Irish and Germans in the United States

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 26, 26 June 1902, Page 15

Irish and Germans in the United States

Bt the oensuß of 1900 (says the Catholic Citizeii), it appears that there are 10,356,000 foreign-born persons in the United States, and 26,185,000 who have foreign parents. Thirty-four per cent, of the entire population, therefore, have foreign parent ; and if we deduot from the entire population 9,312,000 colored person?, it will appear that nearly 40 per cent, of the white residents of the United States have foreign parents. Considering that many of the immigrants who arrived in this country up to 1850 are now represented by their grandohildren, we are quite safe in saying that a majority of the people of the United States are to-day children of nineteenth oentury colonists. In other words, their ancestors were not in this oountry at the time Jefferson was inaugurated president. Thirty years ago, when we epoke of ' the foreign element ' in this oountry, we had in mind, almost entirely, the immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Great Britain and Canada. In 1870, 76 per cent. of the foreign-born population of the United States were of these four raoes. In 1900 64 per cent, of the foreign immigrants were from these sections. Norway and Sweden now furnish over 10 per cent, of the foreign-born population of the United States, Italy nearly five per cent., Russia four per cent., and Austria, Bohemia and Poland, together, eight per cent.

Still the Germans and the Irish are most numerous of our foreign-born population. There are 1,618,000 Irish-born peraona in tne I nited Stateß, and 2,666,000 German-born persona. Both elements exhibit a falling-off in their strength since 1890. While nearly 400,000 additional Irish immigrants came to this country during the decade, 1890 to 1900, over 600,000 Irish-born persons died here during that period. So that now there are nearly a quarter of a million fewer Irkh-horn persons in this country than 10 years ago. In the came wny, although over 500,000 German immrgrauts came over in the last 10 years, the tital number of German persons in upwards of lOU,OoO lesa than in lbiH). Up to the present time the oenßua has shown the Irish and German-born population to be a growing one. Now these two great elements are beginning to decrease in this country, and we presume that in 1910 the Irish-born will be reduced perhaps to 1,200,000, and the German-born persons to 2,000,000. For every 100 Irish-born persons there are in this country 207 Ameno&n-bom children of Irish parentage. For every 100 Germanborn persona there 193 American-born children of German parentage. The oensus tells us that there are 3,363,000 native-born Americans whoie parents are Irish ; and 5,156 000 native-born persona who parents are German. A« the bulk of the Irish-born people came to America a little earlier than the Germans, their descendants are relatively more numerous in the second and third generation. The census advises us that there are in this country about 5,000,000 people of Irish parentage, and about 7,850,000 of German parentage. If we (should add to these figures an estimate of the grandohildren of these immigrants— that is, an estimate of their descendants of the second, third, and fourth generation—we might nafnly say that the Irish element in thiß country is in the neighborhood of 9,000,000, and the German element olose to 11,000,000.