THE SHOWING AS TO “IGNORANCE”
In considering the statistics of denials on the ground of “ignorance,” it is to be remembered that the examinations which disclose this “ignorance” do not go as a rule to the subject of illiteracy or general intelligence, but deal in the majority of cases with the understanding of the petitioner as to the form of government, and sometimes decidedly minute details of the history, of the United States. The average percentage of denials on the ground of “ignorance” in the whole United States during the eleven years 1908–18 was 10.3. The records of the petitions of every one of the “recent” races, except Italian, for the year 1913–14—if one may judge by this study of more than one-fifth of them—was far better than that average, though generally higher than that of the old races.
TABLE XX
Per Cent of Denials Due To “Ignorance,” by Race
| Country of Birth | Denials Per Cent |
| Total cases | 7.2 |
| Italy | 14.2 |
| Norway | 8.3 |
| Switzerland | 8.0 |
| Hungary | 7.6 |
| Rumania | 7.4 |
| Austria | 7.2 |
| Russia | 6.2 |
| Turkey in Asia | 5.6 |
| Germany | 4.7 |
| Sweden | 3.8 |
| Scotland | 2.4 |
| Ireland | 1.8 |
| England | 1.7 |