38 Hattie Plum Williams 
Some enter the navy, one or two have found their way to the 
Philippines, while many have stopped on the Pacific coast where 
they may have relatives or friends. Rarely does one become a 
“hobo”; sometimes their hard experiences bring them back home 
subdued and sobered; but more often they set up independent 
establishments and remain away permanently. Some of the 
steadiest and most ambitious young men in the community have 
sought release from home restraints and old-fashioned ideas and 
customs of family life in this way. 
A further comparison by broad-age groups shows some interest- 
ing facts. The abnormally large proportion of children under 
Taste VII. AcE Groups, By PERCENTAGES 
| o-14 Years | 15-39 40-59 | 60 and Over 
Russian German, Lincoln, 1914............ | 48.0 Boa | sto B)2) 
Ano; ILANEOK, UOLOS coccovooabacodbooocNs | 20.1 45-4 |) 20.2 8.2 
Foreign white stock,®> United States, IgIo.. | 21.5 | 46.4 | 23.0 8.1 
otal wWnited: States: sono merieeiie ne | B2eT | 43.2 17.8 6.6 
fifteen years of age among the Russian Germans is indicative of 
the high birth rate prevailing among them and of immigration by 
families at the period of life when fecundity is the greatest. The 
much smaller percentage of foreign white stock in this lower age 
group is accounted for by the fact that so many of the other 
foreign-born groups are adults without their families; and, 
although the fecundity of all immigrant mothers is very high, the 
combination of the two elements reduces the proportion of chil- 
dren.*° The large percentage of Russian Germans in the lower 
age group implies (1) a high infant mortality; (2) a heavy bur- 
den upon the community in providing educational facilities, and a 
great opportunity in “training up the child in the way he should 
go”; and (3) a heavy burden upon the immigrant in providing 
for so large a proportion of non-producers within his group. 
85 Foreign white stock includes those born abroad and native-born having 
one or both parents born abroad. 
86 Only 5.7 per cent. of the foreign-born are under fifteen years of age, 
while 38.0 per cent. of the native-born of foreign parentage are under 
fifteen. 
164 
