that a very large percentage of them come from the farms of Hun gary and that in the homeland they enjoyed less edu cational opportunity than was enjoyed by their more fortunate fellow countrymen of the towns and cities. As probably 72 per cent of the Magyar immi grants were agriculturists before they came to America we find most of them employed here in un skilled labor. They are found mostly in mines and factories where they at least begin as laborers, though they soon work their way up to better pay ing positions. Housing conditions. These changes in occupation were no doubt brought about by the opportunity to earn higher wages. They have not, however, re sulted in higher standards of living. When the men worked in the mines they lived mostly in company houses and of late years the great coal companies have housed their workmen in better houses and sub jected the tenants to occasional visits of an inspector to see how they live. Besides the house, they usually had a small plot of ground which furnished vege tables for the family. This applies notably to the great coal companies of western Pennsylvania, where the tenants are encouraged to keep the house and lot clean by the gift of prizes for the best look ing yard and in several instances by affording spe cial bathing facilities. When on the other hand these men move to the manufacturing town or village they live in rented houses located in the foreign section, where they must pay exorbitant rents for unsatisfactory and often unsanitary houses and as a consequence they crowd the house with boarders till beds are occupied 62 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA by two shifts of men : one by day and the other by night. An exception to this rule is found in South Lorain, Ohio, where the town is well laid out with broad streets and neat houses on broad lots. As a rule the Magyar housewife is neat and clean and very proud of her culinary skill so that if she has a fair chance she keeps the house clean and the table well supplied with nourishing food. Prof. Ed ward A. Steiner in the Outlook for August 29, 1903, says of the Magyars in Cleveland, 0. : 4 Some 20,000 live round about the great steel mills. Although street after street is occupied by them I have never seen a house that showed neglect. ... A large Catholic Church, a Greek Catholic Church and a flourishing Protestant Church show that the Magyar does not neglect his religion. A weekly paper keeps him in touch with the affairs of the day both at home and in America. There was in 1906 in New York City a Hungarian Home and Free Employment Office, which, during the year 1907 found employment for 1,407 Hungar ians, distributed as follows : 237 in Coal Mines.. 288 in Factories. 270 in Brick Yards. 300 as Porters and Domestic Servants. 312 as Farmers. All were sent to Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and West Virginia. The average wages for all of them were $1.46 per day. Wages. " Wages vary greatly in the same indus try. They do not depend so much upon their ef ficiency as upon the character of the industry in which they work. . . . Magyars in cotton mills get about $8.92 a week, but in iron and ore they earn $13.96,^ and in oil refining $14.61. The best wages are paid in mines, glass works, oil refining, cigar and CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 63 tobacco factories, slaughtering and meat packing houses and on the docks. " * Industry and thrift. The amount of money sent to Hungary from 1900 to 1906 in postal money or ders is as follows : Number of orders sent 7097 Sum total of money $249,885.37 Average per order sent $35.21 Average per year $41,647.56 What proportion of this was sent by the Magyars it is of course impossible to tell as the immigrant re ports did not differentiate races till the year 1907, but we may infer that at least one-fourth of this amount was sent by Hungarians, or about $62,471.34. Savings. The Magyar is not remarkable for his financial ability. He is industrious and honest but he is rather free in the spending of money. His home is usually well furnished, his table is well sup plied ; his wife and children are well clothed ; but his hospitality often gets the better of him. There is an adage among Magyars to the effect that "The last man closes the door," i.e., when the purse is empty and the owner must leave the home in poverty he closes the door. The average of deposits in thirty-one immigrant banks investigated by the United States Immigrant Commission showed the aggregate amount deposited to be $209,190 for 3,196 depositors, or an average of $65.45 per depositor. The Magyar stood at the bot tom of the list with a credit of $52.74 while the Greek reached an average of $115.90. We should, however, say to the credit of the Magyar that he mistrusts the immigrant bank and that he sends home large sums of money through the postal au thorities. 1 The New Immigration, p. 69. 64 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA The very purpose of their coming to America is to improve their economic condition. It would be interesting to know the per capita amount they save, but since this is impossible we may note that some years ago the writer inquired of the Postmaster of Irwin, Pa., where at that time many Magyars worked in the mines, what amount of money was sent to post offices in Hungary. The accommodat ing official reported an average for six months as being $3,400 per month, or an average of $72 per order. A more recent (1919) estimate at the same post office is $109 per order. It is true among the Magyars, as among all immi grant people in America, that every able-bodied person must work. The result is that children are sent to the mine or the mill as early as the law permits, and the number of producers is limited only by the number of children in the family. The following table gives a comprehensive view of social and economic conditions of the Magyar working man in America. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DATA BY PERCENTAGES (COMPARED WITH NEIGHBORING PEOPLE) * i i SS rS $ IH *! 11 .* JE, <X> S Political Condition Naturalized 33 11 46 9 9 First papers 16 16 28 14 13 Literacy Speak English ... 56 46 66 51 33 Can read 90 91 99 71 82 Can read and write . . 83 90 96 69 81 Gabriel Dokus Sr. European Trained Gabriel Dokus Jr. American Trained TYPICAL MAGYAR MINISTERS, FATHKR AND SON MAGYAR REFORMED SINGING CI.UB, TOLEDO, OHIO. CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 65 h -2 o ^ ^ ^ 2 g %, < ^ O ^ BS S 1 *4-^, ^ S ***** CO **~-, S ^*2 11 *.a II <O V 11 ^ M ^ !| |U P p o v o * Occupations at home 15 7 29 3 5 54 66 31 81 74 Laboring 10 12 10 8 11 Trade 3 I 2 .6 3 Households Average number of persons In household .... 6 7 5 8 12 In room 1.4 2 1.18 2 3 In sleeping room . . 2.5 3 3 3 4 Keeping Boarders Per cent of house- 33 54 9 60 80 Residence of Wives In Europe 23 43 8 59 74 In America . . . . 77 57 92 41 26 Kind of Employment in Industries, percen tage of workers 5.2 * Iron and steel .. 5.4 ] \\ Car building 3.5 Electrical supplies . . . 2.9 Sewing machine fact . t 3 " * Weeklv Income in Cash Men $11.92 $11.65 $13.07 $11.37 $10.00 $ 790 $ 7.74 $ 9.28 $ 7.57 Belong to Trade Unions Native Americans . . . . 14.1 . . . . . . . . Foreign born 13.4 9.7 4.8 5 (B) SOCIAL CONDITIONS Neighborhood life. A study of Magyar neighbor hood life is very interesting. Every neighborhood 66 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA differs in some respects from every other. In the early history of the neighborhood most of the peo ple came from the same neighborhood in Hungary, and so transferred the old neighborhood peculiari ties. Brother sent home for brother ; father sent for son; son for father. Next came mother or sister or other relatives. In the meantime neighbors in the old community learned by letter of the land of liberty and opportunity and cam to be neighbors here. Neighborhood spirit. Neighborhood spirit is pe culiarly strong among the Magyars, and usually it clusters about the Church. This results in help to the church in memory of the home land. Two illus trations will suffice: The Protestant congregation in Homestead, Pa., is composed largely of people from one county in Hungary (Ungh), but not all of the colony belong to the congregation here. The neighborhood spirit, however, prompted the people to offer to erect an iron fence around the church, property as a remembrance of the home community. It was supposed to cost $400. It really cost $900, but was paid for on the day of dedication. All things pertaining to a church or church property must be dedicated, be it fence or bell or finial to the spire. Of course, a dedication is also a day of recreation. The Magyar colony of Martins Ferry, Ohio, comes from another county in Hungary, where different customs and a different spirit prevail. Here there is not such attachment to the church but more in terest in social community life. This found expres sion in the erection of a Magyar House, which is used by the Benevolent Association and for social purposes. The Protestant people or Roman Cath olic or Greek Catholic alike have the privilege of using the hall for religious service on Sunday morn ing, only the brass band may be practicing in an CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 67 adjoining room. Frequent dances and dramatic entertainments serve to preserve the old-world com munity spirit. The newer colonies are more varied in their per sonnel. They are composed more largely of men and women who have come from the older Magyar communities in America in order to get better wages or better living conditions. Probably the most characteristic of such colonies is that of Akron, Ohio, which has grown with the rapid growth of the city. The result is that there is more Americanism manifest, but also more unrest and contention among the people. Protestant Ministers, here, complain that the people are hard to get along with and do not respond readily to the ministrations of the church. The Protestant minister observing this has done his best to have the people enter Ameri canization classes, and he himself teaches the com munity classes. Relation to the old country. The attachment of the Magyar to the homeland is very strong. In an swer to a question as to why this continues in America when the people left the homeland because of the trying conditions in which they had lived, the answer given was: "The Magyar people al ways loved freedom but could not have it because of Hapsburg rule and the submission of the nobles of Hungary to Hapsburg influences. We have ever hoped for freedom and in 1848 almost got it. We hope for it still and when we get it we will go home to help preserve it." They revere their historic heroes with great devotion. Nothing will bring them to their feet and invigorate their singing like the Magyar national hymn and their folk songs. All Magyars in America apologize for their part in the World War. They say they were dragged into the great war by a pro-Hapsburg government against the will of the people; that when the war 68 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA broke out the Hungarian troops were stationed on the western front and the Austrian troops were stationed in Hungary for the purpose of suppress ing any revolutionary attempt. Now that the war is over and the nation is under a new government it is hoped that freedom will be secured and that a new day is dawning for the Magyar race. Sympathy for the homeland. All the colonies of Magyars in America, through their churches and lodges, are showing their sympathy for their suf fering countrymen and relatives by sending home very liberal sums of money and by earnest endeavors to secure from the League of Nations the restoration of the dissevered provinces. We limit ourselves here to a brief statement of the liberal support they are giving to the war sufferers in the homeland. On the occasion of a visit to the Magyar Reformed Congregation in Toledo, 0., during the month of February, 1920, we learned that the three Religions : Roman Catholic, 1,500 members, Eastern Orthodox (Greek), 500 members, and the Reformed, 500 members, would send home next day the sum of $3,333 each, and that by the end of May, they would send home $10,000 more. More recently all the Magyar colonies in America have sent home large sums of money to secure the return of war prisoners from Russia. Relation to Americans. Of the Magyars as of all immigrants it is true that they keep very much aloof from Americans. There are numerous rea sons for this. First, they have their own old-world ideas, and being very proud of them as having been of the dominant race in the old country, they do not freely mingle with Americans. It has been said that the Magyars coming through the gateway of the nation, Ellis Island, are greatly different from other immigrants in that "they show an upstanding, independent spirit far above most immigrants." It CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 69 is well to know that they maintain this spirit long after they have passed the gateway. In the next place, they say they have received hard treatment from Americans with whom they have come in con tact both in economic, social, and even religious association. And lastly, their pride prompts them to live here in full expectation of going home again. Only about 15 per cent of them took out naturali zation papers before the war as over against 33.0 per cent of Slovenians, 24.1 per cent of He brews, and 21.9 per cent of Lithuanians. Why should they seek to mingle freely with the Ameri cans, if they did not wish to remain here, and espe cially if the Americans did not wish them either to become American or to associate with them. It must be borne in mind in this connection that all immigrants of the laboring class are unwelcome to the American laboring class, and that the higher classes in America do not freely associate with the laboring classes either foreign or American born. Since the war the number of naturalized Magyars has reached about 30 per cent (estimated from vary ing figures). There was in fact very little done by the Ameri cans before the war to show the foreign-born any of the better characteristics of our American society in any of its relations. We left them severely alone, and they felt it. It is worth noting that where the Magyars did come into contact with American life they made good. Employing corporations speak highly of them. A number of years ago, during the time of the great strike at Homestead, Pa., it was said of the Magyars, "They did not strike; they stopped work after notifying the corporation that they wished to quit for their personal safety and would come on again as soon as the danger had passed. " The corporation has ever since then taken interest in its Magyar workmen and has 70 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA favored them in their church work. The citizens of the town, too, recognize their readiness to cooper ate in civic improvements. Since the war there are also numerous occasions when Magyars and Americans have cooperated in civic betterment and in religious services. Ex amples of this were enjoyed by the writer about two years ago in East Chicago, Indiana Harbor, and Whiting, when the Methodist people of Indiana Harbor joined with the Magyar Reformed people in East Chicago, in an afternoon Americanization serv ice, and the latter returned the compliment in joining with the Methodist congregation in the evening in a bi-lingual service in Indiana Harbor. It was also the writer s privilege to take part in similar serv ices in Lorain, 0., where Magyars and Americans joined in Americanization services on Sunday after noon and Sunday evening and ended with a Magyar supper in the Magyar schoolroom at which the ad dresses were given by prominent men of the city, English and Magyar. At Bridgeport, Conn., a sim ilar occasion was graced by three congregations, their pastors and their choirs, the Presbyterian, the Congregationalist and the Magyar Eeformed, all in the Magyar Church, where the congregation cele brated its twenty-fifth anniversary. It is certain that all these occasions aided in bet ter acquaintance and closer association in civic and religious affairs in the future. Moral standards. In writing about the moral standards of these people in America it is necessary to take into consideration the changed conditions in which they live. At home 68 per cent of them lived on the farms and led the simple life characteristic of the country. In America more than 75 per cent of them live* in the large cities ; and they live in the foreign section. Magyars have a peculiar love of the country and try to enjoy its sights and sounds CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 71 even in the city. Plants and flowers and birds are everywhere in evidence in the Magyar colony; but in these colonies also are in evidence crowded tene ments and rooms suffocating with the presence of boarders. True, the Magyars are not as much given to taking lodgers as some other nationalities, being the sixth on the list, yet, their rating is that 53.6 per cent of them keep boarders. In all the unfavor able conditions in which they live, "The percentage of domestic infidelity and immorality among Mag yars is not greater than it is among English-speak ing people in the same social status" (Roberts - New Immigration, p. 141). It is the general tes timony that the morals of the home are maintained in a remarkable degree considering the conditions surrounding the home. Honesty. Merchants testify to the honesty of the Magyars. A baker in Scottdale, Pa., stated that on one occasion during a strike in the coke region a Magyar customer disappeared and was not seen for more than a year, when he entered the store and explained that he had worked in West Virginia and could not save enough to come and pay his bill until now. The bill was $28.50. Some time later another came from a distance to pay a balance of $0.68. The comment of the baker was: "Americans don t come back." The testimony of employers is that Magyars do an honest day s work for fair wages. Drinking. Probably the most serious vice among the Magyars is drinking, but this, too, is more an American than a Magyar product. It is well known in western Pennsylvania, that until prohibition went into effect the whisky agent and the beer agent can vassed the foreign colony at stated times and took orders which were delivered to the home and to the boardrno- honqp on Saturday a^prnoon. There is not nrn^Ti difference between fifteen .Arnpricans sit ting around beer kegs on Sunday afternoon at 4 72 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA o clock or the same number of Magyars. The kegs will be empty and the men will be full. Worse even than this was the fact that boarding-house keepers got a percentage for the use of a large supply of beer and so young men who abstained were soon told to get board and lodging elsewhere. Saloon men tried in every way to cultivate the habit. Dan was a saloon man in a large city. When the new pastor came from Hungary, Dan told him the best place to become acquainted with his parish ioners was the saloon. The young minister accepted the advice, till he found himself taken in to drink and to gamble away his salary. It needs to be said that the young minister got his eyes opened in time to save himself from ruin. The liquor traffic is banned, but the evil remains though the Magyar ministers and the prominent men among them are fighting the illicit traffic. The first Magyar book on Temperance was written by Kev. Dr. A. Harsany, of Homestead, Pa. Regard for law. Little wonder if the Magyars with other nationalities, have small regard for American laws. At home they were under strict restraints and were severely punished for infraction of law. Here they escape punishment by giving a bribe, or they lose respect for the officers of the law because they are not fairly dealt with. A constable in a small town had brought in a Magyar to the office of the squire charged with fighting. The charge was established; the man was fined $5 and costs; the bill was $9.50. When the constable saw him take a $20 bill out of his pocket he told the squire to add $10 to the bill. Morals of the children: the second generation. In common with all alien people the Magyars have great difficulty in maintaining the morals of their children. Parents are likely to lose the control of their children when they reach the age of self sup- CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 73 port. Girls hire out in families and usually adopt the style of living and the habits of their employers. They no longer obey father and mother. Boys go to the mill or the mine and swagger and carouse with the proceeds of their labor. Much credit is, however, due these parents for instilling into their children much of moral and religious instruction, which safeguards their morals. It is safe to say that the children of the Magyar people know more about the requirements of the moral law than do the average of American children of the same age. John Lengyel had a general store in the coke town of Trauger, Pa. Some years ago he entertained the superintendent of missions on Sunday. The near est Sunday School was a mile away along a country road. This was John s excuse for not sending the children. John resented the suggestion that his children were losing very necessary religious in struction. He called them, four in number, from the kitchen into the sitting room and had them stand in line to recite the Lord s Prayer; the Apos tles Creed; the Ten Commandments; the Twenty- third Psalm ; the Beatitudes, and then they sang the Twenty-third Psalm all in Hungarian. With a twinkle in his eye, he asked, Does it matter in what language we know these things? Can the Ameri can children of their age, from 5 to 10, do any better!" Frankly, they cannot. "Who taught them?" John answered, "Mother and I, on Sun day afternoon." In addition to this home instruction, the Magyar children are sent to the minister for from four to six weeks instruction in the teachings and duties of their religion. But they need it all and more, for the work they will do when men, the conditions surrounding them, and the temptations assailing them will, if anything, be more seductive than is the experience of the American-born child. Magyar 74 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA pastors testify that comparatively few of their young people make moral shipwreck; but they lament that so many of them become negligent of their religious duties and spend Sunday in the park, on the auto journey, or in the socialists club. To hold them to the church they encourage special meetings for young people and permit them to have entertainments in the school-room of the church on Sunday evenings. Care of the Orphans in America. No people care better for children than do the Magyars. No people are more kindly disposed toward orphans. Hith erto, however, the Magyar orphans in America were cared for either in the homes of kindly disposed friends or neighbors or they were sent to American orphans homes to be cared for by the general benevolence of the American people or the liberal ity of the churches maintaining such homes. When, however, the Magyar people had done so much for the war orphans in Hungary, they also determined to establish an orphans home for the needy children without parents in this country. The task was undertaken by the Federation of Eeformed and Presbyterian Benevolent Societies in the spring of 1921. This organization purchased a fine summer hotel on the mountainside at Ligonier, Pa. The location is ideal, the outlook across the valley is magnificent. The building is compara tively new, having been erected only eight years ago. The grounds are large and a good spring of mountain water is near the building. The superintendent and his family are very well qualified for the position they occupy. Eev. Dr. Alex. Kalassay came to America more than 25 years ago and for about 18 vears was pastor of the oldest Eeformed Magyar Church in America, in Pittsburgh, Pa. For the last 15 years he had been President of the Western Classis of the Hungarian CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 75 Reformed Church in America. The call of the orphans was clear enough and strong enough for him to leave his congregation and take up this new work. There are now only about 40 orphans in the home, but the number is increasing every month and no doubt before the first year of the home s history is completed it will be filled to capacity, about 100 children. No activity of the Magyar peo ple in America is eliciting so much enthusiasm as the orphans home, so its future is well assured. Organizations. Magyar people have a genius for organization. There are besides the great benevo lent associations in connection with the churches and mentioned elsewhere in this "study" about 60 organizations, located largely in our cities of the industrial zone but in reality spread out all over the country. The objects for which they exist are "too numerous to mention," but a statement of a few will serve to show their variety. Among them are numerous social organizations ; a number of so cieties evidently intended to perpetuate Hungarian patriotism; a few educational societies; some ath letic associations; many industrial and trade socie ties and possibly several Soviet organizations judg ing from the names they bear. Most of them seem to be flourishing and serving well the purpose of their creation. It would be interesting to characterize them in detail, but this is impossible because of the very nature of such societies, whether English or Mag yar. Because they are all more or less exclusive we content ourselves by referring the reader to lists published by the Inter-Racial Council. The reports from the officers of the three most prominent Benevolent Societies show that they have representatives in various places as follows: (1) The Reformatus Egysulet (Reformed Benev- 76 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA olent Federation), of which Alex. Covier of Johns town, Pa., is president, and Stephan Molnar of Toledo is secretary-treasurer, reports 7,500 mem bers, residing in 189 different localities. Since this society admits to its membership only Protestant Magyars it is no doubt represented in much the same localities as the Verhovoy, which admits Mag yars without distinction of religious affiliation. (2) The Verhovoy, with 25,000 members, has rep resentatives in 329 places. (3) The Bridgeport Hungarian Federation has 7,000 members. LITERATURE Newspapers. There are 68 Magyar newspapers and magazines published in this country, not count ing a number of parochial papers published by Mag yar ministers and priests. The list includes secular papers in the following cities: New York City, 11; Cleveland, 5; Detroit, 5; Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Chicago, 3 each; New ark, N. J., New Brunswick, N. J., South Bend, Ind., Bridgeport, Conn., and Youngstown, O., 2 each; Akron, Cincinnati, Martins Ferry and Lorain, 0., Trenton and Passaic, N. J., Philadelphia, Hazleton, Bethlehem and Johnstown, Pa., Los Angeles and Oakland, Cal., St. Louis, Mo., and Hammond, La., 1 each. Of these three are great dailies the Sabadzag of Cleveland and the Nepseva and Elore of New York. Most of the others are weeklies. Some are general newspapers, others are trade journals and one at least, the Dongo, is a comic paper. The three great dailies run high in the newspaper world both for the reliability of their news and for the talented manner in which it is presented. Of many of the other papers it must be said, as by a CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 77 friendly writer concerning newspapers in Hungary : "They leave much to be desired, " both as to matter and appearance. Editors should use more discrim ination in accepting articles and should use the scissors more freely in editing them. The pages of many Magyar papers in America lend themselves too readily to unseemly and unprofitable contro versy. This, at least, is the general criticism of their Magyar constituency. There are 12 religious papers two each in Tren ton, N. J., Wallingf ord, Conn., and McKeesport, Pa. ; one each in Pittsburgh and Bethlehem, Pa., Brook- field, 111., Wallingford, Conn., St. Paul, Minn., and Cleveland, 0. One is Seventh Day Adventist, one Eoman Catholic, three Baptist, one Lutheran, one Presbyterian and Reformed Church in the U. S., Hungarian Churches of Trenton, N. J., one, Hun garian Reformed Church in U. S., one, Hungarian Reformed Church in America, one, and two are in dependent. (See Appendix II.) The editors say the character of the paper is largely due to the inclination of ministers and other professional men to publish a paper of their own if their contributions are not published as they send them in or as early as they desire. There is a scar city of Magyar ministers in America, but there seems to be a superabundance of editors. It is well known that the refusal to publish an article is followed by criticism of the paper and lack of interest in it, and frequently the publication of a personal paper. Too often this places the editor between Scylla and Charybdis. Either he must yield to the whims of his contributors or must see his circulation decrease. He may leave his chair to a successor and then he is likely to cease his endeavors in behalf of the publication. Chapter V RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA (A) CHURCH WORK AMONG THE MAGYARS Religious distribution. From the tables on pages 39, 40 a fairly accurate judgment may be formed concerning the distribution on arrival here of our Magyar population, between Catholics and Prot estants, and between Evangelicals and non-Evan gelicals. Readers are referred to those tables rather than repeating them here. The Census of 1920 reports 268,112 foreign-born Magyars in the United States and 205,426 native- born, total 473,538. According to the foregoing percentages the Magyars in the United States are divided as follows: Roman Catholics 284,122 Reformed 113,649 Jews 47,969 Eastern Orthodox 11,364 Lutherans (Evangelical) 5,682 Unitarians 3,220 Baptists, Presbyterians and others 7,489 The only sources of information regarding the work American Churches are doing among the Mag yars in America are the reports of the respective Mission Boards and Associations. From these we learn the following facts : The first Mission Board to take up mission work for the Magyar people was that of the Reformed Church in the United States, which began its work July 1st, 1891, in Pittsburgh, Pa., Eev. John Kovacs, 78 RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 79 pastor, and in Cleveland, O., January 1, 1891, Eev. Gustav Jurassy, pastor. Its work grew apace till 1903, when it had 17 organized congregations with about 1,800 communicant members ; in addition there were about 15 filials, or outlying preaching places. The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America had also begun work in 1900, and by 1903 had several preaching places and organized congre gations. It has now (1922) 30 organized churches and 16 Missions. A new denomination came into this work in 1903. Up to this time the Reformed Church of Hungary did no mission work for her children in America, but as their number was rapidly increasing by im migration, the Church of Hungary saw the impor tance of beginning such work. The nucleus for it came from the Reformed and Presbyterian mis sions; the Reformed Church giving up seven con gregations and the Presbyterian Church five, to the new organization. In 1920 this church had 46 congregations and over 9,000 members, the largest element in Magyar Protestant church life in America. Unfortunately the division of the Magyar people into these several branches resulted in considerable friction and hind rance of the real \vork of a church. Some of the congregations formerly belonging to the Reformed and Presbyterian churches seceded to join the church of their fathers. The Baptist Church is very active and is doing a very commendable work among the Magyar people, having 20 organized churches and 25 Missions. The Baptists lead in supplying Magyar literature. Other churches doing good work are the Presbyterian Church (U.S.), the Reformed Church in America, and the Lutheran and Protestant Episcopal Churches, until now as we gather the reports they are as follows: 80 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA CQ ii <X> 1 i jl S S*t^ II Reformed Church in the US 42 15 7,459 4,035 Reformed Church in America 2 3 144 86 Presbyterian Church, U. S A 31 14 3,370 1,828 Presbyterian Church, U. s 3 17 326 113 Lutheran Church . . . 7 5 957 300 Baptist Church (N) Protestant Episcopal Church 20 10 25 1,200 1,387 1,650 Independent Magyar Re formed Church in America 6 1,375 1,400 The reasons for the situation in America are easily found in the fact that the older denominations receive them on their declaration of having been members of the Reformed Church of Hungary, and thus receive them in groups or colonies, while the newer denominations usually require a personal re newal or declaration of faith. The churches first mentioned are w^ell-known by the Magyar people at home. The Eeformed Church in Hungary is claimed to be the largest Eeformed Church on the continent. Its history dates back to the times of the Reformation. This allies them to the Reformed Churches in America. It is a sig nificant fact that the Reformed Church in the United States received every congregation by request of the Magyar people themselves. The same may probably be said of the Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches. OFFICERS OF A BENEFICIAL SOCIETY. LORRAINE, OHIO. RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 81 The doctrinal teaching of the Church in Hungary is Calvinistic, and so the people when they come to America readily ally themselves with the Presby terian Church. Again there is a very considerable number of Magyar Protestant people in Hungary, especially in Transylvania, who, though Magyar in language, are the descendents of German people who came to Hungary early in the history of Protestantism, and who are now Evangelical (Lu theran) and naturally affiliate with the Lutheran Church in America. It is, of course, a question as to which method is preferable. By the former method a much larger proportion of a group or colony is kept under the influence of the Gospel; under the latter there is probably attained a higher degree of Protestant Evangelical Christianity in the smaller congrega tion. Sure it is that the churches to which the Mag yar people have come in groups should hold them selves responsible for the higher attainment of the entire group and should spare neither effort or ex pense to prevent any of them from wandering out into the world to be gathered in one by one after they have wandered away. Even now there are distressing losses from the fold. It needs to be remembered, too, that it is the cus tom of most Magyar congregations to count only the heads of families as members. This indicates that possibly half of the Protestant Magyars attend churches and contribute occasionally to their sup port. Eeliable authorities say there are now in America about 110 Protestant ministers working among these people in about 125 different localities. Much work remains yet to be done for these worthy people. In the pages immediately following will be found lists of Magyar Churches, by denominations, in the United States. A study of these lists will be very THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA 4 ^ CO . <N r^ OQ ^ tf5 : O CO CO CO CO d <M O5 00 IO CO CM CO CO 02 J| ^ 5 *fi lO iH CO "* CO CO 1C T^ CO Oi O CO t>- CO O5 CO VO rH O CO rH rH (M rH 02 . s |O : 00 <N rH CO . . . CO O2 S ll : t- (M (M 05 rH rH CO p 1 02 tt - O rH g i 03 g T N d O hrl c^ /S O oS O ? _o c3 K^ (H 9 rH" ^*^ CO M w Q M g 5 ^^ rt^ o-.^ ^ CO pq Q 02SjEH V * ^ ^ r-4 1 r?^ H? CQ- ^<JJi-5rc^ h? s 1 CH > > > !> & ^ c^ o o PnPH PH 1 3 ilwdfis 5 pi pq w 02 S PH .2 J ^ | 03 fta rs a ^ CC bJO ^J 5 S o <u ^ pq .a ^ CD d^H So o 1 ^o 3 J 2 "2 ^ S * & rfi <s ^ JJ - f* N ^v ^ ^^ fe ^ ""^ ^ W3 s ^ . s r^ C?r^ "c3 S ^ ,^7^ ^ *H ^ H "^ 02 02 H CQ t^ o Jz; Jz; <j Jz; H^ o 02 $ r"^ * t> B ? -e 02 C -M* STATIS ^02 ^ , ?Si rH 03 ^ So 1 11 1 * ^ 5 3 HH HH MISSOUR] St. Louis H ^ g d ^ RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 83 u i 5 * S ^ g -9 ;* ^ PQ w H c^ fn P^ I <1 ^ 10 co co co O C5 rHCO Oi O <O CO (M CO rf< 10 o QO co oo CO (M rH Tt< iO iO (M O 00 ^s (M t^ CO rH t"H ^H CO (M iH CO CKMrH - 1 O 0| . "s & rt -o If 111 11 PQ J * Pn fl G 84 M THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA CO .... . OD g > ^Q ,__, ^ r^; 03 rH . . . Cl rH S 1 g O CO -CO -O -CO IO o J <totH -CO rH O l> S^ rH rH rH t- . . . . . S OQ co" g 2^ o c^ <M CQ .oO rH fc IX) _. o HH ^ CO Oi 00 ^o .... . o CQ QQ ^^ . .rH .rH CO LH S m g K II | c -* *3 ^ % 1 1 ^ PH^^ N CL^"^ ^ %z z z ^ 6 PH rH | ) CO v "o S" ^ . W fl r w ^ ^ WH^ ^ ^M cc^g ^ -^ 6 w 2 I-JW-I ^i^i-P^r^HO Q ?^^^^ <I 1 OO O>t> O ^ 5 ~ Q <L> ~* z ^ ^H O *H ^H ^.^.^ t> t*^ -> > > > EH 1 1 III 3 -I s II 3 dl 0^ sj s* sj Q^ O K K PQ 1 I 1 I I gflllbalj-l 1 ^ I. ^ .2 g-rt ^ 2ta.fl V Z3 C ^ W o HOPQO^ w a g 02 ^ <j o3 cS JH fl << to H> p "rd pCj O -H EH KH H tc M f Sj-afll 1 II 02 g 5 0-3 s i Si? y c s ^ ^ EH <1 H * |lf s65 * 1* II g 0^ ,. .g g ^ a5 ws Soi PH HH f^ RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 85 STATISTICS OF MAGYAR BAPTIST CHURCHES AND MISSIONS: ORGANIZED CHURCHES (1922) Members Adherents First Hungarian Baptist Church, Akron, Ohio, Rev. G. Kecskes, 930 Grand St. . . 16 25. First Hungarian Baptist Church, Bridge port, Conn., Rev. S. Gazsi, 149 Ash St. 93 40 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Buffalo, N. Y., Rev. J. Botka, 350 Austin St 45 25 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. M. Biro 152 50 West Side Hungarian Baptist Church, Cleveland, 0., Rev. J. Matuskovits, 6008 Chatham 66 30 Second Hungarian Baptist Church, Cleve land, O., Rev. Wm. Dauda, Cor. 118 & Buckeye Rd 72 25 Hungarian Baptist Church, Dante, Va., Rev. L. Yoo, Box 54 15 15 Hungarian Baptist Church, Detroit, Mich., Rev. F. S. Fazekas 66 30 Hungarian Baptist Church, Granite City, 111., without pastor 10 10 First Hungarian Baptist Church, McKees- port, Pa., Rev. L. Stumpf, 139 Diamond Ave 40 20 Hungarian Baptist Church, New Castle, Pa., Rev. S. Bertalan 45 25 First Hungarian Baptist Church, New York, N. Y., Rev. W. Dulitz, 225 E. 80th St. . . 109 40 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Perth Amboy, N. J., Rev. S. Balogh, 375 Law rence St 53 25 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Philadel phia, Pa., Rev. M. Majorcsak, 1410 Ran dolph 30 20 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Scranton, Pa., Rev. G. Gogolyak, 1214 Philo St. ... 15 10 First Magyar Baptist Church, Trenton, N. J., Rev. A. Toth, 2343 Wm. St 52 30 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Home stead, Pa., Rev. Arthur Stumpf, 149 Fourth Ave 40 20 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Walling- 86 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA ford, Conn., Rev. M. Szilagyi, 50 Pros pect St 32 15 First Hungarian Baptist Church, West Pull man, 111., Rev. A. Petre, 11803 Emerald Ave 63 25 First Hungarian Baptist Church, Elyria, Ohio, Rev. L. Revcsz, 403 W. River St. 32 25 Hungarian Baptist Church, Harrisburg Pa., Damian lovan Cincinnati, E. St. Louis Total 1,046 505 STATISTICS OF MAGYAR BAPTIST CHURCHES AND MISSIONS: MISSIONS Members Adherents Canton, Ohio, Rev. J. Kovach, Harrisburg Rd 17 15 E. Chicago, Ind., Rev. E. Revy, 3247 Mell- ville Ave 30 15 E. Hammond, Ind., Rev. E. Revy, 3247 Mell- ville Ave Gary, Ind., Rev. E. Revy, 3247 Mellville Ave Dayton, Ohio, Rev. F. Ver 14 15 Lorain, Ohio, Rev. L. Revcsz, 403 W. River St., Elyria, Flint, Mich., without pastor 6 15 Lansing H. Park, Detroit, Mich., Rev. P. F. Schill ing, 605 Wheeland Ave Irwin, Pa., Rev. M. Biro, 139 Diamond St. Duquesne, Pa., Rev. M. Biro, 139 Diamond St New Brighton, Pa., Rev. S. Bertolan, New Castle, Pa Ellwood City, Pa., Rev. S. Bertolan, New Castle, Pa Ward, West Va., Rev. N. Dulitz, 225 E. 80th St., New York Brooklyn, N. Y., Rev. N. Dulitz, 225 E. 80th St., New York Ogdensburg, N. J., Rev. N. Dulitz, 225 E. 80th St., New York RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 87 Franklin Furnace, N. J., Rev. N. Dulitz, 225 E. 80th St., New York Chrome, N. J., Rev. S. Balogh, Perth Am- boy, N. J Berwick, Pa., Rev. G. G. Gogolyak, Scran- ton, Pa Youngstown, Ohio, Chas. Bamayai 27 15 Sharon, Pa., Chas. Bamayai So. Norwalk, Conn., Rev. M. Szilagyi, Wall- ingf ord, Conn Roda, Va., Rev. L. Yoo, Dante, Va Martins Ferry, 0., without pastor 35 20 Rayland, Ohio, without pastor St. Paul, Minn., Rev. A. Kandler 25 20 Buffalo, N. Y., Jos. Botka Chicago, 111., Stephen Groza Chicago, 111., Albert Paxte Garfield, N. J., N. Kovacs New Brunswick, N. J., J. S. Fazekas Total . 154 115 Total members and adherents 1,200 620 STATISTICS OF MAGYAR MISSIONS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN THE U. S. (1922) S.S. Congregation Minister Members Members Akron, Ohio, Rev. Arpad Bakay 110 60 Ashtabula, Ohio, Rev. Eugene Vecsey 100 65 Bridgeport, Conn., Rev. Alex Ludman 420 350 Bridgeport, Conn., Rev. Komjathy 200 165 Buffalo, N. Y., Rev. Andrew Urban 95 56 Chicago, 111., Rev. Eugene Boros 316 175 Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. Alex Csutoros 332 175 Cleveland, Ohio, Rev. Alex Toth 750 375 Columbus, Ohio, Rev. Julius Hanko 151 58 Conneaut, Ohio, Rev. Eugene Vecsey 50 24 Dayton, Ohio, Rev. John Azary 212 145 Detroit, Mich., Rev. Michael Totli 550 350 Drakes-Congo, Rev. Alex Radacsi 84 30 East Chicago, Ind., Rev. 189 150 Elyria, Ohio. Rev. A. S. Kalassay, Jr 126 75 Fairport, Ohio, Rev. Charles J. Krivulka ... 75 46 88 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Flint, Mich., Rev. Beni Jozsa 95 40 Gary, Ind., Rev. Alex Mircse 112 46 Holsopple, Pa., Rev. John B. Szeghy 30 15 Homestead, Pa., Rev. Samuel Horvath 350 95 Johnstown, Pa., Rev. Ernest Porzsoldt 115 40 Kalamazoo, Mich., Rev. Stephen Virag 45 40 Kearsarge, Mich., Rev. 45 Lorain, Ohio, Rev. Francis Ujlaki 280 193 McKeesport, Pa., Rev. Julius Melegh 210 90 New Haven, Conn., Rev. Alex Ludman .... 26 New York, N. Y., Rev. Geza Takaro 485 140 Northampton, Pa., Rev. 28 Passaic, N. J., Rev. Ladislaus Tesrze 238 39 Pittsburgh, Pa., Rev. Edmund Vasvary 300 130 Pocahontas, W. Va., Rev. Andrew Kovacs 45 22 South Bethlehem, Pa,, Rev. Emil Nagy 130 170 South Chicago, 111., Rev. Rudolph Pompl ... 90 25 South Norwalk, Conn., Rev. Gabriel Dokus . . 220 140 Springdale, Pa., Rev. 51 38 Toledo, Ohio., Rev. Louis Bogar 426 251 Tonawanda, N. Y., Rev. Andrew Urban .... 18 Torrington, Conn., Rev. Alex Ludman 22 Uniontown, Pa., Rev. Andor Harsanyi 22 12 Wallingford, Conn., Rev. Bela Kovacs 50 46 Whiting, Ind., Rev. 63 40 Windber, Pa., Rev. Bela Kerekes 130 72 Woodbridge, N. J., Rev. Frank Kovacs 53 34 Total 7,459 4,035 MAGYAR CHURCHES AND MISSION STATIONS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA ORGANIZED CHUKCHES Peekskill, N. Y., Rev. L. S. H. Hamory, Peekskill 90 51 Manville, N. J., Rev. Andrew Kosa, Manville .... 54 35 MISSION STATIONS Hudson, N. Y., Rev. L. S. H. Hamory East Kingston, N. Y., Rev. L. S. H. Hamory Roseton, N. Y., Rev. L. S. H. Hamory (a brick yard near Newburgh) informing, because they will show not only where the various denominations are working, but how far RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 89 they are cooperating, and whether any localities where Magyars are numerous are being neglected. So far as can be learned from the Magyar relig ious papers there are in America 46 Roman Catho lic congregations, and about 200 Protestant con gregations. The Refonndtusok Lapja is authority for the statement that there are 72 Protestant min isters in this country. The above estimate of Prot estant congregations assumes that each minister on an average serves two congregations. According to the same authority, the Roman Catholic congre gations are located by States as follows: MAGYAR ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES State Places New York Buffalo, Lackawanna, New York City. New Jersey Alpha, Newark, New Brunswick, Passaic, Perth Amboy, Roebling, South River, and Trenton. Connecticut Bridgeport and South Norwalk. Pennsylvania Allentown, Connellsville, Farrell, Johnstown, Leechburg, McAdoo, McKeesport, Northampton, Palmerton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, South Beth lehem, Trauger, Throop, and Windber. Illinois Chicago. Indiana East Chicago, Gary, and South Bend. Minnesota St. Paul. Virginia Pocahontas. (B) MAGYAR REFORMED CHURCHES Having been accustomed to large churches in the homeland, the Magyar people in America strain every resource to have fine churches. They are seldom erected in the midst of the community in which early Magyar settlers located, but usually in the most prominent location in the city or village. The plan is similar to that of churches at home; 90 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA usually rectangular, with a high steeple in front and the chancel and pulpit at the far end. The structure will be two stories in height, the main auditorium being on the second floor, and intended to serve for purely religious services only. No money will be spared in its ornamentation, its ap pointments and its furniture. It is the delight of the members of the congregation, men and women, to contribute something for its ornamentation. Stained glass windows are usually contributed by congregations from other cities, by the Benevolent Society of the congregation, seldom by a family of the congregation. Families and individuals will find opportunity to give other things, such as a fam ily pew; a hymn board; a pulpit; covers for the pulpit or for the communion table; or even a pipe organ. They may also contribute for the outside adornment of the church ; a bell or even a finial for the spire. Every one wishes to give something. The result is that sometimes incongruous things find their way to the church, such as bouquets of paper flowers, pulpit covers of inharmonious colors. The most interesting small gifts are the contributions of the women, which consist most frequently of covers for the Communion table. These are always appreciated because they represent the handiwork of the donor. They may be of rich white silk as richly embroidered; or rich lace covers two yards square which represent a year of the donor s spare time to make. Being appreciated as they are, they are all used on every occasion, so that the chalice plates and cups at the service are usually covered with from four to eight of them. Church business meetings. Business meetings of all sorts are held in the basement of the church; it is not so sacred as the auditorium. It is well such meetings are held in the basement, for they some times become boisterous. If it is an election that is RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 91 being held, the nominations will be made vive voce and there will be a right and a left as clearly marked as in the Parliament in the home land. The nom inee of one side will be freely characterized by some speaker on the other and will in turn be answered by the proposer of the name. The nominee will be present and will likely resent the uncomplimentary remarks made about him and may even refuse the nomination because of them. "All right; that leaves the way open to nominate some one from the other side." Entertainments. Where there is no community house the basement of the church is used for enter tainments. In most cases they consist of dramatic performances and are given by the young people of the congregation. These are both interesting and helpful to the young people. The preparation for the entertainment brings them to the church two or three evenings of the week, where they rehearse under the direction of the pastor or some other responsible person. The audience to whom the en tertainment is given consists of the members of the congregation and their friends. Any one is ad mitted, but during the time of preparation the per formers have sold tickets for reserved seats ( ?) so that late comers must stand. If there is neither business nor entertainment to bring the people to the church during the week, the pastors encourage their men to come to the basement for a social eve ning which is spent in conversation, debate, games and smoking. If there are any churches in America which as a rule make the church a social center more constantly than the Magyar Reformed Churches we should like to hear from them. Old country church methods retained. Not only old-country faiths, but also the customs of the people in which these faiths find expression are continued m America. Magyar Reformed congre- 92 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA gations in America are organized after the type prevailing in Hungary. The people elect their officers and pastor. The officers are all ordained and installed as elders, but each is designated to some special duty. The chief elder is called the Curator, who acts for the congregation and the "Presbyterium" official board in all business af fairs, and is also to stand by and assist the pastor in the more spiritual duties of an elder. Other elders are elected secretary, treasurer, and collect ors. The collectors are to gather all the funds needed for the support of the congregation. This official body divides the entire community and even the vicinity into collection districts which are visited by the appointed collector regularly once or twice a month, according to the frequency of "pay-day," to receive the money of the members. In addition to these funds the people give an offering in the Lord s Day services. For a number of years all persons who contributed at any time during the year were counted regular members. Since, however, this resulted in confusion and frequent contentions, most of the Magyar congregations now either use the en velope system of monthly payments and count as members only those who contribute regularly. Spe cial offerings are given at every festival service, and, we may add, even at weddings held in church during the week, the last named offering being for the use of the church. Pastor s salary. The pastor s salary is usually fixed at so much per month together with the use of the parsonage. In addition to this he, however, gets rather liberal perquisites (Stola) the amounts of which are designated by the official board; so much for a baptism, for a wedding, for a funeral, or for some other specified duty of the minister. There is considerable dissatisfaction among the peo ple with reference to this custom, because the RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 93 minister is the chief beneficiary and is sometimes supposed to receive or even charge unduly for his services, especially in outlying districts. The min isters, themselves, are discouraging the custom and asking for a sufficient support in a specified salary. The average salary of the Magyar minister cannot be exactly estimated because of the "Stola" sys tem, but the Magyar people desire their ministers to live well and provide liberally for their needs. A general estimate is that the salary should be $1,500, parsonage and the "Stola." The Lord s Day services are of peculiar interest. The people are unusually devout. All are attentive and take part in the services. The singing, consist ing of Psalms, is remarkable for the choral music used and for the volume of voice with which every one sings. The congregation stands during the reading of Scripture. It is the voice of God and calls for this attitude on the part of the people. They also stand during prayer. Offerings are usu ally very liberal, amounting frequently to an aver age of from 50 to 75 cents per attendant. The minister. The minister in the Reformed Churches of Hungary appears before his people during the singing of the first psalm, wearing the "Palast," a cape extending from the shoulders to the feet. He uses a liturgical order of service with an occasional prayer prepared and written by him self. The sermon is based on some scripture passage rather than on a text, as is the custom among American ministers; and usually applies to some present-day subject. Before the Great War there were frequent references to the aspirations of the Magyar nation ; since then there is more fre quent reference to the sufferings of the people and the comforts of the scriptures. There are also more frequent references to Americanization and the need of help from the American Christian Churches. 94 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA In making these comments it is of course under stood that the various phases of thought and doc trine which prevail in America according to denom ination and school, prevail still more among the Magyar ministers according to the measure in which they have studied American conditions and the teachings of American theological schools. Catechisation. The Magyar Protestant congrega tions and ministers deserve much credit for the faithful and effective instruction they give the chil dren before they are admitted into all the privileges and burdened with all the responsibilities of church membership. Classes for this purpose are con ducted every year and frequently twice a year for a period of from two to three months, during which they are taught the doctrines of the church, the psalms and hymns, the occasional prayers for the home and for the personal use of the individual on entering or leaving the church, etc., and also a num ber of Bible stories and Bible history. Vacation Bible Schools. In addition to the in struction by the pastor there are Vacation Bible Schools conducted each summer during the time of public-school vacation for the religious instruction of the young. These are in session for two months for five hours a day. The instruction is given by young students. Magyar Deaconesses give special attention to the welfare of the second generation. Magyar families, like all immigrant families, live in surroundings where this is especially necessary. The only playground in most Magyar communities is the village or city street. In mining communities these are mostly muddy lanes during the greater part of the year, so that under the most favorable weather condition, it is difficult to keep the children reasonably clean. The homes from which they come are often so crowded with boarders and the mother so busy caring for them that the children do not RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 95 receive due attention. A first duty of the deaconess is to encourage the mother and in many instances help her take proper care of her children. Nat urally she tries to persuade the mother to have less boarders and give more time to the children. The result is the opposition of the father to the efforts of the deaconess. The alternative is to have either classes for the little ones who do not go to school or to have school for all children on Saturday in which sanitation, cleanliness and order are taught together with sing ing and needlework to the girls, the result is again that parents object to the suggestions of their own children. The vacation schools are therefore the most effective method of teaching them, for this the parents want for the sake of the relief it gives the mother for the time being of the care of the children. Deaconesses. Magyar ministers, unless they have been taught in an American Seminary, know little of family visitation, except when called to the fam ily in time of sickness, and this is seldom done. They even say such visitation on their part is not desirable and not effective, because the men are away from home during the day and the women too busy to receive a call from the pastor. Here the deaconess is most effective if she works under the instruction of the pastor and reports to him daily. The women welcome her for two reasons; because she is willing to lend a helping hand as may be needed and because she lightens the monotony of their lives with her Christian encouragement. The result of such work is noticeable on the adults, but more especially on the children, who are encouraged to love thp deaconess and to attend church and Sun- dav school. Deaconess work is not yet accepted by many of the Magyar congregations, for the reason that a deaconess trained according to the old-world custom 96 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA cannot well adapt herself to American conditions and a deaconess trained in America is not likely to be in full accord with the minister and his methods for her work. Indications are, however, that dea coness work among the Magyar people can be made very effective for the welfare of the women and for the safety of the second generation. Unfortunately the deaconess is exposed to several hindrances and difficulties in her work. She is not only hindered by the opposition of the head of the family, but being a sort of intermediary between the family and the pastor, she is too often made the bearer of complaints about the pastor and his treat ment of the people. The pastor, of course, resents this to such an extent that recently in a meeting of pastors action was taken against the employment of deaconesses, of course, forgetting that it is easier to legislate in America than to pacify a discontented people. The difficulties involved can be illustrated by a deaconess employed by one of the Reformed Magyar missions. She is the daughter of an efficient Mag yar minister in Hungary and therefore understands the European conditions. When stationed in an American manufacturing city she visited the fami lies and sought to help the women and children to more cleanly and sanitary living. The women claimed they were too busy to do as requested because of the numerous boarders they had to care for. Of course, the deaconess advised the keeping of less boarders. The consequence was that the man requested the pastor and his "presbyterium" to dismiss the deaconess. " Curators." The ministers are not the only re ligious leaders among the Magyar churches. The curators are to be reckoned with both by the minis ter and by the members of the congregation. In civil life the curator is usually the community REFORMED WOMEN S SOCIETY AT THEIR BUSINESS MEETING NIGHT SCHOOL MAINTAINED FOR ADUI/TS (STUDYING ENGLISH) PRESENT BUILDING OF ODDEST MAGYAR CHURCH IN AMERICA, ORGANIZED MAY 1890, EAST SIDE, CLEVELAND, OHIO. RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 97 leader. He may be a merchant, or a foreign ex change banker. He has been in several exceptional cases a saloon-keeper. There are many excellent men serving as curators, for they are usually the more intelligent men who are looked up to by their fellow-members of the church, but they, too, are the victims of their surroundings. Either their prom inence and influence becomes a thorn in the flesh of the minister, or in some cases the minister and cu rator join their efforts in limiting the freedom of the people. The curator is practically the head of the congregation for the time being. It is the opinion of the writer that it were much better if the Magyar churches would adopt the custom of the American churches and have an equality of eld ers, all serving as advisers to the pastor rather than one man to hold the office. (c) THE VALLEY OF DECISION It was but natural that during the war the Mag yars in America should be feverishly sensitive to influences from the homeland, and that they should also chafe under restraints in America. Their temperament, their nationalistic attachment, their patriotism, their anxiety for friends, brothers, aged parents, all contributed to make them so. Compar atively few of them had become American citizens and even in those who had been naturalized the old flame of Magyar patriotism was rekindled. During the earlier part of the war, like their fel low Magyars at home, they considered the war a defensive conflict against the Balkan Slavs on the south and the Russian Slavs on the north of them between whom they were in danger of being crushed. Well might they look to Austria and to Germany for deliverance. Later in the conflict, when it was clearly seen that Germany s world am- 98 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA bition was her motive for entering the war, the Magyars found that the course of this ambition lay right across their fertile plains and along their beautiful rivers. Toward the close of the war the Magyars felt that their would-be friends, Austria and Germany, were sacrificing them for their own ambitions. Finally came the Versailles Treaty and with it the loss of 22 counties of Hungary to the Roumanians and of several counties in the north and several counties in the south to the hated Slavs ; and with these went about two-thirds of the Hun garian population. All these sad events reacted promptly on the feel ings of Magyars in America. Their sensitiveness to them was intensified when we entered the war, by the consciousness that they were alien enemies and were under suspicion, and there was suspi cion. There had been so much propaganda by the nationals of Germany that naturally the Magyars were also suspected. The result was an extensive propaganda on their part to disprove any disloyalty to the United States. The Magyar leaders both in civil and in church relations sent representatives to our government for this purpose and on one occasion at least, they gathered about 2,000 of their people from all parts of the country to hold a conference in Washington and to demonstrate with a great parade their loy alty. The addresses at the conference by men of their own nationality and by American friends who had known them long and well, no doubt served a good purpose, but there had been so many parades in Washington during the preceding months that 2,000 men made a slight impression, if any, on the general population of the city. Another disturbing experience by the Magyars in America during this time was the knowledge that all their public assemblies were attended by repre- RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 99 sentatives of our national Secret Service. One of these men, in answer to the question, "Do the Mag yar leaders and ministers still compare Magyar religion and Magyar life and customs with Ameri can religion, life and customs!" said, "No, not in these times." "Did you find the leaders and min isters loyal to the country of their residence?" "Oh, yes, all except one or two, whom I did feel like reporting, but simply admonished them." Not only were the Magyars distressed by condi tions in the homeland and by suspicions here, but they were much annoyed by seeing and coming in contact with the nationals of other countries fight ing against their friends at home. Some illustra tions may be interesting: The writer was standing one evening in the Penn sylvania station, Pittsburgh, when 500 Czecho slovak soldiers in their neat uniforms were tearing away from friends to enter service for their coun try on the other side. The scene was most impres sive. It, however, made little impression on a group of Magyars present, one of whom commented : "They make too much noise. They don t own this station." On another occasion a Magyar objected to his Magyar church paper because it was being printed and issued from a Czecho-Slovak publish ing house. Again, a Magyar minister who was re quested to preach to a group of his own countrymen who came from a Slovak community and therefore were more familiar with the Slovak than the Mag yar language, refused, saying, "they are Magyars and should be satisfied with the preaching of their ancestors." Then came the news that many of their friends and relatives had been slain or were taken prisoner in the war, and they were asked to bring relief to sur viving, mourning, poor relatives. We may well imagine what a heart-searching time this was. Dis- 100 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA appointed, distressed and saddened by news from home; suspected by people about them here; and everywhere men of other and to them enemy nation alities crossing their path; longing in many in stances to go home and yet they could not; willing in other instances to become American citizens and they could not. This was not only a time of dis tress but also a time for decision. When the United States entered the war and mobilized our young men for army service and all our workers for our industries, there was another test of loyalty applied to the Magyars in America. They stood it well. Very few of them lost their jobs and many of them decided for American citi zenship because of the experience. Quite a number of Magyar young men entered the army and saw service in Europe. Said a young mechanic in Detroit, pointing to a Liberty Motor on which he had worked: "When it comes to Liberty Motors, they are the best turned put. They will work for liberty. I came to Amer ica as a boy; learned my trade here; married a Hungarian girl and have two children. I am Amer ican and love America and will work for her." Another illustration of loyalty comes from the home of a Magyar minister in Connecticut. Father and mother came to America with two sons 25 years ago. Two more sons and two daughters were born in America. When the war came the oldest son was a minister in Ohio; the second son was city clerk in the city of his residence; another son was in a commercial office ; the fourth was a student for the ministry. The city clerk went to Plattsburg for training and entered the army and served in France as a volunteer; the third son went with the first draft and served in France ; the two other sons were exempted. Helping the unfortunate. This time of testing RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS Jtf . AMEEjCA 101 was not without its blessings. It (teyeto-jsed. the benevolent spirit and resulted in liberal offerings for the suffering and sorrowing in the home land. Times here were good. The men worked full time at high wages. In their prosperity they did not forget the necessities of their suffering relatives. The calls for such help came soon and continued throughout the war and are coming still. They did not fall on deaf ears. Liberal gifts were sent home by individuals, but it was soon found that they did not always reach their destination. The remedy seemed to be united effort and the transmission of funds in larger sums and by more responsible agencies. So the Magyar churches, Eoman Cath olic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant, held united meetings to secure funds and then sent them home through the Swedish consulate or the Bed Cross. The sums secured in this way were astonishingly large. The sum total for the country cannot be given, but the Magyar churches of Toledo held meet ings and together secured $10,000 in equal parts from the three churches represented. This was done on two successive occasions. No doubt other churches in other places did equally as well. To that time the beneficiaries of this benevolence were the people in Hungary bereft of their natural supporters by the hazards of the war. After the Versailles Treaty, however, appeals came from the Eeformed and Lutheran churches in the dissevered provinces in Transylvania and in Czecho-Slovakia. Those from Transylvania, now a part of Koumania, were especially distressing. Churches had been confiscated, schools and universities had been taken from the Magyar church authorities, and ministers and professors had been deposed or banished and in many instances left to wander about as mendi cants. The climax of sympathy and benevolence was reached when representatives from the suffer- 102 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA ing movinees and members of commissions from other lands who had gone to investigate and con firm reports, came to this country and appealed to the Protestant churches. This appeal not only brought relief offerings from the Magyars but sev eral of the large Protestant churches sent special gifts for relief and the Federal Council of Churches sent a commission to investigate and to help and has since then appealed to the liberality of Ameri can Christians in behalf of their suffering co-relig ionists. Return to the homeland. The irresistible pres sure of longing became so great that as soon as possible the stream of emigration began. Husbands with families, sons with parents, or brothers and sisters in the homeland were the first to go, and go they did, notwithstanding the warnings of friends and the hardships and dangers awaiting them. Most of those in the first contingent ex pected to return to America with their relatives. A second contingent went when they learned that the large estates were being divided and sold in small portions and on easy terms, so they took their hard-earned savings and invested them in the land of their birth. The dull times here added largely to this stream; rather than eat up their savings they would share them with their poor and needy rela tives at home. Their experiences have not justified their expec tations. If they had come to America without having served their time in the army they were at once pressed into service; even their American cit izenship did not release them from their earlier ob ligation. Those who purchased land found that though the land was cheap the taxes were outra geously high. Those who expected to return to America found that they could not get passports and even if they arrived at the port of entrance RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 103 they often found the quota permitted to enter, ac cording to our present law, had been filled, so that their relatives, even if they themselves were eligible for admission, were held up for weeks and some times for months before being permitted to leave Ellis Island. Effect of emigration on Magyar organizations in America. This great exodus and the very small stream of those returning or bringing others very seriously affected all organizations of Magyars in America, but the churches suffered most. The lodges lost members and the dues which they paid. But the dues were comparatively small sums. Then, too, the reduced membership also reduced the liabil ities of the lodges proportionately. With the churches it was worse. They lost largely in mem bers; some of them more than a majority. An ex treme example is shown by the churches in the coke region of Pennsylvania. A Eeformed congregation in Uniontown, Pa., reported in 1920 a membership of 261. It had dwindled to 87 in the next annual report. The members had been liberal contributors both to current expenses and to the buying of a fine church. Some of them had loaned to the congre gation their savings without interest for a period of five years. When work in the region ceased the exodus began. The few members who remained had little or no work and could not pay their church dues. Those who had loaned money to the church and then emigrated called their loans and left the fewer and poorer members to bear the heavy burdens. Only the liberal help of the various Boards of Home Missions made it possible for these congregations to survive. But not all the Magyar churches in America could expect such help. A few of them under the care of American Protestant Boards had become self-sup porting and only dire necessity drove them to ac- 104 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA cept help. More distressing still was the lot Oi about 29 congregations which had been for about 15 years under the care and support of the Ke- formed Church of Hungary. When the war came their financial support was withheld and for more than two years no help came from the home church. They suffered the same or larger loss of members than the congregations connected with the Ameri can churches. The members remaining were sub ject to the same adverse circumstances. They could endure no longer, so in the spring of 1919 they sought refuge in some American Protestant church. The time of decision had come. Growing democracy. The Magyars like all other immigrants felt their old nationalistic and ecclesi astical foundations yielding under their feet. A new spirit manifested itself. The conservatives and reactionaries had gone home; the progressives saw democracy in the ascendant. Monarchies in Eu rope were toppling; democracies succeeded them. Everybody in America spoke or wrote about free dom, liberty, self-determination, self-government and Americanization. Great Magyar papers like the Szabadsag (Liberty] joined in the common cry. The homeland itself had become a republic. Many young men had been in training camps or had served in the army in Europe "to make the world safe for democracy. The result was a desire to become Americanized and secure citizenship. Everywhere young men and even men of middle age joined Americanization classes. The best illustration of this process was probably the Americanization work carried on in Akron, Ohio. The great rubber factories had spe cial classes. Magyar teachers and one Magyar Protestant minister were employed and rendered excellent service. A Commencement was held at the close of the term in the auditorium of one of RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 105 the High Schools, where the students came and sat in groups representing different nationalities. Each group carried an American flag and their own nationalistic banner. Each nationality took part in the program, which consisted of recitations by the several nationalities. The Magyar class was one of the largest. All the classes acquitted themselves very well. No doubt equally good work was done by similar classes elsewhere. * The second generation. Growing democracy was not only manifest in civil relations but also in the churches. Magyar congregations, Eoman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant alike felt its in fluence. These churches had existed in America for a generation. For about two decades they were served acceptably by priests and pastors from Hun gary. The relation of these men to their flocks was the same as that in the homeland. As the peo ple knew only the Magyar language, they never went to American churches and seldom associated with Americans. During the war, either by com pulsion or by choice they came in touch with re ligious workers of other churches and of all denominations. For a decade before that their children had been in the American schools and some of them went to American Sunday schools and were attracted by the people they met and the services they attended. They were especially pleased with the singing of our Gospel Hymns. Thus they were more and more attracted to the American churches and to the same degree became dissatisfied with the churches of their parents. Their growing Ameri can ideas, their association with the American Sun day school work are now increasingly a disturbing factor in Magyar church life. Wise pastors see this and judiciously adapt their work to the situation. All the Protestant Magyar congregations now have Sunday schools; most of 106 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA them have Young People s Societies; many of them have introduced in the Sunday services some Gospel songs or some standard hymns. These are translated into Magyar but are sung to the original music. The parents enjoy them as much as the children. Unfortunately not all ministers and priests see the coming storm and persist in working as they ever have done, even though the children are lost to their churches. Sadder still is the fact that an unusually large number of these discontented young people do not enter the English churches and are lost to the Kingdom of Christ. "When, however, the war came, the congregations of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America were shut off from their source of support and were at the same time under suspicion of being anti- American. As all of the congregations had stoutly insisted on being Reformed in the homeland, and as a number of them had been organized by the Re formed and Presbyterian churches, it was but nat ural that they should apply to these two churches for admission when the time of separation from home had come. Requests to that effect were made by their representatives here of both the Presby terian and Reformed churches in the spring of 1919, which, however, did not reach them. During this long interval of negotiation with the Reformed Church of Hungary, to which they be longed, and with the congregations here, several divisive influences in the congregations arose and several divisive movements were started. First there was a movement of the larger and self- supporting congregations to establish an indepen dent denomination. This failed because only a minority of the congregations were strong enough to support themselves; much less could they give the necessary financial help to the smaller congre- RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 107 gallons who constituted the majority. The project was abandoned. A movement then started to affiliate with the Protestant Episcopal Church. The result of this movement so far is that of the congregations who did not enter the Keformed or the Presbyterian Church, 6 declared themselves independent and 6 have entered the Protestant Episcopal Church. The result of the transfer of the Hungarian Re- formed Church in America is therefore that in the Western Classis, 14 congregations have with two exceptions united as a body with the Reformed Church in the United States. The two exceptions being now independent congregations. Seven con gregations of the Eastern Classis have united with the same church. The remaining congregations have either become Episcopalian or are still inde pendent. The total membership of the congrega tions going into the several churches are: to the Reformed Church in the United States, 19 congre gations, 6,500 communicants, and 25,600 adherents, and to the Episcopal Church, 6 congregations and 1,141 communicants. One cannot but regret the long drawn-out nego tiations and the various movements which promise only long-continued contentions in the congregations and between the ministers and people of one congre gation with those of another. (D) FORMS OF RELIGIOUS APPROACH In considering the forms of religious approach to the Magyars in America it must be recognized that they all belonged to some church at home, and that in the homeland there was little or no transition from one form of Christian religion to the other. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that here in America the Magyars who were Roman Catholic 108 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA or Eastern Orthodox (Greek) soon sought and in many instances secured the organization of congre gations, and that those belonging to Protestant Christianity also soon sought help and secured it from several Home Mission Boards and so from the beginning were able to organize congregations. The method of approach must be modified accord ingly. It must aim at acquaintance with the group, the congregation. It must recognize the excel lencies in the congregation before it can correct whatever failings there may be found in the work of the Magyar churches. It must give due credit to the organic character and strength of these con gregations and then gradually introduce the changes needed to adapt their work to American social and religious conditions. The process may be slow, but its success is assured. Another method of approach is what may be called the individual method, that is, an approach to indi viduals and families irrespective of their former or present professed church affiliations. This has not been found very successful among Magyars in America for the one reason above intimated, aver sion against proselyting, and the other because it arouses the opposition of the Magyar community and especially of the Magyar congregations of any religion recognized in the homeland, most especially of the ministers who may fear the disintegration of their congregations. Social settlement. This form of approach to the Magyar people is usually welcomed as a means of community betterment and especially as a means of protection to the morals of childhood. Magyar parents as a rule will send their children to the set tlement to learn English; to receive moral instruc tion; or to become familiar with American customs. They are not, however, satisfied with social settle ment work as a means of religious approach either RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 109 to children or adults. They say, "It is good, but why is it named after this or that church. If these American churches have these settlement houses under their own name and by the support of their denomination, why should not we have such settle ment houses of our own?" There are several places where they have actually undertaken such work. The Presbyterian Magyar Mission in New York has such a settlement house of its own on East 116th St. It is supported by the New York Presbytery, but to all intents and pur poses it is a Magyar settlement house run under the direction of the Magyar minister. The Magyar Reformed Church in Bridgeport has several times undertaken such work but thus far could not carry it forward to their satisfaction for lack of a building. They are now planning to pur chase a building for the purpose. The Magyar Reformed Church in Toledo has had a congregational house in which they have been do ing such work for a number of years, and they were probably the first to do Social Settlement work in the foreign community in that city. They have done reasonably well, too, but have failed to do what they desire, for lack of trained workers, and pos sibly, too, because inter-racial and inter-denomina tional prejudices have hindered the work. As a means of showing and exercising the spirit of American Christianity for the good of alien peo ple and their community the social settlement is most commendable. We cannot, however, but re gret that it is sometimes done under denominational banners when it would be much more acceptable to the people and more effective for their good if this tag were not attached. We fully appreciate what Peter Roberts says in "The New Immigration," speaking of the work of the churches, pp. 318-319: "If only it could divest itself of the trammels of 110 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA ecclesiastical bigotry and denominational exclusive- ness. . . . Every man who believes in the eternal verities, mourns the loss of faith in spiritual reali ties incident to the coming of the immigrant to America, but is it not largely due to the divisions among men who profess in this enlightened country to follow the same Lord?" In a small town in western Pennsylvania with a population of about 8,000 including the vicinity where many foreign-born people live, one of the denominations was so successful that they have $12,000 or $15,000 left for use in the community. First impulse dictated the erection of a community house for social settlement work. More recent sentiment has caused a pause with the probable re sult that other denominations will be challenged to join in the erection of a building more adequate for the requirements and not limited by any denomina tional designation. May the project be realized! Street evangelism. Evangelism of any sort awak ens the suspicion and sometimes the reproof or even the ridicule of Magyars in general. At home it meant antagonism to the established church, an ef fort either to discount the sincerity and efficiency of the minister and church dignitaries or an attempt to live a life presumably superior without the help of the church. The fact as told by the Magyar ministers in America fe that the Eef ormed Church of Hungary, while it is evangelical, is not evangelistic, and op poses any evangelistic effort. The chief and only aim of the church, they seem to think, is to see to it that all the children born into Protestant homes shall be brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" according to the promises given by the parents or sponsors at the time of baptism. Of course, in a state where every one is required to register in some church, this attitude is very nat- RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN AMERICA 111 ural. Unfortunately, when these people come to America, where people can do as they please con cerning church affiliation, this is not enough, for many wander away from the church or become coldly indifferent. Magyar missionaries therefore speak more favorably of church evangelism. Church evangelism. These missionaries welcome such evangelists, but say it largely devolves on the pastor to carry it forward. They hope to have it as soon as efficient leaders can be trained. There are, however, at present a number of hindrances. Members of the churches say there is no need for it because all the Magyars in America do belong to the church. Other ministers themselves say there is no need for it because they conduct each year a series of special penitential services during the sea son of Lent and preach special sermons to win back the indifferent. Another question is, "Who shall be the evangelist?" He must be an ordained minister and he must be able to speak the Magyar language. Institutional church. What was said about street evangelism among the Magyars applies also to the institutional church. It is to them not only a new method of approach but an unsatisfactory com mingling of religion and play ; of the sacred and the secular. They welcome the efforts of the institu tional church to teach all forms of family, commu nity and civic betterment; are pleased to have their boys taught manual training and their girls needle work, but these things to them are not reli^on. They should not be taught in church but in school. Having reminded a Magyar minister of the suc cess of the Labor Temple in New York, he remarked that while it was acceptable to many foreign-born people, it does not appeal to the Magyars and does not reach them effectively. Chapter VI SPECIAL PROBLEMS (A) LEADEKSHIP OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE CHURCHES The first Protestant missionaries to work among the Magyars in America were young men from the Theological Seminary at Debreczin. They were called by the Home Mission Boards of the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches upon the recommenda tion of Rev. Dr. Balogh, Professor of Church His tory. His recommendations were very reliable. The young men came with excellent training, fine culture and the fervor and enthusiasm of youth. When, however, they were thrust into the new con ditions, into the congested industrial centers where the people lived, they were for some time hardly equal to the task. Their work was largely an effort to conduct church work after the plans prevailing in Hungary. The result was that the people suf fered for lack of pastoral attention and in many instances lost their interest in religion. It was, however, remarkable how soon most of these trained men adapted themselves to conditions in which they found themselves. They became the advisers of their people in all sorts of needs. Did a newcomer want a job? He went to the minister and received help in getting it. Did he get into any sort of trouble with the civil authorities? The pastor helped him out. Was he about to buy a property! The pastor saw to it that he was not cheated. Was he hurt in the mill or the mine? The pastor at once went to the hospital to protect him from the wiles of the claim agent or the representative of the cor- 112 SPECIAL PROBLEMS 113 poration, who might wish him to sign a release. In addition to all this the pastor assumed the duty of teaching the Vacation Bible School lor die children of the Magyar community irrespective ui religious affiliation. Unfortunately there was not enough time, and possibly not enough knowledge of social and industrial conditions among his people, to se cure for them conditions of recreation and social betterment so much needed in every foreign-born community. Ministers of kin: trained abroad. The unanimous opinion of Magyar ministers and Magyar people alike is that the minister of their own kin is best qualified for the work. They give a number of rea sons for this opinion. First, only a minister of kin has the educational qualifications. He knows not only the language but also the peculiarities of the people. He has been trained for this as a life work and therefore uses good literary style and accept able Magyar delivery of the sermon. He knows the doctrines and customs of the church. He is there fore recognized as worthy to lead the people. Again the minister is not only their spiritual guide but also their adviser in business affairs. They can confer with a man of their own kin much more satisfac torily than with a man of American birth and train ing. He will enjoy their confidence to a much larger degree than an American-born man. Ministers of kin: trained in America. There are now a number of trained men of kin in America who have entered the ministry among the Magyar people. Are not these better fitted for the above- mentioned services than the foreign-trained min ister? The opinions of the Magyar people differ on the question. It depends largely upon the man himself. Can he use the Magyar language to the satisfaction of the people or is he perhaps able to use only the colloquial which he learned on the farm 114 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA or in the shop! Possibly even this common lan guage has been forgotten or corrupted since coming to America. Besides this he is known by the people as a peasant or a shop man even after he has be come educated for the ministry. The prejudice is unjust but it is very real. Ministers of kin: trained both here and abroad. Again there are ministers in the Magyar work who got their literary training in the home land and their theological training in America. These are, all things considered, the best qualified men. They know the European backgrounds well; they know the peculiar temperament of their parishioners; they are familiar with church customs and cere monies ; they enter into the social life of the congre gation and yet live above the average of their people and so secure the respect a minister needs. Their American theological training enables them to adapt their teaching and work to the new surroundings ; it gives them a new idea of pastoral relation to the people; it encourages more friendly relations between the Magyar and the American community; and it encourages them to adapt their church life and work more harmoniously with that of the nearby American congregations and so has a tendency to keep the young people in the same congregation with their parents, for the benefit of both. Wherever such men of kin have been working there is found the adoption of the excellencies of American church life without the loss of the excel lencies brought from the home land. There will be Sunday school work; Y.P.S.C.E.; Mission Societies; vacation Bible school work after the American plan, without the loss of earnest work on the part of par ents and children in its behalf; and even in the mat ter of church music there will be the use of some of our American Gospel Hymns in addition to the SPECIAL PROBLEMS 115 stately choral music so much loved by the adults. The result is acceptable to both youth and adult. The supply of ministers in any church or any language is limited, and is very much so as concerns Magyar ministers. There was a time when well- trained ministers could be secured from Europe. So, too, in the earlier history of Magyar mission work there were more young Magyar men entering our seminaries. But the same tendency which keeps young men of American birth from studying for the ministry affects the Magyar young men. The result is that of late years it has been necessary to train and ordain young men without having had full lit erary training. Some of these have become excel lent workers because of their earnestness and devo tion. Their work has been made doubly difficult because of the prejudices of the people above re ferred to. In addition to the attitude of the people is the prejudice of the European-trained ministers, who quote their long years of preparation in com parison to the short time given to preparation in America. As one of them said to the writer, con cerning a young man who was thus preparing and who was at the time teaching in the vacation Bible school, "He will never make a minister. He is only a peasant, and what can you make of a peasant !" The answer for which the speaker evidently waited was : "I don t know what you can make of a peas ant in Hungary, but in America we have made sen ators, presidents, judges, and prominent ministers out of many of them. This young man is in Amer ica, and if he will do his part we will make an ef fective minister for the Magyar people out of him." American men trained abroad. One more method of securing qualified ministers for Magyar work needs to be considered: that of American men trained in foreign lands. This has been done in a 116 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA few instances with good results, and yet it is noc satisfactory to the Magyar people. They speak highly of the fine spirit and warm hearts of these young men, but still think they cannot make them selves understood like a man of their own national ity. The Magyar language, they say, is so difficult that the young men do not remain in Hungary long enough to learn it. The talents of such young men can, however, find a field for good service in their association with Magyar ministers whom they can influence to modify their work according to the American requirements. Would not such young men make excellent teachers in our seminaries, ex cellent teachers and organizers for American Sun day School work and for Y.P.S.C.E. work? An American minister whom we have known for a number of years and who was located in a town in western Pennsylvania, where there were many Magyars, had committed to memory the marriage, the baptism, and the funeral services of the Magyar Reformed Church. He rehearsed them to an intel ligent Magyar till he had ability to use them accept ably, and then officiated whenever asked by Magyar people, but he never ventured to preach in Magyar. Another American minister went a step farther, and undertook to preach in Magyar, but discontinued when he was told of a ludicrous mistake he had made. He was speaking about angels, and thought he had said, "All the angels are in heaven," when he really had said, "All the Englishmen are in heaven. There is another American minister who has, however, preached for some years to Magyar con gregations. He gives this as his method of prepar ing the sermon: After preparing it in English he takes the concordance and finds a scripture passage for each thought of the sermon. He then looks up the passage in the Magyar Bible and transcribes it SPECIAL PROBLEMS 117 for the Magyar sermon. The method commends itself for the faithful efforts of the preacher and no doubt impressed the people with its scriptural form. These considerations raise the question as to whether it were not better to expect the Magyar people to affiliate themselves at once with the Eng lish congregation in the community whose services are nearest to those in the homeland in devotional character; where they might find the order of the church year and might come prepared by having read the scripture lessons designated for the day; where they might hear the choral music to which they are accustomed in their own churches and where the people assume a devotional attitude in prayer with which they are familiar. They would for a time miss the effect of the sermon but their very thirst for it might be an incentive for the learning of English. Besides this, their children would more promptly come into fellowship with American church life and would not have the ten dency to wander away from the church of the parents because they, the children, did not appre ciate the more solemn character of the service. (B) FORMS OF RELIGIOUS BKEAK-UP There is in fact very little formal religious break up among the Magyar people. It is rare to find a man or woman among them who declares himself a freethinker 1 or atheist. There are, however, two pronounced tendencies almost as bad as these. The first is a formal religion in connection with the Church. Many Magyar men think and speak of themselves as "good churchmen " when they go to church occasionally, contribute for the support of the church and take the Lord s supper once or twice a year. Too many of them think of the Church rather as a national institution whereby Magyarism 118 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA may be perpetuated even in America. They even speak at times of Magyar Protestant religion as if it were a distinct form of religion with a peculiarly strong Magyar flavor. The other tendency is that of indifference to the claims of the Church and of the formalities of re ligion entirely. They have been away from the in fluence of the Church as it was in Hungary for a long time. They live now in some small out-of-the- way mining town where there may be no church buildings of any kind; where the familiar sound of the church bell is never heard ; or if this is not liter ally the situation, the churches in the community are small buildings, often in bad repair, and the Ameri can pastors come only occasionally, preach a sermon, and are not seen again during the week. Most serious of all, the church of their own choice, and preaching in a language which they can understand, is not within ten or twenty miles of the place. Sunday is therefore spent in a social gathering with their fellow-countrymen, in games and sport and drinking and, too often, fighting. Eeligion is the last thing to claim attention, and before long it has died out of remembrance and practice. Churches wishing to help these people should em ploy a sufficient number of traveling missionaries to visit the community twice a month at least. He should remain with the people for several days at a time so as to come into close touch with them socially as well as religiously. Here, too, is an open and important field for the work of the deaconess. She can help keep the home clean, moral and religious. She will have freer and fuller contact with the home life than is possible to the minister himself. Religious realignment. As a matter of fact there is very little realignment either in Europe or Amer ica. It is not thought right in Europe to change SPECIAL PROBLEMS 119 from one religion to another. Jew remains Jew, and is respected for his adherence to the faith ; Cath olic remains Catholic, and seldom becomes Protes tant; and Protestant remains loyal to his church though he may be greatly displeased with its man agement, its doctrines, or its ministers. People who do change are suspected of ulterior motives. Much the same feeling exists in America among the first generation of Magyars, though there are more frequent changes than at home just because there is more change among members of the Amer ican churches. Changes from one type of Protes tantism to another are somewhat more frequent but are hardly more than the exception to the rule of loyalty to the denomination, a change from which is sometimes designated as violation of the faith. When, however, the Magyar family is too far away from a church of its own denomination or language they go to an American church for wor ship, even though they may not understand the lan guage in which the services are conducted. Their children are then sent to the American Sunday School, and parents seem well pleased to have them bring home and read the English literature given them. When the time comes for catechetical instruction and confirmation, at about the age of 12, the children are sent to relatives or friends living in reach of a Magyar church for instruction during a period of from six to eight weeks, so that children and parents may belong to the same church. (c) EXTRA-CHURCH MOVEMENT t From what has been said on the relation of re ligions and denominations toward each other, we may infer that the Magyar is not much impressed by the extra-church religious movements. They 120 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA believe in the benefits of Social Settlement work; they appreciate the endeavors of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A, but they say these are not as distinct ively religious as they should be and cannot take the place of the church. We hope they will see things in better light, but at present the Magyar churches seek to have these activities carried on by themselves, though they are not at all adequately equipped for the purpose. Many of the young men join the Y.M.C.A. for its social and educational advantages, ^ but still hold their parental notions about its religious efficacy. Wherever possible Magyar Protestant congrega tions encourage Y.P.S.C.E. societies in connection with the congregation, but these are not affiliated with the Y.P.S.C.E. itself. The work done is in some respects the same. The devotional meetings are led by the young people, though the pastor is usually present to direct and encourage them. Sev eral examples will illustrate. The Magyar Reformed Church, of Toledo, 0., is fortunate in having a well-adapted school building, which has a special room for the young people s work. An evening spent with these people is not only interesting, but edifying, because of its earnest ness and devotion. The pastor is organist and ad dresses the young people only when invited to do so. The Sunday evening service consists of singing, Bible reading, and prayer, all conducted by the young people. After the devotional hour there is a period for business, and planning work among young people during the week, etc. On the evening the writer was present, plans were made for the organization of an orchestra. Eight young people volunteered and asked the pastor to be the teacher and leader. The purpose was to furnish better music for the Sunday evening service and also to afford weekly evening recreation and pleasure. SPECIAL PROBLEMS 121 A similar society exists in connection with the Magyar Keformed Church in Bridgeport, Conn., with this modification : the pastor is not present, though he keeps informed about the conuuet and business of the society. This society has more of the entertainment features of the Y.M.C.A. and is gathering funds to purchase a building separate from the church property for their weekly evening work. A Magyar Young People s Society, in con nection with the Magyar congregation in Dayton, 0., has such a building, but the result is not alto gether desirable, as the management is more diffi cult. The entertainment idea threatens to assume undue proportions. An effort is being made to se cure the aid of the Y.M.C.A. secretary of the city to instruct and guide these young people. Some of the Presbyterian Magyar congregations have sim ilar organizations of which the pastors speak very well. The great Hungarian Magyar Church of De troit, one of the largest in America, is said to have an excellent Young- People s Society, in connection with the congregation, occupying for its work the Congregational House. The entire movement is very promising and needs encouragement. This en couragement is not given by the American congre gations as larsrelv as it should be, but in some in stances, as at Homestead, Pa., the Y.P.S. of the Magyar congregation frequently secures free of charge the use of the Carnegie Library auditorium for some public entertainment. The American churches can render effective service in this work by attending the meetings whenever possible and especially by showing appreciation of the entertain ments which these societies occasionally give. At tendance is increasing and it is encouraging to the societies. Extra-church religious movements. A glance at religious conditions in the homeland during the last 122 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA thirty years will explain why Magyars in America are backward in extra-church organizations. Dur ing the time of the early revival services of Dwight L. Moody and men of his type in England and Scot land, there were a number of Magyar students in the Protestant seminaries there. They were pious young men who were deeply impressed with the de- voutness as well as the zeal of these evangelists and imbibed their spirit and their methods of work. When these young men returned home to the stereo typed forms and activities of the churches, they en deavored to awaken the people to a more effective religious life, and by their efforts they came into conflict with the authorities of the church, who dis couraged, hindered and in some instances persecuted them. The consequence was that they were looked upon by the common people as fanatics who wished to introduce a new religion. The Church of Hun gary remained practically the same till quite re cently, when these same young men grown older, and reenf orced by other men who studied abroad, are now looked upon as the leaders of a new era in the religious life of Hungary. Wide-awake Magyar ministers in America say the time has come when the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W. C.A. and the Salvation Army will receive a welcome in Hungary. Here in America the older members of the churches look with disfavor on all such movements and look to the churches to hold and guide the young people. The young people, however, are taking an increasing interest in all the above-named organi zations, but they value them more for their educa tional and recreational features than for their religious work. Even the younger people say: "The church for religion; these institutions for other purposes. * SPECIAL PROBLEMS 123 (D) PRESSING NEED FOE MAGYAR MISSION LITERATURE Literature needed. A great and pressing need is a constructive church literature, both periodical and occasional. So far as the writer knows, there is only one church paper published in this country under the supervision and financial support of any church. Other papers publish church news, but they are owned and edited by individuals and serve without sanction from the churches whose news they print. They are sometimes the official organs of some Federation of Magyar Benevolent Associa tions but not subject to any suggestions from any church authority. They are usually well edited, but like all the Hungarian papers in America without exception, they are somewhat given to controversies not advisable to appear in church papers. The only church paper, above referred to, is the Reforma- tusok Lapja, published jointly by the Presbyterian and Reformed Church Sunday school and Publica tion Boards. Even this has not been free frpnji| harmful controversies. The ideal Hungarian 1 church paper should be worthy of the patronage and support of Protestant Magyars of any American Protestant denomination. With all churches con tributing to its support, it could be made to serve the real religious interests of all the Magyar people. There is also a need for Magyar Sunday school literature. There should be prepared lesson stories for the little folks who cannot speak English nor yet read Magyar, but who are dependent on their mothers and Sunday school teachers for their in struction. The parent also needs helps and com ments on the Sunday school lessons in their mother tongue to encourage them to come to Sunday school and profit by its instruction. There have been published in English within re- 124 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA cent years so many good books for devotional and inspirational use that some of them should be trans lated into Magyar for the benefit of the older people who either cannot or will not learn our language. Parochial papers. Parochial papers are not to be encouraged. Not every pastor has the talent of an editor; not every pastor can be disinterested and fair in the articles he publishes. Too often he pub lishes such news and such opinions as he would not treat either in public discourse or in personal con ference. It is sometimes said by complaining par ishioners that the minister "uses his paper as a club over them." The club may be necessary, but its use in the paper usually works harm to the min ister and his work, as well as wrong to the parish ioners. Tracts. There has been great need for more tracts adapted to the Magyar people. The several Mission Boards are making commendable progress in providing tracts of this kind, but they have some times acted without conference with the Magyar ministers who know best what is needed. These ministers say that emotional appeals in tracts are not effective; that it were better to make an intel lectual appeal. They urge that the tracts be of a more concrete character, e.g., instead of a tract warning the reader against some specified sin, let the tract set forth the working out of the sin in the life of some person. Let the Christian virtues also be taught by tracts setting forth the fruits of their adoption and nurture in life. The ministers who are familiar with our newer religious literature, enjoy it very much and wish that much of it might be translated into Magyar for the use of their people either in whole or in part. They have mentioned some of Henry Drummond s addresses; Dr. Fosdick s books on Faith and Prayer, etc., etc. SPECIAL PROBLEMS l-2:> (E) PARISH EVANGELISM Turning now to the brighter side of our subject, we see many signs of progress and of hope for the work of the Lord among the Magyar people in America. We mention first parish evangelism. We use the adjective advisedly, because for a long time the ministers and people, too, looked askance upon the great evangelistic campaigns that have for years swept our country. In the homeland all chil dren were baptized in infancy and the parents were instructed and expected to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." To their credit, they did it, and have been doing it as circumstances permitted in this country. At home all persons were by the law of the land required to be members of some church, and so there were sup posed to be no unevangelized people. Now, what ever may be said of the homeland, conditions here were sadly unsatisfactory. Something must be done to bring up children which was not being done and to keep alive the spirit of the Lord in the mem bers of the church as well as to bring back from the world those who had lapsed from the faith. The questions were what is to be done after Confirma tion? What of the conditions which draw young men and women away from the church and from the Lord? If the lapses and losses of our American churches are large and distressing, the losses in Magyar churches are alarming. This is quite ap parent to the Magyar ministers. The people must be awakened, the young must be made to work for the Lord, the lapsed must be won back. How can it be done? The plan adopted by the Protestant ministers, ir respective of denominational affiliation, is as fol lows: The entire country has been districted and formed into groups of congregations in which the 126 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA pastors will join in holding evangelistic campaigns. The season selected is from New Year to Easter. The ministers meet in conference to arrange the program. The pastor describes conditions in his parish re quiring evangelistic endeavor. He designates spe cial needs in his own congregation. The brethren together map out a series of subjects to be treated and designate the speakers best suited to the sub jects. The time of the campaign is arranged at the suggestion of the pastor and the meetings will con tinue for several days. They begin with an evening service with two short sermons or addresses, and an explanation of the purpose. The next morning will be spent by the ministers in conference with each other and possibly in getting from the pastor a list of names of persons who should be visited. The afternoon will be given to two more addresses and the privilege of persons present to ask questions or make profession of faith or of repentance. The ministers who are not needed for the afternoon meeting will go two and two to visit persons need ing personal appeal. The evening again will in clude two sermons and the answering of questions. Such meetings proved very effective and helpful during 1921, and indications are for more effective work this year. A promising indirect result has been the effect on the ministers themselves. The brother who was weak in any part of his work is strengthened. The minister who did not reach his people with his ser mons follows the example of his more successful brother. The sermons of all of them are having a more distinctly evangelistic note since the meetings, and every man feels that he does not stand alone but has the backing of brethren of like talents and confronting the same problems. Wherever such meetings have been held the peo- SPECIAL PROBLEMS 127 pie have been awakened and attend more faithfully to their religious duties. As a plain workman said : "I have learned to speak for the Lord to the man who works next to me." (F) RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Magyar ministers and people alike have always emphasized religious education. Pastors always give thorough and faithful instruction in the doc trines and duties of their religion to the children being prepared for profession of faith and confirm ation. In this the parents have cooperated with heart and soul. It is not uncommon for parents living at a distance from the church to send their children to board with relatives or friends for a period of from six to eight weeks while under the minister s instruction. On confirmation day the children are examined before the assembled congre gation. By the way, it happens in recent years that some of them must be examined in English because they no longer know the Magyar language. Good and necessary as this is, it has been found that it is not enough. It was disproportionately in tellectual and formal. Since the evangelistic note is being sounded, the educational work, too, is widen ing out. More emphasis is being placed on per sonal consecration and on life service for the Mas ter. Sunday schools feel the impulse. The subject- matter of instruction is enlarged and the young are encouraged to take part in the activities of the church. Young People s Societies are now organized in most of the Magyar churches in America, and in some instances they are given either a room in the church as their own or they are provided with a building of their own and are encouraged to hold there not only their Sunday devotional meetings 128 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA but to meet there during the week for social and educational purposes. Young Magyars have more than the average love for music and theatricals. They will have them either in the club or theater or in their own rooms or buildings. The pastors who are awake to their opportunity select the plays and help make the pro grams, and encourage the giving of their "plays" in the school-room of the church. Daily Vacation Bible Schools. Such schools are not an innovation among the Magyar churches. All the congregations in America have had them for years. When the representatives of the Church of Hungary entered into negotiations for the transfer of their congregations to American churches, an in sistent condition was that they might be continued. Now whilst the primary motive may have been the perpetuation of the Hungarian language, these schools afford excellent opportunity for religious in struction and are so much appreciated by the par ents that they willingly help to support them finan cially. One of these schools in Toledo, Ohio, is federated with twelve or more such schools in the city. It is the testimony of the superintendent of the Federation that a year ago it was not only the largest in the city but also the best. It is only an example of others that are or can be made as good. Training workers. Magyar ministers and people alike have always insisted that preachers and teach ers and religious workers must be thoroughly trained. They have now found that the best work ers are those who got their general literary training in the homeland but who got their special training for their work in America in our American schools. There is therefore a growing demand for such American- trained ministers and teachers. In an swer to their appeals, the Presbyterian Church has placed a Magyar professor in the Seminary in " *!- " yi irTrtSi % * t\* afc * 2* CONGREGATION AT SERVICE First Magyar Presbyterian Church, llbth St. New York City CONFIRMATION CL,.<VSS, REFORMED CHURCH, WEST SIDE, SPECIAL PROBLEMS 129 Bloomfield and another in their college in Dubuque, Iowa. The Reformed Church, upon the urgent re quest of both the Church at home and the congrega tions here, will do the same as early as arrange ments to that effect can be made. Quite a number of Magyar young men are now in these schools and in other institutions of higher education. Quite re cently requests have come to the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches to receive into their Theo logical Seminaries a number of theological students from the Seminaries of Hungary to spend the last two years of their course in America and then return to Hungary for service in the Reformed Church there. Curriculum for Bible School. Reference has been made to the prominence of the Magyar spirit in Vacation Bible school work. This cannot be pre vented, because it is entirely voluntary to parents whether they shall send their children or not. What is therefore needed is a carefully prepared course of study for such schools, so that religious education shall be the first and dominant purpose. Consid erable attention is being given to this matter by the educational secretaries of our Sunday school Boards, but the danger is that the advice and help of successful Magyar ministers and teachers has not been sought. A suggestion suffices. Teacher training classes. There should be in every Magyar church or Sunday school a class in teacher training. No special Magyar literature is needed for this work, but consecrated and efficient young American men and women should be encour aged to do this work voluntarily and without com pensation. This is an entirely new line of work to the Magyar people and their pastors have their hands too full of other work to do this also. What applies to teacher training classes applies equally to mission study classes. 130 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Y. P. S. C. E. Young people s societies need the sympathy and encouragement of their American friends of similar societies. Frequent visits to their meetings by individuals or committees of American societies would be welcome and appreciated, and the visit would not be lacking in interest. Closer fellowship. Another need to mention is of a similar character : closer fellowship with the Mag yar people and especially with their churches by the people of American churches. A fine beginning of this has been made in Lorain, Ohio, and Bridgeport, Conn., where there are occasional union services, such as anniversaries, national holidays, etc. At each of those places successful and mutually helpful meetings have been held. At Lorain, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary, the Presbyterian minister and his people attended the Magyar serv ice in the afternoon, and the Magyar people and a minister went to the Presbyterian church in the evening and afterward joined in an anniversary banquet in the school-room of the Magyar church. The occasion at Bridgeport, Conn., was the twenty-fifth anniversary, in the services of which the Presbyterian minister and the choir of his church took part in the afternoon, and the Congregational minister and the choir of his church took part in the evening. Summer mission conferences. It would not be ad visable nor possible to hold such conferences for the Magyar young people. These should, however, be urged to attend the conferences being held within reach of them. They should be encouraged to do so by taking some part on the program. Nothing would please them more, little would be so helpful to immigrant mission work in America as to have them give a pageant of some phase of life in Hun gary. The outlook for the future. Finally, what of the SPECIAL PROBLEMS 131 outlook? It is hopeful and encouraging. We need only remember that the Magyars are an intelligent, high-strung people and expect to meet us on the level and have us meet them in the same way. The indications are that from now on the Magyar mis sion work of all churches in America will be more effective because we all understand the Magyar peo ple better and they trust us more fully. APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Appendix I AMERICANIZATION AS THE FOREIGNER THINKS OF IT (By Rev. Arpad Bakay, Akron, Ohio) The average foreigner is struck with alarming surprise by the nation-wide Americanization move ment urged upon him. He does not understand its intent. He regards with distrust its pressure from all quarters hitherto unfelt and unheard of by him. In the past very little if anything was said to him concerning Americanization or about acquiring the language of the nation, or of changing his for eign customs and life ideals. Consequently he has been satisfied to work here for wages he could never hope to earn in his own country, and has been con tent to continue living in his old European ways. Now, that a new interest is brought to bear upon him, he is naturally disinclined and indifferent to it. In most instances it is only his desire to hold down his job and to retain the favor of his employers that he is obliged to "take in" some Americaniza tion. While such, in general, is the attitude of the for eigner toward the great Americanization campaign, there are wide differences in their feelings and opinions. In conversation with many of them you will find this expression: "I wish I had had such an opportunity to learn the English language eight or ten years ago; I would be in better position to day; but now I am too old to learn it." Others will say: "It is too late, I am going home." You will 135 136 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA find these the strongest excuses of the objectors for their lack of interest. Perhaps about 46 per cent of the foreign popula tion are drawn back to Europe by family ties ; they have been severed from their loved ones during the fearful world war so that not even communication could be had with them. These conditions have created in them an intense longing to see their loved ones again. So deep is their anxiety to know the fate of those they left behind that their minds are fixed on one thing to go home and see for them selves. However, as to whether all these will re turn to their country or will try to have their fami lies join them here is yet a question that will be determined by the opportunities offered them in their own country to make a living and a fortune for themselves and their children. Thus the place of their settlement is largely influenced by the eco nomic advantages rather than by national feelings. With many of them the study required for Amer icanization is a case in which the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. After a day of hard physical labor it is indeed an expression of strong effort and ambition for a man to devote an hour or two to ac quiring the English language, for when the body is worn out and the longing for food and rest is upper most the mind is least receptive. It is one of the most impressive scenes to watch a class of men and women anywhere from the age of twenty to fifty and over, some totally illiterate, others totally ig norant of the language, and yet patiently trying to learn to read, write and talk English. To be a teacher of such a class is worthy one s best efforts. The appreciation and development shown by those who respond to the appeal of Americanization richly pay any effort and sacrifice we may put forth in their behalf. Now that the very air is charged with Americanism, Americanization is the task of APPENDIX I 137 the hour. Let us go at it in the spirit of kindness and Christian fellowship. When the foreigners are given to understand that while in America they must live as Americans, it will become evident who are friendly aliens and who are alien enemies and as such undesirables. Their favorable response to our friendly appeal or their resentment of it will be positive proof of their willingness to become one with us or one against us. By our sympathetic ap proach we can persuade them even at this late hour that Americanization is for their good as well as for the good of this nation. Appendix II LIST OF MAGYAR PUBLICATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES MAGYAR PERIODICALS SECULAR Akroni Hirlap, Weekly, non-political, A. TARNOCY, Editor, Akron, Ohio. A Het, Weekly, Evans St., Bethlehem, Pa. Amerikai Magyar Nepszava, Daily, Ind., GEZA D. BERKO, Editor, 178 2nd Ave., New York City, N. Y. Amerikai Magyar Hirlap, Weekly, Nationalist, EARNEST N. NEMENYI, Editor, 239 E. Front St., Youngstown, 0. A Het, Weekly, Louis TARCAI, Editor, 8802 Buckeye Road, Cleveland, 0. Amerikai Magyarsag (American Hungarian), Semi- weekly, LORAND SIMAY, Editor, 1285 2nd Ave., New York City, N. Y. America, Weekly, L. POLYA, Editor, Buffalo, N. Y. A Munka (Day s Work), Monthly, GEORGE KEMENY, Editor, 202 Empire Bldg., Detroit, Mich. Amerikai Magyar Kerteszlap, N. ERDIJHELYI, Edi tor, Hammond, La. A Felszabadwlas, Weekly, I.W.W., Chicago, 111. American Magyar and Hungarian Daily, 8926 Buck eye Road, Cleveland, 0. A Bermun kas (The Wage Worker), Semi-monthly, I.W.W., NEWMAN ANDER, Editor, 350 East 81st St., New York City, N. Y. Berko Kepes Ujsa&ga (Illustrated News), BERKO D. GEZA, Editor, 178 2nd Ave., New York City, N. Y. 138 APPENDIX II 139 Buffalo Hirlap, Weekly, MICHAEL KOSZTIN, Editor, 1978 Niagara St., Buffalo, N. Y. Bukfenc (Topsy Turvy), Semi-monthly, ARPAD TAR- NOCY, Editor, Hippodrome Annex, Cleveland, O. (Humor.) California Magyar (Agriculture), IGALY S. ZNETO- GAR, Editor, 2719 Magnolia St., Oakland, Cal. Dongo, Semi-monthly (Humor), GEORGE KEMENY, Editor, 276 25th St., Detroit, Mich. Deutsche Ungarischer Bote, Weekly, Ind., 117 Find- ley St., Cincinnati, 0. Ebreszto, Semi-monthly, Wallingford Conn. Elore Kapes Folyoirat (Socialist), Daily, Sunday and Semi-monthly, CH. VARGA, Editor, 5 E. 3rd St., New York City, N. Y. Fuggettenseq, Ind., J. H. MOSNI, Editor, Martins Ferry, O. Hirado, Weekly, M. KOSTIN, Editor, 1978 Niagara St., Buffalo, N. Y. Hirado, Weekly (Rep.), ERNEST PORSOLT, Editor, Johnstown, Pa. Kepis Tudosito, PAUL V. NESSI, Editor, 111 Howard St., Newark, N. J. Kepis Vilaglap, (Lit. and Comment) New York City, N. Y. Magyar Banyaszlap (Hungarian Miners Journal), Weekly, MARTIN HIMLER, Editor, 75 E. 10th St., New York City, N. Y. Magyar Hirado, Semi-weekly, Ind., B. T. TARKANYI, Editor, 4805 7th Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Magyar Hirado , ALEX. BERKOVITZ, Editor, Philadel phia, Pa. Magyar Hirlap, Semi- weekly, Ind., ALADAR FONGO, Editor, 2227 W. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, Mich. Magyar Hirnok, Weekly, Ind., ADALBERT NIKELSZKY, Editor, 62 Dennis St., New Brunswick, N. J. Magyar Kertesz (Agriculture), STEPHEN BERCZIK, 140 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Editor, 508 Stock Exchange Bldg., Los Angeles, Cal. Magyar Munkaslap, Weekly, Labor, ERNEST I. MAN- DEL, Editor, 621 Tribune Bldg., New York City, N. Y. Magyar Tribune, Weekly, M. BENEDEK, Editor, 2207 Clybourn Ave., Chicago, 111. Magyar Tudosito, Weekly, Ind., REV. B. BEETOK, Ed itor, Tudosito Publishing Co., South Bend, Tnd. Magyar Ujsag (Magyar News), JULIUS SIPAS, Edi tor, 15 West End Ave., Detroit, Mich. Magyar Ujsag (Magyar News), LAD MATHE, Editor, 116 French St., New Brunswick, N. J. Magyarok Vasarnapja, Weekly, 8302 Buckeye Road, Cleveland, 0. Magyar Vilag (Magyar World), Weekly, Rep., STEPHEN GYONGYOSY, Editor, 431 Fourth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Newark Hirado, Weekly, Ind., J. SCHREINER, Edi tor, 111 Howard St., Newark, N. J. OttJion (Sun), Weekly, ALEX D. DESSEWFFY, Editor, 139 N. Clark St., People s Gas Bldg., Chicago, Szabadsag, Daily, Ind., 1803 2nd Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Sportvilag (Sports), New York City, N. Y. St. Louis es Videke, Weekly, Rep., C. KALDOR, Edi tor, 2023 S. Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. Szabadsag (Liberty), Daily, New York City, N. Y. Szabadsag (Liberty), Daily, Ind. Rep., ANDREW CHERNA, Editor, 700 Huron Road, Cleveland, 0. Szabad Sajto (Free Press), Weekly, Rep., COR NELIUS CSONGRADI, Editor, 188 Passaic St., Pas- saic, N. J. Szovetseg, Monthly (Religious and Sick Benefit), 1418 State St., Bridgeport, Conn. Takarekos Haziasszony Ujsagja (Home Manage- APPENDIX II 141 ment), Monthly, 2227 W. Jefferson St., Detroit, Mich. Testverizseg, Weekly, DR. FOETAN HARRASSTI, Editor, 579 Howard Ave., Bridgeport, Conn. Uj Magyarorszag, G. BOGDAMY, Editor, 239 Front St., Youngstown, O. Varosi Elet, Ind., South Bend, Ind. Verliovayak Lapja, Weekly, Ind., G. GARAY, Editor, 612 Merkle Bldg., Hazleton, Pa. Videke (Vicinity), Weekly, Ind., MICHAEL M. BARTA, Editor, Lorain, 0. MAGYAR PUBLICATIONS RELIGIOUS Amerikai-Magyar-Reformatusok Lapja (Sentinel), Weekly, Presbyterian and Reformed Church in U. S., EEV. ALEX. HARSANYI, Editor, 1008 10th Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. Az Idok Jelei, Quarterly, Seventh Day Adventist, Brookfield, 111. Ebreszto, Semi-monthly, BELA KOVACS, Editor, Wal- lingford, Conn. Evangelium Hirnoke (The Gospel Messenger), Semi-monthly, Hungarian Baptist Ass n., OROSZ ISTVAN, Editor, 8005 Holton Ave., Cleveland, 0. Fuggettenseg (Independence), Weekly Hungarian Church of Trenton, ALEX. ZAMBORY, Editor, 719 Hudson St., Trenton, N. J. Harangszo, Lutheran, Bethlehem, Pa. Magyar EgyJiaz, Weekly, Hungarian Eeformed Church in U. S., EEV. J. MELEGH, Editor, 138 Eidit St., McKeesport, Pa. Magyar Katholikus Zaszlo, Weekly, St. Stephen s Eoman Catholic Church, EEV. KALMAN KOVATS, Editor, Evans Ave. and 7th St., McKeesport, Pa. 142 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Magyarok Vasarnapja, Weekly, 8302 Buckeye Road, Cleveland, 0. Reformatus Hirnok, Monthly, Hungarian Reformed Church in America, REV. B. KOVACS, Editor, Wallingford, Conn. Vallasos Lap, Weekly, Baptist, REV. ANDREW HAND LER, Editor, 882 Hatch St., St. Paul, Minn. Vedd es Olvasd (Take and Read), Semi-monthly, Northern Baptist, REV. A. TOTH, Editor, 2343 Williams St., Trenton, N. J. BIBLIOGRAPHY Hungary of the Hungarians, L. KELLNEE, ARNOLD & DELISLE, Scribners, 1914. Hungary of To-day, P. ALDEN, Nash, London, 1909. The Magyars of Cleveland, H. F. COOK, Americani zation Committee, 1919. Hungarians in the American Civil War, E. PIVANY, Dongo Year Book, 1903. Modern Austria Races and Social Problems, V. GAYDA, London, 1915. Racial Problems in Hungary, B. W. SETON-WATSON, London, 1909. The Commentator, A Monthly, Knights of Columbus Bldg., Youngstown, 0. Hungarian Immigration, E. A. STEINER, " Outlook" LXXIV, 1903. History of Hungarian Literature, EIEDL, London, 1906. Political Evolution of the Hungarian Nation, C. M. K. HUGESSON, London. Palmerston and the Hungarian Revolution, C. SPROXTON, Cambridge University Press, 1919. Against the Current, E. A. STEINER, New York, 1912. St. Peter s Umbrella, K. MIKSZATH, New York. Hungarian Catholics in America, Vol. 7 of Catholic Encyclopedia. The Story of Hungary, A. VAMBERY. Hungary DE VARGHA, DR. JULIUS. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, BALCH, E. G-., Charities Publishing Co., New York City, 1910. Old Homes of New Americans, CLARK, F. E. (Chaps. IX and X), Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1913. 143 THE MAGYARS IN AMERICA Races and Immigrants in America, J. R. COMMONS, 1915. History of the Hungarian Revolution, A. VAMBEEY. Tales and Traditions of Hungary (Folk lore), PREL- SZKY, THERESA. Hungary, YOLLAND, A. B., Jack, London, 1917. Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary, HOLMES, CHAS., "The Studio, " London, 1911. Memories of My Exile, KOSSUTH, Louis, French, New York City. Hungary a Land of Shepherd Kings, Nat. Geog. Mag., Oct. 1914. The People of Hungary; Their Work on the Land, WALLIS, B. C., Geog. Rev., Dec. 1917. INDEX INDEX Achievements, notable, 23, 24. Emigration from U. S., 26, 27. Agriculture, 28; farm housing, Evangelism, church, 45, 111 ; par- 33; farm laborers, 32; farms, size of, 81. Alfold, 14. Americanization, 68-70, 93, 104, 135-137. Arpad, 13, 14, 17. Ausgleich, 28, 37. Bibliography, 143-44. Catechisation, 94. Children, moral training of, 72. Christianization of Hungary, 14. Church business meetings, 90. Church entertainments, 91. Church, institutional, 111. Coloman, King, 15. Crusades, The, 16. Curators, 42, 43, 96. ish, 125-127; street, 110. Extra church movements, 119; Y. M. C. A., 44, 120, 121, 122; Y. P. S. C. E., 44, 114, 116, 120, 130; Y. W. C. A., 44, 120, 122. Farm laborers, 32. Golden bull, 16. Great names, 15. Hapsburgs, The, 18, 19, 23, 38, 67. Honesty, 71. Housing (in Hungary) ; Farm Act, 33. Housing (in U. S.), 61. Hungarian National Hymn, 46. Daily Vacation Bible Schools, Hungary : buffer state, 46 ; Chris- 128; curriculum for, 129. Deaconesses, 95, 118. Drinking, 71. tianization of, 14. Hunyadi, John, 15. Illiteracy, 35. Eastern Orthodox Church, 19, 20, ^migrants : distribution of, 50- 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 62, 89. Economic conditions in Hungary, 28, 29; social effects of, 60; government aid, 28; industrial insurance, 29 ; industrial schools, 28; postal savings banks, 29; economic data of immigrants, 29, 64, 65. Edict of Toleration, 19. Education, 34-36. Emigration, cause of, economic. 56; migrations in U. S., 56; return, 56, 58. Industry: government aid, 28; industrial insurance, 29; in dustrial schools, 28. 11. 31, 32, 33, 64; political, 58; social conditions in Hungarv, 30. Jews; literacy, 34, 35, 36; Mag yars in U. S., 78; schools, 34; toleration to, 38; trades peo ple, 31. 147 Kossuth, 20, 21, 23. 148 INDEX Libraries, 34. Literature, 36, 123: Magyar, 36; newspapers, 36, 76, 77; list of in U. S., 138-142; parochial, 124; pressing need for, 123; tracts, 124. Louis I, 15. Magnates, 30. Magyars: original, 13; assimi lating power, 22; characteris tics, 21; government, 16; notable achievements, 23; mi grations in U. S., 56, 109, 116; virile race, 22. Magyar Reformed Churches in U. S., 89: church business meetings, 90; church services, 93; deaconesses, 94; entertain ments, 91; pastors salaries, 92. Ministers of kin : trained abroad, 113; trained in U. S., 113; trained both here and abroad, 114; American men trained abroad, 116. Museums, 34. Morals, 70; regard for law, 72. Neighborhood life, 65; spirit, 66. Newspapers: parochial, 124; re ligious, 77, 141-142; secular, 77, 138-141. Nobles, 30. Old country church methods re tained here, 91. Orphans, care of, 74. Organizations, 75; effects of emi gration, 103. Pan Qermanism, 19; Pan Slav ism, 20; Pan Magyarism, 20. Pastors: home visitations, 95; salaries, 92. Peasants, 30 ; Beres, 30 ; Betyars, 30; tenant farmers, 31. Petofi, Alex., 36, 47. Political situation, 25; effect on emigration, 26. Protestantism in Hungary, 81. Protestant Magyar Churches in U. S.: Baptist, 78, 79, 80, 85- 87; Hungarian Reformed, 79, 106, 107, 110; Lutheran, 80, 81, 101; Presbyterian in U. S., 80; Presbyterian in U. S. A., 79, 112, 124, 129, 130; Protest ant Episcopal, 80, 107; Re formed in U. S., 78, 109, 112, 124, 129; Reformed in Amer ica, 88. Racial agitation, 19; Pan Ger manism, 19; Pan Slavism, 20; Pan Magyarism, 20. Reformation, The, 18. Reformed Church in Hungary, 40-45, 80, 110; its organiza tion, 40. Religious approach, forms of: church evangelism, 111; indi vidual methods, 108; institu tional church, 111; social set tlement, 108; street evangel ism, 110. Religious education, 127. Religious conditions in Hungary, 37, 40. Religious conditions in America, 78, 117, 118. Revolution of 1848, 20. Roman Catholic Church, 14, 19, 20, 38, 40, 41, 45, 62, 89. Salvation Army, 122. Savings, 63; postal savings banks, 29. Schools in Hungary, 34; indus trial, 28. Social conditions in Hungary, 29. Society in Hungary, 30: mag nates, 30; nobles, 30; peas ants, 30; trades people, 31; tenant farmers, 34. Stephan, first King, 15. "Stola" system, 90, 93. Street evangelism, 110. Student volunteers, 44. Teacher training classes, 129. Tenant farmers, 31. INDEX 149 Thrift, 63. Wages: in Hungary, 31; in U. Traofq 124 S., 62. Trades people, 31. World War, 22, 26, 67, 97, 98, Turks, The, 17, 18, 46. 104. Worship, customs in, 93. 1: ^^iViii k 130. Vacation Bible schools, 94, 113. Y. W. C. A., 44, 120, 122. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewals only: Tel. No. 642-3405 Renewals may be made 4 days prior to date due. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. JUL231973 MAY 1 1997 LD21A-20m-3, 73 (Q8677slO)476-A-31 bb- LOAN DE General Library University of California Berkeley LD 21-100m-7, 33 YB 34075 BERKELEY LIBRARIES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY