where the field was comparatively clear, and avoided those States which attracted the bulk of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. Table 56 and Diagram XV furnish clear proof to the contrary. From 1880 to 1890 the net accessions to the Scandinavian population were about evenly divided between the western agricultural States, where immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe was insignificant, and the rest of the United States, where the Scandinavians were outnumbered by the races of Southern and Eastern Europe. (See the circle on the left; compare the two black quadrants with each other and with the shaded quadrant and semicircle on each side.) At the end of the next ten years, the Western States, where the accretions from Southern and Eastern Europe had declined, held only one third of the net gains of the Scandinavian population, while two thirds were distributed over other States, where they had to face ten times as many new competitors from Southern and Eastern Europe. (See the circle in the middle; repeat the same comparisons, as above.) Again during the past decade most of the new Scandinavian population sought employment in these States, where they were overwhelmed by the enormous tide of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, and only a minority settled in the West, where there were comparatively few newcomers from Southern and Eastern Europe. (See the circle on the right; repeat the same comparisons as above.) It is evident that the Scandinavian immigrant did not seek to avoid the competition of the Italian and the Slav. Nor did the average Scandinavian immigrant at any time display such superior skill as would place him above the competition of the immigrant from Southern and Eastern Europe. Most of the Scandinavian immigrants, like the Slavs and the Italians, come from rural districts. The I According to Swedish official statistics, the ratio of emigrants from rural districts to the total emigration was 76 per cent in 1891-1900 and 77 per cent in 1901-1908. (Computed from Gustav Sundbärg's distribution of Scandinavian immigrants by occupation has undergone no material change since 1881, as witnessed by the following table: TABLE 57. DISTRIBUTION OF SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRANT BREADWINNERS BY MAIN CLASSES OF OCCUPATIONS (THOUSANDS), 1881-1910.1 While there were twice as many skilled mechanics among the Scandinavian immigrants in 1901-1910 as in 1881-1890, yet the bulk of them have always been laborers or farm workers without special mechanical skill. The number of unskilled laborers in 1901-1910 was greater than in 18811890, and it was these unskilled Scandinavian laborers that sought employment in competition with unskilled Slav and Italian laborers. If the increase of immigration from the Scandinavian countries was not fast enough to satisfy the preference of certain social theorists for the races of Northern Europe, the explanation of this comparatively slow growth must be sought in the economic conditions of those countries, not in the immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe to the United States. Ekonomisk-Statistisk Beskrifning öfver Sveriges Olika Landsdelar, p. 20, 2 From a comparison of the distribution of the Scandinavian immigrants by occupation in our immigration statistics with the Swedish statistics of occupations of emigrants, it appears that the distinction between agricultural workers, laborers, and servants in our official statistics is not reliable. (Compare American sources cited in footnote to Table 55 and Gustav Sundbarg, op. cit., p. 20, Table 22.) D. Norway The merging of all Scandinavians into one racial group in United States statistics has obscured the fact that while the total immigration from Sweden and Denmark (including dependents) has declined since 1881-1890, immigration from Norway reached its maximum during the decade 1901-1910, as shown in the table next below: The number of Norwegian immigrants of both sexes and all ages in 1901-1910 was double the total for the preceding ten-year period and 8 per cent above the high watermark reached in 1881-1890. All that can be said is that the rate of increase of the population of Norway from 1875 to 1900 was 23.1 per cent, i. e., approximately 18 per cent in twenty years, so that, taking the emigration of 18811890 as a standard, it will be found that emigration from Norway has not increased as fast as her population. It will be remembered that the majority of the Scandinavian emigrants came from agricultural districts. One half of the Norwegians who came to the United States before 1900 were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Since the opportunity eventually to secure a homestead in the United States is gone, the Norwegian agricultural laborer who is dissatisfied with his condition must seek employment in industry. And here the development of the Norwegian industry offers him many an opportunity at home. The recent industrial progress of Norway can be gauged by the * Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. I, Table 9, pp. 66-96. fact that from 1897 to 1908 the quantity of horsepower used increased 146.5 per cent. The average number of wageearners reduced to the basis of 300 working days per year, increased during the same period 45 per cent, while the total population increased during the same period only 9 per cent. The rapid development of home industry absorbed a portion of the agricultural surplus population which under former conditions might have found an outlet in emigration. E. Denmark The total immigration from Denmark to the United States up to and including 1910 numbered only a quarter of a million, distributed as follows: While immigration was greater during the last ten-year period than during the preceding, yet it did not reach the high level of 1881-1890. Since nearly one half of all Danes in the United States in 1900 were engaged in agricultural pursuits, the decrease of Danish immigration to the United States might have some relation to the decline in the demand for farm help in the United States. On the other hand, the last fifteen years of the nineteenth century "witnessed a great improvement in the condition of life all round of the Danish peasant farmer." Among Statistique Industrielle pour l'année 1908, éditée par l'office des Assurances de l'État, pp. 18*, 230*, Kristiania, 1911. • Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 1, pp. 66-96, 176–204. Erik Givskov, "Peasant Farming in Denmark," The Economic Journal, vol. viii (1903), p. 646. the causes of that improvement, the most important one is the rapid spread of co-operation in all branches of farming. The first co-operative creamery was established in 1882. According to a special census taken in 1906, there were 1068 such creameries whose membership embraced 82.3 per cent of all dairy farms. The co-operative creameries controlled 93 per cent of the total milk production of the country. The first co-operative association of exporters of eggs was established in 1890. In 1906 there were 790 such associations with a membership of over 50,000 farmers, who owned in the aggregate over 1,900,000 hens. There were in 1905, thirty-two co-operative slaughter houses with a membership of 63,000 farmers who owned one half of all the swine of the country. As a result, the export of agricultural products from Denmark increased sixfold in twenty years, viz., from an annual average of 49,000,000 crowns2 in 1881-1885 to 313,000,000 crowns in 1901-1905.3 The progress of agriculture has turned Denmark into a country of immigration. Considerable numbers of Polish peasants come during every agricultural season to work on the farms in Denmark; in 1907, their number was 6251,4 which was equal to three fourths of the average annual emigration of the period 1881-1890. The manufacturing industries of the country have also made progress. The total horsepower used in manufactures increased 156 per cent from 1897 to 1906. The number of wage-earners increased 15.4 per cent, while the population increased only 3.5 per cent from 1901 to 1906, i. e., about 11 per cent in nine years. The industrial progress of Den 5 'Danmarks Statistik. Landbrugets Andelsvirksomhed. Udgivet at Statens Statistiske Bureau, 1906, pp. 8, 20, 24, 41, 43, 51, 67, 69. "I crown = 26.8 cents. 98. Danemark, Précis de Statistique, 1907, pp. 14-15. Statistique de Danemark, Annuaire Statistique, 1908, p. 129, Table 5 Danemark, Précis de Statistique, 1907, p. 13. British Statistical Abstract for the Principal and other Foreign Countries, No. XXXV., pp. |