The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-08-26
where there has been 10 such torrent Of

where there has been 10 such torrent Of
Immigration.
Il this decline We're due in large part
70 the influx Of immigrants, we should
expect it to be greatest in those sections
of the country TO which most Of the inn
migrants have gone greater in the
North and West than in the South. II
is found, in fact, that in the North and
West there has been more or less reg
ular decline. while in the South the
change has been less regular and the
decline less marked. III 1850 the pro-
portion of children to 900 women in the
North and West was fiye-sixths Of what
it was in the South; in 1900 it was less
than three-fourths.
Extended tables are given. presenting
the figures for each division and state,
and the changes from decade to decade,
Those which are significant are pointed
out, and, where possible, explained. In
1850 the smallest proportion Of children
was in the District Of Columbia. where
the number of children under 5 was hard
! ly more than one-fourth the number of
! women of child-bearing age. Bu5 from
the sociological standpoint the District Of
Columbia should be cIassed with cities
rather with states and territories. The
next. smallest proportion was that for
Massachusetts, where. it was slightly
more than one-third. The largest pro
portion was in North Dakota and Indian
Territory, in each Of which it was two
i thirds.
In the general decrease between 1890
and 1900 not single state of the North
Atlantic division took part. In seven
other states, also, there was no decrease.
In only six states, Maryland, Michigan
Ohio, Illinois. Kentucky, and Indiana
did the proportion decrease in each Of the
! i've decades; and in only Delaware, Dis
trict Of Columbia, Wisconsin. Minnesota,
Iowa, Oregon and Colorado did ii follow
the tendency for the country as a whole
that is, increase from 1850 to 1860 and
decrease in the four succeeding decades.
'The change in the whole country, there
fore, was not typical Of what was true
of most Of its parts, but rather the re-
sultant Of opposite changes. .
/ There was an unusual decrease in the
proportion of children between 1860 and
1870 which must be attributed to the di-
rect ana indirect results Of the Civil
War. The increase in the South be-
tween 1870 and 1880 IS probably due
both to the great number Of omissions in
the census Of 1870 and the return of set
tied conditions after the War and Recon
struction.
The decrease in the proportion Of white
children under ten to the total white
population began as early as the decade
| 1910 to 1920, and has continued without
interruption, but with varying rapidity.
10 the end Of the century. The greatest
/ decreases were found in the decades of
greatest immigration, and may have been
due in part to the disproportionate NUM-
Der Of adults in the new immigrant pop
ulation. The decreases in. the decades
1850 to 1860 and 1890 to 1900 were very
slight. The fact that these were the de-
cades Immediately following the great
waves Of immigration suggests that the
check in the decrease was due to the
large number of children born to the I'M
migrants after they found homes and be-
came settled.
That the decrease shown above is not
merely the result Of an increase in long
evity is apparent from the fact that the
1 proportion of white children to Waite
women Of child-bearing age has also de-
creased. The proportion in 1900 was less
than three-ffths of the proportion in
| 1880 The increase in the proportion
/ during the decade 1850 to 1850. and the
check to the decrease during the decade
i 1890 to 1900 both follow the great waves
Of immigration.
The states with an increase in the pro-
portion Of children in tile decade 1890 to
| 1900 include all the Atlantic states, ex-
cept Maryland, District Of Columbia,
and Georgia. and also Alabama, Louisi-
ana. Oklahoma and Nevada.
The two states with the largest pro-
position in 1900 were North Dakota and
Indian Territory; the two states with the
smallest were District of Columbia and
/ Massachusetts. The proportion in Mas
saehusetts was one-half of the proportion
in North Dakota. In other words, in
proportion to the number of women of
child-bearing age there were twice as
many children in North Dakota as there
xx-ara in Ma aSco cha1seftS