the very beginning1 of an examination of German influences. After careful investigation, the writer has found that the number of persons of German blood, while vast in amount, representing more than one fourth of the total white population of the United States, is nevertheless not so large as has often been supposed. Lacking this accurate knowledge, foreign critics have frequently been quite unfair in their demands of the German element in the United States. The question of proportionate influence cannot be finally answered until the influence of each of the great formative elements in the population of the United States has been determined. As far as investigations have proceeded at the present time, the German element has nothing to fear from comparisons. Some of the difficulties encountered in the search for German influences, and the methods employed, were outlined in the Preface contained in Vol

ume I.

1 See Chapter 1. The writer wishes to repeat here that in the preparation of this estimate he is indebted for advice and criticism to Walter F. Willcox, Professor of Political Economy and Statistics in Cornell University.

CHAPTER I

AN ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF PERSONS OF GERMAN BLOOD IN THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES

Previous investigations - Mannhardt's work reviewed by Böckh - Division of the subject into three problems :

I. The total number of persons of German parentage in the United States in 1900.

II. The number of persons of German blood in the United States in 1790, and the number of their descendants in 1900.

III. The number of the descendants of German immigrants of the [ period 1790–1900 not already enumerated.

The addition of the results of these questions yields a total of about eighteen millions, which represents approximately the number of persons of German blood within the United States in 1900.- Comparison with the numerical strength of the English and Irish elements.

THE question, how much German blood exists in the population of the United States, has never been satisfactorily answered. The most elaborate attempt to reach a conclusion about it has been made by Emil Mannhardt.' His work was reviewed by the German statistician, Richard Böckh,' of the University of Berlin, who clearly proved the faults of Mannhardt's methods and the error of his conclusion, viz., that the number of persons of German blood in the population of the United States should be rated as high as 25,000,000, or above. Mannhardt's work is nevertheless suggestive, and his pioneer attempt to determine by statistical methods what is the amount of German blood

1 His work appeared in two articles contained in Deutsch-Amerikanische Geschichtsblätter. Vierteljahrschrift. Jahrgang III (1903), Heft 3, pp. 12-31; Heft 4, pp. 49-56.

2 See Deutsche Erde, in, Heft 4. (1903.)

in the population of the United States is worthy of some regard, considering the importance of the subject. The opinion that Böckh expresses, to be sure without the secure foundation of proof, is that the population of German blood is in all probability numerically no larger than 18,000,000. Considering his eminence as an authority in all statistical matters, the estimate of Böckh is valuable. With the advantage of this work going before, and that of some of the best American statisticians who have struggled with the subject of foreign population, the attempt will be made in the following pages to get nearer to an accurate result. Though an entirely satisfactory solution remain forever unattainable, the importance of the subject nevertheless justifies renewed investigation, which will dispel somewhat the obscurity enveloping the subject, and remove perhaps the tendency to exaggerate upon impressions.

The subject will be divided into three parts, each containing a distinct problem

I. What was the total number of persons of German parentage residing in the United States in 1900? This will include all the Germans born in Germany or of mixed' parentage and their descendants of the first generation.

II. How many persons of German blood were contained in the population of 1790, and how numerous were their descendants living in 1900?

III. How numerous were the descendants of the German immigrations between 1790 and 1900, not enumerated as a foreign element in the Census Report of 1900; i. e., how numerous were the descendants of the second and third

1 Mixed parentage is used here to mean all persons having one parent born in Germany and the other in some other foreign country; or all persons having one parent born in Germany and the other in the United States. (As used in the Census Reports the term mixed parentage does not include the latter class.)

generations (grandchildren and great-grandchildren), of the immigrations of the nineteenth century (including the decade 1790 to 1800)?

I

The twelfth census of the United States, taken in the year 1900, gives as the total enumeration of white persons of German parentage, having both parents born in Germany (including foreign and native-born), the figure 6,244,107. In addition to this there is given a total of 1,585,574 white persons in the United States with one parent German, the other native. To avoid counting any of these twice, or being unfair to some other national stock, this number should be divided by two, giving 792,787. The total of white persons having one parent born in Germany, the other born in some other European country,2 410,566. We may assume that mixed marriages were far more often contracted between people of the same blood and speaking the same language; thus, for instance, a person born in Germany would marry an Austrian or Russian when that person was of German blood and spoke German. The fraction one half would therefore not accurately represent the German blood in this class. Taking two thirds as the correct measure, we get 273,710. Adding these results, we get a total of 7,310,604, representing white persons of German blood, of German parentage.

Many European countries contain a large German contingent in their population, and one would suppose that in the emigration from such a country each stock would be represented in exact proportion to its percentage of the

1 Census Reports, volume i, Population, part i (1901), p. cxc (table LXXXVIII).

1 Ibid., pp. 836 and 840 (tables LI and LIII).

population. But a recent article of Richard Böckh1 has proved such an assumption erroneous. The eminent German statistician reviews the work of the United States Commission of Immigration, and furnishes a table showing the immigrations to the United States within the period 1898-1904, during which for the first time the immigrants were enumerated by stock and race, independently of the country from which they came. During these six years 151,118 Germans came from the German Empire, while more than twice that number, viz., 315,744 Germans (including 26,306 Dutch and Flemish), came from other countries, the largest contingents being furnished by AustriaHungary, Russia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Russia furnishes an interesting case. During the same period, of the 625,607 immigrants to the United States from the Russian Empire, only 2 per cent were of Russian stock (in the population the Slavic stock constitutes 70 per cent), while 41.9 per cent were Hebrews, 26.5 per cent Poles, 11.4 per cent Finns, 10.1 per cent Lithuanians, 6.8 per cent Germans, and 1.3 per cent Scandinavians. These percentages by no means correspond to the representation of the various stocks in the population of the Russian Empire, but furnish a measure of the oppression practiced upon these peoples. Another factor which enters into consideration is a fondness exhibited for emigration by some peoples, while others appear very reluctant to leave their homes. Thus the Germans of Switzerland, Belgium, and some of the border provinces have migrated in far greater

1 Deutsche Erde, Jahrgang 1906, Heft 3-4, pp. 95-137: "Die Ermittelung des Volkstums der Einwanderer in die Vereinigten Staaten." The article, translated by Mr. C. H. Ibershoff, appeared also in the Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association, N. S. no. 76 (vol. x), December, 1906— "The Determination of Racial Stock among American Immigrants, by Professor Richard Boeckh."