THE JEWS: RACE AND ENVIRONMENT 41 



1849-55 it was rare among them, only 46.4 per million Jews, as against 

 49.6 among catholics, and 159.9 among protestants. It so increased 

 in frequency that during 1869-72 it was, Jews 96, catholics 69 and 

 protestants 187; and the increase during the following years was so 

 severe that the Jews outstripped the christians during 1892-1901. 



Rates of Suicide pee 1,000,000 Population 



Men Women 



Jews 370.4 124.1 



Christians 321.5 81.1 



All these figures show conclusively that the rates of suicide among 

 the Jews are not at all influenced by ethnic factors. The social en- 

 vironment is solely responsible for the infrequency of self-destruction 

 among the Jews in eastern Europe, where they live in strict adherence 

 to their faith and traditions; while in western Europe, where they co- 

 mingle with their christian neighbors, adopting their habits and customs, 

 the rates of suicide increase. Considering that there is a lesser number 

 of children among the Jews, and that suicide is rare among the young, 

 and that they are mostly town dwellers, engaged in mercantile and finan- 

 cial pursuits, there is good reason for the higher rates among them 

 than among others. Further proof of the influence of environment 

 is adduced by the fact that with a change of environment there is 

 also a perceptible change in the suicide rates. The Jewish immigrants 

 in New York city are much given to self-destruction, although in their 

 native homes suicide is very rare. There are no available statistics as 

 to the exact annual number of Jewish suicides in New York city, but 

 an inquiry by Mr. John Paley, editor of a Yiddish daily, elicited 

 the following information : " About fifteen years ago suicide was un- 

 common among the immigrant Jews, so much so that I always gave 

 each case reported a prominent place in my paper. To-day conditions 

 have changed. There are so many cases of Jewish suicides that unless 

 it is a prominent person, or there are special news features connected 

 with the case, I do not at all mention it in the columns of my daily." 

 He estimates that there are six Jewish suicides on the average weekly 

 in New York City. If this figure is near the truth, and I am inclined 

 to believe it is, then the suicide rate among the Jews in New York 

 is appalling. The aversion to self-destruction of the eastern European 

 Jew is thus seen not to be racial. As soon as he is brought face to 

 face with a more complex life in New York City, as soon as his devotion 

 to his religion is more or less dwindling, any serious reverse in life is 

 liable to discourage him to the extent of causing him to terminate his 

 existence. 



IV. Natural Increase of Population 



From the preceding studies it was evident that the birth, marriage 

 and death rates were everywhere in Europe lower among the Jews than 



