224 



The Journal of Heredity 



tions ; or both explanations may con- 

 ceivably apply. 



The fact is that nearly all of the 

 foreign-born groups fell short of their 

 quota for feeblemindedness — a fact 

 without much significance when it is 

 remembered that only a fraction of 

 one per cent of the estimated number 

 of feebleminded in America is to be 

 found in custodial institutions. The 

 Serbians make the worst showing, with 

 a quota fulfillment of 220.62 per cent. 



Segregation of the insane is fairly 

 complete, hence the data under this 

 head should be more significant. All 

 foreign groups except Japan, China, 

 and Switzerland exceed their quotas, 

 running up to such high percentages as 



Turkey 200.12 



Russia, Finland and 



Poland 2G5.1 



Bulgaria 300.19 



Ireland 305.2 



Serbia 400.34 



The reasons for the excessive preva- 

 lence of foreign-born in American hos- 

 pitals for the insane have been abund- 

 antly discussed, and it is not neces- 

 sary to enter into them here. Un- 

 questionably part of the explanation 

 is that peasants from a simple en- 

 vironment find the stress of American 

 life, especially in the cities, too much 

 for them. 



The statistics of crime are even 

 more instructive. All the Nordic 

 countries stand well, falling notably 

 short of their quotas ; and the for- 

 eign-born as a whole do not quite 

 reach their quota (98 per cent fulfill- 

 ment). The bad showing of certain 

 countries is therefore all the more con- 

 spicuous. In addition to the American 

 negro (207 per cent), the groups which 

 more than double their quotas are : 



Italy 218.2 



Turkey 240.17 



All Asia 251.7 



All Balkans 275.6 



Greece 293.9 



West Indies 318.14 



China 337.12 



Bulgaria 366.26 



Mexico 549.6 



Spain 660.21 



Serbia 1400.2 



This showing is based on records 

 of the inmates in 155 state and federal 

 institutions. In some cases it may be 

 that a given race is discriminated 

 against in law enforcement in some 

 parts of the country, but this can not 

 explain away all of the cases. On 

 the whole, it can hardly be doubted 

 that certain of the countries from 

 which the United States has drawn 

 a large immigration during the last 

 quarter century have, been sending 

 their dregs. 



The small figures published for 

 epilepsy indicate that the bulk of the 

 institutional inmates are native born. 

 As to tuberculosis, the Balkan states 

 (379 per cent) and Greece (436 per 

 cent) are naturally topped by the 

 American Indians (573 per cent). In 

 blindness, deafness, and deformity the 

 foreign-born are less represented than 

 the native-born. As a rule, persons 

 with such deformities would not come 

 as immigrants, and would not be ad- 

 mitted if they came. 



For self-preservation, it would seem 

 that the United States has the right, 

 and the duty, to require that imrtii- 

 grants shall be superior to the average, 

 rather than inferior. Evidence from 

 many different sides indicates that dur- 

 ing the decade or two prior to the 

 recent restriction laws, the immigration 

 tended to be more inferior. The pres- 

 ent restrictive (three per cent) law 

 tends more or less indirectly to bring 

 in a better quality of immigrants, but 

 it is generally admitted that other 

 measures of selection as well as re- 

 striction are desirable. The ideas of 

 one student of this question are given 

 in the testimony of Dr. Laughlin on 

 this "point : 



In addition to the medical requirements 

 now listed, there should be added an exam- 

 ination into the potential parenthood of the 

 immigrant for the purpose of determining 

 whether, in the normal course of future 

 years, in the United States, the immigrant is 

 physically capable of becoming a parent. 



