44 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Excess of Bieths ovee Deaths 



Jews Christians 



1885 10.33 12.29 



1890 7.64 12.58 



1895 6.66 15.12 



1900 4.52 14.57 



1904 4.49 16.49 



Similar conditions are observed in Bavaria, where the natural in- 

 crease was larger among the Jews than among the christians in 1876, 

 when a decline began to be noted among both groups, but with a much 

 greater severity among the Jews than among the christians. 



Jews Christians 



1876 15.8 14.1 



1880 12.9 10.8 



1885 9.9 10.0 



1890 6.0 8.8 



1895 4.8 12.4 



1900 4.6 12.6 



The excess of births over deaths among the Jews has thus dwindled 

 tc less than one third in Prussia since 1822, and in Bavaria to a little 

 over one third since 1876. This decline in the natural increase of the 

 Jews is not only characteristic of western European Jews, but is also 

 beginning to be noted in eastern Europe. In Hungary, where the rate 

 was among the non- Jewish population only 9.69 during 1891-95, and 

 with slight fluctuations rose to 10.68 in 1903, the tendency among 

 the Jews was decidedly in the opposite direction. It was 17.79 during 

 1891-1895, and sank to 16.07 in 1901 and even to 14.90 in 1903. The 

 same conditions are observed among Jews in other European countries. 



V. Summary and Conclusions 

 The demographic facts presented in the preceding studies lead to 

 but one generalization: The birth, marriage and death rates of the 

 Jews may be taken as an index of their social, economic and intel- 

 lectual conditions. Wherever they are isolated by hostile legislation, 

 compelled to live apart from the general population, confined in 

 Ghettos, thus deprived of every opportunity to enter into intimate 

 social intercourse with christians; wherever, largely as a result of this 

 isolation, they are on a low economic and intellectual standard, their 

 birth and marriage rates are high, their death rates, particularly the 

 infant mortality, correspondingly high, and practically no intermar- 

 riage with christians takes place. Hostile legislation against the Jews 

 is shown, by the evidence presented above, to utterly fail in its aims. 

 Eepression of the Jews in countries like Eussia has mainly one object 

 in view: To make their life so miserable and unbearable as to induce 

 them to adopt Christianity, which removes all disabilities. How far 

 this policy fails in its aims can be seen from the fact that conversions 



