Americans by Choice

by John Palmer Gavit

“CIVIC INTEREST” IN GRAND RAPIDS

When we come down to the larger question, of the response of voters of foreign birth and origin to constructive efforts to interest them in civic matters, we are on surer ground. Given a sufficiently comprehensive survey, we can tell whether the “foreign wards” of a city are apathetic toward movements which they can recognize as embodying concrete things close to their own lives, and meaning a forward step in public administration. The testimony of all sorts of workers among the foreign born is unanimous on this point. The foreign-born voters are more responsive to things of this kind than the native-born. Possibly this is because their more recent introduction into American life makes them more naïve, less blasé—what you will as to the reason, the fact remains the same.

It so happens that we have a peculiarly apt and informing exhibit of this in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in statistics of five elections involving questions of municipal import, and showing in most striking fashion the results of a sustained effort, not to influence votes this way or that, but to impress citizens with the importance of voting at all. The following tables show the total vote cast in the three wards of the city of Grand Rapids at these elections:

TABLE XLVI

Vote Cast in Precincts of Varying Racial Make-up in Three Wards of Grand Rapids, 1918, 1919

First Ward
Pre- cinct	Racial Complexion	March 1918	August 1918	November 1918	March 1919	April 1919
1st	Lithuanian	95	144	178	222	316
2d	Dutch	267	402	443	483	601
3d	Polish	359	608	672	721	1,105
4th	American	197	311	347	358	593
5th	American	334	508	555	757	1,063
6th	Polish	239	386	407	532	764
7th	Polish	305	464	541	729	946
8th	American	213	338	386	536	719
9th	German	210	349	419	535	752
10th	Mixed	296	425	455	682	909
11th	Mixed	263	427	484	643	899
12th	American	260	403	461	685	940
Second Ward
1st	American	270	438	499	682	907
2d	American	251	322	423	557	796
3d	American	360	519	549	738	885
4th	American	227	393	434	475	658
5th	Polish	166	227	291	363	467
6th	Polish	277	449	514	721	952
7th	American	292	407	496	837	881
8th	American	206	300	375	574	732
9th	American	129	245	324	238	434
10th	Dutch	314	451	546	1,002	1,139
11th	Dutch	240	373	418	594	726
12th	American	231	399	476	783	931
13th	American	409	588	671	1,063	1,297
14th	American	331	457	544	1,085	1,229
15th	Italian and Syrian	291	486	618	1,168	1,357
16th	Italian and Syrian	89	155	187	187	285
17th	Italian and Syrian	115	164	209	253	326
Third Ward
1st	Italian and Syrian	178	247	328	379	540
2d	Italian and Syrian	98	135	258	263	440
3d	American	318	551	680	1,004	1,298
4th	American	354	546	619	980	1,203
5th	American	422	613	681	861	1,019
6th	American	241	380	433	674	848
7th	Dutch	292	480	511	628	952
8th	American	346	555	631	818	1,165
9th	American	255	416	509	720	979
10th	American	266	470	547	771	1,114
11th	American	188	360	450	516	812
12th	Dutch	291	488	578	717	986
13th	Dutch	218	367	413	463	658
14th	American	224	404	490	677	909
15th	American	124	224	272	417	604
16th	American	194	387	442	594	847
	Totals	11,245	17,820	20,774	28,705	37,983

The population of Grand Rapids, about 112,500 by the census of 1910, by the spring of 1918 had grown to approximately 132,000. This would afford a potential male vote of upward of 26,000; so that at the primary election that March, considerably less than half of the possible vote was polled. At the election in August, 1918, this was increased to nearly 70 per cent, and to 80 per cent in November.

In 1919, however, the women came into the picture, and the efforts of the Americanization Society[171] were redoubled to bring the women out, first to register and then to vote. The report of the secretary of the society (made at the annual meeting in January, 1920) states that on February 15th, the last registration day before the March primary, 22,700 women had registered. And on March 20th, the last registration day before the election of April 7th, women had registered to a total of 26,500—an astounding proportion of the possible total of women citizens of voting age in a population of 132,000. It looks very much like 100 per cent!

The last two columns in the table above show the totals including the women voters, and the striking increase between the March primary and the April election in 1919. With a possible total vote of upward of 50,000 we have the results of the Americanization Society’s work as showing in the actual personal presence at the polls of at least 75 per cent of the voters of all racial groups. The vote cast on March 5, 1919, was 28,705, composed, it is said, of about half men and half women. At the election on April 7th, nearly 38,000 votes were cast, and it is estimated that from 7,000 to 10,000 voters were turned away from the polling places because of inadequate election facilities. A fairly impressive exhibit of the response of American citizenship to an appeal to American, nonpartisan, civic interest, in a large cosmopolitan city, regardless of racial complexion. Indeed, without meaning to stress the point unduly, it may be remarked in passing that the very few precincts which in any election failed to show a substantial increase over the vote at the previous election, are in every instance those in which the population is described as predominantly of the native born.

That it was the appeal to civic interest and duty, and nothing else, which in largest measure produced this result may be seen, for instance, in a comparison of the registration of women in Grand Rapids with that at the same time (February, 1919) in other Michigan cities in which there was no such intensive campaign to get the women out to the registration places:

TABLE XLVII

Per Cent of Women Registered in Thirteen Michigan Cities

Cities	Population	Women Registered	Per Cent of Population
Grand Rapids	132,000	22,700	17.0
Saginaw	65,000	8,509	13.0
Benton Harbor	12,000	1,506	12.5
Traverse City	12,000	1,388	11.6
Jackson	50,000	5,388	10.8
Muskegon	42,000	4,500	10.7
Bay City	50,000	6,290	10.6
Port Huron	25,000	2,706	10.1
Flint	70,000	6,906	9.9
Kalamazoo	50,166	4,308	8.6
Detroit	986,699	65,040	6.5
Lansing	55,000	3,000	6.3
Cadillac	10,000	513	5.1
Totals and average	1,591,865	135,344	8.5

Even then, however, the Grand Rapids movement was spreading to other Michigan cities; some of the results of that influence may well be visible in the larger percentages shown by some of these cities. Since then, indeed, the movement has become state-wide; and the results already visible show notably the same facts and tendencies so strikingly exhibited in the case of Grand Rapids, where it began.