Social Transformations of the Victorian Age: A Survey of Court and CountryEscott, T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet)
History
Social Transformations of the Victorian Age: A Survey of Court and Country
Escott, T. H. S. (Thomas Hay Sweet)
Great Britain -- Civilization -- 19th century; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
The complaint that foreign competition in England itself is crowding
native industry out of the market recurs periodically; it renders of
special importance to Englishmen the estimate of the European foreigners
who have, during the period now under review, immigrated to our shores.
The total of those composing this category, men, women and children, has
been 168,814; as for the reasons already explained one is cautioned to
remember, this is an outside calculation owing to the inclusion in it of
many who though British subjects, omitted to set this forth in their
schedules. Of the 168,814 European foreigners, 101,255 were males. From
this total may be deducted 7,421 as boys under 15, and 3,039 as men of
upwards of 65; the sailors, in number 15,035 should not appear in the
estimate. When all deductions under these headings of industrial
ineffectives have been made there is left an aggregate of 75,760 effective
competitors with native industry on English soil, whom during these
decades their respective countries have equipped and sent forth against
us.
With our own population of 37 millions steadily increasing, the numerical
rivalry seems less alarming than might have been imagined. As a matter of
fact that rivalry strictly speaking may be larger than the provisional
estimate now given would show. It sometimes happens within the experience
of local registrars that to avoid English jealousy and so to have a better
chance of obtaining work, industrial aliens Anglicize their own
patronymics, change them for purely English names, or give English towns
and counties as their places of birth; for the most part these deceptions
are detected by the enumerator. In St George's in the East, however, in
Spitalfields, in Mile End Old Town and elsewhere some registrars seem to
think the fraud often passes undiscovered; but others, with equal
experience, disavow any reason for the suspicion of such a practice within
their areas.
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