of the former; whereas prior to 1890 the greater part of Scandinavian immigration was directed to the agricultural' States of the Central West and the Northwest, since 1890' the majority of the Scandinavian immigrants follow the current of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. The figures are presented in Table 56. The increase of the number of foreign-born from Scandinavian countries and from Southern and Eastern Europe in 1880-1910 represents the net results of immigration from those countries, as reduced by emigration and death. In Diagram XV a graphic representation of the same figures is furnished, each number being expressed in the area of the corresponding semicircle or quadrant. The black quadrants represent Scandinavians, the shaded semicircles and quadrants natives of Southern and Eastern Europe. The left side represents the eleven Western States indicated on the map, the right side, all other States and Territories.

TABLE 56.

INCREASE OF FOREIGN-BORN FROM THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES AND FROM EASTERN AND SOUTIIern Europe, 1880-1910, BY GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS (THOUSANDS).1

If it were true that the Scandinavians stayed away from the United States because they were reluctant to compete with immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, we should expect to find that the recent Scandinavian immigrants, like their predecessors, were headed for the West 1 See Appendix, Table XIV.

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

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, Table 22.) See footnotes to Table 55. 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 Sundbärg, 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

I

1 Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 1, 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."3 Among

1 Statistique Industrielle pour l'année 1908, éditée par l'office des Assurances de l'État, pp. 18*, 230*, Kristiania, 1911.

2

Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 1, pp. 66–96, 176–204. 3 Erik Givskov, "Peasant Farming in Denmark," The Economic Journal, vol. viii (1903), p. 646.