ITALIANS AS EMIGRANTS
[To THE EDITOR OP TEE "SPECTATOR...] SIR,—I have just read Dr. Richard Arthur's letter in the Spectator's issue of March 22nd, and entirely approve of his remarks as well as of your editorial note. At the same time I must say that it is certainly humiliating for us Italians to see even discussed our fitness, when it comes to invite us in form- ing and moulding the new white nations that are coming into existence. But since it is an indisputable fact that such prejudice against my countrymen exists in the minds of many Americans, Englishmen, and Australians, it becomes necessary to analyze such sentiment and discover whether it is warranted by the facts. I will not dwell on the past and present achieve- ments of the Italian race in the arts of peace or war. From Plautus, our first comedian, to Carducci, our last great poet; from the siege of Veii even to yesterday's Tripolitan skirmishes, they show a record perhaps unsurpassed by that of any other European nation. It is not, then, on our lack of a glorious past that such prejudice can be grounded. When it comes to a physical test, our position is equally strong. I do not remember the exact statistics at the present time, but I have a clear recollection of frequent complaints from army authorities in France, England, and Germany about the rapid decline in the physical qualities of their respective recruits. Indeed, it is hard to find (with the exception, perhaps, of the Balkan States) a healthier and stronger peasantry than the Italian, while these last in their clean-cut features have certainly an advantage over the Slays.
Let us then examine the character and the consequences of Italian emigration on a large scale. Let us take the instance of the United States. It is there that its largo numbers and its suddenness have made it more or less of a problem for the American people. In fact a multitude of illiterate, boss-ridden, ignorant peasants were, by the attraction of high wages and the alluring promises of steam- ship agents, removed from their patriarchal and mediaeval surroundings, and thrown in the whirlwind of American city life, with all its confusions, its insecurities, its lawless- ness; and in spite of that they have made good, as time will prove more and more clearly. Recent statistics have showed their upward advance. They are beginning to con- tribute their share to the arts, science, literature, and athletics of their adopted country. In a state of intellectual transition they have yet managed to reach an economical position superior to that of most other European immigrants, not
excluding those of the north. Abandoned farmland in New England and in the State of New York has been reclaimed by them and wonderfully developed. Their children, the children of those who used to drive sheep in some forgotten valley of the Apennines, can be seen frequenting the high schools and colleges of America in full understanding of the
I ideals of this country and in perfect equality with their fellow students. Indeed I must say that the children of the immigrants are the brightest feature in a study of the possibilities of Italian immigration. These children are intelligent, alert, ambitious, a blend of the matter- of-fact American with the steady and patient Italian. In this very town where I live I can point to the. Italian-American girls with pride. Their good looks and wit are noticeable even in a country remarkable for the beauty and intelligence of its women. Finally, if more proofs were wanting, the fact that marriages between Italians and Americans are growing in numbers every year, as I have seen by the statistics, shows conclusively that they appreciate their respective good qualities.
I wish to ask now, " Si hoe in arido, quid in viridi ? " Everybody is well aware of the fact that almost all of the Italian immigrants to the United States come from Southern Italy and from Sicily. Everybody should also be aware of the fact that these last are racially different from the Italians living north of the Tiber. As I happened to be born in Southern Italy myself, I can well afford to declare that the, Northern and Central Italians exhibit many good qualities in which we are sadly deficient. In physical appearance, in energy, in self-control, in depth of intelli- gence, they are our superiors, although not so quick-witted or so kind-hearted. It is the men from Lombardy and Piedmont that have made Argentina what it is, with the assistance of British capital. Without them Argentina and Uruguay, pace the natives, would not be any better off than Venezuela or Colombia. Let every prejudiced Australian visit the great Valley of the Po from Turin to Venice ; let him for once leave aside museums and monuments, and visit instead all the busy manufacturing towns ; let him notice the extra- ordinary large number of popular banks, co-operative associations, labour organizations, all on modern and pro- gressive lines, which thrive within its borders ; let him enter into the spirit of such people, and then perhaps the veil of denseness which is apt to cloud many an Anglo-Saxon mind will fall from him, and he will have a different opinion of the worth of the Italian immigrant in the upbuilding of his nation. But, after all, I think that Northern Italians would not go to Australia even if invited there.—I am, Sir, &c., L. J. STARACE. 1120 Fulton Avenue, Fort Wayne, Ind., U.S.A. : April 16th, 1913.
[We can assure our correspondent that we needed no proof of the assertion so often made in these columns that the Italian peasant is an admirable immigrant, and that a new land in want of settlers should be glad to get him and his wholesome blood, large family, and saving habits. As has been proved over and over again in many generations, the mixture of English and Italian strains is excellent.—ED. Spectator.]
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