A re-visit, for the Relief Survey, to persons who had applied for aid for business purposes, was begun in July, 1908, and completed in November, 1908. This re-visit covered 1,000 cases, in 894 of which aid had been given, and in 106 refused. Cases from all periods of the rehabilitation work were selected at random, and should therefore be representative. Of the 894 grants, 196 were made before October 27, 1906, by individual committeemen representing the Rehabilitation Committee. The remaining 698 grants to these cases were the work of the special sub-committee known as Committee VI. The average grant for business received by the 894 applicants to whom grants were made was $247.55.
It is not to be understood, from the statement that 1,000 persons were re-visited, that all were found and personally interviewed. A number of the families had disappeared and could not be found. In cases of this sort an effort was made to secure as much information as possible from outside sources; and naturally the information supplied was more complete on some phases of family or business life than on others.
The word “family” in the sections which follow is used as meaning any applicant for aid and the persons with whom he lived. As will be shown below, a number of the families aided consisted of but one person.
3. THE FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS AIDED
Data as to nativity were obtained for 750 of the 894 revisited families which received aid. These are shown in [Table 48].
TABLE 48.—NATIVITY OF HEADS OF FAMILIES RECEIVING BUSINESS REHABILITATION
| Country of birth | Heads of families of each specified nativity |
|---|---|
| America | 377 |
| Germany | 96 |
| Ireland | 93 |
| Italy | 29 |
| England | 26 |
| France | 24 |
| Russia | 22 |
| Mexico | 12 |
| Canada | 12 |
| Austria | 8 |
| Roumania | 7 |
| Denmark | 7 |
| Others | 37 |
| Total | 750 |
From this statement of the nativity of heads of families, it appears that the American born constituted almost exactly half (50.3 per cent) of the entire number. There were, among the heads of the families aided, 122 Hebrews, of whom 22 were born in Russia, seven in Roumania, five in Austria, four each in Germany and in America, and one each in Poland, Hungary, Turkey and England; 76 Hebrews did not give their nativity. Together, the Hebrew families constituted over 16 per cent of all the families revisited for which information as to nativity was secured. [Table 49] shows the conjugal condition of the families aided.
TABLE 49.—CONJUGAL CONDITION OF FAMILY GROUPS RECEIVING BUSINESS REHABILITATION[157]
| Conjugal condition | Families of each specified conjugal condition |
|---|---|
| Married couples | 394 |
| Women, widowed, divorced, or separated | 286 |
| Single women | 93 |
| Men, widowed, divorced or separated | 55 |
| Single men | 61 |
| Total | 889 |