Part 21
The author has refrained from using statistics in his book, not because he has any objection to figures; but because the statistics of immigration (even those prepared by the United States Government) are misleading.
Professor Walter F. Willcox, Chairman of the Committee on Basal Statistics, appointed by the National Civic Federation, calls attention to this fact in his report, and gives the following reasons for their unreliability.
The meaning of any statistics depends largely upon the meaning of the unit in which the statistics are expressed. It is a common but fallacious assumption that a word used as the name of a statistical unit has precisely the same meaning that it has when used in popular speech. In the present case the word “immigrant” has had and to some degree still has different meanings, which may be called respectively the popular or theoretical meaning and the administrative or statistical meaning, and these two should be carefully distinguished.
In the popular or theoretical sense an immigrant is a person of foreign birth who is crossing the country’s boundary and entering the United States with intent to remain and become an addition to the population of the country. In this sense of the word an alien arrival is an immigrant whether he comes by water or by land, in the steerage or in the cabin, from contiguous or non-contiguous territory, and whether he pays or does not pay the head tax. The essential element is an addition to the population of the country as a result of travel and the word thus covers all additions to the population otherwise than by birth. A person cannot be an immigrant to the United States more than once any more than a person can be born more than once. It is a characteristic of this meaning that it does not alter.
The word immigrant in its administrative or statistical sense is not defined in the Reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, but from that source and from the instructions and other circulars issued by the Bureau the following statements regarding its meaning have been drawn:
1. The administrative or statistical meaning of immigrant is not fixed by statute law but is determined by the definitions or explanations of the Bureau of Immigration and those are dependent upon and vary with the law and administrative decisions.
2. In the latest circular of the Bureau immigrants are defined as “arriving aliens whose last permanent residence was in a country other than the United States who intend to reside in the United States.” This definition seems to agree closely with the popular or theoretical one.
3. But the foregoing definition is modified by a subsequent paragraph of the same circular which excludes from the immigrant class “citizens of British North America and Mexico coming direct therefrom by sea or rail.” So the official definition is substantially this: An alien neither a resident of the United States nor a citizen of British North America, Cuba or Mexico, who arrives in the United States intending to reside there.
4. The only important difference between these two definitions is that the statistical definition excludes, as the popular definition does not, citizens of British North America, Cuba and Mexico. As the natives of Canada and Mexico living in the United States in 1900 were 14.2 per cent. of the natives of all other foreign countries, it seems likely that the figures of immigration for the year 1905-06 should be increased about 14.2 per cent. in order to get an approximate estimate of the total immigration into the country during the year just ended.
5. Perhaps the most important difference between the popular or theoretical and the statistical definition of immigrant is that the former is unchanging and the latter has been modified several times by changes of law or by modifications of administrative interpretation.
6. Until January 1, 1906, an alien arrival was counted as an immigrant each time he entered the country, but since that date an alien who has acquired a residence in the United States and is returning from a visit abroad is not classed as an immigrant. This administrative change has brought the statistical and the popular meanings of immigrant into closer agreement, but in so doing has reduced the apparent number of immigrants more than ten per cent. and has made it difficult to compare the earlier and the later statistics.
7. Until January 1, 1903, an alien arriving in the first or second cabin was not classed as an immigrant, but rather under the head of other alien passengers. This change likewise brought the two meanings of immigrant into closer agreement, but also made it difficult to compare the figures before and after that date. By a mere change of administrative definition the reported number of immigrants was increased nearly twelve per cent.
8. Until the same date an alien arrival in transit to some other country was deemed an immigrant, but since that date such persons have been classed as non-immigrant aliens. This change also makes the figures before 1903 not strictly comparable with later ones. About three per cent. of those who were formerly classed as aliens have been excluded since 1903. The alteration has brought the two definitions closer together, but in so doing has entailed administrative difficulties which lead the bureau to favour a return to the former system or at least to favour collecting the head tax from such aliens in transit.
9. An immigrant in the statistical sense is a person liable for and paying the head tax. But to this there are two slight exceptions. Deserting alien seamen not apprehended are liable for the head tax which is paid by the company from which they desert, but such cases are not included in the statistics. Citizens of British North America, Cuba and Mexico coming from other ports than those of their own country are reported as immigrants, but do not pay the head tax. Obviously both are minor exceptions hardly affecting the rule. In the popular or theoretical meaning of immigrant this head tax is not an element.
10. Probably other changes of definition have occurred of recent years. No attempt has been made to exhaust the list. The general tendency of the changes has clearly been towards a closer agreement of the popular and the statistical meanings. But they have probably tended to make the increase of immigration indicated by the figures greater than the actual increase, and to that degree to make the figures misleading. If the Government Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization could make a carefully studied estimate of the extent to which such changes in the official reports really modify the apparent meaning of the published figures, it would render a valuable service.
11. A committee like the present can hardly make such an estimate or go further than to point out that for the reasons indicated the official statistics of immigration are likely to be seriously misinterpreted and are constantly misinterpreted by the public.
The official statistics of immigration being subject to all the qualifications indicated and reflecting so imperfectly the amount of immigration as ordinarily or popularly conceived the question at once arises, Can any substitute or any alternative be proposed? What the public is mainly interested in, I think, and what it commonly but erroneously believes is indicated by the official figures of immigration, is the net addition to the population year by year as a result of the currents of travel between the United States and other countries.
Alternative figures for the last eight years, a period which closely coincides with the last great wave of immigration now at or near its crest, may be had by comparing the total arrivals and departures in the effort to get the net gain. The results appear in the following table:
_Per Cent. That Net Total Total Arrivals Increase Passengers Passengers Total Minus Makes of Fiscal Year Arrivals Departed Immigration Departure Immigration_ 1898 ... 343,963 225,411 229,299 118,552 51.8 1899 ... 429,796 256,008 311,715 173,788 55.8 1900 ... 594,478 293,404 448,572 301,074 67.0 1901 ... 675,025 306,724 487,918 368,304 75.5 1902 ... 820,893 326,760 648,743 494,133 76.3 1903 ... 1,025,834 375,261 857,046 650,573 75.9 1904 ... 988,688 508,204 812,870 480,484 59.3 1905 ... 1,234,615 536,151 1,026,499 698,464 68.1 --------- --------- --------- ---- 1898-1905 4,822,662 3,285,372 68.1
The figures indicate that the net increase of population by immigration during the last eight years has been slightly more than two-thirds of the reported immigration. But these figures of net increase should be increased by an estimate of the arrivals by land from Canada and Mexico. As the Canadians and Mexicans by birth residing in the United States in 1900 were 14.2 per cent. of all residents born in other foreign countries, this would indicate an influx of 466,000 Canadians and Mexicans, a figure probably in excess of the truth since the currents have probably been setting Canadaward of recent years. I estimate, therefore, that the net increase from immigration 1898-1905 has been about 3,750,000 instead of 4,820,000 as might be inferred from the reports of the bureau of immigration. The actual increase would then be about seventy-eight per cent. of the apparent increase.
Printed in the United States of America
INDEX
“Americana,” by Dr. Lamprecht, quoted, 321
Americanizing the stranger, 291
Americans, poor example set by, 119
Americans or foreigners, in the slums, 316
Amish, the, 96
Anti-Semitic riots, 53
Ashkenazim, the, 146
Assimilation, miracle of, 291
Atheism of Hungarians, 249
Austro-Hungarian Jews, 148
Bialistok, Jews from, 61, 325
Bohemian movement, beginning of, 23
Bohemian immigrant, distribution of, 225; characteristics of, 227; irreligion of, 228; socialism of, 234; both best and worst, 235
Bohemian school teachers from Cleveland, 355
Bulgarians, the, 26, 180
Castle Garden days, 78
Catholic, _see_ also Roman Catholic
Catholic Church, foreign priests a hindrance to, 323; and the Bohemians, 229; and the Italian, 278
Catholic Hungarians, 247
Centre of Mill Horror, 222
Christian Church and Jews, 164
Church, political power of, 322
Citizenship papers for ten dollars, 331
Commissioner Watchorn, Ellis Island, 81
Commissioner Williams, Ellis Island, 81
Competition the life of prejudice, 309.
Count Aponyi, Hungary, quoted, 318
Crainers, the, 212
Criminal element among immigrants, 75
Criminals, Italian, 255, 273
Croatians, the, 26, 180, 212
Czechs, the, 180
Dalmatians, the, 26, 181
Degeneration due to influx of foreigner, not evident, 304
Deported from Ellis Island, 65, 66, 68, 72, 82, 92
Detention room, in the, 68
Diocletian, palace of, a Slavic town, 18
Economic problem of new American, 309
Economic value of immigrant, 318
Educational Alliance, the, 161, 163
Ellis Island ahead, 48; examination at, 65; conditions at, 79; new conditions at, 86
Emigrant, passports for, 31; treatment of, at port of embarkation, 32; medical examination of, 35; examination of, at home, 75
Endeavour Societies, Jewish, 151
Ethical Culture Society, the, 152
Excluding the weak and helpless, 72
Families divided, by inspectors, 65
Finns, the, 27
Free thinkers, 106
First Cabin vs. Steerage, 14
Gentlemen in homespun vs. beasts in broadcloth, 46
George, Joseph J., Worcester, Mass., and Syrian children, 83
Geringer, Mr., editor _Svornost_, 228, 229
Ghetto, the Russian, 136; of New York, 154; vs. the West Side, 305; vs. upper Broadway, 306
German aristocracy, the real, 98
German Evangelical Church, 108
German immigrants, the first, 94; characteristics of, 97; socialism of, 98; intellectual life of, 100; social life of, 101; political influence of, 103; influence of Church upon, 105; materialism of, 107; influence of, on religious life, 108
German Jews, 148
German Methodists, 108
Great Russian, the, 181
Greek Catholic Church, the, 204
Greek Catholic immigrants, 322
Greek Church and the Slav, 204
Greek immigrant, the, 282; characteristics of, 285, 288; and the Church, 287
Greek Orthodox immigrants, 322
Greek play at Hull House, 291
Hall, Prescott F., quoted, 296
Hamburg, treatment of emigrant, 34
Hartford, Conn., Italian district, 266; gathering of Jews in, 298
Hearst influence in the Ghetto, 168
Hertzl, Theodore, 298
Hester Street vs. the West Side, 305
Hoar, Geo. F., Senator, quoted, 82
Hoboken saloon-keeper, the, 348
Hungarian, _see_ also Magyar
Hungarian Catholic, the, 247
Hungarian Greek Catholic, 247
Hungarian gypsies, 244
Hungarian immigrant, characteristics of, 250; socialism of, 244; hostility to religion, 249
Hungarian Jews in second cabin, 351
Hungarian Protestant, the, 248
“Hunkies,” 198; looking for work, 213; in steel mills in Penn., 220; with the Illinois Steel Co., 222
Huss, John, succeeded by George Washington, 234
Illyrian, the, 180
Imagination and reality, 74
Immigrant of to-day, characteristics of, 29; expectations of, 62; treatment of, at Ellis Island, 79; types of, 91; not content with old conditions, 311; problem of, not an economic one, 314; economic value of, 318; economic effect on his own country, 318; religious ideas of, 322; amenable to religious influence, 326; in politics, 330; patriotism of, 332
Immigrant societies, 64
Immigration, quality of, improving, 91; where the danger lies, 92
Immigration laws, effect on steam ship companies, 35; amendment to, procured by Senator Hoar, 85; as to public charge, 92
Immigration Congress, N. Y., 315
Infidelity of Bohemians, 228
Ingersoll, Robert, influence of, 228, 230
Inspectors at Ellis Island, 80
Italian movement, beginning of 19
Italian, the, at home, 28, 252; characteristics of, 253; affected by other races, 253; lawlessness of, 255; criminals, 255; distrust of the Church, 258, 260
Italian immigrant, the, 262; characteristics of, 262; distribution of, 264, 269; in business, 268; competitor of the Jew, 271; and the school, 276; and the Church, 277
Italians returning in the second cabin, 354
Jamestown, N. Y., Swedish colony of, 117, 122
Jewish movement, beginning of, 21
Jewish world, the real, 133
Jews the, in the old world, 126; homelessness of, 126; distribution of, 127; characteristics of, 127; in Russia, 134; socialism of, 140; 250th anniversary of landing in America, 143; charter granted to, in 1655, 144; four groups of, 147; spiritual movements among, 151; and the Christian churches, 164, 329; missions in the Ghetto, 166; in politics, 167; second generation of, 171; mutual distrust of, 172; racial fealty of, 303; relation to Christianity, 329
Judaism, crisis of, in America, 302.
Kishineff, Jews from, 61, 325
Labour market, changes in, 310
Labour unions or manufacturers’ associations, 310
Lady of the First Cabin, The, 9, 359
Lamprecht, Prof. K., quoted, 101, 321
Lindsburgh, Kansas, model Swedish town, 122
Lithuanians, the, 27
Little Hungary, 238, 305; as a political school, 352
Little Russian, the, 182
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Senator, 83
Lombroso, Dr., on criminology, 256
Lutheran church, influence of, 105
Lutheran church and the Swedes, 118
Magyar, _see_ also Hungarian
Magyar, the, 27; Jews, 149; in Austro-Hungary, 241; in Little Hungary, 242; political tendencies of, 244; not Slavs, 241
Man at the Gate, the, 78
Marxian Socialism, 98, 234
Massarik, Professor, quoted, 230
Materialism of Germans, 107; of Bohemians, 230
Mennonites, the, 94
Milwaukee, the most German city, 100
Minneapolis, 115, 122
Minnesota, Swedes unpopular in, 117
Money sent home by immigrant, an economic gain, 320
Montefiore, Sir Moses, 131
Montenegrins, the, 26, 180
Moravians, the, 96
National Immigrant Societies, 64
Neglect, effect of, 124
Nelson, Knute, 117
New Britain, Conn., Polish town, 212
New Greece, Chicago, 288
New Prague, typical Bohemian town, 231
New Ulm, a city without a church, 98
Odessa, Jews from, 61
Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 96
Paupers and criminals, a million a year? 72
Pole, the, vs. the Slovak, 210
Polish movement, beginning of, 24
Polish town, New Britain, Conn., 211
Political immigrants, 97
Political tutelage of immigrants, 330
Pope Pius X, 259
President Roosevelt and Ellis Island, 81
Prohibitionists, the first, 96
Protecting American labour, 309
Protestant influence on Bohemians, 231; Hungarians, 248; Church and the Italians, 281
Public charge, a, 68
Rabbinism, power of, 146
Rabbis of the Ghetto, 162
Race movement of Eastern Europe, 16
Races, difficulty of distinguishing between, 294
Racial characteristics, changes in, 294
Racial fealty of Jews, 303
Religions, national, 322
Religious atmosphere of America, 321
Religious ideas of immigrants, 322
Republicans, Democrats and “Inepenny,” 345
Restriction Immigration League, 296
Returned immigrant, influence at home, 339
Roman displaced by Slav, 18
Roman Catholic, _see_ also Catholic
Roman Catholic Church, influence on Germans, 105; and the Slav, 204
Roman Catholic immigrants, 322
Roosevelt, President, and Ellis Island, 81; letter to, of Senator Hoar, 84
Russian Jews, 150; characteristics of, 173
Russian refugees, 57
Saloon-keepers in second cabin, 349
Scandinavian immigrant, the, 112; characteristics of, 113; distribution of, 114; second generation of, 113; considered unreliable, 117; town of Lindsburgh, Kansas, 122
Schurz, Carl, 97
Schwenkfelders, the, 96
Secret societies of Italy, 256
Sephardic Congregations, 145
Servant girl, as she returns, 337
Servians, the, 26, 180, 212
Shylock vs. Daniel Deronda, 130
Silverman, Dr. Joseph, 143
Slav at home, the, 20; distribution of, 179; characteristics of, 180, 183; blood revenge still practiced, 185; treatment of women, 187; love of music, 189; religious feeling of, 195
Slavic immigrant, the, 198; the Slovak, 198; the Pole, 198, 210; the Bohemian, 225
Slavic literature, 194
Slovak movement, the, 25
Slovak, the, 180, 191, 200; in politics, 206; entertainments, 207; as a type, 301
Slovenes, the, 26, 181
Slums in the, Americans or foreigners, 316
Socialism of Germans, 98; of Jews, 140; of Bohemians, 234; of Italians, 257
Social nose or social heart, 12
Social Democracy, and the Magyars, 243
Social Democrats in the Ghetto, 167
Social Labour Jews, 169
South Chicago, steel mills of, 222
Spanish Jews, 147
Steamship companies, responsibility of, 76
Steerage, the, from the quarter-deck, 10; conditions in, 35; vs. second cabin, 36; should be abolished, 37; accommodations, English best, 38; vs. the slum, 41; songs, 42; comradeship of, 43, 50; amusements of, 51; question of, 53; shadows of the past, 53; polyglot sermon in, 62; and anarchy, 77; fellowship of, on return voyage, 334; self-assertive on return, 335
“Stomach Jews” vs. “Soul Jews,” 328
Stratified society in first cabin, 362
Strikes by foreigners, 311
_Svornost_, Bohemian infidel paper, 228, 232
Swedes, _see_ Scandinavians
Syrian children, story of, 82
Syrians, the, 28
Tragedy of the deported, 65, 66, 68-72, 82, 92
Tucker, President, quoted, 326
Tunkers, the, 96
Turner Societies, 106, 230
University Settlement, the, 164
Vanderbilt vs. Vogelstein, 361
Watchorn, Robert, Commissioner, Ellis Island, 81; secures reforms, 86
Wends, the, 180
West Side vs. Ghetto, 14
Williams, William, Commissioner at Ellis Island, 81
Yiddish, the, 156
Zionistic movement, 141
Zionist leader, Theodore Hertzl, 298
* * * * *
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In Black and White
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_IMMIGRANTS IN THE MAKING_
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