Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/231

 CRIME AMONG THE NEGROES OF CHICAGO 21 7

negro arrests is much greater than the proportion of single per- sons arrested for the total arrests of the city.

The United States Census Reports on Crime for 1890 give the following percentages for the marital relations of negro prisoners: single, 62.43; married, 33.51. The percentage for the marital relation for the total prisoners of all nationalities was : single, 63.68; married, 30. 04. The percentage for the whites was: single, 64.25 ; married, 28.54. From these percentages it is seen that the negroes had the largest percentage of married persons. The small percentage of married persons among the arrests of negroes in Chicago is probably accounted for by the fact that there is an ever-increasing number of young and unmarried negro persons coming into the large cities from the country and small towns.

Occupations. Of the 427 negro persons under general arrests, 329, or 75 per cent., had, or gave, no occupation. Of the total arrests of the city, 83,680, for the year 1897, 32,158, or 38 per cent., were arrests of persons without occupations. This great difference in the percentage of persons arrested without occupa- tions would seem to indicate that the proportion of negroes in Chicago without occupation or unemployed is greater than the proportion of unemployed in the total population of the city.

From the list of occupations given by those classed as crimi- nals it is seen that a greater number had an occupation of some sort than those under the head of general police arrests. Also that there is a more varied list of occupations. Comparing those without occupations, classed as criminals, with those with- out occupations in the total general arrests in the city, we see that the negroes still have a larger number without occupations. Thirty-eight per cent, of the total arrests were of persons with- out occupations ; 42 per cent, of negro criminal arrests were of persons without occupations. Previous mention has been made of the large number of unemployed negroes in the city, and it is now seen that from this class comes a large part of the negro arrests and crimes.

Nativity. The 217 persons classed as criminals were from twenty-seven different states of the United States, and two foreign countries. This is due to the fact, which has already