ORIGIN AND NATIVITY OF PENITENTIARY POPULATION 197 
Eastern and Central Europeans was approximately six times that for the North Western 
Europeans of Canadian birth, in spite of the fact that the South, Eastern and Central 
Europeans had an age distribution less favourable to crime. 
But it may be objected that the numbers of the Canadian born Slavs and Latins and 
Greeks are too small to warrant placing much faith in comparisons of that nature. If, 
however, one examines “the other immigrant born” section of the table, it will be seen, 
first, that the numbers of foreign born males 21 years of age and over of Latin and Greek 
and Slavic extraction are quite large; and secondly, that the rates for the foreign born 
males of both those groups are much higher than for the foreign born males of the French, 
Scandinavian and Germanic groups. Further, the rate for the foreign born males of 
South, Eastern and Central European extraction is several times greater than for those from 
the North West of Europe. It is true that the age distribution of adult male immigrants 
from South, Eastern and Central Europe was probably slightly more favourable to crime, 
but this difference is certainly not adequate to account for the rate being five times greater. 
In the face of such facts, it seems hardly possible to doubt that origin and heredity is 
an important factor, if not the most important, in the matter of penitentiary commitments; 
and even though one may differ with the suggestion made above that where major offences 
are frequent the law is commonly violated in less serious ways, it is difficult to see how 
one can gainsay the conclusion that in so far as penitentiary population is an index of 
eriminality, the Scandinavian and Germanic stocks and the North Western European peoples 
in general, have a much better record than the Slavic and Latin and Greek peoples. 
There is one other point worthy of emphasis, and it is clearly brought out in the 
section of the table dealing with the United States born portion of the “origin” groups. 
It is first recalled that some 9 p.c. of the immigrants from the United States are of 
British, French, Scandinavian or Germanic stocks. The number of Latin and Greek and 
Slavic immigrants from that country is almost negligible. Now, while the French, Scandi- 
navian and Germanic people who come to Canada from the United States show only slightly 
larger percentages and in some cases even smaller proportions in penitentiaries than the 
Canadian born of these stocks, the immigrants of British stock from the country to the 
South are among our most serious offenders. The bulk of the criminals coming to Canada 
from the United States are of British origin. 
TABLE 123.—ORIGIN AND NATIVITY OF PENITENTIARY POPUT ATION, 21 YEARS AND OVER, 
BY SPECIFIED GROUPS (BOTH SEXrS), 1021, 
Groups and Origins 
Both Sexes— 
British Stocks... .. 
French............. 
Scandinavian. ...., 
Germanic. .......... 
Latin and Greek. ... 
Slavie.............. 
North Western 
Europe) ......... 
South, Eastern and 
Central Europe... 
Tales— 
British Stocks... .. 
French............. 
Scandinavian, ...... 
Germanic. .......... 
Latin and Greek... . 
Bovis. onan in sims 
North Western 
Europe(.........| 
South, Eastern and 
Central Europe... . 
Canadian Born 
Popu- | Number 
lation in 
21 yeurs peniten- 
and over  tiaries 
United States Born 
Popu- | Number 
lation in 
21 years = peniten- 
and over | tiaries 
Rate per 
100,000 
of each 
group 
Rate per 
100,000 
of each 
group 
1,874,200 
117,316 
7,928 
138.814 
2,297 
10.110 
581 
382 
n 
5 
5 
0 
146,216 
31, 930 
24,259 
34,723 
658 | 
4.352 
60,153 J 
5.693 
157 
14 
107 
7 
218 
49 
13 
ny 
1. 
2 
4 
15 
304 
99 
150,193 
25 
12, 983 
10 
or 
107 
ceeeees 71,806 
cere BLE 
ceveiee. 13.685 
cee 19194 
ces 373 
eevee. 2.373 
. ....} 33,528 
ceveeennd] 3,082 
= 
i 
) 
® 
ty 
' 6 | 140 
Other Immigrant Born 
Popu- | Number | Rate per 
lation in 100,000 
21 vears peniten- | of each 
and over  tiaries group 
R74, 660 
16.972 
38.610 
54,776 
40,224 
146,926 
116,188 
202.803 
22 
< 
29 
53 
27 
27 
256 
119 
15 
108 | 
175 
32 | 28 
298 | 142 
TUG TTT iid 
(96 16! 42 
11.367 15 48 
8.490 102 | 358 
59,989 173 192 
71,078 | 32 45 
127,004 | 285 223 
mn Data not available. 
(2) Does not include British and French.