194 RELATION OF ORIGINS AND NATIVITY TO CRIME 
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grants wag several times greater for aliens than for those who had taken out Canadian 
citizenship. Taking a few examples where the numbers are large and the rates consequently 
more or less reliable, for the Austrians the rate was 13 times greater for the aliens than 
for the naturalized, for the Ttalians and Poles nearly eight times, for the Roumaniang 17 
times and for the Russians 27 times. 
It is apparent, therefore, that the alien foreign born immigrants constitute our major 
problem in respect to serious criminal offences in Canada, and also that a policy of deporting 
the great majority of foreign born criminals after they have served the terms of punishment 
required by law would not encounter any impediment through their having taken out 
naturalization papers. 
Origin of the Penitentiary Population—In Table 121 the penitentiary population, 21 
years of age and over, is shown by origins. In Column 3 are given the rates per 100,000 
of the total population 21 years of age and over of the corresponding origins. We have 
seen the marked differences between the proportions in penitentiaries of immigrants born in 
different countries, It will now be shown that criminal tendencies vary not only with 
birthplace but also with origin. The rates as given in Table 121, however, do not reflect 
merely differences of origin. Birthplace, age and sex distribution and length of residence 
also influence the percentages; but before attempting to isolate the factor of origin, it is 
of interest to see in what sections of the population major offences were most common 
in 1921, for there the practical problem of law enforcement is most serious. . 
The first point to note is the marked variation in the proportions of the different stocks 
in penitentiaries. The Ukrainians had the lowest with only five per 100,000 twenty-one years 
and over; the Bulgarians the highest with 512, and the Negroes came mext with 415. The 
British and French stocks stood on a par, with rates of 33 and 35 respectively. Ten stocks 
showed proportions lower than the British and French, namely, the Czechs, Dutch, Germans, 
Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, Swiss, Syrians, Japanese and Ukrainians. 
The rates for all others were higher, and in some cases very much higher. Mention 
has been made of the Negroes. With them, age and sex distribution are not more favour- 
able to crime than with the British, and much less favourable than for any immigrant 
peoples. Further, neither length of residence nor place of birth would account for the 
high figure for that stock. There seems to be no question that they are more given to 
serious crimes than any other people in Canada. Their rate of 415 per 100,000 was 121 
times greater than that for the British stocks, and there do not appear to be any important 
mitigating circumstances. The rates for the Roumanian (341), Italian (239), Greek 219, 
Austrian (196), Serbo-Croatian (188) and Russian (141) stocks were also very high. They 
range from four to ten times that for the British stocks, and the Poles with 121 per 100,000 
in penitentiaries might also be classed with the six stocks mentioned above as having 
exceedingly high proportions serving long term sentences. 
In two of the above mentioned cases, namely, the Greek and Serbo-Croatian stocks, 
the numbers 21 years of age and over are so small that no great. reliance should be placed 
on the actual magnitude of the rates. In all other cases, however, the number 21 years 
of age and over is greater than 10,000, and in most instances it is many times that number, 
so that the samples are more representative. 
Special comment should be made regarding the Ukrainian stock. Though they are 
our most illiterate and backward immigrants, they appear to be particularly free from crime 
of a serious nature. In this connection, it is recalled that out of a population of some 
25,000 between the ages of 10 and 20 years, not one was found in a reformatory in Canada 
in 1921. The record of that stock is most commendable on the score of its respect for law, 
as revealed by reformatory and penitentiary statistics. Their low rate is probably associated 
to some extent with another characteristic to which reference has heen made. namely, rural 
residence and agricultural occupation.