n Lutheran parochial schools in which
German has been used largely as a medium of instruction. (Recently
stopped by order of the State Council of Defense.) In this county,
and in Hanson County, the German-Russian Mennonites still live the
quaint community life brought with them from Russia. German, not
English, is the language of the villages, although in most of the
schools English is the medium of instruction.

CALIFORNIA

The California Commissioner of Public Education stated to the writer
that the state authorities have no right to interfere in any way with
the private and parochial schools and that he is not legally able to
collect any information in regard to these schools.

Even the leaders of the Russian sectarian peasant colonies maintain some
sort of a private school of their own. The San Francisco colony has
classes for children two evenings a week, in which they are taught
reading and writing in the Russian language. In Los Angeles the colony
leaders explained that their children learn the Russian language in
their homes, where Russian is spoken exclusively, and that they learn
Russian reading and writing in their Russian private evening schools,
one hour each evening. The peasants themselves teach them. The parents
have to pay certain small sums to the teachers.

The leaders expressed a keen desire that the city should provide them
with a Russian school, for they would like to have their children able
to read, speak, and write the Russian language. If they should not be
able to settle in America on the land they would be compelled to return
to Russia. The leaders of the Russian colony at Glendale, Arizona, said
that they are attempting to teach Russian to their children in the
evenings and other spare time, but owing to lack of time and proper
teachers they have not made much progress.

HEBREW SCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY

The local manager of the Hirsch fund in Woodbine, New Jersey, a Jewish
colony, stated that there is in the colony a Hebrew school supported by
individuals and to a certain degree by the Hirsch fund. It is a Hebrew
school connected with activities of the synagogue, maintained for
religious purposes. It corresponds to the parochial school of Christian
churches. About sixty pupils attend this school.

OPINIONS ON BOTH SIDES

It goes without saying that during war-time excitement, with its
heightened suspicion, the statements made by the defenders of the