The foregoing table classified according to the old and new immigration is as follows: TABLE 10.-Number and per cent of illiterates 14 years of age or over among European immigrants (including Syrian) admitted to the United States, fiscal years 1899 to 1909, inclusive, by class of immigration. Whether the high percentage of illiteracy among the newer immigrants is due chiefly to environment or to inherent racial tendencies can not well be determined. The former would seem to be the more equitable explanation were it not for the fact that races living under practically the same material and political conditions show widely varying results. Conspicuous in this regard are the Germans, the majority of whom now come from Austria-Hungary and Russia, as compared with other races from those countries. As suggested by the foregoing tables showing the degree of education among the various races of European immigrants coming to the United States, illiteracy exists in the various countries of Europe in widely different degrees. Comparison, however, in respect to the amount of illiteracy which prevails in specific countries is difficult because of the different means by which data relative to it are secured in the several countries. In some of the European states the military recruitment records afford the only measure of the literacy of the population, and of course an illiteracy rate based on such records is open to the objection that it is representative only of a selected class and not of the total population over an age at which they might be expected to read and write. For the purposes of an immigration study, however, data of this nature are valuable for the reason that immigrants and recruits are, as a rule, drawn from the same classes in the population. Unfortunately data relative to the literacy of recruits are not available for all European countries, a most important omission being Russia, which is among the three largest immigrant-furnishing nations of Europe. However, the following table, which shows the per cent of illiteracy among the recruits of twelve European countries, compared with the illiteracy among native white males 21 to 24 years of age in the United States, will be of interest. With the exception noted, the test of literacy in each case is ability to read and write. TABLE 11.-Per cent of illiteracy among the recruits in various European countries, and among native white males 21 to 24 years of age in the United States. While not conclusive as to literacy among the total population of the various countries considered, the data above presented tend to substantiate common knowledge that while illiteracy is at a minimum in northern and western Europe it is widespread in the southern and eastern countries which contribute largely to the present tide of immigration to the United States. Statistics relative to literacy based on census records are available for some of the principal immigrant-furnishing countries of Europe. These data are based on such different proportions of the population in various countries that comparisons with each other or with the United States are difficult and in most cases impossible, but nevertheless they are valuable and interesting for the purposes of this report. The following table shows the per cent of illiterates among a certain proportion of the population of the countries specified, the test of literacy, except as noted, being the ability to read and write. TABLE 12.-Per cent of illiteracy in the population of specified European countrics and of the United States. Country. Per cent Date. Basis. Source. Persons 6 years of age or over.. Oesterr, Statist, Handbuch, 1907, 72.0 1897 1900.....do. ...... Population 10 years of age or over. Annuaire Statistique de la Bel- Magyar Statisztikai Evkony, Italia Annuario Statistico, 1905- Rossiia-Perepis Naselenia, 1897. Espana Censo de la Poblacion, Twelfth Census, United States, • Unable to read. Information relative to illiteracy of the total population in Great Britain, France, and Germany is not available, but it is well known that the per cent is low compared with the countries of eastern and southern Europe under consideration. In the Scandinavian countries illiteracy is said to be almost nonexistent, and this statement is substantiated by the fact that the percentage of illiterates among Scandinavian immigrants to the United States is smaller than among any other immigrants." In Norway no attempt is made to secure statistics relative to illiteracy for the reason that little exists. MONEY SHOWN BY IMMIGRANTS. It is impossible to determine with any degree of accuracy the amount of money or the value of the property brought to the United States by immigrants. The only available information upon the subject is contained in the records of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and results from a provision of the immigration law which directs that there shall be secured from each immigrant information as to whether or not he is in possession of $50, and if not, what is the amount he has." It will be noted that the law does not contemplate a record of the actual amount of money brought, the intent being merely to determine whether immigrants are possessed of a sufficient amount to carry them to their destination or to provide against their immediately becoming public charges. In many cases the amount of money possessed has an important bearing on the admissibility of the immigrant. Reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration give the number of persons of each race or people showing $50 or over, the number showing less than $50, and the total amount shown. During the fiscal years 1905 to 1909, inclusive, 5,547,839 European immigrants, including Syrians, were admitted to the United States, and of these, 4,136,016 are recorded as having shown money to some amount, the discrepancy being in the main due to children and other dependents. The following table shows the amount of money shown by immigrants of old and new classes during the period mentioned, and also the average per capita based on the total number of immigrants as well as the total number showing money: TABLE 13.-Money per capita shown on admission to the United States by European immigrants (including Syrian), fiscal years 1905 to 1909, inclusive, by class of immigration. [Compiled from reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration.] As previously suggested the amounts specified in the foregoing table do not represent the actual amount of money brought, for the reason that immigrants having $50 or more are not required to state the exact amount in their possession. However, in the case of southern and eastern Europeans and Syrians who showed money only 6.3 per cent are recorded as having $50 or more, so that the total amount shown by immigrants of that class is probably a close approximation of the total amount in their possession on admission to the United States. On the other hand, the fact that 31.6 per cent of northern and western European immigrants showing money were possessed of $50 or more makes it impossible to estimate the total amount brought by them. The aggregate amount of money shown by all European immigrants during the five years considered was $124,642,320; the amount accredited to southern and southeastern Europeans was $63,623,404, which is less than the amount sent by immigrants in the United States to either Austria-Hungary or Italy in the year 1907. The total amount of money sent to European countries by immigrants in the United States in the year mentioned is conservatively estimated at $275,000,000, or more than twice as much as was brought by all immigrants from Europe in five years. PERMANENT AND TRANSIENT EMIGRATION. In the matter of stability or permanence of residence in the United States there is a very wide difference between European immigrants of the old and new classes. The fact that under the immigration law of 1907 a detailed record is kept of aliens leaving United States ports' makes possible a study of the tendency of the different races or peoples to leave the country within varying periods after arrival, and the experience in this regard during the recent industrial depression is interesting and suggestive. The departure of aliens from the United States can not fairly be compared with arriving immigrants in the same or another year, but these items contrasted indicate clearly the races or peoples which in the main regard this country as a permanent home and those which, to a large extent, consider it only as a field for remunerative labor during times of industrial prosperity. The fiscal year 1906-7 being one of unusual industrial activity, it was marked by the largest immigration in the history of the country, but following the beginning of the industrial depression in October of the fiscal year 1907-8 there was a sudden reversal in the tide, and during the remainder of that year there was a great exodus of Europeans. The participation of the various European races or peoples in the a See Vol. II, p. 427. See Vol. II, pp. 735, 736, and 737. unprecedented immigration of 1907 and in the exodus during 1908 is shown by the following table: TABLE 14.-European immigrants (including Syrian) admitted to the United States during the fiscal year 1907, and European emigrant aliens (including Syrian) departing from the United States during the fiscal year 1908, by race or people. [Compiled from reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration.] The radical difference between the old and new immigration with regard to stability of residence during a period of depression is more clearly shown by the following table: TABLE 15.-European immigrants (including Syrian) admitted to the United States during the fiscal year 1907, and European emigrant aliens (including Syrian) departing from the United States during the fiscal year 1908, by class of immigration. |