The one conclusion to be drawn from the record of departures from the United States, as shown by the foregoing tables, is that as a whole the races or peoples composing the old immigration are in great part permanent settlers, and that a large proportion of the newer immigrants are simply transients whose interest in the country is measured by the opportunity afforded for labor. Conspicuous among the newer immigrants as exceptions to this rule are the Hebrews, who formed more than 12 per cent of the European immigration in 1907 and only slightly more than 2 per cent of the exodus in 1908, indicating a degree of permanency not reached by any other race or people in either class. The races or peoples conspicuous as showing the smallest degree of permanency are the Croatian and Slovenian, Magyar, North and South Italian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, and Turkish, while those showing relatively the smallest number of departing aliens are the Armenian, Bohemian and Moravian, Dutch and Flemish, Hebrew, Irish, Scotch, and Welsh. In both the old and new classes the exodus of 1908 was composed largely of recent immigrants, about 75 per cent of the former and 83 per cent of the latter having resided in the United States continuously for not over five years. EXTENT AND PERMANENCE OF THE RETURN MOVEMENT. From available data it appears that at least one-third of all European immigrants who come to the United States eventually return to Europe. It seems to be a common belief that this outward movement is largely composed of persons who follow seasonal occupations in the United States and who consequently come and go according to the seasonal demands for labor. Such is not the case, however, for as nearly as can be judged from existing data not more than one-third of those who return to Europe come again to this country. Prior to the fiscal year 1908 data respecting the number of outgoing aliens were not secured by the immigration authorities. Owing to a provision of the immigration law of 1907 such data are now available for the three fiscal years 1908 to 1910, and in the table following the number of European emigrant aliens are shown in comparison with immigration from Europe for the same years. TABLE 16.-European immigrants (including Syrian) admitted to the United States, and European emigrant aliens (including Syrian) departing from the United States, fiscal years 1908 to 1910, inclusive, by race or people. [Compiled from reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration.] The above data classified according to the old and new immigration are as follows: TABLE 17.-European immigrants (including Syrian) admitted to the United States, and European emigrant aliens (including Syrian) departing from the United States, fiscal years 1908 to 1910, inclusive, by class of immigration. It will be noted that for every 100 European immigrants admitted to the United States during the period 32 departed from the country. There is a striking preponderance of southern and eastern Europeans in the outward movement, and their relative lack of stability of residence as compared with the older immigrant classes is clearly shown by the fact that of the former 38 departed for every 100 admitted while among the latter the proportion was only 16 departed to 100 admitted. The following table shows the sex, age, and length of residence in the United States of European aliens leaving the country during the three years under consideration: TABLE 18.-European emigrant aliens (including Syrian) departing from the United States, fiscal years 1908 to 1910, inclusive, by class, sex, age, and period of residence. Old immigration.. 91,692 58,291 33,401 63.6 36.4 14.6 6,118 73,871 While the above tables cover a comparatively short period of time and include at least one year when the outward movement was abnormally large, they nevertheless seem to indicate, on the whole, about the normal status of the inward and outward movement of Europeans in recent years. This belief is substantiated by the steamship companies' records of west and east bound steerage passengers between European and United States ports since 1898, which data are shown in the following table: TABLE 19.-Movement of third-class passengers between the United States and European ports, calendar years 1899 to 1910 inclusive. [Compiled from reports of the Trans-Atlantic Passenger Association.] These figures are not entirely comparable with the Bureau of Immigration statistics previously shown, because the latter include only immigrant and emigrant aliens, while the steamship association data are based on all steerage passengers. Moreover the bureau figures include all immigrants regardless of the class of transportation. However, the fact that nearly all immigrants travel in the steerage, and that relatively few besides immigrants do so, makes it entirely safe to employ the figures last presented for the purpose of approximating the extent of the inward and outward movement under discussion. By comparing the bureau and steamship data it will be seen that the latter, covering a longer period of time, show the largest relative outward movement, and indicate that the tendency of European immigrants to leave the United States in large numbers is not peculiar to the last three years. These data are further substantiated by official Italian statistics, which show that from January 1, 1899, to December 31, 1907, inclusive, 1,724,952 Italians departed in the steerage from ports of that country for United States ports, while during the same period 798,435 returned in the steerage from the United States. How large a proportion of the immigrants who return to Europe do not come again to the United States can not be definitely determined. This, however, can undoubtedly be approximated with a fair degree of accuracy by a consideration of the proportion of arriving immigrants who have been in the United States previously. During the fiscal years 1899 to 1906, inclusive, 11.9 per cent of all European immigrants admitted at United States ports had been in this country before. As previously shown, the outward movement of European aliens in recent years has been approximately one-third as great as the number of European immigrants admitted to the United States. Comparing this with the fact that only about 12 per cent of all European immigrants admitted to the United States have been here previously, it seems clear that approximately two-thirds of all who leave the United States do so permanently. The tables also show that males predominate in the outward movement, 85.4 per cent of the south and east Europeans departing being of that sex. The fact that 86.6 per cent of all the departing aliens were from 14 to 44 years of age indicates that those leaving the country are in the prime of life, while 81.6 per cent have been in the United States not over five years. The cause of the large outward movement, and especially that part which apparently leaves the United States permanently, can only be conjectured. That it is not due to lack of opportunity for employment, except in a period of depression, is evident from the fact that there is a steady influx of European laborers who have little or no difficulty in finding employment here. It seems reasonable to suppose that the movement is due to various causes, including dissatisfaction, ill health, the desire to rejoin family and friends, and the fulfillment of an ambition to possess a sufficient amount of money to make life at home less of a struggle. EFFECTS OF THE RETURN MOVEMENT IN EUROPE. In every country of Europe to which large numbers of former emigrants return from America the effects of the return movement are apparent. The repatriates as a rule return with amounts of money which seem large in the surroundings from which they emigrated. Usually, also, their sojourn abroad has made them more enterprising and ambitious and created in them a desire for better things than those to which they were formerly accustomed. This desire usually leads to the adoption of a higher standard of living and improved methods of labor in agriculture and other pursuits. In several parts of Europe visited by members of the Commission the dwellings of the returned emigrants are conspicuously better than those of their neighbors, and their economic status as a whole is higher. In many cases their example is emulated by their neighbors, and in consequence the tone of whole communities is elevated. CAUSES OF EMIGRATION. The present movement of population from Europe to the United States is, with few exceptions, almost entirely attributable to economic causes. Emigration due to political reasons and, to a less extent, religious oppression, undoubtedly exists, but even in countries where these incentives prevail the more important cause is very largely an economic one. This does not mean, however, that emigration from Europe is now an economic necessity. At times in the past, notably during the famine years in Ireland, actual want forced a choice between emigration and literal starvation, but the present movement results in the main from a widespread desire for better economic conditions rather than from the necessity of escaping intolerable ones. In other words, the emigrant of to-day comes to the United States not merely to make a living, but to make a better living than is possible at home. With comparatively few exceptions, the emigrant of to-day is essentially a seller of labor seeking a more favorable market. To a considerable extent this incentive is accompanied by a certain spirit of unrest and adventure and a more or less definite ambition for general social betterment, but primarily the movement is accounted for by the fact that the reward of labor is much greater in the United States than in Europe. The desire to escape military service is also a primary cause of emigration from some countries, but on the whole it is relatively unimportant. It is true, moreover, that some emigrate to escape punishment for crime, or the stigma which follows such punishment, while others of the criminal class deliberately seek supposedly more advantageous fields for criminal activity: The emigration of criminals of this class is a natural movement not altogether peculiar to European countries, and, although vastly important because dangerous, numerically it affects but little the tide of European emigration to the United States. In order that the chief cause of emigration from Europe may be better understood, the Commission has given considerable attention to economic conditions in the countries visited, with particular reference to the status of emigrating classes in this regard. It was impossible for the commissioners personally to make more than a general survey of this subject, but because an understanding of the economic situation in the chief immigrant-furnishing countries is essential to an intelligent discussion of the immigration question, the results of 72289°-VOL 1-11-13 |