The situation as far as nationality governed application shows but slight variation between the two periods of time. There are, however, a few interesting variations; as, for instance, the falling off in the second period in the number of applicants born in the British Empire, in the Scandinavian countries, and in the United States. Only the Irish and Italians have materially increased their proportionate numbers. Did the relief funds cause this increase, or did the catastrophe bear most heavily on these nationalities? When it is recalled[229] that the Latin Quarter was wiped out and that “South-of-Market,” largely the residential quarter of the poor Irish, was entirely burned, the fire seems undoubtedly to be responsible.
TABLE 98.—NATIVITY OF APPLICANTS FOR RELIEF FROM ASSOCIATED CHARITIES, BEFORE FIRE AND AFTER FIRE[230]
| Nativity | APPLICANTS OF EACH SPECIFIED NATIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per cent | |||
| Before fire | After fire | Before fire | After fire | |
| United States | 532 | 1,933 | 42.7 | 37.0 |
| Ireland | 135 | 734 | 10.9 | 14.0 |
| Italy | 65 | 541 | 5.2 | 10.4 |
| Spain, Mexico and Porto Rico | 113 | 500 | 9.1 | 9.6 |
| Germany | 118 | 475 | 9.5 | 9.1 |
| Great Britain, Canada and Australasia | 113 | 373 | 9.1 | 7.1 |
| Norway, Sweden and Denmark | 38 | 138 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| Finland, Russia, Poland and Armenia | 32 | 150 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
| Other countries (24) | 97 | 381 | 7.8 | 7.3 |
| Total | 1,243 | 5,225 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
[230] Data are not available as to the nationality of 307 of the 1,550 persons applying for relief before the fire, and of 726 of the 5,951 persons applying for relief after the fire.
No question is of greater importance than that involved in the relation between relief and the family. In [Parts I] and [II] the effort of the Rehabilitation Committee has been shown to have been to limit closely the amount of aid given to single, able-bodied persons and to able-bodied men.[231] This policy is shown in the following table to have influenced the work of the Associated Charities also, so that the widow and the handicapped family received primary consideration in the extended rehabilitation work.
[231] See [Part I], [p. 47], and [Part II], [p. 123]. This policy was, of course, being carried out in spirit when breadwinners were helped not with continued general relief, but with means to re-establish a home through a housing or business grant.
TABLE 99.—FAMILY TYPES AMONG APPLICANTS FOR RELIEF FROM ASSOCIATED CHARITIES, BEFORE FIRE AND AFTER FIRE[232]
| Family type | CASES OF EACH SPECIFIED TYPE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Per cent | ||||
| Before fire | After fire | Before fire | After fire | ||
| Families | |||||
| (1) | Married couples with children | 500 | 2,012 | 34.2 | 33.9 |
| (2) | Married couples without children | 109 | 522 | 7.5 | 8.8 |
| (3) | Widows with children | 167 | 1,044 | 11.4 | 17.5 |
| (4) | Deserted wives with children | 53 | 258 | 3.6 | 4.3 |
| (5) | Widowers with children | 41 | 144 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| (6) | Deserted husbands with children | 8 | 20 | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| (7) | Divorced men or women with children | 26 | 109 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| (8) | Orphan families | 10 | 30 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| (9) | Illegitimate families | 6 | 65 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| Total families | 920 | 4,204 | 63.0 | 70.6 | |
| Detached persons | |||||
| Men | 362 | 916 | 24.8 | 15.4 | |
| Women | 163 | 798 | 11.1 | 13.4 | |
| Total detached persons | 525 | 1,714 | 35.9 | 28.8 | |
| Dependent minors | 16 | 33 | 1.1 | 0.6 | |
| Grand Total | 1,461 | 5,951 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
[232] Data are not available as to the family type of 89 of the 1,550 persons applying for relief before the fire.