As noted elsewhere, the present movement of population from the United States to Canada is largely composed of farmers and farm laborers and their families, 78.7 per cent of the total during the period covered by the above table being so classified. In the same three years only 23.7 per cent of the immigration from northern and western European countries was of the agricultural class. The widely different character of immigration from the two sources mentioned suggests that cities furnish the greater part of northern and western European immigration to Canada and a very small proportion of the immigration from the United States.

While it is impossible to state accurately how large a proportion of immigrants entering Canada engage in agricultural pursuits, some indication of this is furnished by the records of free land entries in western Canada.

HOMESTEAD ENTRIES.

From July 1, 1900, to March 31, 1909, 235,690 homesteads were entered for in the western Provinces, and of this number 156,261, or 66.3 per cent, represent entries by immigrants, practically all of whom came from Europe and the United States. According to the record the average number of persons for each entry was 2.5, and therefore 390,654, or more than 31 per cent of the total immigration to Canada during the period specified, were involved. This does not take into account the large number of European immigrants who became farm laborers, or immigrants-particularly from the United States-who acquired railway and other land by purchase. The fact that nearly one-third of all immigrants become agriculturists through the medium of free lands alone supports the contention that Canada's efforts in this regard have resulted successfully.

IRISH IMMIGRATION.

In view of the large increase in the number of English and Scotch immigrants to Canada in recent years, it is noteworthy that Irish immigration to that country is comparatively small. In 1908, when the movement from Europe to Canada reached its greatest height, it included only 6,547 Irish to 91,412 English and Welsh and 22,223 Scotch, and in the nine years ending March 31, 1909, the total Irish immigration was only 30,184, or less than the Galician, Hebrew, or Russian immigration to Canada for the same period. It is evident that the Irish immigrant prefers the United States to Canada, for during the nine years ending June 30, 1908, 337,812 persons of that race landed in the United States. This, however, is not true of other British peoples, for more English and Scotch immigrants were admitted to Canada from 1900 to 1909 than came to the United States during a like period, while more than eleven times as many Irish immigrants came to the United States as went to Canada.

The relatively small Irish immigration to Canada as compared with the immigration of other Britons to that country can not be attributed to Canada's lack of effort, for the same systematic campaign to secure settlers for the Dominion is carried on alike in Ireland, Scotland, and England.

Notwithstanding the efforts of Canada, however, the United States is still the choice of more than 90 per cent of the Irish immigrants landing in North America.

It is interesting to note in this connection that the foreign-born Irish element in the population of Canada has decreased steadily and rapidly in recent years.

JUVENILE IMMIGRATION.

The immigration of poor and homeless British children to Canada began many years ago, and is now encouraged and supervised, but not otherwise assisted, by the Dominion government. This juvenile immigration is chiefly recruited from the orphan or industrial homes of the British Isles. The children are sent to Canada by charitable and religious organizations, and are there distributed through various philanthropic homes and agencies. The majority of such children are placed in the families of farmers, and the demand for them far exceeds the supply. It is estimated that during the last fifty years nearly 60,000 juvenile immigrants have been transported to Canada from the British Isles." From 1901 to 1909, inclusive, 19,034 of these children were sent to Canada, and during the same period applications for 130,825 were filed with the Canadian authorities.

It is said that there formerly existed in Canada a deep-rooted prejudice against such juvenile immigration, but that this has almost entirely disappeared. Upon landing in Canada the children are placed in receiving and distributing homes, located in different parts of the Dominion, and remain there until indentured to farmers or others. The guardianship of the home over the children is continued to a greater or less degree until a period of apprenticeship is passed, and the children are taught to rely on the homes for advice and assistance. Agents of the homes visit the indentured children periodically. In turn the Canadian government exercises supervision over the receiving and distributing homes and, in a manner, looks after the welfare of the children in their foster homes.

ASSISTED IMMIGRATION.

In addition to the juvenile immigration above referred to, Canada annually receives a considerable number of British, and particularly English, immigrants, who have been sent from the mother country by private charity or state aid. Until recently the Canadian government had practically no part in the selection of such immigrants abroad, and as a result many were rejected at Canadian ports or deported after landing. In 1908 Mr. J. Bruce Walker, assistant superintendent of emigration for Canada in London, made a report upon the activities of the various philanthropic and charitable societies engaged in promoting emigration to Canada, which states that 12,336 persons were sent to Canada in the calendar year 1907 by London charitable societies alone. As immigration to Canada is recorded by fiscal rather than calendar years, it is impossible to exactly compare the number of assisted immigrants with the total immigration for any stated period; but it is interesting to note that the above number is equal to nearly 30 per cent of the total English immigration to Canada in the fiscal period of nine months ending March 31, 1907, and more than 13 per cent of such immigration in

• Report of the Superintendent of Immigration, Canada, 1909, p. 89.

the fiscal year ending March 31, 1908. No data are available to show the number of state-aided and rate-aided immigrants, which classes are described in Mr. Walker's report as follows:

These are the products of the distress committees and of the workhouses. The distress committees are bodies in large centers of population, permitted under the terms of the unemployed workmen's act to levy a small rate as a tax upon the public for the emigration and for provision by employment, or otherwise, of the unemployed in such communities. * * * The distress committees usually operate through some recognized booking agency, providing the fares for the transportation, and leaving such booking agency to provide the employment on the Canadian side. There is no supervision of an official character exercised over these emigrants.

Mr. Walker's report resulted in prompt action by the Canadian government, for on April 18, 1908, there became effective an order in council which prohibited the landing in Canada of any person whose passage had been paid wholly or in part by any charitable organization or out of public moneys unless the emigration to Canada of such person had been approved by the Canadian emigration authorities in London. The provisions of this order in council were made a part of the Canadian immigration law of May 4, 1910.

IMMIGRATION TO CANADA FROM THE UNITED STATES.

As shown by the table on page 612, there has been in recent years a great increase in the number of persons immigrating to Canada from the United States. The table referred to concerns only the period 1901-1909, and when the record from 1897 to the Canadian fiscal year ending March 31, 1910, is considered an even more startling situation appears. The development of the movement during the latter period is as follows:

The importance of the United States as a field for immigration effort by Canada is clearly understood when it is considered that in recent years nearly one-third, and in 1910 approximately one-half, of the total immigration into the Dominion came from the States. Moreover, the class of immigrants furnished by this country is, according to Canadian officials, just the class desired to accomplish the government's purpose of developing the agricultural and other resources of western Canada.

Few data are available showing the racial composition of the emigration movement from the United States to Canada. Canadian official reports indicate that a considerable proportion of the emigrants from the middle western States are Germans, Scandinavians, Finns,

and others of non-English-speaking races who had previously come to the United States as immigrants. Canada has made special effort to induce former Canadians, and particularly French Canadians, to repatriate themselves, with some measure of success. It is, nevertheless, probable that the majority of those composing the movement to Canada are native-born American farmers, who, through the Canadian propaganda, are attracted to the Dominion by the opportunity to secure free or cheap lands. Many of the emigrants dispose of their land or other property in the United States before emigrating, and Canadian officials estimate that in the fiscal year 1909 the United States immigrants brought to Canada, in stock, cash, and effects, upwards of $60,000,000. The middle western States are the chief source of the emigration to Canada. Data covering any considerable period of time are not available, but the following table will show which States were the largest contributors to the movement in the fiscal years 1907 to 1909:

TABLE 4.-Emigration from the United States to Canada, July 1, 1906, to March 31, 1909, by States.

[Compiled from statistics furnished by Department of the Interior, Canada.]

Probably no other considerable movement of population from one country to another at the present time is so largely composed of agricultural people as is the emigration from the United States to Canada. A total of 120,450, or more than 78 per cent of the total number going to Canada in 1907, 1908, and 1909, were classed as farmers or farm laborers, which includes, also, accompanying members of families, while less than 23 per cent of all other immigrants to Canada during the same period were of those classes.

Nearly 45 per cent of the immigrants to Canada from the United States, from 1900 to 1909, were homesteaders, and they made 70,182 free homestead entries, or 29.8 per cent of the total number of such entries made in the western Provinces during that period. In the year ending December 31, 1909, a total of 11,976 free homestead entries were made in Canada by persons coming from the United States.

a Report of Superintendent of Immigration, Canada, 1909, p. 80.
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THE RETURN MOVEMENT.

It is impossible to state what proportion of the immigration to Canada from the United States is permanent. In practically all larger immigration movements of the present time, however, there is a relatively large return movement, and it is probable that a considerable per cent of the United States emigrants settling in Canada eventually resume a residence in the United States. This statement is substantiated by the following extract from the latest annual report of John H. Clark, United States Commissioner of Immigration in Canada. Mr. Clark says: "

* there is an element in the travel from Canada to the United States, in which I feel our bureau will be especially interested, reference being had to citizens of our own country who, having settled in Canada, return to again take up their residence in the United States. Commencing with January 1 of the current year, a record has been compiled, showing that 6,869 of such citizens were interviewed by our officers during the past six months, and as containing important information, it has been directed that a similar record be obtained in the future. As the foregoing record covered that period of the year when the movement would naturally be northbound. I feel it perfectly safe to say that not less than 15,000 American citizens returned from Canada within the year to resume residence in the United States.

IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA.

No reliable data are available to show the extent of immigration to Canada from the United States for any considerable period prior to 1901. That such immigration, or at least permanent immigration, was, however, relatively small is indicated by the fact that in that year there were only 127,899 persons of United States birth in the Dominion.

On the other hand, Canada has for a long time contributed largely to the population of the United States. As early as 1850 there were, according to the census of that year, 147,711 natives of Canada in this country. Each succeeding census showed a large increase in this number until in 1900 there were nearly one-fourth as many nativeborn Canadians in the United States as in Canada.

The total number of natives of Canada in that country and in the United States in corresponding census years was as follows: Native-born Canadians in Canada:

While the figures relative to Canadians in the United States do not of course represent the actual movement of population from the Dominion, they do show that Canada was an important source of immigration to the United States during the period considered.

• Annual Report United States Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1909, p. 137.

The Canada Year Book, 1908.

• United States census reports.