But the question can be settled only by taking the whole country into account. The Special Report of the Census Bureau on Paupers in Almshouses, 1904, gives the following figures as to the proportions of foreign and native paupers in the almshouses of the country (p. 6): ═════════════╤══════════════════════════╤══════════════════════════ NATIVITY │ PER CENT DISTRIBUTION OF │ PER CENT DISTRIBUTION OF │ PAUPERS │ GENERAL POPULATION ─────────────┼────────┬────────┬────────┼────────┬────────┬──────── „ │ 1903 │ 1890 │ 1880 │ 1903 │ 1890 │ 1880 ─────────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┼──────── Native white │ 51.6│ 50.2│ 56.8│ 74.5│ 73.2│ 73.4 Foreign white│ 39.3│ 37.8│ 34.6│ 13.4│ 14.6│ 13.1 ═════════════╧════════╧════════╧════════╧════════╧════════╧════════ These figures are the most authoritative and inclusive which there are, covering the almshouses of the country, and show a ratio of paupers among the foreign-born vastly in excess of the ratio of total population. The paupers in almshouses, however, do not by any means include the total number of persons who belong in that category. There are large numbers of persons receiving relief, who never get inside the almshouses. To cover this class, the Immigration Commission made a special study of immigrants as charity seekers, which included the work done by the charity organization societies in forty-three cities, during the six months from December 1, 1908, to May 31, 1909. The cities were distributed as follows: North Atlantic states, 17; North Central states, 18; Southern states, 4; Western states, 4. In the terminology of this report, a “case” means an individual or family assisted. The head of the case is the husband, if he is living at home, or the wife if widowed or deserted. If there are no parents or real family, the one upon whom the responsibility falls is the head of the case, or otherwise, the one asking assistance. The total number of cases for which information was secured is 31,685. Of these, the head of the case was foreign-born in 38.3 per cent of the cases, native-born of foreign father in 10.7 per cent, native-born white of native father, 39.9 per cent, and native-born of native negro father, 11 per cent. Of the persons represented, 37.5 per cent were native white of native father, and 42.3 per cent foreign-born. For exact conclusions, comparison should be made of the relation of the percentage of foreign-born paupers to the percentage of foreign-born in the total population in each separate city. For general purposes it is sufficient to note that in the cities of 25,000 or over in 1910—which include all of the forty-three cities studied—the percentages of foreign-born were 20.2 for cities of 25,000 to 100,000, 22.1 for cities of 100,000 to 500,000, and 33.6 for cities of 500,000 and over.[285]