Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/742

 728 The preceding table shows that in 1890 there were a million and a half more males than females in the country, and that on the average of every hundred people there were over fifty-one males and less than forty-nine females. The census volume, commenting on the disparity, says: "This excess of males is to be expected in this case, owing to the effects of immigration. Where natural increase is not interfered with either by immigration or emigration, wars or pestilence, the proportion of the sexes is nearly equal, females being slightly in excess of males." (Compendium, Pt. 1., p. 76.)

The foregoing table indicates that this explanation, which is the ordinary one, may account for much of the excess of males in the country. Their preponderance among the Chinese and Japanese is, obviously, a result of immigration and the slight excess of females among the negroes might be cited in support of the statement quoted above that this is the normal condition where a population is not materially influenced by migration. But further examination shows that the percentage of males among the civilized Indians is greater than it is among the whites, although the former, like the negroes have not been affected by immigration. The result of this analysis is, therefore, inconclusive, and a study of the population exclusive of the residents of Alaska, Indian Territory and the Indian reservations and classified by birthplace and sex must be tried. Table II. presents the facts in a similar manner:

Table II. shows that among the foreign-born colored over nine-tenths are males. These foreign-born colored are mainly Chinese, but there are also about 2000 Japanese and in Key West, Fla., are about 3700 negroes from the West Indies, among whom there is a slight excess of females. Among the foreign-born white there are about five males to every four females. The excess of males among the foreign born, however, is only 781,849, or 58½ per cent. of the total excess of males in