An examination of the sex distribution of some of the leading races shows how thoroughly characteristic of the new immigration this excess of males is. The following table shows the percentages of the two sexes of certain chosen races for the eleven-year period 1899 to 1909:
| SEX DISTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRANTS OF SPECIFIED RACES, BY PER CENTS, 1899 TO 1909 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race or People | Per Cent | |
| Male | Female | |
| Bulgarian, Servian, Montenegrin | 96.0 | 4.0 |
| Croatian and Slovenian | 85.1 | 14.9 |
| English | 61.7 | 38.3 |
| German | 59.4 | 40.6 |
| Greek | 95.4 | 4.6 |
| Hebrew | 56.7 | 43.3 |
| Irish | 47.2 | 52.8 |
| Italian, north | 78.4 | 21.6 |
| Italian, south | 78.6 | 21.4 |
| Lithuanian | 71.1 | 28.9 |
| Magyar | 72.7 | 27.3 |
| Polish | 69.2 | 30.8 |
| Ruthenian | 74.0 | 26.0 |
| Scandinavian | 61.3 | 38.7 |
| Slovak | 70.3 | 29.7 |
Comparing the entire old immigration for the period specified with the entire new immigration (European only), we find that of the former 58.5 per cent were male and 41.5 per cent female; of the latter 73 per cent were male, and 27 per cent female.[[156]] It is evident that the new immigration is in no sense an immigration of families, but of men, either single men, or married men who have left their wives on the other side. This is due in part to the very fact that it is a new immigration, partly to the fact that it is, to such a large degree, temporary or provisional. An immigrant who expects to return to his native land after a few years in America is more likely to leave his wife behind him than one who bids farewell to his old home forever. The typical old immigrant, when he has secured his competency, sends for his wife to come and join him; the typical new immigrant, under the same circumstances, in many cases returns to his native land to spend the remainder of his days in the enjoyment of his accumulated wealth. The only exception to this rule is that furnished by the Hebrews, among whom the sexes are nearly equally distributed. This is one of the many respects in which they stand apart from the rest of the new immigration. The only race in which the female immigrants exceed the males is the Irish, and this has been the case only within recent years. During the years of the great Irish immigration the males predominated.
The matter of sex is one of the greatest importance to the United States. It is one thing to have foreign families coming here to cast in their lots with this nation permanently; it is quite another to have large groups of males coming over, either with the expectation of returning ultimately to their native land, or of living in this country without family connections, for an indefinite number of years. Such groups form an unnatural element in our population, and alter the problem of assimilation very considerably. They are willing to work for a lower wage than if they were trying to support families in this country, and are not nearly so likely to be brought into touch with the molding forces of American life as are foreign family groups. Their habits of life, as will appear later,[[157]] are abnormal, and tend to result in depreciated morals and physique. Many of the most unfortunate conditions surrounding the present immigration situation may be traced to this great preponderance of males.
The one thing that can be said in favor of this state of affairs is that such a group of immigrants furnishes a larger number of workers than one more evenly distributed between the sexes. This is an argument which will appeal to many; but to many others, who have the best welfare of the country at heart, it will appear wholly inadequate to offset the serious disadvantages which result from the situation. The Immigration Commission expresses its opinion that, in the effort to reduce the oversupply of unskilled labor in this country by restricting immigration, special discrimination should be made against men unaccompanied by wives or children.[[158]]
In regard to the age of immigrants the most striking fact is that the great bulk of them are in the middle age groups. In the year 1912 the distribution of the total immigration among the different age groups was as follows: under fourteen years, 13.6 per cent; fourteen to forty-four years, 80.9 per cent; forty-five years and over, 5.5 per cent. In the total population of the United States the respective percentages in these groups are about 30, 51, and 19. There is only a slight difference in this respect between the new and the old immigration. Of the total European immigration for the years 1899 to 1909, the old immigration had 12.8 per cent in the first age group, 80.4 per cent in the second, and 6.8 per cent in the third; the new immigration had 12.2 per cent in the first, 83.5 per cent in the second, and 4.3 per cent in the third.[[159]] There is, however, a very marked difference between the races. This will be brought out by the following table, which shows the age distribution of certain selected races, for the year 1910:
| DISTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRANTS OF SPECIFIED RACES AMONG THE AGE GROUPS, BY PER CENTS, 1910 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race or People | Age, Per Cent | ||
| Under 14 Years | 14 to 44 Years | 45 Years and Over | |
| Croatian and Slovenian | 4.7 | 91.0 | 3.3 |
| German | 17.0 | 75.9 | 7.1 |
| Greek | 2.6 | 96.0 | 1.4 |
| Hebrew | 25.9 | 67.9 | 6.2 |
| Irish | 7.4 | 88.3 | 4.3 |
| Italian, south | 10.4 | 83.5 | 6.1 |
| Polish | 7.6 | 89.7 | 2.7 |
Here, again, the Hebrews appear as an exception to the general rule as regards the new immigration and, in this case, as regards the total immigration.
The showing in regard to age substantiates the observation already made that our modern immigration is in no sense an immigration of families. This, too, affects the chances for assimilation very considerably. As regards the economic efficiency of the immigrants, the age distribution, added to the sex distribution, marks them as a selected group. When it is further considered that the physically and mentally feeble, and those who are unlikely to be able to earn their own living are weeded out in the process of inspection, it appears that those who look upon the immigrant as nothing more than a source of cheap labor have much reason to be pleased with the quality of our immigration. The productive power of a group of immigrants averages very much higher than a corresponding number of persons taken from the general population of the race from which they come.
Herein lies perhaps the greatest and most popular argument for immigration. It is claimed that without our foreign laboring force it would have been impossible to develop the resources of the country so rapidly and completely as they have been developed, and that if the supply were cut off now, it would seriously cripple the entire industry of the country. It is certainly true that under the present organization of industry in this country, production in many lines depends to a very important degree upon foreign labor. How much of truth there is in the deduction that without the immigrants this country would be much farther back in the industrial race than it is to-day, will be considered in another connection.[[160]]