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The native whites of foreign parentage also appear to advantage when contrasted with the native whites of native parentage. The native whites of foreign parentage constituted 27.7 per cent of the total native white in the general population of 1900, while those of foreign parentage, including mixed parentage, formed 27.3 per cent of the total native white insane of known parentage enumerated in hospitals on December 31, 1903. The native whites of native parentage, on the other hand, constituted 72.3 per cent of the white population and 72.7 per cent of the white insane. * * Although the figures * * indicate that the native whites of foreign parentage contribute a relatively smaller number of insane in hospitals than the native whites of native parentage, this fact has little bearing upon the comparative liability to insanity of the two classes. The truth is that the native whites of foreign parentage are still too youthful to furnish a number of insane proportionate to their representation in the population, as may be seen by comparing the percentages of the native whites of native parentage with those of native whites of foreign parentage in the age periods in which insanity is most likely to occur.

The census report presents and discusses the figures for the age groups between 25 and 44 years, the period in which insanity is most likely to occur, as follows:

TABLE 8.-Parentage of native-born white insane in hospitals in continental United States, December 31, 1903, and of native-born white persons in the general population, 1900, by specified age groups.

[From U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions, 1904," p. 22.]

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Upon reference to the foregoing table it is seen that in the age groups from 25 to 44 years those of foreign parentage constituted a larger percentage of the native white insane of known parentage enumerated in hospitals on December 31, 1903, than of the general native white population of 1900. It also shows that as the age periods advance the proportion of the native white general population with native parents increases, while that with foreign parents declines. It might be permissible, therefore, to infer that if the age distribution of the native whites of foreign parentage, instead of showing a comparatively greater concentration in the earlier age groups, were similar to that of the native whites of native parentage, the relative number of insane contributed by the two classes would at least be equal.

Immigration on a large scale is of too recent origin to make it possible to demonstrate with any degree of exactness how far insanity occurs with greater or with less frequency among the native whites of native parentage than among the native whites of foreign parentage. Whether the percentages of insane shown for the last-mentioned group are not on the whole rather in advance of their numerical strength in the country must also remain an open question for the present.

The data relating to the proportion of aliens among the feebleminded, as compared with the proportion of aliens in the total population, are discussed in the census report as follows: "

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a U. S. Census, Special Report, Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions, 1904," p. 210.

Among the white feeble-minded of known nativity the number of native feebleminded was 14,456, or 93.4 per cent, and of foreign born, 1,038, or 6.6 per cent. The largest percentage of foreign born among the white feeble-minded, 17.3, is found in Ohio, which is followed by Minnesota with 12.6 per cent, and New York with 12.1. In other States having exceptionally large foreign populations the percentages of foreign born among the white feeble-minded in institutions are in all cases under 10. It is probable, therefore, that in most instances the number of foreign-born white feebleminded in the population of a State bears little relation to the number that happens to be committed to institutions.

THE ALIEN INSANE, CLASSIFED BY NATIONALITY OR RACE.

In the report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration for 1908, previously referred to, insane "aliens" are classified according to the race or people to which they belonged, but no such classification is afforded for the 25,128 foreign-born persons who had become naturalized. Consequently the relation of each race or people to the total number of foreign-born insane can not be shown by the data from this source. However, the following table showing the racial distribution of the "alien" insane is of interest:

TABLE 9.-Aliens detained in institutions for the insane in the United States, 1908. [Compiled from Annual Report of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1908.]

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It appears from the foregoing table that among the 25,606 "aliens" in institutions for the insane for whom information was secured, the Irish, numbering 6,167, or 24.1 per cent of the total, and the Germans, numbering 5,795, or 22.6 per cent of the total, have the largest representation. The Scandinavians, with 10.2 per cent of all the insane "aliens," rank third, and the English, with 8 per cent, fourth. Of the remaining races, the Poles, South Italians, and French have the largest number of insane aliens. It will be noted that in the case of many of the races or peoples the number of insane aliens reported falls short of 100.

Original data secured by the Immigration Commission for the system of New York City hospitals known as "Bellevue and Allied Hospitals," show the general nativity and race of persons admitted to treatment. These data, so far as they relate to the insane, are presented in the following table:

TABLE 10.-Persons received at Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, New York City, for treatment for insanity, August 1, 1908, to February 28, 1909.

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From this table it appears that of the 1,485 persons for whom complete data are reported, 941, or 63.4 per cent, were foreign-born, 306, or 20.6 per cent, native-born of foreign father, 193, or 13 per cent, native-born whites of native father, and 31, or 2.1 per cent, native-born negroes of native father. Among the foreign-born of the races for which information is given the Irish, Hebrews, and Germans

a See Immigrants in Charity Hospitals, pp. 253 to 290 of this volume.

had, in the order mentioned, the largest number of insane. The Irish insane constituted 27 per cent, the Hebrew insane 24.4 per cent, and the German insane 17.6 per cent, of the entire number of foreign-born insane reported. It will be noted that the Italian insane were less than half as numerous as the German insane, while insane persons of the English, Magyar, Polish, Scotch, and Swedish races were present in comparatively small numbers. Owing to the character of the institutions and the small number of persons considered, these data, of course, are of little or no value in determining the relative tendency to insanity among the foreign-born races discussed.

In the table next presented, which is compiled from the figures of the census report previously quoted, the foreign-born insane enumerated in hospitals in continental United States on December 31, 1903, are classified according to country of birth.

TABLE 11.-Foreign-born white insane enumerated in hospitals in continental United States, December 31, 1903, by country of birth.

[Compiled from U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions, 1904," tables on pp. 23 and 100.]

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Of the 47,078 foreign-born insane for whom data are presented, 13,664, or 29 per cent, were of Irish nativity, 12,644, or 26.9 per cent, were of German nativity, and 5,409, or 11.5 per cent, were of Scandinavian nativity. After these three leading groups came natives of England and Wales, numbering 3,311, or 7 per cent of all the insane, and natives of Canada, numbering 3,049, or 6.5 per cent of all the insane. Persons born in Russia and Poland, in Italy, in Hungary and Bohemia, and in France, were represented in the order mentioned. There were 3,426 insane born in countries not specified.

It will be noted that in this table, as in the one compiled from the report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, the Irish show the largest and the Germans the second largest proportion of all insane persons for whom statistics are given.

The following table shows the distribution, by country of birth, of foreign-born white insane persons admitted to hospitals in continental United States during the year 1904:

TABLE 12.-Foreign-born white insane admitted to hospitals in continental United States during 1904, by country of birth.

[Compiled from U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded.in hospitals and institutions, 1904," tables on pp. 28 and 101.]

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It appears from the foregoing table that of the 13,405 insane persons for whom data are presented, 3,206, or 23.9 per cent, were of German birth, and 2,989, or 22.3 per cent, were of Irish birth. The principal difference between the indications of this table and those of the preceding tables consists in the fact that in this table the number of insane of German nativity slightly exceeds the number of insane of Irish nativity. In this table also the proportions of insane both of Irish and of German nativity, are somewhat smaller, and the proportions of insane born in England and Wales, Canada, Scotland, Italy, Hungary and Bohemia, and Russia and Poland are somewhat larger, than in the table showing insane persons in hospitals on December 31, 1903. The proportions of insane of Scandinavian and French birth are about the same in the two tables.

The number of foreign-born feeble-minded persons of each nativity, race, or people, in its relation to the total number of foreign-born feeble-minded, is determined by the data presented in the census report. The table following, compiled from these data, shows the distribution, by country of birth, of foreign-born white feeble-minded persons in institutions in continental United States in 1904.

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