PARTICIPATION OF JEWS IN TOTAL IMMIGRATION
We turn now to a consideration of the part played by the Jewish
immigration in the total immigration to this country for these thirty
years.[90] A general rise is revealed in the proportions the Jewish
bore to the total immigration. In the decade between 1881 and 1890, of
the 5,246,613 immigrants, the Jewish immigrants were 193,021, or 3.7
per cent of the total. In the decade between 1891 and 1900, of the
3,687,564 immigrants, the Jewish immigrants numbered 393,516. The
Jewish proportion of the total rose to 10.7 per cent. This really
tremendous rise was due to the fact that while the total number of
immigrants fell off one-third in this decade, the Jewish immigrants
doubled their numbers. It is from this decade that the Jewish
immigrants become conspicuous in the immigration to the United States.
In the decade between 1901 and 1910, of the 8,795,386 immigrants, the
Jewish immigrants numbered 976,263. The proportion of the Jewish
immigrants to the total rose to 11.1 per cent. Even in this decade of
tremendous increase in the general immigration, the Jewish immigration
rose at a still greater rate.
For the entire period the Jewish immigration was 8.8 per cent of the
total immigration.[91] This proportion was not reached before 1891.
The maximum in the first decade was in 1887, when the Jewish
immigration constituted 6.7 per cent of the total for the year. In
1891, this proportion rose to 9.2 per cent. It reached its highest
point during nineteen years, in 1892, when the Jewish immigrants
constituted 13.2 per cent of the total for the year. Throughout the
period of depression, from 1893 to 1898, the contribution of the
Jewish to the total immigration was, with two exceptions, above its
average for the thirty years. In 1893, when the number of Jewish
immigrants fell to half of that of the preceding year, its
contribution to the total was 8 per cent. In 1897, a year of lowest
Jewish as well as general immigration, its proportion was the same as
the average. In the following years the contribution of the Jewish
immigration rose proportionately, and in 1900 it reached the maximum
for thirty years, constituting 13.5 per cent of the total for the
year. The next highest proportion was reached in the year of maximum
Jewish immigration, 1906, when the Jewish immigrants represented 13.4
per cent of the total for the year. Throughout the years from 1904 to
1908, the Jewish immigrants contributed above their average for the
period. In 1908, when the numbers both of the Jewish and the total
immigration had been greatly reduced, the Jewish immigrants
contributed 13.2 per cent of the total, one of the highest proportions
in the entire period, a fact which indicates that the Jewish immigrant
tide recedes more slowly than that of the total immigration. In 1909,
the year in which the effect of the panic of 1907 was registered in
the Jewish immigration, the proportion of the Jewish immigrants to the
total fell to 7.7 per cent. A slight relative rise took place in 1910
to 8.1 per cent.
A comparison of the annual fluctuations of the Jewish and the total
immigration enables us to distinguish some points of difference.[92]
Though, on the whole, the Jewish corresponds with the total
immigration in its rise and fall, there are significant differences.
Thus, 1882 represents a year of high immigration in each, but the rise
is in the case of the total immigration one of 17.9 per cent over that
of the preceding year, but in the case of the Jewish, it represents a
rise of 131.9 per cent over that of the preceding year,
proportionately more than seven times as great. Another period of
rising movement is in 1891 and 1892. Where, however, in 1891 the total
immigration rose 20.9 per cent, the Jewish rose 79.5 per cent. In
1892, the total rose 3.4 per cent, the Jewish rose 48.6 per cent. In
all these cases the difference is so great as to indicate the working
of special influences in the Jewish movement.
The existence of these special influences is again evident in the last
decade. In 1904, the total immigration fell off 5.2 per cent, but the
Jewish immigration rose 39.4 per cent. In 1906, in spite of the great
total immigration of that year, and its increase of 7.2 per cent over
the preceding year, the increase of the Jewish was 18.2 per cent--more
than double that of the total. Again, the maximum periods of the two
movements do not coincide. The total immigration reached its highest
point for the thirty years in 1907. The maximum of the Jewish movement
was in 1906.
The panic of 1907 also appears to have influenced the Jewish
immigration more slowly than the total. The greatest fall in the
latter took place in 1908, immediately after the panic. The greatest
fall of the Jewish immigration took place in 1909. This is another
indication of the slowness of the response of the Jewish immigration
to business conditions in this country, as compared with the rapid
response of the general body of immigrants.
As the racial classification was introduced only in 1899, it is
impossible to determine for the entire thirty years the exact place
the Jews occupy in the movement of peoples from the Old World to the
New. During the twelve years from 1899 to 1910, there entered the
United States a total of 1,074,442 Jewish immigrants, an annual
average of nearly ninety thousand. This was the second largest body of
immigrants, constituting more than a tenth of the total immigration
for this period. In this regard the Jews were surpassed only by the
South Italians.[93]
This is an immense volume of immigration, both relatively and
absolutely, and indicates to what an extent the immigration tendency
has seized the Jews. In this tendency, however, the Jews from the
different countries of Europe differ very strongly. As practically
only three countries of Eastern Europe--Russia, Roumania and
Austria-Hungary--are represented in the recent Jewish immigration, a
rate of immigration established for the Jews should be based upon the
population of these countries rather than upon the total Jewish
population in Europe. Thus established, the Jews have the highest rate
of immigration of any immigrant peoples. In 1906, during the maximum
period of Jewish immigration, the rate of immigration of the
East-European Jews was twenty out of every thousand. In 1907, the rate
of the Jewish immigration was nineteen out of every thousand. The Jews
are approached in this respect only by the Slovaks, who, in 1907, had
a rate of immigration of eighteen per thousand. In this respect, the
Jewish immigration is seen to occupy an exceptional position in the
recent movement of peoples from Europe to this country.
FOOTNOTES:
[90] _Cf._ table XXX, p. 174.
[91] _Cf._ table XXXI, p. 174.
[92] _Cf._ table XXXII, p. 175.
[93] This average and the same relative position is maintained if we
take the fifteen years from 1899 to 1913, in which period there
entered 1,347,590 Jewish immigrants.