Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/41

Aliens detained in Penal, Reformatory, and Charitable Institutions, showing for each race the ratio of criminality, and that said ratio corresponds largely to the proportion of recent arrivals

Proportion of alien inmates who are criminals

GRAND DIVISION OF RACE

Proportion of alien inmates arrived within 5 years

KELTIC

TEUTONIC

SLAVIC

IBERIC

AVERAGE OF ALL RACES

From F. P. Sargent, Commissioner General of Immigration

This chart shows the ratio of criminality of the four principal grand divisions, viz.: Keltic, Teutonic, Slavic, and Iberic. The Iberic division leads in criminality, with Slavic second, Teutonic third, and Keltic fourth. The Iberic ratio of 39 per cent is thought not to show the true condition, as it was found impracticable in the compilation of these figures to exclude the Italian (north) who belong with the Keltic grand division from the Italian (south) who belong with the Iberic grand division. In this connection it is pointed out that there were 809 aliens confined in the institutions of the United States proper for murder, 253 of whom were Italians; there were 373 confined for attempts to kill, 139 of whom were Italians. This is a ratio of one Italian to two aliens of all other races. From this diagram it will be seen that the racial divisions that have the largest percentages of recent arrivals detained are the ones that have the highest ratio of criminality. (See pages 26 and 27.)

But we are receiving many other families of a similar character bound for the tenement districts of our large cities, and with aspirations as narrow as those above described, whom it is not possible to exclude under existing law, for it does not necessarily follow that they are likely to become public charges from the fact that they will go to an overcrowded tenement district and occupy inadequate quarters.

Of the so-called "Americans" who have obtained their citizenship by rushing to the United States, living here long enough to take out papers, and then hurrying back to their native land, Inspector Marcus Brown gives the following illustration:

"The conditions I found to exist there (Jerusalem) are even worse, if such be possible, than in Syria. In the city of Jerusalem alone I found over 1,000 'American citizens,' the vast majority of whom, being Hebrews, live there ostensibly for religious reasons. A number of them are engaged in some business pursuits. These, however, are in the minority, the prevailing majority living on charity, mostly on the so-called 'chaluka' (the biblical one-tenth), which