Speech #680073874

In the following table the countries whose names are starred were either not coumted as .separate countries in 1890 or their boundaries have been changed. and consequently the numbers credited to these countries have been estimated by the Bureau of the Census. the intention being to apportion to the territory now Included in the boundaries of the country named as nearly as possible the number of people originating in that territory under whatever name or sovereignty it formerly existed. The apportionment of this not quite 12.000 people. about oneeighth of our present white population. is the only part of this computation which can not be determined with an approach to accuracy. Any possible error would not seriously affect the conclusions depicted in the table or in the chart. but it is confidently believed that any error due to the assumption that those people were contributed from different countries in about the same proportion as the foreign born who were here in 1890 will result in crediting southern and eastern Europe with a larger part of our population than those countries actually contributed. This division has accordingly been made. as shown in columns D and E of the table. The number of persons of "foreign stock "-that is to say. persons born abroad or having one or both parents born abroadin our present population is. of course. stated in the census. The numbers. by countries. and the percentage of each is set forth in columns F and G of the table. The whole number of persons whose origin is attributed to each country. whether native or foreign born and whether of native or foreign or mixed parents. and whether descended from original colonists or from later arrivals. is set forth in column H. This column is believed to fairly represent the contribution which each country named has made to the total present white population of *the United States. To facilitate reference I have designated the countries referred to as " northern and western " countries by the letters "NW " following the name of the country. and the countries referred to as "southern and eastern " comtries by the letters " SE." Gentlemen. this -chart is made to illustrate some of the principal results shown by the table.