Ethnic factors in the population of Boston

Front matter

Publications

OF THE

American Economic AvSSOCiation

Preface

The study of racial phenomena not only has a lively interest for the general reader, but it has also a profound significance for the scientific student. Few of such investigations have, however, been pursued in the United States. Our experts in these fields have been tolled away into the study of the extinct or moribund races of the far South and West — studies interesting as bearing on the origin of institutions, but devoid of any practical value for the future of our American people. It is a source of gratification that interest is spreading in America in the study of populations, analyzed as they have been for years in Europe. Of recent years have been published the " Hull House papers," Hoffman's " American Negro," various articles on the colored population in the bulletins of the Department of Labor, various papers by Dr. Du Bois, the report of the New York Tenement House Commission of 1894, the excellent volumes by the residents of the South End House in Boston, " The city wilderness," and more recently " Americans in process." This monograph, in conjunction with the two last named works, affords perhaps the most complete picture of social and ethnic conditions in a great i\.merican city that is as yet available.

The similarity between this monograph and "Americans in process," perhaps the best of its kind, both of which have to do with the population of Boston, is evident. The two investigations are, however, rather parallel than overlapping. Certain differences between them are useful as illustrating the distinct methods of research which may be employed in similar cases elseiv Preface

where. " Americans in process " is a careful study of the social conditions in a small homogeneous district ; nationalities are considered only in so far as they are necessary to explain those conditions. This monograph, on the other hand, is intended to be a study of the comparative values of various ethnic groups over a somewhat larger area. In making the entire city the basis of study it can be made to depend almost wholly upon official statistics. The district used by the South End House was too small to obtain accurate statistical information concerning it ; its authors had to rely for the most part upon personal investigation. The subjects treated also differ somewhat. In " Americans in process " there is nothing corresponding exactly to the chapters in this monograph on " Causes of immigration," '' Vitality," " Poverty," and " Intermarriage " ; on the other hand, this study does not attempt to discuss the religious situation.

An illustration may serve to show the importance of noting the race factors in social studies. Vital statistics usually are collected and tabulated by administrative divisions— by towns, cities, counties, and states ; yet the student taking the trouble to compare the scanty data available on birth rates or mortality by races discovers that it is often the relative proportion of a given nationality and not the character, natural or social, of the district which explains the phenomena. The Jews, for example, as Dr. Billings discovered in the special investigation of mortality in 1890, have a vitality about twice as high as the average American city population.' This is especially notable in the infant mortality. The Italians and Irish, on the other hand, have an almost sui-

' See page 41, infra. Extended illustrations are given in "The races of Europe," p. 383.

Preface v

cidal death rate among children. What significance, then, has a general death rate, even specified by ages, for cities by wards which does not take account of the relative proportions of these ethnic elements in the total population ? It may become entirely misleading.

Two chapters of this investigation have a peculiarly deep meaning for the future of the American people ; viz., those upon vitality and upon degeneration. The subject of the former has been emphasized by vigorous pronouncements of late by the President of the United States and by the President of Harvard University. Statisticians have long been cognizant of the tendencies, but each contribution which can throw light upon them is to be welcomed. The recent notable articles by Dr. Kuczynski ' upon the fecundity of the native and foreign born population of Massachusetts are illustrations in point. And Dr. Bushee in this monograph in his discussion of the causes of the differences in vitality between ethnic stocks is surely dealing with one of the most important social questions of the day. The study of the phenomena of degeneration so carefully analyzed in this monograph is likewise of serious importance. Are differences in the proportions of criminals, defectives, and dependents as apparent between the . several nationalities as are their contrasts in vitality ? If not, then we may tend to the belief that these phenomena are due to a common cause to which all are alike exposed. To strip off the overlying and confusing facts of social environment, laying bare the phenomena of race alone, is to render a distinct service to future students along these lines.

> Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1901, and February, 1902.

vi Preface

The Economic Association can set itself no more important task than to promote such investigations, by making the results available through publication. Each college center should esteem it a privilege to have contributed to the common good by fostering research in its own locality. The present monograph contributes in no inconsiderable measure toward the advancement of this cause.

WiLUAM Z. Ripley.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Causes of Immigration i

II. Characteristics of Immigrants 12

Chapter I Causes Of Immigration

In the Publications of the American Statistical Association for June, 1899. I reviewed the growth of the population of Boston, with special attention to the growth by foreign immigration, and compared the population of Boston with the populations of other large American cities. In the present article I shall deal with the character of the chief ethnic factors in the population of Boston, and shall consider the value of these elements in the life of the city. In order to keep in mind the composition of the population, the following table is presented, showing the number of the leading nationalities by place of birth and by parent nativity according to the United States census of 1900.

Chief Ethnic Factors of Boston by Pi^ace of Birth AND Parent Nativity (1900).

Nationality Place of Birth Parent Nativity

Canada (French) 2,908 3,542

Norway 1,145 i,5i5

It must be borne in mind that the Irish have resided in Boston in considerable numbers longer than any other nationality. In 1846 about twenty-four thousand were in the city, and during the next ten years their numbers increased to nearly sixty thousand. The rapid immigration of British Americans began at the close of the Civil War, while most of the Italians and Jews have come since 1880.

In the percentage of its total foreign population, Boston ranks fifteenth among the 161 principal cities, and second among the six largest cities of the United States. A comparison of the constituent elements of its population shows that Boston contains an unusually large number of British Americans, of Irish, and of Americans born outside of the city, while the number of Germans is small.

In order to arrive at a fair verdict concerning the nationalities, some consideration should be given to the conditions which obtain in the countries from which our immigrants come and to the causes which have led to emigration. Such consideration is especially important in the case of the Irish, the Italians, and the Jews, for with each of these nationalities emigration has been at times exceptionally large. From most of the other countries, however, emigration to the United States has been about normal, indicating approximately the natural response which laborers in one country make to better economic advantages in another.

The Irish who settled in Boston during the middle of the century were in a more hopeless condition before emigrating than any of the other nationalities. The use of the potato in Ireland as the staple article of food had reduced the standard of living to its extreme limit. In 1845, j^^st on the eve of the famine, it was calculated that about one-half of the population, which at that time was over eight millions, was dependent upon the potato for subsistence.' The dwellings of the inhabi-

' Two centuries of Irish history, pt. 4, p. 394,

309] Causes of hnmigration 3

tants were of the crudest sort. In the census of 1841 the dwelling houses were divided into four classes, the fourth class comprising all mud cabins with only one room. The percentage of the population in the various counties inhabiting houses of this class varied from 24 per cent in Down to 66 per cent in Kerry. On the average it was found that 43 per cent of the population in the rural districts and over 36 per cent in the urban districts lived in huts of this kind.' The laborers inhabiting these huts were usually dependent upon the cultivation of a little plot of ground, in many places stony and barren.

The failure of the potato crop caused immediate want, followed by extreme wretchedness and starvation. Within five years nearly one million persons died and more than a million emigrated.^ This emigration was not a normal movement of individuals who change their residence through their own exertions ; it was a rescue by philanthropists of multitudes with no resources of their own to save themselves from starvation. Between 1848 and 1864 it is said that the Irish in America sent ^13,000,000 to friends in Ireland to help them to emigrate.^ In an article in the Diiblin University Magazine the result of the famine is described in the following words : " The potato was gone, the food of an entire nation was thus in a single night cut off, although the effects of the blight upon the crop only became known when the peasantry began to dig in their winter store. Here at home, plague, pestilence, and famine, demoralization, and an emigration still deserving the name of an exodus, were the immediate results to the peasantry."*

^ Two centuries of Irish history, p. 394. ^ Two centuries of Irish history, p. 426. ^ Two centuries of Irish history, p. 426. * The food of the Irish, Dublin University Magazine, 43, 135.

4 Avierican Economic Association [310

During the fifties there was considerable improvement in the material condition of Ireland, partly owing to the new land which had been reclaimed for cultivation and to the introduction of the cattle raising industry, and partly to the mere decrease in population. Nevertheless the conditions continued to be sufficiently bad to favor extensive emigration. In 1882 assistance was again given to enable a large number to emigrate. In describing the conditions of life in some of the Irish counties at this time J. H. Tuke, in an article in the Nineteenth Century^ writes that in certain of the western counties people were living in a state of semistarvation, many affording only one meal a day, and that families were found to be in arrears of three and a half years for rent and shop debts. Indeed, they could not have lived on their land if they had owned it. All were anxious to emigrate, but they had neither money nor clothes. One of the dwellings he visited Mr. Tuke describes as follows : "It was too low to stand upright in. A great boulder formed with the door one side. Sods formed the walls and sods and rafters the roof. One end was nine feet wide, the other seven and one-half feet wide, and nine feet long. A man and his wife, four sons and two daughters had been living in it for

six months." '

Slavery to environment characterized the condition

of the Irish in their own country. America was their land of emancipation, and they loved it from the beginning. Within recent years improved conditions in Ireland have changed the character of emigration ; although there is still a large emigration to the United States, it is no longer of a pioneer character. Now

1 J. H. Tuke, Nineteenth Century, July, 1882.

31 1] Causes of Immigration 5

nearly all the immigrants come to join friends or relatives here.

Conditions in many respects resembling those in Ireland cause many thousands of Italians to emigrate to this country each year, though these conditions are not of so desperate a character. Our Italian immigrants are peasants from the country districts. At the present time at least four-fifths come from southern Italy, especially from the provinces of Abruzzi, Campania, the Basilicati, Calabria, and Sicily.^ In northern Italy many of the farmers own their little plots of land and could make a moderate living according to the Italian standard if it were not for the heavy taxes. State expenditures are too large to make the raising of sufficient funds easy, and consequently many of the necessaries of life are taxed.^ The difficulty of paying these taxes makes the Italian discontented, and news of the success of a former neighbor who has tried his fortune in America decides him to rent his little farm or perhaps even to sell it that he may obtain passage to that country which is to him an ideal land. Agents of steamship companies have also assisted emigration from Italy to a remarkable extent. Commissioner Schulters found a system in operation in 1891 which included nearly four thousand emigration agents and sub-agents. In 1900 there were over seven thousand emigration agents in the country.^

In southern Italy the conditions of life are much worse than in northern Italy. The land is in the hands of a comparatively few persons who live on the unearned increment and form in too many cases a non-resident

' See Italian immigration, Political Scie^ice Quarterly, vol. 4, p. 480. 2 Bolton King and Thomas Okey, Italy to-day, p. 140. ^ Bolton King and Thomas Okey, Italy to-day, p. 320.

6 Aviericaii EcoJiomic Associatio7i [312

landlord class. According to Hon. Eugene Schuyler, writing in 1889, only 3.48 per cent of the inhabitants of the Neapolitan provinces were owners, as against 15 per cent in Piedmont.^ These tenant farmers can afford to pay their hands scarcely enough to enable them to live — twenty cents a day and even less according to the report of Commissioner Schulters.^ But even these poverty stricken laborers do not escape the oppressive burden of supporting the state. Edmund Self, writing in 1882, declared that official statistics show that the average Italian laborer earns $140 a year and is taxed

11544'

Italians from this class have no money with which to

emigrate, and have no means whereby they can raise it. It is the kindness of a friend or relative in this countr}^ which secures their passage. Commissioner Schulters goes so far as to say in his report that three-fourths of the emigrants' tickets are paid for on this side of the water.^ To laborers of this class service in the army is not to be avoided. They look forward to it as a more comfortable life than that to which they have been accustomed. The idea of serving in the Italian army is such a matter of course to them that sometimes immigrants in this country return to their native land for that purpose alone. The expense of the army and navy is, however, so great that it acts as an indirect stimulus to emigration.

Although the conditions that prevail in Russia are as hard for the peasants as those in other European countries.

' Italian immigration, Political Science Quarterly, vol. 4, p. 480.

^ Report of the commissioners of immigration upon the causes which incite immigration to the United States, p. 290.

^ Why they come, North American Review, 134, 347.

* In Chicago, out of 13,048 families investigated, 305 persons had assisted friends in Italy to emigrate. They had sent altogether fig,- 384.75, or I63.56 each. Bulletin of the department of labor, 13.

313] Causes of Immigration 7

comparatively few Russians outside the Jewish population come to this country. And this emigration of the Jews is not the result of economic conditions alone, but is chiefly due to the burdensome restrictions imposed by the government, restrictions which have made life for many of the Jews in Russia almost unendurable. In making these regulations the Czar is merely carrying out the old policy of Russia, that of restricting a people who are at best most unwelcome, but who have unfortunately become more and more of a burden with every acquisition of territory. The abnormal Jewish emigration of the last few years is the result of an edict of the Czar in 1882, known as the " May laws," which caused the reinforcement of former regulations that had not been observed for a number of years. In former times the residence of the Jews had been restricted ordinarily to fifteen provinces in the western part of Russia, known as the "Jewish pale of settlement." In 1885 the laws were relaxed and Jewish artisans were permitted to settle in the interior of Russia, as there was a scarcity of this class of laborers. Accordingly a large number of Jews, following a variety of occupations, settled in different parts of Russia. In 1880 a decree gave the right of residence outside the pale to all who were then living outside. The May laws of 1882 marked the beginning of a new series of regulations which have been enforced more and more rigorously.

The regulations concerning the Jews are manifold,^ but some of the most important require that all except certain favored classes shall settle not merely within the pale but within the towns of the pale. Only those Jews who belong to old agricultural colonies are allowed to remain in the country districts. Moreover they are pro-

' See Arnold White, The modern Jew, for these regulations.

hibited from " owning, holding on lease, or even managing land," and, in order to keep them from trading with the inhabitants of neighboring countries, they are not allowed to settle within thirty-three miles of the boundaries of the pale.* The Jews have been obliged to move from one district after another, either on account of the direct application of the laws or as the result of petty persecutions, until none of those who remain feel secure. In many cases the notice to move has been so short as to give them insufficient time for the disposal of their property, and those who could not raise the means of transportation have been conveyed to their destination per etape^ that is, with prison gangs. In this way the pale of settlement soon became overcrowded with a multitude of poor Jews, many of whom had no means of livelihood, so that their very existence was threatened. Even the Jews came to realize that mere exchange of commodities could not furnish subsistence for all. Relief came through the Jewish philanthropist. Baron de Hirsh, who furnished the means whereby thousands of the poorest — and, on the whole, the least desirable — might reach this country. The unhappy plight of the Jews in Russia still continues, for the Czar seems determined to eradicate them as a dangerous pest.

The Russian side of the story is that the safety of the Russian peasantry and the preservation of the state to the Russians require the sacrifice of the Jews. The Russian peasants as well as the state are becoming bankrupt, and the property of the country is rapidly passing into the hands of the wealthy Jews. An article in the Century Magazine in 1882^ gives a strong presentation

' See Arnold White, The modern Jew, p. 27.

^ Russians, Jews and gentiles, Century Magazine, April, 1882, p. 905-

315] Causes of Immigration 9

of the Russian point of view. The author shows that the trouble between Jew and gentile is not primarily racial nor religious, but economic. The information in the article is based on a collection of documents which purport to reveal the inner life of Jewish communities. These documents were obtained by semi-official means and edited by Joseph Brafmann, a converted Jew and a teacher of Hebrew in the Seminary of Minsk. Brafmann represents the Jews as " building a state within a state," to the great detriment of the country which they inhabit. The Jews are taught to regard the property of the gentiles as a " waste free unto all," and they are even authorized by their local administrative council to obtain possession of it " by any means whatsoever," the money lending process being the most efficient means. The organization of the local councils and the powers .conferred upon them by the state are shown to be well fitted to compel the obedience of the Jews on the one hand and to oppress their gentile neighbors on the other. According to Commissioner Schulters, one-third of the Jews of Russia already own one-half of the property, although the ratio of Jews to Christians is only one to twenty.' Notwithstanding the extensive emigration from the pale, the conditions, according to Arnold White, are steadily growing worse. Many each year are assisted to emigrate by the De Hirsh fund, though, out of consideration to the sentiment in the United States, they are now being sent to the Jewish colonies in the Argentine Republic.^

The condition of the Jews in Poland is superior to that in Russia, and emigration from there is about normal. The Jews in Poland have been allowed much

' Report of the commissioners of immigration, p. 303. ^ Report of the commissioners of immigration, p. 24.

lo American Economic Association [316

greater freedom than those in Russia, for it is the belief of the Russians that the presence of Jews in the land will weaken the Poles.

Turning now to the countries from which emigration to the United States has been less remarkable than with the Irish, the Italians, and the Jews, and looking first at British America, we find that the greater part of their emigration is from Nova Scotia alone. Boston gets very few of the French Canadians who go in such large numbers to the large manufacturing cities of New England. The British Americans belong chiefly to the artisan or clerking class. They are attracted to the busier life of the United States in the hope of finding better industrial opportunities. The proximity of the two countries and the similarity of their institutions permit a considerable immigration for a comparatively small economic advantage. The mere desire of young people to travel causes many Canadians to try American life for a time. Doubtless during certain parts of the year employment is more easily obtained in the United States ; but the cost of living is higher, and the result is that when work gets slack the majority return to their own homes. The estimate was made by the immigration investigating commission of 1895 that of the immigrants from Quebec to the United States not more than one-sixth came to this country with the intention of remaining permanently.^ The large number of single persons among the British American immigrants is another cause of their mobility ; for according to the report just mentioned, the temporary immigrants commonly known as " birds of passage " are composed chiefly of single persons.

The causes of emigration from England, Scotland, and Wales are not unlike those which lead to emigra-

' Report of the immigration investigating commission, p. 162.

317] Catiscs of Immigration 11

tion from British America. The grade of emigrants is about the same, except that we get a more heterogeneous class from the industrial centers of England. Although the journey from Great Britain is a much greater undertaking than that from the British provinces, not a few artisans come from that country for the season, returning after a few months. Considering the distance, the movement of labor between Great Britain and the United States is very free. During the last few years nearly as many have returned to England as have come from that country.

Most of the Germans in Boston are from the states of Prussia, Bavaria, Baden, and Saxony. The immigrants are very commonly peasants, although there are many skilled laborers among them. The competition of American wheat has been disastrous for the peasantry in nearly all European countries, and in Germany small farmers have found it necessary to get factory employment for a part of the year in order to ensure a livelihood. Agricultural laborers in Bavaria receive from 25 to 37 cents a day with board, and expert weavers are paid $17.00 or $18.00 a month. ^ The large number of German immigrants who have been in this country since 1850 also act as a powerful stimulus to further immigration. Compulsory service in the army has been considered by some as a cause for emigration, but it is not so considered by United States Commissioner Schulters, who in 1891 investigated the causes which lead to emigration from Germany.^

1 Edmund Self, Why they come, North American Review, 134, 347. ^ Report of the commissioners of immigration, p. 288.

Chapter II

The immigrants of the present day not only represent less hopeless social conditions than the Irish who emigrated during the middle of the century, but they are also subject to a selective process in the form of immigration laws and of an efficient system of regulations which were not in force at that time.

The first restrictive immigration law of general application was passed in 1882. Its purport was to refuse admission to convicts, lunatics, idiots, and all persons likely to become a public charge. Since 1885 alien contract laborers have also been excluded. In an act of 1891 the classes of excluded aliens, other than Chinese, were more carefully defined as follows : " All idiots, insane persons, paupers, or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, polygamists, and also any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another, or who is assisted by others to come, unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown on special inquiry that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes or to the class of contract laborers, excluded by the act of February 26, 1885, but this section shall not be held to exclude persons living in the United States from sending for a relative or friend who is not of the excluded classes under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe." In 1882 a tax of fifty cents was imposed upon every alien passenger coming to this country by sea from foreign countries, and in 1894 the amount was raised to one dollar, the steamship companies being obliged to pay the tax.

The number of persons actually excluded on account of the provisions contained in these laws depends largely upon the judgment of the official administering them, but an acquaintance with the actual methods of applying the laws shows that reasonable precautions are taken. The number of persons debarred each year indicates only the minimum of the possible burden which the United States escapes through the operation of the laws, for their strict application doubtless keeps many undesirable persons from attempting entrance to this country. The following table, compiled from figures taken from the report of the commissioner general of immigration for the fiscal year 1900-01, shows the relative number of excluded immigrants among the most important nationalities : —

TabIvE I. — Percentages of Exci^uded Immigrants among Important Nationalities.

Per cent ! Per cent

Scandinavian .18

Portugese .46

Northern Italian .59

German .63

Hebrew .84

Southern Italian 1.34

The figures in this table include only steerage passengers, and of these the English and Scotch show a large percentage of debarred. If the total number of alien passengers were taken as a basis, these two nationalities would have a much smaller percentage of debarred and would rank below the German. The order of the other nationalities would, however, remain unchanged. Making allowance for those English and Scotch who do not come in the steerage, the greatest number of debarred are among the Jews and the Italians, where the percentage, however, is decreasing somewhat from year to year. The order of nationalities remains pretty much the same.

About two-thirds of all the excluded persons come under the head of " paupers or persons likely to become a public charge," but a considerable number of contract laborers are discovered among the Italians. The average financial condition of the various peoples is better indicated, however, by the amount of money actually shown by the immigrants upon their arrival, for, of the nationalities who have been longest here, a large number of persons having no visible means of support are admitted because they have relatives in this country who are able to give a satisfactory guarantee of their independence. And again with some nationalities, notably the English, there is a greater difference in the material resources of individual immigrants than is the case with other nationalities. To offset the paupers among the English immigrants there are oftentimes second cabin passengers who have several hundred dollars carefully concealed about their persons. The average amount of money per capita among the different nationalities as compiled from the same report as the previous table is as follows : —

TABI.E II. — Average Amount of Money per Capita

BROUGHT BY THE IMPORTANT NATIONAIJTIES.

Germans 30.00

Northern ItaHans 23.00

Scandinavians 17.00

Portugese 11.00

Jews 9.00

Southern Italians _. 9.00

In comparing this with the preceding table it will be noticed that, although a large percentage of the Engli.sh and Scotch are debarred, those admitted are much the most well to do of our immigrants — and this leaves out of account the money brought over by second class passengers. The Irish, on the other hand, though showing comparatively few exclusions, have very moderate funds. With the Italians and Jews we find the smallest average resources as well as the largest number of exclusions. The total amount of money brought into the country by immigrants during the fiscal year 1901 was $7,383,822 or about $15.00 per capita — certainly not a large amount of money with which to begin life in a foreign country. When immigrants are provided on the average with only $9.00 each, as is the case with the Italians and the Jews, it is necessary that they should have good productive powers in order to be an economic advantage to the country.