AS REGARDS “IMMORAL CHARACTER”
For some of the less mechanical causes of denial, let us segregate and arrange the countries in order of percentages. The following table shows denials for “immoral character.”
TABLE XIX
Per Cent of Denials Due to “Immoral Character,” by Race
| Country of Birth | Denials Per Cent |
| Total cases | 1.9 |
| Turkey in Europe | 7.6 |
| Denmark | 6.9 |
| Sweden | 5.0 |
| Canada | 4.6 |
| Rumania | 3.7 |
| Hungary | 3.2 |
| England | 2.5 |
| Germany | 2.4 |
| Russia | 1.7 |
| Italy | 1.7 |
| Austria | 1.4 |
| Ireland | 0.6 |
The average percentage of denials for the whole United States for the period 1908–18 on the ground of “immoral character” was 4.0 per cent. With the exception of Turkey in Europe, not one of the “newer” races came up to this average in the year 1913–14, so far as may be judged by this analysis of the court records of more than one in five of the petitions passed upon in that year. Austria, Hungary, Italy, Rumania, all showed a record materially better, and the figures generally show that cause to be negligible, anyway.
THE SHOWING AS TO “IGNORANCE”
In considering the statistics of denials on the ground of “ignorance,” it is to be remembered that the examinations which disclose this “ignorance” do not go as a rule to the subject of illiteracy or general intelligence, but deal in the majority of cases with the understanding of the petitioner as to the form of government, and sometimes decidedly minute details of the history, of the United States. The average percentage of denials on the ground of “ignorance” in the whole United States during the eleven years 1908–18 was 10.3. The records of the petitions of every one of the “recent” races, except Italian, for the year 1913–14—if one may judge by this study of more than one-fifth of them—was far better than that average, though generally higher than that of the old races.