Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/566

* IMMIGRATION. Pbbccttavje of Iu^tsracy 4112 IMMIGRATION. North Northern United Atlantic Central Western States Stales States Native white, na- tive parents. . . 5.7 1.7 2.7 3.4 Native white, fnr- eisn parents. . . 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.3 Fiireign white. . . 12.9 15.9 9.4 8.5 44.5 14.0 24.6 42.8 10.7 5.9 4.2 6 3 In the United States at large the illiteracy among the foreign white is far greater than among the native white, and this discrepancy is still greater in the Northern ami Western States. It is. however, interesting to note that in the seconil generation, the native white of foreign parents, the discrepancy disappears. On the face of the figures there is even a superiority over the natives of native parents; Imt this is probably due to the better school facilities in the cities und towns, where so large a proportion of the foreign element dwell. Cbime. It is often claimed that the iimuigrants fill the jails and penitentiaries of the country; and the impression is widespread that, were it not for immigration, there would be little use for such institutions. Tliis impression is entirely er- roneous. While it is likely that the foreign bom contribute soiiiewliat more than their i>roi)ortion- al quota to the army of law-breakers, the dispro- portion is by no means such as to change mate- rially the amount of crime which would occur were there no foreigners in the population. The extent of their intlucnce upon the volume of crime may be briefly sttidicd. No data are available for 1000. but in the census of 18!I0 we read that the ratio of prisoners to one million of the population is 898 for the native white and 1708 for the foreign white. As the foreign white are little more than one- eighth of the entire community, it is clear that these proportions would not attribute to them an absolute majority of the crimes committed. Nor is the relative proportion of crime among the foreign born as great as these figures would in- dicate. They relate to the entire population, while the adult population only contributes tp the jjopulation of prisons. A comparison of the two elements by age classes, as shown by the following .table, is more accurate: Male Prisosebs. 1890 AGES Numbers Ratio to 1.000,000 population Native white Foreiftn white Native white Foreign white 10-19 4.227 17.713 9.737 4.(I0S 1.023 070 15 599 4.492 3.695 2.744 1..547 722 22 780 4.353 3.257 2.189 1.327 614 101 1.308 20-29 4.104 30-39 3 536 40-49 50-59 fiO-79 80 and over 3.020 2.336 1,203 638 the foreign whitc and the native white. In the later age classes the comi)aTi8oa is slightly un- favorable to the foreign white. These figures relating to the population of prisons are not altogether satisfactory. They lay undue emphasis on the more serious crimes and minimize the lesser offenses, and thus fail to give an aeLiirate picture of the amount of crime lonimitted in a given year. The fact that the foreign born arc more numerous among the pris- oners with short sentences shows us that if the enormous volume of iwlty crime which is com- mitted annually were adequately recorded the proportion of the foreigners would considerably increase. There is, moreover, evidence which cainiot be recited here in detail that the native whites of foreign parents are less law-abiding than the foreign whites and contrast very unfa- vorably with tlic native whites of native jja rentage. There are few subjects upon which the olTi- lial records are more thoroughly unsatisfactory than in regard to crime, and all statements must be made in broad, general terms. It should, however, be remembered that a greater proportion of law-breaking among the foreign element might be adequately accounted for if we were able to divide the population into the social classes as res])ect.s wealth, education, and mode of living whieh actually exist in i(. It is not improbable that in such a division it would appear that the foreign element showed no greater proportion of crime than the social strata to which they belong. Pauperism. It is natural that the foreign bom should contribute in larger measure than do the native to the population of the alms- houses. They come here without property and are found generally ajnong the poorer classes. Moreover, when age or incapacity overtakes them they have not the same relatives or friends to care for them as is frequently the case among the native population. It need not surprise U3 that the census of 1800, no figures for 1900 being available, showed that in every million of the population there were 829 native white paupers and .S131 foreign white paujx-rs, or nearly four times as many. While this is due in part to the condition above described, the figures arc again misleading, since' the active ages in the popula- tion contribute little to the population of alms- houses. This is brought out in the following table, showing the paupers by age classes, in which it is to be noted that nowhere is the dis- proportion nearly so great as in the figures for the aggregate population: P.vrpEns IN Almshouses, 1890 The larger proportion of foreign bom in the ages ten to nineteen is due to the fact that the foreign born increase in number as they ap- proach twenty years of age. while among the native bom the numbers decrease from ten years onward. In the chamcteristic ages of twenty to fortv there is no substantial difference between Numbers Ratio to 1,000.000 population Native born Foreign born Native born Foreign born Under 10 3,051 2.22h 3.979 5.400 4,931 4,383 4.548 4..'>42 2.543 5.5 172 1.352 2.403 3,S32 4,810 6,9,'5e 5,553 2,199 287 104 10-19 207 491 931 1.341 1.835 3.110 6,4.'-.I 12,.515 187 20-29 680 .30-39 1,320 40-49 2,390 .^O-,^ 60-09 3,979 8 814 70-79 18,498 80 and over 31.196 Insane. A greater tendenc.v toward insanity has been noted among the foreign element of the population than among the native. No adequate