New-York tribune., 1871-12-15
WHAT WE OWE TO FOREIGN LMMIGRA-
TIOK

Regarding the entire population of the United
States at the time the first census was taken, in
1890, as native what proportion of the present
population is descended from that nucleus,
and what is due to foreign immigration
during the intervening eighty yearsi Mr..
Frederick Kapp attempted solution of
this curious question, but his calcu-
lations were not well grounded. He
assumed that the census returns of 1860 of
the number Of births and deaths afforded a
trustworthy measure of the natural increase
of the population. Applying that ratio to the
population of the country in 100, he brought
out the astounding result that twO-thirds of
the white inhabitants of the United States are
either foreigners or the descendants of for
eigners who had settled In the country
since 1870. Mr.. De Bow, in his forth
coming volume on the Status Of the Country"
shows the error of MIR. Kapp's process. Taking
Mr.. Kapp's ratio of natural increase and apply
ing it to the population in 1900. he finds that in
the first ten years we must have gained by
immigration at the rate of 10000 a year,
whereas it is known that we did not receive
one-tenth part of that number. The native
white population of the country must, there
fore, have increased much faster than the
$500 per cent per annum taken by Mr..
Kapp as the basis of his calculations. As
matter of fact, during the first fifty years of
our existence as q nation, it is certain that
population doubled itself from the excess Of
births over deaths about once in twenty-five
years. Mr.. Kapp's percentage would not
double 1t In less than fifty.
(Mr. De Bow, by process involving great
labor but founded on correct principles fixes
trs e S@nber of foreigners and their descend
ants at Il, ill., and Of white AmeEieaps. de:
seer soended de- from from resict. is ths country u 11So
at 2a,a2s,sss. Mr.. De b." At the time hp
made his calculations, could not have seedtbe
advance sheets Of the population tables OF the
Ninth Census, in which We find some figures
which go far to confirm the substantial cor.
rectness of the results obtained by him. Ia
BILE No. gives 10892,0l5 a. the number of
inhabitants having ono or both parents of
foreign birth. while the number of foreign
born is but 5,556546. Mr.. De BOWS number is
doubtless about q million too small; but that
error is insignificant in comparison with Mr..
Kapps. Unfortunately the question ia not
one which admits of solution by the simpler
processes of mathematics. Nor have We the
statistics of immigration for the earlier years
Of .Our existence az nation. 1t is certain,
however, that the arrivals then from foreign
countries bore no proportion to their present
magnitude. Twenty years ago, by the census
Of 1879, the whole foreign-bon population
numbered but 2,244,602.
We may take 20 years as the age at which
marriages begin to be productive. On this as
sumption there can be no individuals of more
than 90 years Of age, descended from foreign
ets living IN this country In 1900, who are not
included in the census class Of persons having
one or both parents Of foreign birth. By the
same reasoning there can be mono aged more
than 40 years descended from foreigners living
here in 1910. As we go down the scale the
age of those of foreign descent, not included
In the census clsss, diminishes, and when We
reach 1850 1t disappears altogether. Suppose |
that in 1910 there' were, by liberal esti-
mate, 100000 residents Of foreign hiEth |
who had landed since f79O. Their living de-
'ccndants of the second and third generations
would not fall in tho census class of those