RACE SUICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES 211 



portion for iicf!;ro children was not the controlling factor in the 

 proportion for the total population. 



In many of the states, particularly most of those in the 

 Atlantic divisions, the relative number of white children in- 

 creased from 1890 to 1900. The largest proportion of negro 

 children was found in 1880 and the smallest in 1900, being only 

 about three fourths of that in 1880. The proportion for negroes 

 was uniformly larger than that for white. As compared with 

 whites in the south, there was for negroes an excess, reaching a 

 maximum in 1880, at every census except 1900, when there was 

 an excess for whites. 



The proportion of children in cities was about two thirds 

 of what it was in the count r}' in 1900. In the north there was 

 little difference in the proportion for city and country. In the 

 south the proportion in cities was hardly more than half as 

 great as that in the country. In the west the ratio of the pro- 

 portion for city and country was between the two extremes. 



In 1900 the proportion of children in the country was 

 about one sixth greater for the colored population than that 

 for the white. In cities the proportion of children among the 

 whites was more than one half larger than that among the 

 colored. It may be that the mortality among negro children 

 in the city is high, as generally the birth rate is higher than for 

 whites. 



The proportion of children for each race was low^ in south- 

 em cities. From 1890 to 1900 the decrease in the proportion 

 of children was much greater for the non-Caucasian than for 

 the white race. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century children imder 

 10 3^ears of age constituted one third and at the end less than 

 one fourth of the population. A decline in the proportion of 

 children began as early as the decade 1810 to 1820, and con- 

 tinued almost uninterruptedly but by very different amounts 

 until 1900. The average decrease has been about 1 per cent 

 in a decade. The greatest decreases occurred in the decades 

 1840 to 1850 and 1880 to 1890. This was probably due to the 

 enormous immigration which swelled the adult population 

 with great rapidity. For the decade 1880 to 1890 this factor 

 may have been remforced by the change in the form of the 



