CHAPTER II

THE CELTIC IRISH 24

The great lull--The Hibernian tide--Why it has run low--Effects on Ireland--Irish-Americans in the struggle for existence--Their improvidence and unthrift--Why they lacked the economic virtues-- Drink their worst foe--Their small criminality--Loyalty to wife and child--Their occupational preferences--Their rapid rise--Their rank in intellectual contribution--Celtic traits--Place of the Irish in American society.

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