ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE DEAF
Extent to Which the Deaf are a Wage-earning and Self-supporting Element of the Population
In the want of the sense of hearing, and with it oftentimes the faculty of speech, the deaf are deprived of most important powers, and, it might appear, of an essential equipment for work among men. It is not to be denied that the deaf start out into life severely handicapped, nor can the difficulties which they must face in meeting the world pass unregarded.
Yet notwithstanding the particular adversity under which the deaf have to labor, they remain in full possession of all their other physical forces, and it may be a question whether on the whole they are to be considered disqualified from engaging in the industrial pursuits of men. It may be that there are occupations in which their deafness will not prove of material consequence, and that in such fields they will be able to enter without serious impediment. In the present chapter we shall attempt to see how far these possibilities seem to be realized in the actual industrial life of the community. In other words, we shall consider what is the place of the deaf as economic factors in this life, and how far they are independent wage-earners, at the same time comparing their economic standing with that of the general population.
The returns of the census, covering the entire country and presenting the results of a careful investigation, will furnish our most complete source of information. Here[94] are reported in gainful occupations 12,678 deaf persons over ten years of age, or 38.1 per cent of the number of the deaf over this age.[95] This is somewhat less than the percentage for the general population, which is 50.2. Of the deaf twenty years of age and over, however, the percentage gainfully employed is 50.1, embracing 11,670 persons. In the following table is shown the number of the deaf over ten years of age in the five great occupations, with the respective percentages, and also the percentages for the general population.
GENERAL OCCUPATIONS OF THE DEAF
| Occupation | Number | Per cent | Per cent of General Population |
| Agricultural pursuits | 4,761 | 37.5 | 35.7 |
| Manufacturing and mechanical | 4,583 | 36.1 | 24.4 |
| Domestic and personal | 2,395 | 18.9 | 19.2 |
| Trade and transportation | 552 | 4.4 | 16.4 |
| Professional | 387 | 3.1 | 4.3 |
It is seen from this that the proportions are very nearly the same for the deaf and the general population in agricultural pursuits, domestic and personal service, and professional service. In manufacturing and mechanical occupations the proportion of the deaf is indeed considerably higher. In trade and transportation, on the other hand, the proportion for the deaf is far lower than that for the general population—a condition to be accounted for by the very evident need of hearing in such pursuits.
Of the deaf engaged in agricultural pursuits, 3,366, or about three-fourths, are in a position of ownership or direction, being farmers, planters, or overseers; 1,218 are agricultural laborers, while 75 are gardeners, florists, or nursery-men. The large number of the deaf in professional occupations is in part explained by the fact that 206 are themselves engaged in the instruction of the deaf. Other specified occupations where fifty or more of the deaf are employed in each are as follows: