Evening star., 1901-10-24
The Effect Of immigration on the
State
BRIEF OF INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
Many of Those Who Come incline
to County Life.
TURKS MOST ILLITERATE

In gathering information for'its report on
Immigration and the effect of immigration
on til state the industrial commission had
occasion to assemble the evidence on that
subject heard by the commission and c!assi-
fy it under several important heads One
of these subdivisions-"The Social Effect of
Imnfgra gration''-embodies general conclu-
sions CT more than ordinary interest. 1t is
suggested. for example that the foreign
immigration into this country amounts
mot to a reinforcement of our population,
but to a replacement of native by foreign
stock" Against a total of g. per cent of
the entire population as the measure of
illiteracy the commission reports that Is
per cent of the fOreign-born whites are una
be to read and write, while the proportion
of illiteracy among those fourteen years
old and over who land in this country va
ries from 90 to 81 per cent The digest fol-
lows in part:
The enormous influx of immigrants may
lead to the hasty conclusion that immigra-
tion has been the leading factor in the
rapid increase of the aggregate population
of the United States, but this conclusion
was objected to by the late Francis a.
Walker. superintendent of the censuses of
1oIO to 1880, who maintained that foreign
immigration into this country, from the
time when it first assumed large proper
tions. amounted. not to reinforcement of
our population, but to a replacement Of ma
tive by foreign stock. The ingenious esti-
mates made by President Walker, based
upon the predictions of Eikanah Watson in
1915, give FEASIBILITY to this estimate,
since it appears that the growth Of pepula-
lion from 1880 to 1910. when there was very
little immigration, was as great in proper
tiOn TO numbers as from 1910 to 1860 when
there was a large foreign immigration. and
that since 1850 the growth of population
has been at q lower rate of increase than
during the fifty years prior to the large in
lux. President Walkers explanation is
based on the economic ground that the
American shrank from the industrial COM
petition imposed upon him by the low STAN
dards of the incoming foreigners and was
unwilling either to handicap himself by
family ties in his efforts to rise above them
or to bring sons and daughters into the
world to enter into that competition.
The Sequence of Nations
The Irish were the first to appear in
large proportions, and from 1910 to 1850
constituted iS per cent Of the total imm-
grafton. Their proportion has greatly di-
minished until the present time. The Ger
mans followed close upon the Irish in the
early days of immigration and reached
theIr largest proportion in the period of 1880
to 1884, when they constituted 80 per cent
OF the entire number of Immigrants In
that period Of five years nearly LOCO OGO
trermans came to our shores, but in the
hve years from 1888 to 1899 only 125,OO0,
migration The proportion of Scandina-
Elans reached its highest point in 1885 to
1883, constituting IL per cent, but their de-
cline has been less rapid than the Ger
mans their proportion amounting to 4 & ner
cent IN the past five years.
Ihe tendency of the foreign born to con-
gregate IN the larger cities of the country
mas been frequently noticed and commented
upon While the foreign born constitute
only IA per cent of the total population
OF our country, they constitute more than
"a
per cent of the population of cities over
2JtOD- In rural districts only a little o.er
one-tenth of the total number of inhabi-
tants are of foreign birth The three cities
possessing the largest proportion of foreign
born population are New York San Fran
cisco and Chicago. each exceeding ~ per
cent Eighteen of the twenty>Ight great
cities have more than one-fourth of their
population of foreign birth.
The Drift Toward Cities.
Great differences exist as to the relative
tendency of different nationaIities toward
city life. There Is marked aptitude for ur-
ban life among the Hebrews, Poles and
Irish, each of which nationaities has more
than one-half of it's numbers in this Gun
try dwelling in large cities The Irish and
Germans, owing 10 their great GpSoIute
numbers, constitute together more than
One-half of the total forign-born population
in the cities OF the country a whc,a, the
Irish furnishing 20 per cent and the Ger
lldUS ~ per cent. Inc Germans are
the predominant. foreign nationality in
most of the cities individually as well as in
the urban population whole. They cum
stitute more than two-thirds of The total
forelgn-bOrn population in Milwaukee and
Cincinnati. The Irish constitute AZ per cent
of the foreign-born population in Provi-
dence, 10 per cent in Boston, Al per cent in
Jersey City and Al per cent in Philadelphia.
IHiteracy Percentages.
Bearing upon the question of American
test for immigrants, the question of lit
eracy and illiteracy among the foreign born
is important. For the United States as a
whole, 60 per cent of the native whites are
illiterate. while more than twice that pro-
portion. 13 per cent of the foreign born
whites are unable to read and wri-e. The
disparity is greatest in those states with
the most advanced systems of education.
In the North Atlantic states only 2.3 per
cent of the native whites illiterate,
against 1876 per cent of the foreiSu-born
whites In the great cities, on the whole,
the efficiency OF the common scho j svs-
tenn is especially indicated by the fact that
the illiteracy is scarcely greater among
native whites of foreign parentage than
among those having native parents. The
illiteracy among the foreign-born city
dwellers, the other hand. is very much
greater than among the natives. Thus, in
New York the per cent of illiteracy among
the native whites Of native parentage is so;
among the native whites OF foreign parent
age. -66; while among the foreign whites, it
is 14.6.
From the reports of the bureau of immi-
grafton il appears that the proportion of
illiteracy among those landing in this coun-
try. of fourteen years of age and over. va
ries by years from 20 to "A per cent. Com
pairing the countries of their origin the
iIliteracy of immigrants fourteen years of
age, and over from the countries of west
ern Europe. including Scandinavians. the
Finnish. the Irish the Germans, and the
northern Italians. was only 2.S per cent in
1899 and per cent in 1900; whereas the
Miteracy Of those who came from eastern
Europe including Hebrews. Slovaks Poles
Croatians, and southern Italians, was 3S
in 1899 and 800 in 1900.
The nationality showing the highest IL
Hteracy is the Turkish, being 7S7 per cent,
but the absolute number arriving is so
small-namely. 1S4-that this high percent
age loses social significance. OF those ma
tionalities having heavy immigration the
southern Italians. out of Si.346 immigrants
IN 1900. had an ilIiteracy of 5i5 per cent
the Poles. with 46,93S immigrants. had an
1literacy of BIG per cent; the Slovaks with
29,243 immigrants. had an Niiteracy of 2S
per cent. and the Hebrews, with 60, ,T64 i'm
migrants. had iliteracy Of rer