Another method of judging the degree of intensity of the Russian Jewish movement is to compare the proportion the number of Jewish immigrants for a period bears to the total Jewish population in Russia--their rate of immigration--with that of the other Russian peoples represented in the immigration to the United States. The rate of immigration of the Jews is by far the highest among the peoples of Russia. From 1899 to 1910 the Jewish immigrants to the United States constituted on the average one out of every 79 of the Jewish population in Russia.[70] The Finnish immigrants constituted one out of every 191 Finns, the Polish immigrants one out of every 200 Poles, and the Russian immigrants proper one out of every 11,552 of the Russian population. The relative position of the Jews is thus strikingly indicated. The rate of immigration truly becomes an index of the economic and social pressure to which the Jews have been subjected for a third of a century. This rate of immigration for the Jews, moreover, shows large fluctuations in the twelve years from 1899 to 1910.[71] Of every 10,000 Jews in Russia there came to this country on the average for the twelve years from 1899 to 1910, 125 Jews. From 1899 to 1903 the annual rate of immigration was much lower than the average. In 1904, with the beginning of the critical years, the annual rate rose to 152, and in 1905, to 181. It reached its climax in 1906, with 246, almost twice as large as the average for the entire period. It fell slightly below this in 1907 with 226. In 1908, there was a great fall to 141, though the rate was still above the average for the period. The movement of the Russian Jews to this country in the last thirty years is seen to be steadily rising and to reach enormous dimensions in the last decade. The Jews are more largely represented in the movement from Russia than any other people, and predominate practically for the entire thirty years. The rate of immigration is abnormally high, as compared with that of any other of the immigrant races from Russia. For the most part the Russian Jewish immigration reflects the unusual situation confronting the Jews in Russia. FOOTNOTES: [63] _Cf._ table IX, p. 162. [64] _Cf._ table X, p. 163. [65] Sulzberger, _The Beginnings of Russo-Jewish Immigration to Philadelphia_ (Philadelphia, 1910), pp. 125-150. [66] _Cf._ table XI, p. 163. [67] _Cf._ table XII, p. 164. [68] _Cf._ table XIII, p. 164. [69] _Cf._ table XIV, p. 165. [70] _Cf._ table XV, p. 165. [71] _Cf._ table XVI, p. 166. CHAPTER IV IMMIGRATION OF JEWS FROM ROUMANIA The immigration of Roumanian Jews to the United States began as a small stream at the end of the sixties, and assumed significant dimensions in the eighties. Two important periods of rising immigration are clearly distinguishable. The first period attains its maximum between 1885 and 1889. The second attains its maximum and that of the entire movement between 1900 and 1904.