374 



IMMIGRATION BUREAU. 



lice inspector or detective. Recommendation is 

 made that a detective force be placed at the dis- 

 posal of the Commissioner of Immigration to act 

 at the great centers of mining, manufacture, and 

 other industries and report upon their investiga- 

 tions to headquarters at Washington. One defi- 

 nite reform has resulted, however, from the meas- 

 ures adopted to enforce the alien-contract law 

 a check has been given to the padrone system, 

 and many Armenians, Syrians, and Italians of 

 the lower classes have been freed from a servile 

 obedience to the padrones who have clandestinely 

 landed them within our country to serve as ped- 

 dlers, mendicants, fruit sellers, or street musicians. 



No official records were kept of the influx of 

 foreign population prior to 1820, but it is esti- 

 mated by good authorities that the number of 

 immigrants arrived in the United States from 

 the close of the Revolutionary War up to 1820 

 was 250,000. The number in each year from 1820 

 to 1855 was as follows, some slight discrepancies 

 being produced in the figures by change of the 

 official end of the year from Sept. 30 to Dec. 31 

 and back again: 1820, 8,385; 1821, 9,127; 1822, 

 6,1)11; 1823, 6,354; 1824, 7,912; 1825, 10,199; 1826, 

 10,837; 1827, 18,875; 1828, 27,382; 1829, 22,520; 

 1830, 23,322; 1831, 22,633; 1832, 60,482; 1833, 58,- 

 640; 1834, 65,365; 1835, 45.374; 1836, 76,242; 

 1837, 79,340; 1838, 38,914; 1839, 68,069; 1840, 84,- 

 066; 1841, 80,289; 1842, 104,565; 1843, 52,496; 

 1844, 78,615; 1845, 114,371: 1846, 154,416; 1847, 

 234,968; 1848, 226,527; 1849, 297,024; 1850, 369,- 

 980; 1851, 379,466; 1852, 371,603; 1853, 368,645; 

 1854, 427,833; 1855, 200,877; total, 4,212,624. 



Before 1856 the official statistics of the arrivals 

 of passengers from foreign countries do not dis- 

 tinguish those intending to make their permanent 

 residence in this country from merely transient 

 sojourners, but there were during that a time com- 

 paratively few of the latter. It has* been esti- 

 mated that 98 per cent, of the alien arrivals prior 

 to 1856 were immigrants. 



The arrivals of immigrants in the United States 

 from 1856 to 1899 were as follow: 1856, 195,857; 

 1857, 246,945; 1858, 119,501; 1859, 118,616; 1860 

 150,237; 1861,89,724; 1862, 89,007; 1863, 174,524; 

 1864, 193,195; 1865, 247,453; for the six months 

 ending June 30, 1866, 163,594; for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1867, 298,967; 1868, 282,189; 

 1869, 352,768; 1870, 387,203; 1871, 321,350- 1872 

 404,806; 1873, 459,803; 1874, 313,339; 1875, 227- 

 498; 1876, 169,986; 1877, 141,857; 1878, 138,469; 

 1879, 177,826; 1880, 457,257; 1881, 669,431; 1882 

 788,992; 1883, 603,322; 1884, 518,592; 1885, 395- 

 346; 1886, 334,203; 1887, 490,109; 1888, 546889- 

 1889, 444,427: 1890, 455,302; 1891, 560,319; 1892 

 623,084; 1893, 502,917; 1894, 314,467; 1895 279- 

 948; 1896, 343,267; 1897, 230,832; 1898, 229299- 

 1899, 311,715. 



From these figures it may be seen that the year 

 of the largest immigration was 1882, when the 

 number of arrivals at our ports aggregated 788,- 

 992. The next largest volume was in 1881, when 

 the number was 669,431. The arrivals for 1892 

 numbered 623,084, showing an increase in volume 

 over every year since 1883. The marked decrease 

 in immigration during the past six years has 

 been attributed to the unpropitious conditions of 

 trade and business, but there can be no doubt 

 that the migratory disposition of European peas- 

 antry toward this country has been restrained 

 by the unsuccessful attempts of so many of the 

 prohibited classes to gain admission. 'This is 

 especially noticeable in the marked decrease of 

 immigrants from Russia and Austria until 1899 

 when the figures representing arrivals from these 

 countries increased. Other causes are at work 



Canada and the South American republics are 

 offering substantial inducements to newcomers, 

 such as bounties and land grants. Large num- 

 bers of persons are leaving the ports of Genoa 

 and Marseilles for Brazil and the Argentine Re- 

 public, where they immediately become producers 

 of the staples that come into direct competition 

 w r ith our own. 



Another fact is worthy of consideration in con- 

 templating the large number of arrivals in the 

 United States. Only about half of those who 

 come remain in the country as permanent resi- 

 dents. Some aliens come and go so often that 

 old officials at the immigrant stations recognize 

 them, yet they are each year listed as new ar- 

 rivals. For example, out of the 230,832 arrivals 

 during the fiscal year 1897 as many as 1,880 were 

 debarred admission on account of belonging to 

 the prohibited classes. Deducting from the re- 

 mainder those who came to join families and 

 those who had been here before, only 88,666 were 

 left, representing those who came to seek a new 

 home in the United States. 



Th arrivals of immigrants by decennial periods 

 furnishes the following interesting table: 



During the decade 1881 to 1890 an aggregate 

 of 5,246,613 immigrants arrived, which number 

 is 34 per cent, of the entire arrivals during the 

 period of six decades comprised between 1820 and 

 1880. 



In the early history of the immigration move- 

 ment, from 1821 to 1860, more than half of the 

 influx to this country was from England and 

 Ireland, but there has been since 1820 almost a 

 constant increase of immigration from nearly all 

 countries. France is an exception to this rule. 

 During the decade 1871 to 1880 the total immi- 

 gration from France to the United States was 

 72,206, and in the ten years from 1881 to 1890 

 it was 50,464. The increase in the number of 

 immigrants from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Po- 

 land, Russia, Germany, Norway, and Sweden has 

 been very marked. During the past year the ar- 

 rivals from Italy viz., 77,419 constitute nearly 

 one fourth of the entire immigration. It is in- 

 teresting to note the proportion of each of the 

 leading nationalities in the grand aggregate of 

 16,611,060 arrivals from 1821 to 1892 inclusive: 



Germany 4,748,440 



Ireland 3,592,247 



England 2,534,955 



Norway and Sweden 1,032,188 

 Austria- Hungary. . . 585,666 



Italy 526,749 



Russia and Poland. 517,507 

 France 379,637 



Scotland 347,900 



China 296,219 



Switzerland 15,488 



Denmark 163,769 



All other countries. 2,700,295 



Total 16,611,060 



The aggregate arrivals, by nationalities, in the 

 period 1893 to 1899 inclusive, the seven years since 

 decided measures were taken to regulate immi- 

 gration, have been: 



Italy 417,367 



Austria-Hungary 319,362 



Russia and Finland. . 284,868 



Poland 37,478 



Germany 281,103 



Ireland 257,212 



Norway and Sweden. 190,591 

 England 156,816 



Scotland 



France 20,976 



Denmark 28,492 



Switzerland 17,778 



All other countries . . 166,303 



Total 2,212,445 



