mum somewhat later, perhaps owing in part to the immigration of many thousand Chinese males in the years preceding the census of 1861. Yet, even if these be excluded, the per cent of males among the true whites or Caucasians of Cuba in 1861 was 57.1, or higher than it had been since the first census of the island. While the slave trade was thriving the excess of males was much greater among the colored than among the whites. This suggests that the supply of colored labor was maintained primarily by importation rather than by rearing slave children. But since 1841 the excess of colored males has steadily decreased, and before the last census was taken it had disappeared. The increase between 1877 and 1887 suggests the possibility that the Chinese, who were not separately returned in the census of 1887, may have been included at that time with the colored. But such an interpretation is doubtful. On comparing the results of the present census with those of the Spanish census of 1887 the excess of males is seen to have decreased rapidly in twelve years. In 1887 the excess of males in the de jure population was 123,739, while in 1899 it was less than half that amount. During the twelve years the number of males and of females apparently changed in opposite directions, that of the females having increased by nearly 15,000 (14,924), and that of the males having decreased by over 50,000 (51,202). Thus the females increased 2 per cent and the males decreased nearly 6 per cent in twelve years. The excess of males in 1899 was distributed through the provinces1 as follows: From this table it appears that in the eastern provinces-Puerto Principe and Santiago-the two sexes were almost equal in numbers, and that the excess of males was in the western half of the island, where immigration has been most influential. The main point at which immigrants into Cuba disembark is Habana. Hence one would expect to find a large preponderance of 1 As the statistics of a great city like Habana differ widely from those of a more scattered population, the province of Habana will often be divided into two parts, the city and the rest of the province. |
