here of relatives or friends, and the ease and cheapness of the voyage, (c) the poverty of the peasant classes of foreign nations and (d) the economic prosperity of this country. Under the first cause should be included the desire for religious as well as for political freedom, and also the immigration, such as that of the Russian Jews, which is a forced escape from persecution. That the second cause is a potent one is shown by the fact that from 40 to 55 per cent. of all the immigrants come on tickets actually bought in this country by relatives or friends, while fully 65 per cent. have their transportation sent them in tickets or money. In general, the prosperity of this country has a greater influence than the over-population and poverty of foreign countries, for the volume of immigration responds quickly to fluctuations in industrial conditions in the United States. This is due largely to the fact that in times of depression foreigners already here are not able to send for their relatives, and are not likely to write hopeful letters, such as would naturally induce immigration. There is little encouragement, however, in this fact, for "in times of depression the falling off is largely of the most skilled and industrious races, whereas the unskilled laborers are the last to be affected."

Some years ago a common cause of immigration was the effort of European countries to get rid of their undesirable population, and the charitable assistance given to paupers and criminals to emigrate. Though this practice is now officially restricted or prohibited, it is believed that, un

1 Ward, "The Immigration Problem," Charities, Vol. XII, p. 139.

officially, a considerable amount of such assistance is still given. Another potent cause of immigration, and one which has brought a very undesirable class to this country, has been the solicitation, now somewhat ineffectually prohibited by law, of the agents of transportation companies. In the early days there was a process of natural selection in immigration which eliminated the less desirable elements, for it required energy, prudence and courage to accomplish the transfer from one country to another. With the increasing activity of transportation companies, however, and the comparative ease of immigration, it is now, as a general rule, the least prosperous classes that are attracted to this country.

2. Race and Nativity of Immigrants: The race and nativity of the incoming aliens is of even greater importance than their numbers, for upon this depends the quality, social and economic, of the element which is added to the population.

Up to 1890 the natives of Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Canada and Newfoundland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark contributed 12,853,828 out of a total immigration of 15,427,657. For the decades ending in 1860 and 1870 they contributed more than nine-tenths of the immigration, for that ending in 1880 more than fourfifths, for that ending in 1890 about three-fourths, for that ending in 1900 only a little more than two-fifths and for the three succeeding years only a little more than onefifth.

Of the northern group, Ireland and Germany have

PROPORTION OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS FURNISHED
BY EACH OF THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND
BY ALL OTHER COUNTRIES

contributed most freely to the stream of immigration. From 1821 to 1850 the Irish alone contributed more than two-fifths of the total, and during the next ten years they furnished nearly as many again as during this thirty year period. After 1860, however, there was a rapid decrease both in the numbers and in the relative importance

of the Irish immigrants. The Germans, on the other hand, constituted nearly one-fourth of the immigration prior to 1850 and more than one-third in each of the next two decades, outstripping Ireland as early as 1860. The proportion of German immigrants from 1871 to 1880 and from 1881 to 1890 was more than one-fourth of the total. In the decade from 1891 to 1900, however, it fell to a little over one-eighth, and in the three years from 1901 to 1903 to less than one-twentieth, slightly less than the proportion of Irish, and little more than one-half that of the Norwegians, Swedes and Danes combined.

The great decline in the immigration of the northern races has been offset by a very material increase in that from the countries of eastern and southern Europe, especially from Austria-Hungary, Italy and Russia, countries which had furnished prior to 1880, a very small amount of immigration. The natives of these countries, though in 1870 representing altogether about one per cent. of the total, amounted in the decade ending in 1890 to over 17 per cent., while in the decade ending in 1900 they represented more than half, and in the three years from 1901 to 1903, nearly seven-tenths of the total immigration. "The entrance into our political, social, and industrial life, of such vast masses of peasantry, degraded below our utmost conceptions, is a matter which no intelligent patriot can look upon without the gravest apprehension and alarm. These people have no history behind them which is of a nature to give encouragement. They have none of the inherited instincts and tendencies

which made it comparatively easy to deal with the immigration of the olden time. They are beaten men from beaten races; representing the worst failures in the struggle for existence. Centuries are against them, as centuries were on the side of those who formerly came

3. Distribution of Immigrants: Upon the geographical distribution of immigrants depends, to a considerable extent, the intensity of their competition with native laborers. If the aliens were evenly distributed through the country their influence upon labor conditions would be slight as compared with that of American workmen, and the burdens imposed by immigration could be borne with ease, while its advantages would be greatly increased.

As a matter of fact, however, in 1900 nearly seveneighths, 86.2 per cent., of all the foreign born in the United States were found in the North Atlantic and North Central divisions, only 8.2 per cent. in the Western division and only 5.6 per cent. in both the Southern divisions combined. The proportion of immigrants in both of the Southern divisions, moreover, has steadily decreased since 1850, while that in the North Central division steadily increased until 1900 when, for the first time since 1870, it fell behind that in the North Atlantic division. During the last decade, indeed, the foreign born in the North Central division increased only 2.4 per cent., while the foreign born in the North Atlantic divi

1 Walker, Discussions in Economics and Statistics, "Restriction of Immigration," p. 447.