Method of analysis.. General summary of results. Immigrants and natives... The second generation.. Races and nationalities.. New York City magistrates' courts, 1901 to 1908 New York City court of general sessions, Oct. 1, 1908, to June 30, 1909. County and supreme courts, New York State, 1907 and 1908 The city of Chicago: Police arrests, 1905 to 1908.. Massachusetts penal institutions: Commitments during the year ending Alien prisoners in the United States in 1908.. The entry of foreign criminals into the United States.. LIST OF TABLES. TABLE 1. Per cent of foreign-born white males among prisoners of known nativity enumerated June 30, 1904, and in the general population 15 years of age or over, 1900, by geographic division Page. 163 165 170 172 172 175 178 182 183 189 193 198 204 211 221 165 2. Per cent of native and foreign-born white prisoners among those of 166 3. Native and foreign-born white prisoners enumerated June 30, 1904, 5. Per cent of white persons of foreign parentage among native white 167 168 168 169 170 176 179 8. Distribution of classes of crime: New York (city and State), Chicago, 9. Distribution of classes of crime: New York court of general sessions, 10. Distribution of classes of crime: Massachusetts penal institutions, 181, 182 11. Distribution of classes of crime: New York City magistrates' courts, 183, 184 12. Relative frequency of gainful offenses: New York City magistrates' 185 13. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence: New York City 186 14. Relative frequency of offenses against public policy: New York City 187 TABLE 15. Relative frequency of offenses against chastity: New York City 16. Distribution of crimes of Greeks, Manhattan and the Bronx, city 17. Distribution of classes of crime: New York court of general sessions, Page. 187 188 189, 190 18. Relative frequency of gainful offenses: New York court of general 19. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence: New York court 192 192 193 21. Distribution of classes of crime: New York county and supreme 194 22. Relative frequency of gainful offenses: New York county and su- 196 23. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence: New York 197 26. Relative frequency of gainful offenses: Chicago police arrests, 1905 27. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence: Chicago police 28. Relative frequency of offenses against public policy: Chicago police 29. Relative frequency of offenses against chastity: Chicago police 24. Relative frequency of offenses against public policy: New York 25. Distribution of classes of crime: Chicago police arrests, 1905 to 197 198, 199 201 202 203 204 30. Distribution of classes of crime: Massachusetts penal institutions, 31. Relative frequency of gainful offenses: Massachusetts penal institu- 32. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence: Massachusetts 33. Relative frequency of offenses against public policy: Massachusetts 34. Relative frequency of offenses against chastity: Massachusetts penal 35. Per cent of alien prisoners committed for homicide and attempted 36. Distribution of classes of crime among alien prisoners in the United 211 212, 213 37. Relative frequency of gainful offenses among alien prisoners in the 214 205, 206 208 209 210 210 38. Relative frequency of offenses of personal violence among alien pris- 215, 216 39. Relative frequency of offenses against public policy among alien 40. Relative frequency of offenses against chastity among alien pris- 41. Per cent of alien prisoners committed for each class of crime whose 217 218 220 42. Per cent of alien prisoners committed for abduction and kidnaping, 220 IMMIGRATION AND CRIME. INTRODUCTORY. No satisfactory evidence has yet been produced to show that immigration has resulted in an increase in crime disproportionate to the increase in adult population. Such comparable statistics of crime and population as it has been possible to obtain indicate that immigrants are less prone to commit crime than are native Americans. The statistics do indicate, however, that the American-born children of immigrants exceed the children of natives in relative amount of crime. It also appears from data bearing on the volume of crime that juvenile delinquency is more common among immigrants than it is among Americans. There are, however, two factors affecting these conclusions. First, immigrants are found in greater proportion in cities than in rural communities, and the criminality of the children of immigrants is largely a product of the city. Second, the majority of the juvenile delinquents are found in the North Atlantic States, where immigrants form a larger proportion of the population than in any other section of the country. This excessive representation of immigrants in the population of that group of States which reports the largest number of juvenile delinquents makes the percentage of immigrant juvenile delinquents in the country at large greater than it would be if the immigrant population were more evenly distributed throughout the United States. a Is the volume of crime in the United States augmented by the presence among us of the immigrant and his offspring? is the question usually asked first in considering the relation of immigration to crime. In natural sequence to it is the further question, If immigration increases crime, what races are responsible for such increase? No one has satisfactorily answered these questions; no one can answer them fully without a machinery far greater than that which the Immigration Commission has had at its disposal. In order to even closely approximate accuracy in answering these questions, at least the following facts are necessary: The age, sex, race, and offense of every offender committed to a penal institution during a definite period of time; and the age, sex, and race of every person in the general population on a date falling within that period of time. Such facts have never been ascertained. Without them all conclusions a Juvenile delinquency varies greatly in the several sections of the country, being very largely determined by local conditions, such as the existence of children's courts and reformatory institutions. regarding the relative amount of crime committed by immigrants and natives must be largely conjectural. Such figures as are presented in the census reports indicate that immigration has not increased the volume of crime to a distinguishable extent, if at all. In fact, the figures seem to indicate a contrary result. Immigration has, however, made changes in the character of crime in the United States. Whether these changes are for better or for worse must be left to individual decision. The determination of the nature of these changes has been the chief work undertaken in this investigation of immigration and crime. From the data gathered, it is evident that immigration has had a marked effect upon the nature of the crimes committed in the United States. This effect has been to increase the commission of offenses of personal violence (such as abduction and kidnaping, assault, homicide, and rape) and of that large class of violations of the law known as offenses against public policy (which include disorderly conduct, drunkenness, vagrancy, the violation of corporation ordinances, and many offenses incident to city life). It is also probable that immigration has somewhat increased offenses against chastity, especially those connected with prostitution. That certain offenses of pecuniary gain, such as blackmail and extortion and the receiving of stolen property, are more common now because of immigration is likewise possible, but it can not be said that the majority of the gainful offenses have increased because of immigration. Indeed, the data analyzed in this report appear to indicate a far greater commission of such offenses by Americans than by immigrants. Some of the changes in the character of crime may be traced to immigration from specific countries, although the difficulty of obtaining data regarding race has rendered the determination of racial influences almost impossible. The increase in offenses of personal violence in this country is largely traceable to immigration from southern Europe and especially from Italy. This is most marked in connection with the crime of homicide: of all the various race and nationality groups appearing in the data collected the Italian stands out prominently as having the largest percentage of cases of homicide among its crimes. Abduction and kidnaping, likewise, have evidently become more prevalent because of Italian immigration. The increase in offenses against public policy is perhaps more due to the growth of cities and the resultant increase in the number of forbidden acts than it is to immigration. To immigration, however, some of the increase in the commission of these offenses is evidently due and may be largely traced to immigration from Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Greece, and Russia. The Irish and Scotch immigrants are notable in penal records for intoxication, the Italian for offenses of violence against public policy, and the Greek and Russian for the violation of corporation ordinances in large cities. Such probable increase in offenses against chastity as appears due to immigration is chiefly of crimes connected with prostitution and has evidently been largely caused by immigration from France and Russia. CENSUS DATA ON VOLUME OF CRIME. The only source of information regarding the commission of crime in the United States at large is the census report on prisoners and juvenile delinquents. The latest report contains data collected in 1904, or four years after the taking of the census of population. The comparison of these statistics of crime with the statistics of population is, therefore, liable to the objection that no allowance has been made for the probable increase in the immigrant population from 1900 to 1904 and that the representation of immigrants in the general population as shown by the 1900 figures is very likely less than was actually the case in 1904, when the census of prisoners was taken. It must be noted also that the factor of the location of the immigrant population is not taken into consideration in the census report. Crime more frequently becomes a matter of public record in urban communities, and therefore an absolute comparison as to the extent of crime is not possible between urban and rural communities, but it is in urban communities that the immigrant population is most concentrated and immigrants are therefore probably more largely represented in the criminal class of the cities than in the criminal class of rural communities. This has doubtless resulted in the recording of a greater proportion of immigrant crime than if the immigrant population were more widely distributed. These are, nevertheless, the most comparable statistics of crime and population available and may be employed as a means of throwing some light on the question of the relative amount of immigrant and native criminality. In the following table are shown the percentage of foreign-born persons among the white male prisoners of known nativity enumerated on June 30, 1904, and the percentage of foreign-born in the general male population 15 years of age or over in 1900: TABLE 1.-Per cent of foreign-born white males among prisoners of known nativity enumerated June 30, 1904, and in the general population 15 years of age or over, 1900, by geographic division. The male prisoners and the male population 15 years of age or over are taken because the presence of a larger proportion of females and of a Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents in Institutions: 1904. Bureau of the Census. |