MIGRATION AND BUSINESS CYCLES
their minds and leave after a short stay, or that many alien residents
upon leaving declare an intention of only a temporary sojourn
abroad but do not return to this country as they had intended.
Variations in Comprehensiveness.
In addition to the above distinctions among citizens, immigrant
aliens, and nonimmigrant aliens, it is necessary to note that the
official statistics of immigration have not always been equally
comprehensive and do not have exactly the same connotation
throughout the period of a little more than a century for which
they are available. The footnotes to the tables contain much of
the detail concerning the varying comprehensiveness. For example,
the data which are officially published for the annual totals of im-
migration® cover, prior to the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1867, all
recorded arrivals of aliens, without discrimination as to length of
intended residence; for the period ending June 30, 1903, they cover
immigrants as differentiated from nonimmigrants; for the next
three years, “aliens admitted” (though apparently this does not
actually include nonimmigrants); and for subsequent years, only
immigrants admitted. In brief, to make the data strictly com-
parable throughout the entire period, it would be necessary to make
allowance for the inclusion or non-inclusion of, first, nonimmigrants,
or those with announced intention of temporary residence only;
and second, would-be immigrants debarred from entry.
Also, there are variances due to the circumstance that in the
early period there was no attempt made to record residents of ad-
joining countries, Mexico and Canada, as they passed over our
boundaries. In fact, the early records of the number of Europeans
entering the United States via Canada are quite imperfect. For
the period from July, 1885, to October, 1893, the statistics en-
¢irely omit such arrivals through Canada. Subsequent to October,
1893, the records include foreigners arriving at Canadian ports en
route to this country, and more recently, they also include residents
of Canada and Mexico who pass our boundary lines for a stay of
six months or longer, although they are not counted as immigrants
unless a stay of a year or more is intended.
The above-mentioned discrepancies in the official statistics of
immigration, while significant for some purposes, are not important
enough when we are primarily interested in cyclical fluctuations to
Tol el States Immigration Commission, Statistical Review of Immigration: 1820-
, Pp. 4.
39
