August 1, 1889.] 



- KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



207 



EMIGRATION. 



By Alex. B. MacDowall, M.A. 

 ASSING through the variations due to births, 

 deaths, emigration, and immigration, the popu- 

 lation of the United Kingdom is supposed to 

 grow at the rate of something like a thou- 

 sand a day. What do we know, in the 

 statistical way, about those who leave our 

 shores for foreign countries t The annual 

 Government returns of emigration relate to only a portion 

 of this class — passengers, viz., to places outside of Europe 

 (and of non-European ports of the Mediterranean). On 

 the other hand, many of those included in the figures are 

 not true " emigrants," meaning to settle abroad, but of the 

 travelling or tourist class. This is especially true of cabin 

 passengers ; who have been rapidly growing in numbers 

 (from 40,000 ten years ago, to 65,000 last year, which is 

 about a sixth of the total of so-called emigrants). 



We have, then, to consider the numbers of those who 

 leave our shores for the United States, British North 

 America, Australasia, and other (non-European) countries. 

 The uppermost curve in the first diagram, drawn from 

 figures since 1871, shows that this stream varies greatly in 



Thous. 



Em. Brit. N. Am. 



Em. Austral. 

 Km. nil other. 



I. Emigration and Immigration (U.K.) 



volume. Thus, from 119,000 in 1877, it grew to -113,000 

 in 1882, i.e. nearly fourfold in (ive years. These were the 

 lowest and the highest figures in this period. A less 



maximum was reached in 1873 (310,000), and a less 

 minimum in 1885 (264,000). We seem to be now at another 

 tui-n of the curve from a high point (not so high as in 1882). 

 Last year's figures (398,000) were but slightly higher than 

 those of the year before, and this year's returns to the end 

 of May show a distinct falling off from the same period last 

 year (155,000 against 186,000). The majority of those 

 " emigrants " are of British or Irish origin. But a large 

 proportion aie foreigners, who use the route lid the United 

 Kingdom to foieign parts. The crosses in our diagram 

 indicate the numbers of our own people for a few years. 

 Last year there were 279,000 out of 398,000, the rest being 

 foreigners. 



How is the stream of emigration distributed 1 Most goes 

 to the 'United States, of course ; they had about 70 per cent. 

 last year (the number being 293,000, which is slightly less 

 than the year before). The curves for British North 

 America and Australasia cross and recross, now the one 

 country, now the other, gaining a preponderance. At pre- 

 sent British North America is in the ascendant, and its 

 curve is tending upwards, while that of Australasia is 

 tending downwards. Last year the former had about 13 

 per cent, of the emigrants, the latter about 11. The recent 

 rise in the curve of all other plices (given in part only) is 

 probably connected, in part, witli the gold discoveries in the 

 Transvaal. Emigration to Central and South America is 

 also increasing. The total number of immigrants from 

 those same countries last year was about 128,000. Note 

 how the curve of immigrants (the upper dotted one) some- 

 what corresponds with, but lags in its phases behind, the 

 emigrants' curve. 



In our second diagram we show how the English, Irish, 

 and Scotch elements have varied in proportion of the totals 



2. I'EllCENTACiES OF ENGLISH, SCOTCH, ASD IBISU EillGBAXTS. 



of our people emigrating. The English last year were 61 

 per cent, of the whole, the Irish 26 (as against 37 at the 

 outset), and the Scotch 13. There was a large increase of 

 Irish emigration in 1880, the percentage reaching 41 (1879 

 was a memorably bad year in Ireland) ; but since then, it 

 will be seen, the pi-oportion hivs been going down. The 

 Scotch, on the other hand, have been growing in proportion 

 since 1884. 



It is a curious fact that while the English and Scotch 

 adult male emigrants are very much in excess of the females, 

 sometimes nearly twice as many, and the forcigu (adult 

 males) more than twice as man}-, the Irish males and 

 females are nearly equal in number ; in some recent ye.irs 

 there has even been a small excess of females. The Scotch 



