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.] 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.] 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. TABLE 13.-Foreign-born white feeble-minded in institutions in continental United States, 1904, by country of birth. [Compiled from U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions, 1904," tables on pp. 211 and 222.] From this table it appears that of the 1,038 feeble-minded persons for whom data are presented, 274, or 26.4 per cent, were of Ġerman nativity; 149, or 14.4 per cent, of Canadian nativity; 127, or 12.2 per cent, of Russian or Polish nativity; 121, or 11.7 per cent, of Scandinavian nativity; 101, or 9.7 per cent, of English or Welsh nativity; and only 73, or 7 per cent, of Irish nativity. The proportion of feeble-minded persons of Italian, Hungarian or Bohemian, Scotch, and French nativity was relatively small. It is worthy of note that the Irish, who led all the other nativities in the proportion of alien insane in hospitals, contributed only a comparatively small proportion of the alien feeble-minded in institutions. As has been seen, the Germans, the Canadians, the Russians and Poles, the Scandinavians, and the English and Welsh all ranked ahead of the Irish in the proportion of feeble-minded in 'institutions. The number of cases considered in the foregoing table is too small to permit of conclusions concerning the relative tendency of the various nationalities toward feeble-mindedness. In any event the number of feeble-minded persons found in institutions is not at all representative of the number in the country, because comparatively few who might fairly be classed as feeble-minded are so detained. Furthermore, it is impossible to say whether the practice of retaining feeble-minded and otherwise defective individuals in the home is more common with one nationality than with another. THE TENDENCY TO INSANITY AMONG THE IMMIGRANTS, BY NATIONALITY OR RACE. The relative liability to insanity of foreign-born persons of the different races or nativities can not be determined from the data of the foregoing tables alone. The tables show merely the number of alien insane of each immigrant race or nativity in its relation to the total number of alien insane. It is possible, however, by presenting data for the alien insane in connection with data for the general population, to compare the percentage of persons of a given nativity among all the alien insane with the percentage of persons of the same nativity in the total alien population. Such a comparison will indicate the relative standing, in the matter of insanity, of the different immigrant nationalities. In the discussion of insanity among the several alien nationalities, as in the discussion of insanity among the native-born and the foreign-born, the figures showing population and the figures showing insane persons are from different sources and for different years. The data showing the proportion of persons of each specified nativity in the general alien population are from the census of 1900, while the data showing the proportion of persons of each nativity among all the alien insane are supplied by the United States census special report upon the insane in hospitals in 1904. As the foreign-born of the different nativities reported by the population census presumably average about the same as to age, it is not necessary, in this connection, to deduct persons under 10 years of age from the returns for any group, as was done in comparing the native-born with the foreign-born. In the following table the per cent distribution, by country of birth, of the foreign-born white insane enumerated in hospitals in continental United States on December 31, 1903, is compared with the per cent distribution, by country of birth, of the total foreign-born population in 1900: TABLE 14.-Foreign-born white insane enumerated in hospitals in continental United States December 31, 1903, and total foreign-born population of continental United States in 1900, by country of birth; per cent distribution. [Compiled from U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions, 1904," tables on pp. 23 and 24.]. The Irish, German, Scandinavian, and French nationalities show each a larger proportion of all the foreign-born insane in hospitals on December 31, 1903, than of the total foreign-born population in 1900. On the other hand, the English and Welsh, Canadian, Scotch, Italian, Hungarian and Bohemian, and Russian and Polish nationalities, and nationalities not specified, show each a smaller proportion of all the foreign-born insane than of the total foreign-born population. Per sons of Irish nativity constituted 15.6 per cent of the total foreign-born population in 1900, while 29 per cent of the foreign-born insane in hospitals in 1903 were of Irish birth. Among the insane the proportion of Irish-born persons was thus almost twice as large, relatively speaking, as the proportion of Irish-born persons in the population, the difference in the percentages being larger than in the case of any other nationality. In 1900, 25.8 per cent of the foreign-born population of the country were of German birth, and in 1903 persons of German birth supplied 26.9 per cent of the foreign-born insane in hospitals. Persons of Scandinavian nativity constituted 10.3 per cent of the total foreign-born population in 1900, and on December 31, 1903, 11.5 per cent of the foreign-born insane in hospitals were of Scandinavian birth. Persons of French nativity constituted 1 per cent of the foreign-born population in 1900 and 1.2 per cent of the foreignborn insane in hospitals in 1903. The English and Welsh show a relatively smaller proportion of insane persons than do the Irish, Germans, Scandinavians, or French. While only 7 per cent of the insane in hospitals in 1903 were of English or Welsh nativity, persons of this group constituted 9 per cent of the total foreign-born population in 1900. The percentages of the table indicate a smaller relative proportion of insane among persons of Canadian birth, than among foreign-born persons of any other nationality. Of the total foreign-born population as reported in 1900, 11.4 per cent were of Canadian nativity, while only 6.5 per cent of the foreign-born insane in hospitals in 1903 were born in Canada. The Scotch constituted 2.3 per cent of the foreign-born population and 1.7 per cent of the foreign-born insane; the Italians, 4.7 per cent of the foreign-born population and 2.3 per cent of the foreign-born insane; and the Hungarians and Bohemians, 2.9 per cent of the foreign-born population and 2.2 per cent of the foreign-born insane. Persons born in Russia and Poland constituted 7.8 per cent of the foreign-born population and 4.4 per cent of the foreign-born insane, while persons of unspecified nativities constituted 9.2 per cent of the foreign-born population and 7.3 per cent of the foreign-born insane. In the census report the data are discussed very fully. The following quotations are from this discussion: " * * Relative to their numbers the Irish furnish a much larger proportion of the white foreign-born insane in hospitals than any other nationality. This is in keeping with the very high ratio of insanity in Ireland. * It has been suggested that the greater concentration of the Irish in the chief centers of population may account in part for the high ratio of insanity they show when compared with other foreign-born from western and northern Europe. But the concentration in urban communities of the Irish-born population is not much greater than that of the German-born, for instance, who show relatively a much lower ratio of insanity. * * * * * * The proportion of German insane to the total foreign-born white insane is greater than the proportion of this nationality to the total foreign-born. * * The German immigration since 1900 has probably not perceptibly affected the actual percentage of Germans among all foreign-born, so that the comparison is fairly accurate. More favorable conditions, on the whole, are to be observed among the Canadians than among the English and Welsh. the percentage of Canadians is considerably larger among the total foreign-born than among the foreign-born white insane in hospitals. * * * * * @U. S. Census, Special Report, "Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and insti tutions, 1904," pp. 24, 25, 26, and 27. |