Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - II. The Swedish People - 2. Demography. By [G. Sundbärg] E. Arosenius - 3. National Character and Social Conditions. Introd. by [G. Sundbärg] J. Asproth
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II. THE SWEDISH PEOPLE.
economic point of view for that of culture, we see that emigration has
occasioned Sweden a most sensible loss, in carrying away a large
proportion of the most intelligent and capable units of the population.
On the other hand, Sweden has already derived no small gain from the
profitable intercourse with other nations — in the foremost place with the
great republic on the other side of the Atlantic — to which emigration has
given rise, and from which powerful impulses for good in several directions
have already made themselves felt in the life of the country. Nor can
it be said to be unimportant for our nation that, poor and small as it is,
it thus shares, at least to the extent indicated, in the work of building up
one of the great powers of the world, a country where many a gifted
Swede finds that ample scope for his activities which the circumscribed
conditions of his own land do not provide him with.
For America the Swedish element of her population will unquestionably
be of great worth. It is true that the larger number of emigrants from
Sweden are labourers, nearly always of the class with little means, and
under such circumstances it can easily be understood that, as yet, they
cannot hope to play any great role in the intellectual life of their new
country. But the cultural work which has been so consistently carried on in
Sweden for many centuries must, in any case, form a most valuable
foundation for the future. And what other country has sent to America settlers
whose families have, for several generations, enjoyed a general literate
education? And the best features of the Swedish national character —
in-dustriousness, simplicity, obedience to law, integrity, and chivalrousness
—- have, too, won due acknowledgment in America, and must always form
a valuable contribution to the new nation that is there growing up. The
peculiarly well-developed bent of Swedish people for the study of natural
science and for mechanical inventions has already won well-deserved
triumphs in America; we recall only the names of John Ericsson and
J. A. Dahlgren — to say nothing of a great many others.
3. NATIONAL CHARACTER AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS-
The Swedish race is of pure Germanic origin, as is attested by the very
appearance of the Swede. He is as a rule tall and well-built, has light
hair, a broad high forehead, and blue or grey eyes. The formation of the
skull is dolichocephalic — though brachycephalic skulls also occur — and
orthognathous. (Cf. the map on p. 148).
The Swedes are one of the tallest nations in the world. Indeed it is
possible that they rank second to none of the civilized nations in this
regard. The most recent statistics (drawn up by J. Vilhelm Hultkranz)
show the average height of a male Swede between the ages of thirty and
thirty-five to be 172-5 centimeters.
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