the U. S. Census Vital Statistics, Part 1, page 356, for the census year ending May 31, 1900. This does not indicate that the native is dying out in Massachusetts.
| Massachusetts: Births and Deaths. | ||
| Both parents native, births | 21,343 | |
| Both parents native, deaths (all ages) | 15,357 | |
| Natural increase | 5,986 | |
| One or both parents foreign | 44,252 | |
| Foreign born | 624 | 44,876 |
| Natives, one or both parents foreign, deaths (all ages) | 16,194 | |
| Foreign born | 13,645 | 29,839 |
| Natural increase | 15,037 | |
While the above shows a very healthy increase among the natives of Massachusetts it also indicates a larger increase among the foreign element. But in this connection it must not be forgotten that a very large proportion of those included in the foreign element are of the same stock as the natives. Thus in Massachusetts there are nearly a half million English, Scotch, Welsh and English Canadians, both foreign and native born. I think the foregoing shows pretty conclusively that the natives are not dying out and that all opinions to the contrary are based on a false foundation.
| C. E. Smith. |
| Brooklyn, N. Y. |
[We publish Mr. Smith's letter as the question is of such importance that it should be discussed from all sides. It ought to be said, however, that statisticians hesitate to draw conclusions as to racial increase from the figures of the census. When the native population increases from one census to another, this is partly and may be entirely due to the children of foreign parents who are counted as natives. When Mr. Smith gives figures showing that in Massachusetts the births when both parents are natives exceed the deaths when both parents arc natives, it should be noted that the births come from a considerably larger group than the deaths. The native children of foreign parents are not counted among the deaths, but their children are counted among the births. It is also true that after a period when the native population has increased (perhaps only by children of foreign parents) there would be an excess of births. Mr. Kuczynski in his careful analysis of the fecundity of the native and foreign-born population in Massachusetts (Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1901, and February, 1902) states that in Berlin, where proper statistics are collected such as do not exist in this country, the birth rate is not sufficient to maintain the population. But in Berlin there was an annual birth rate of 10 for every 100 married women in child-bearing age, whereas it was only 6.3 in the native population of Massachusetts.
It seems also fair to our readers to state that we do not accept the conclusions of Dr. Engelmann published in the last number of the Monthly. In an article such as Professor Fleming's on 'Wireless Telegraphy,' we have simply to learn what the leading authority on the subject teaches us. When we leave the exact sciences, and especially when we enter the field of applied sociology, we have our science to make. The fact that sociology is now in about the condition of the physics of three hundred years ago does not detract from its interest, but rather adds to the possibilities of progress. Readers should, however, remember that while a physicist can usually speak for the science of physics, a sociologist can usually only speak for himself. The fact that the editor of this journal does not agree with Dr. Engelmann in regard to the interpretation of statistics does not necessarily mean that Dr. Engelmann is mistaken, but only that the subjects are not yet in the field of exact science.
