The age-herald., 1901-11-27

ical way within the next few years. Ger tainly the Chinese exclusion act soon expires and must be acted upon by the next Congress. On questions like these every citizen is likely to be called upon to vote by the time the next national lection comes around Yet, how many people could tell even which state in the Union has, according to the census of 1900, the largest percentage of foreign born population.
 It is safe to say that not one person in a hundred could strike 1t on the first guess, for the state which stands first in percentage of foreignborn population is North Dakota. A
 Next on the list is little Rhode IsIand and the next four in order are Massa- chusetts, Minnesota, Montana and Con nectlcut, so that the honors are quite evenly distributed between the East and West
 It would probably be much easier for the average man to guess which states have the smallest percentage of foreign born population. There are six states in all which have less than per cent of foreign-born population. They are North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.
 A glance at the diagram, from which the last nomed states are omitted will show the relative standing of the other states in the mater of foreign-born pop uation. The first seven on the list have one-fourth or more of their populations
 
 vada, and Montana as well, stand high because Of the numerous Chinese and Japanese in these states.
 Taking the states of the Union in the great classes into which they are divided and it is to be noted that the North Att lantic states have the largest percentage of foreign-born population. It is also an astonishing fact that four-fifths of the total increase of foreigners in the United States during the last decade is also to be found in this same division, | which includes the New England states, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylva- mia. Of the total increase of 1,O91,0OO foreigners in the last decade, no less than S75OOO are to be found in these states.
 During the same time the total increase in the number of foreigners in the North Central vision, which includes the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan Wis oonsin. Iowa. Missouri. the Dakotas, Ne- braska and Kansas, was only 9S,OoO These astonishing figures are explained by the changes in the character of the immigration from 1890 to 1900, as compared with that during the previous twenty years In 1870, for instance, Canada, Ger many, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Sweden furnished more than 90 per cent. of all the immigrants from Austria Hungary, Italy. Russia and Poland made up but a small fraction more than l per cent. According to the figures of the recent census these figures are changed to an absolutely startling degree. Now the first group of countries, including Germany. England, Ireland and the rest, furnish only 40 per cent. of the total. while more than 50 per cent. come from Italy, Russia, Poland and Austria-Hun- gary. | This vastly increased number of Hun garians, Poles and Italians has settled al- most entirely in the mining regions of Pennsylvania and in the factory towns of New York; New Jersey and New Eng land In these States they have almost entirely taken the place Of the Irish as | manual laborers. as is illustrated in the | great underground railway now being | built in New York, on which the great majority of the laborers are Italians and Poles.
 | If one includes in the foreign popula- tion of the country children born in the | United States of foreign born parents, it is found that the foreign population at present constitutes a fraction over a third of the total, or 34 per cent. while the na- tive whites of native parentage make up 5S.S per cent
 The recent census also makes it clear that a large number of immigrants to this country do not make their perma- nent homes here but return to their na- tive lands as soon as they have amassed modest competence. Thus, during the ten years ending with 1900. more than three and a half millions of immigrants are on record as having come into the | United States. Yet during the same period our foreign-born population in- creased only about million, conclusive proof that many of them remained in the United States but comparatively short | time.
 During the last eighty years the total immigration to the United States has reached d grant aggregate of more than J 1c.c)100o. Or tEis total t;.'mshy has con | tributed 5,AN re. or m,,re tlsa ose. fourth; Ireland little more than one-ffth, with X a total of 100000; England, 3,0OO, 900; Nor way and Sweden, 1,25O,000 Canada, Italy and Austria Hungary, a few more than | 100000 each.
 the figures of the recent census is that the number of native-born children of for | eign-born parentage is increasing at rate nearly twice as great as that of the native whites of native percentage In other words, the foreign-born citizens of the country have much larger families than do people born in the United States.
 Contrary to the popular impression Is l the fact that the negro element in the | United States. taken as a whole, has in- creased IS per cent during the decade, while the white population has increased more than A per cent. This means that the negro is not keeping up with the | procession. It is even true Of the South