m m ram YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY •¦) ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE M J Distribution ^Joreign^orn Italians" Qce&\&Nev?Yor\ Clergy a^ Laity Lea^ueAxf Ea.ct clot represent* 1,000 Italians (Taken from Mangano, "Sons of Italy.") Used by permission of Missionary Education Movement, owners of copyright. The Second Generation of Italians in Netf York GtJ BY JOHN HORACE MARIANO submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for tne degree of doctor of philosophy at Mew Vork University" (Department of Sociology) The Christopher Publishing House Boston, U. S. A. Copyright 1921 by The Christopher Publishing House CONTENTS PART I — NATURE AND EXTENT OF INVESTIGATION Page CHAPTER I — Plan of Study 1 Purpose : A Sociological study of Italian life in New York City. Scope : Limited to Americans of Italian ori gin. Sources : A first hand study of the people them selves. Original survey of types of organizations and institutions prevalent. Original data gained in a sym posium. Statistical reports, government data, etc. CHAPTER II — Difficulties underlying an investigation of the Italian element 6 Difficulty of collecting data : The adult Italian is un trained and suspicious. Italian immigration : Its recency. Unsettled problems. Reasons for investigation. PART II— SURVEY OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS CHAPTER III — Population and Distribution 11 Difficulty of accurate enumeration. Density. Distribu tion of Italian colonies in New York City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Richmond. Table of colonies in New York City: Age distribution. Sex classification. Conjugal relationship. M^xejdjnaxriages. Relationship between size of family and~Ttiplace in the socio-eco- nomical scale. CHAPTER IV — Occupations 31 Relation of Italian to other stocks in American indus tries. Distribution of Italian blood in different indus tries. Distribution in New York City. What the "new" generation hopes for. CHAPTER V — Health 37 Introduction. Vital statistics. Italian health agencies. CHAPTER VI — Standard of Living 45 Introduction: Definition of terms. Changing standards. Incomes: Adult bread winners. Lodgers or boarders. V CONTENTS vi Child labor. Housing: Average number of rooms. Housing in relation to expenditure. Savings and thrift. Thrift compared with other nationalities. Estimated savings. CHAPTER VII — Literacy 57 The "old" versus the "new" generation. Status in the schools at large. In the high schools. In the primary schools. Elimination and retardation : at large. In New York City. The present need. CHAPTER VIII — Citizenship 65 Obstacles to citizenship: Ignorance of language. Ten dency to return to "homeland." Relation of immigrant to native vote. Citizenship status in New York City. Place of women of Italian blood. Differences between Italy and America. CHAPTER IX — Philanthropy and Social Welfare 71 Introduction. Dependency. Delinquency. PART III — PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAITS CHAPTER X — Introduction — Basis for Classification of Types.... 82 Difficulties of classification. Economic status. Pleas ures or recreation. CHAPTER XI — The "Tenement" Type— An Ideo-Emotional Type 87 Background: Physical; street, slums, tenement districts. Mental; subnormal. Vocational; varied and inter mittent. Home conditions ; unsocial. Personal character istics : Type of disposition ; instigative, convivial. Co operation : Perception of resemblances and of differ ences ; prompt. Attitude towards strangers ; suspicion and distrust. Pleasures; motor-sensory. Type of mind; ideo-emotional. CHAPTER XII — The "Trade" or "Business" Type— A dogmatic- emotional type 97 'Background : Physical ; shop or factory. Mental, varied. Vocational; steady and skilled labor. Home conditions; narrowing and un-American. Personal characteristics : Type of disposition; domineering, austere. Coopera tion; Perception of resemblances and of differences; keen. Attitude towards strangers; unfriendliness. Pleasures ; emotional ideation. Type of mind ; dogma tic-emotional. vii CONTENTS CHAPTER XIII — The "College'' Type— A transitionol type 103 Background: Physical; typically American. Mental; formal discipline. Vocational ; undetermined. Home conditions ; varied. Personal characteristics : aggres sive and convivial. Cooperation ; Perception of resem blances and of differences ; none on racial grounds. At titude toward strangers; open and frank. Pleasures; in ductive ideation. Type of mind ; critical-intellectual. CHAPTER XIV — The "Professional" Type— A critical-intel lectual type 110 Background: Physical; home and office. Mental; dic tated by pleasure and vocation. Vocational; profes sions, law, medicine, teaching. Home conditions; nor mal Americans. Personal characteristics: Type of dis position ; creative. Cooperation : Perception of resem blances and differences ; none on racial grounds. Atti tude toward strangers ; broad. Pleasures ; dictated by choice. Type of mind ; critical-intellectual. CHAPTER XV — The Italian-speaking Colony in New York C%..118 The "old" generation. The "new" generation. Relation between the "old" and the "new" generation. s CHAPTER XVI — Recapitulation 132 PART IV— SOCIAL ORGANIZATION CHAPTER XVII — Introduction 138 Definition of terms : Basis of classification ; Overlapping character of aims. Correspondence between "mental" type of mind and character of organization effected. CHAPTER XVIII— Types of Organisation 140 The Social Club: Particular group; the "Husky" Asso ciation. Type of member; the "tenement" type, ages, 21-35; education, elementary; vocations, physical labor; pleasures, sensory. Type of activity; recreational, social. Relation and effect of "social" club to commun ity, anti-social. The "Athletic" Club: Particular group ; the "Nameoka" Athletic club. Type of member; the type. Ages, 18-35; education, elementary and high school; vocations, physical and mental; pleasures, motor-sensory. Type of activity; recreational and phy sical. Relation and effect of "Athletic" club to com munity ; unsocial. The "Religious" Club: (a) The "Cath- CONTENTS viii olic'- Club : Particular group ; The "Ozanam" associa tion. Type of members; ideo-emotional. Ages, 18-30; education, elementary and high school; vocations, skilled and unskilled; pleasures, of sense, idea, and emotion. Type of activity; social, recreational, spirit ual, (b) The "Protestant" Club: Particular group; The Broome Street Tabernacle club. Type of members ; Ages, 18-30; education, elementary and high school; vo cations, skilled and unskilled; pleasures, of sense, idea, and emotion. Type of activity; social, recreational, spiritual. Relation and effect of "religious" club to community; friendly, sympathetic, social. The "Benev olent" organization. Particular group ; The Bagolino Benefit Society. Type of members; dogmatic-emo tional. Ages, 18-45; education, elementary; vocations, skilled, unskilled, professions; pleasures, of sense, emo tion and thought. Type of activity; social, physical, ideational. Relation and effect of "Civic" association to community; social. The "Social Welfare" League: Particular group ; The League for Social Service. The Italian Welfare League. The Young Men's Italian Edu cational League. The Italian Educational League. Type of mmbers ; critical-intellectual. Ages, 18-50; education, college and university; vocations, professions; pleas ures, of thought. Relation and effect of "Social" Wel fare" League to community; social. The "College'1 Cir- colo: Particular group; The Columbia Circolo. Type of members; critical-intellectual. Ages, 19-28; education, college and university; vocations, undetermined; pleas ures, of sense, emotion, and thought. Type of activity; social, ideational. Relation and effect of "College Cir colo" to community; friendly and social. The Profes sional" Club: Particular group ; The Italian Teachers' Association. The Italian Lawyers' Association. The Societa Medica Italiana. The Circolo Nazionale. Type of members; critical-intellectual. Ages, 26-60; educa tion, college and university; vocation, professions; pleasures, of thought. Type of activity; social, profes sional, ideational. Relation and effect of "Professional" club to community; unrelated. CHAPTER XIX — Miscellaneous Organisations 182 Dramatic; The Marionette Theatre. Musical; The In ternational Festival Chorus (Italian division). Educa tional; Verdi, Auxiliary, Italian Intercollegiate, Italian Scholarship Fund, Dante Alighieri Society, Dante League of America. Fraternal; Alpha Phi Delta, Sigma Phi Theta, Delta Omega Phi. Social Welfare ; The Ital- ix CONTENTS ica Gens. Recreational; The Italian American Scout- craft Association. Arts and Industry; Suola Italiana dTndustrie, The Italian Industrial School, Society for Italian Women. Propaganda ; The Roman Legion of America, The Italy-America Society, The Italian Bureau of Public Information. PART V — WHAT THE AMERICAN OF ITALIAN EXTRACTION CONTRIBUTES TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY CHAPTER XX — Introduction 205 Reasons for phrase "Americans of Italian extraction." Definition of Democracy. CHAPTER XXI — Old Ideas Regarding Italians 209 Incomplete knowledge regarding Italians. Type of Italian that comes to America. Recency of Italian Im migration. Friction and misunderstanding due to mal adjustment ; lack of proper sociological milieu. CHAPTER XXII — The Present Viewpoint 213 Practical demonstrations of leadership and initiative visible today along agricultural, industrial, and pro fessional pursuits. Practical experience of social econ omists and social workers regarding their qualities of cooperation. Testimony of "Political Leaders" regard ing their place in our American Democracy. Theoret ical findings ; Genetic psychologists, Anthropologists, Sociologists. Conclusion. CHAPTER XXIII — A Socio-Ethnic Problem 229 The problem stated; synthetization with other racial strains in America. CHAPTER XXIV — Does This Type Contribute to American Democracy? 233 He is easily assimilable. He is himself creative. He is fertile and facile with respect to both imitaton and initiation. He is intelligent and can become delibera tive and rational. He is law-abiding. Ignores the in stitutions of adults or parents that are purely Italian (their banks, newspapers, hospitals, societies, are un satisfactory to him). Does not retain language, reli gion, habits and ways of parents. His voluntary organ- CONTENTS x izations are of a reflection of Americanism and are largely tinged with American culture. Organizations created are various and cover every field. Where none exists the proficient American of Italian extraction has entered so fully into the life and spirit of America that none is needed. An absence of an organization does not show a lack of cooperation or ability to organize but that absorption has been complete. CHAPTER XXV — Symposium (1000 questionnaires) 237 What the American of Italian extration loses. What the American of Italian extraction gains. What the American of Italian extraction contributes. Statistical tables. CHAPTER XXVI — Some Positive Measures of Reform 284 How to economically preserve the high powers of the raw immigrant and facilitate the process of synthetiza tion. Abolition of "Padrone" system. Regulation and control of unemployment. Elimination of disease. Re creation. Socially prepare for a more frictionless mix ing. Different attitude of mind. Education. Politically distribute a greater share of executive leadership to such as are fit. CHAPTER XXVII— Conclusions 304 General: This is a study in Americanization. The in fluence of the community in determining types. Speci fic : Sociological status of Americans of Italian extrac tion in New York City. Their "contributions," "loses" and "gains." What the future has in store. BIBLIOGRAPHY ; 311 CHAPTER I NATURE AND EXTENT OF INVESTIGATION PURPOSE— What is there about the American of Italian extraction that distinguishes him from other Americans? Is there a real difference? The Ameri cans of Italian extraction that are studied here form one of the largest elements numerically in our population. Before any adequate understanding of them is to be had a thoroughly modern and scientific sociological sur vey needs- to be made with respect to their individual natures and their concerted or group reactions. The purpose of this study is to afford a sociological evaluation of the psychological traits and social organ ization of this type of American, based upon a first hand investigation of the type in question. Personal experi ence gained through a variety of contacts with these people, supplemented by information gained in interviews with people who are closest to this problem afforded the bulk of the evidence analyzed. Where personal inter views were out of the question, in many cases it was possible to get at the ideas that exist regarding these people by means of a questionnaire described in a later chapter. The information gathered from the above sources and elsewhere, as will be described later, is used to denote the sociological status of Americans of Italian extraction in New York City. These Americans, like the second generation of Americans of other racial stocks, form an integral part of our American popula tion, distinct and apart from our immigrant population "per se." Whereas in the past in considering the status of the racial elements within our borders one's chief attention or interest centered upon a type that was either foreign or Americanized through the legal naturaliza tion process, here the emphasis is to be placed upon a type that to begin with is AMERICAN. From a mere description, therefore, of types that have characterized studies of the past, we pass on to an attempt to analyze the character and measure the force of the contribution, 2 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION if contribution there be, that these Americans of Italian blood make to our older American life, customs, and ways of doing things. The main purpose of this study, therefore, is, (1) to intelligently interpret Americans of Italian extraction to other Americans by pointing out what the fundamen tal characteristics of this type of American are as re flected through their social organization and other visi ble activities ; (2) to interpret these activities from the standpoint of what we understand Americanism to mean and (3) to show what and how much this type of Amer ican is contributing towards the solution of the prob lem peculiar to America, namely, the synthetization of her composite population groups and the evolving of a stable American type. SCOPE — This study is limited to those Americans of Italian blood that were either born here or who came here when they were very young. It excludes the adult immigrant who as a rule, among the Italian stock at least, is so thoroughly ingrained with the traditions of the "homeland" that he himself is neither able to be affected in any very radical way through his contacts with our institutions nor to contribute creatively to our American Democracy. Likewise the activities described and evaluated here are limited to those whose origin and existence strictly depend upon such Americans as above indicated, and not upon the immigrant. For various reasons the writer has seen fit to limit this study to Americans of Italian extraction domiciled on Manhattan Island and in its immediate environs i. e. parts of what are known as and make up the "Greater City," viz : Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Richmond. The reasons for this limitation are obvious. First for purely physical reasons it has been impossible to subject to the same uniform scrutiny and thoroughness of investigation the dense colonies of individuals similar in descent and located at such diverse places as Newark, San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans, etc. ; second, the problem of investigating this type is nowhere so pressing as it is here (more individuals, taking both TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 3 our type in question and their immediate parents, live here than in Naples, the largest city of Italy) ; third, practically every socio-economic problem that exists elsewhere among these people is duplicated here ; fourth, the opportunity for making comparisons with other races exists here in the most marked degree ; fifth, the nature of the "milieu" or human nature stuff in and among which this American is reacting, is in itself a potent fac tor in determining the nature of his reactions, and there fore not only numbers, but diversity of races is a fac tor to be considered ; sixth, the numerical factor involved in making a study in New York City rather than, else where is a happy one, in that we have a more just basis for making deductions ; lastly, New York City combines in its outlying districts, namely in Queens and Staten Island, the looser and more spread out or sparsely set tled character of the colonies composed of Americans of Italian extraction existing elsewhere. The method used in this survey will vary. Wherever possible, the statistical method will be employed. By means of statistical data, an attempt will be made to point out, quantitative measurements permitting, the numbers of these people and their sociological position in the community. These will be evaluated sociologically in the light of comparisons made with the products of other racial stocks. For instance, it is a fact often de plored of the Italian stock that relief work among the Italians in New York City is largely dependent upon the initiative and leadership of persons other than those of Italian blood. An instance in point is the case of the numerous war relief societies that sprang up during the war and whose aim was to bring succor to the Italian portion of our war's destitute. To a casual observer, such a condition among a people numbering easily the third or fourth largest element in our population might mistakenly betray a lack either of leadership or of the power of cooperation, and as such it has not infre quently been characterized. It more truly instances, however, the uniform lack of great financial men of Italian extraction in New York City. As evidence of this witness the names Morgan, Davison and Lamont — all 4 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION prominent in charity work among Italian speaking peo ple here. On the basis of the figures shown in the numerous tables throughout, and the comparisons that these tables afford, some deductions regarding the value of the type under surveillance will be attempted. It will be noticed that our method is not primarily that of an intensive study of individual cases ; but rather, an extensive study of the larger sociological relationships has been the end held in view throughout. Where so many are concerned one would get nowhere if the former method were tried. In fact, there are plenty of institutions where such stud ies can better be made. In this way only was it possible to get a perspective of 'the tendency towards which the type is gravitating, and to distinguish the subtypes and varieties into which, as all indications point, the Italian strain is beginning to namify, just as the older German, Scotch-Irish, and English did some decades ago. SOURCES — The sources for the interpretations set forth are mainly gathered from a first hand study of the people in question themselves, gained by the writer through a constant and intimate contact as one of them in their play, school, and work. Back of this similarity of origin and supplementing this original contact lies the writer's experience, extending throughout five years as a social worker for the Children's Aid Society of this city, and as "Special National Field Scout Commissioner" with the Boy Scouts of America, permitting him to do organizing and executive work among Italian colonies all over the United States. These afforded an unparal leled opportunity for studying the nature of the various kinds of organizations effected by these people as well as for observing practically all of their other activities. The writer's position made it possible for him to come in contact with and interview many of the most promi nent Americans of Italian blood in New York City who are today actually engaged in mastering this problem of social interpretation and their testimony forms a sub stantial part of this study. Relative to this problem, it has been deemed advisable also to insert statements of Italians who are in our midst, causing to stand out TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 5 clearer by way of contrast, the information gained from those who, remaining essentially Italian in their thoughts, actions, and speech, are looking at American ization from another angle. Lastly, the views of representative Americans of other ancestry than Italian, whose work or studies make their ideas valuable, are utilized, and, some of them have ex pressed themselves upon a concrete phase of these peo ple's activities. Many such Americans have spent their lives in a devoted service to the welfare and uplift of Italians, and the representative character of their of fices can be fairly assumed to insure the widest latitude for fairness and disinterestedness in their expressions. All these facts are incorporated in the questionnaire de veloped on pages 238 to 373 inclusive. The writer has also not failed to supplement his per sonal experience with a prolific use of the statistical records compiled by government officials, the publications of the Census Bureau, reports from social welfare and Americanizing agencies. In all cases where such data have been used, credit has been given and the source duly recorded. THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION CHAPTER II DIFFICULTIES UNDERLYING AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ITALIAN ELEMENT DIFFICULTY OF COLLECTING DATA— The adult Italian is untrained and natively suspicious and yet be fore one can fairly or adequately interpret this rising generation of Americans it is absolutely essential that the observer know something of the individual type from which he sprang. One must become familiar with the conditions that beset this problem and make it distinc tive. Collecting information from the "untutored" is not without its own difficulties. The majority of Italian immigrants who seek our shores are driven here by stern economic necessity.* The hope of securing a better livelihood, the desire for the greater individual liberty that comes from added leisure, and, with some, the anticipated savings which will make it possible for them to return and live out their remain ing years in the "homeland" in comparative opulence in return for the hazards undertaken — formed in the past as in the present the greatest of impelling motives. How closely related to the phenomenon of immigration was the pressure of the population upon the means of sub sistence in Italy is shown by the Italian census in 1881 when the population was 257 to the square mile, and two decades or twenty years later when in spite of the great annual afflux to both North and South America this den sity had increased to 294 per square mile. * "Italy even today is in the unique position of seeing her population increase with the going on of war. This apparent paradox is easily explained if one remembers that several hun dreds of thousands of Italians returned from abroad to serve under her colors ; and that had it not been for the war Italy would have lost by emigration about half a million men and women each year for the past four years. The war by prevent ing emigration has kept all that population at home thus in creasing Italy's population at a rate far greater than in time of peace in spite of the war losses." (Statement by Dr. Felice Ferrero, Director, Italian Bureau for Public Information, Sat urday Post, July 20, 1918.) TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 7 On the whole the class of Italians that comes here rep resents the element lowest in the socio-economic scale that Italy possesses. This is to say that the stratum of Italian life in which the margin of economic subsistence has followed most closely and pressed most heavily upon the margin of possible economic resistance, has been the class that has poured its legions into our midst. Such people have had little opportunity in life, are untrained and as a rule, offer less intelligent contact to one gath ering data than would otherwise be the case. Their sus picion and distrust make it difficult to secure reliable in formation. RECENCY OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION— Another consideration is the comparative recency of Italian im migration. Emigration from Southeastern Europe be gan about 1880 and is the most recent of the great emi gration movements from the continent to our shores. ,, The Italian makes up a large portion of this newest wavfc *N of immigration and at the outbreak of the war in 1914 represented the country that sent over the greatest number. With the immigrant the chief problem is to secure a position ; his next is to see to it that it is permanent. Arthur Train says in speaking of the Italian immigration movement to this country "it would take a generation for these people of the old world to get out of their sys tems the tradition that in some ways they are bound to the soil where they serve and cannot leave it ; a genera tion for them to realize that they are free to come and go and to take part in the activities, political and other wise of the nation at large. Herein lies the difference between the old immigrant, the adult Italian* the man who seeks refuge in America for his declining years and the boy of twelve, fifteen or eighteen the American of Italian extraction** who has life all before (him. The older man is set in his ideas. This is shown in New York City in the Genoese districts where the grandfather who came to this country took up his abode and where he still lives." Such an individual rarely hopes for much else. Leader- italics are ours. ?• ditto 8 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION ship, if it be there, is largely confined to work in the Italian community and such individuals become semi- patriarchal potentates giving advice, alleviating suffer ing and even dispensing justice. Cooperation is invaria bly confined to others who have come over from Italy with them and from the same town. The radius of their circle of cooperation is practically zero when Americans of other stocks are concerned. Their own internal co operation serves to set them off as a group apart and they act as a community within a community. This holds true for all nationalities and is a psychical not a racial characteristic. This exclusive character of adult Italian life therefore offers great difficulty to outsiders gather ing data, and information which on the surface of things appears reliable may easily lead to gross errors in inter pretation. Differences in dialects, customs, habits of life, in some instances represent wide cleavages ; in other in stances such differences are more apparent than real. NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ITALIAN — By far the majority of the immigrants from Italy have come from its southern districts ; few from the north. One can not fail to be impressed with the wide differences that exist educationally and socially between the North and South Italian. These differences however are not inher ent in the type but reflect the better economic advantages that North Italy affords. It is not surprising therefore to find these people men tally lowest in the scale of culture among immigrants that come to our shores. Some years ago when, with a million or more of immigrants pouring into our midst, the problem had become acutest, statistics showed that seventy percent of the immigrants from southern Italy were illiterate. The great disparity in mental and material cultures between the northern and the southern adult Italian im migrant is reduced to a nullity in the case of their off spring, showing the powerful levelling influence of American democracy and systems of education. UNSETTLED PROBLEMS — Interested as we are in ascertaining what the value of the descendants of these people is in our democracy, we shall try to center our TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 9 attention upon several facts that in a democracy are of the greatest moment. First with respect to the question of "leadership." On the basis of the activities disclosed in the section on Social Organization with reference parti cularly to New York City, we are to raise the question, "Is the American of Italian extraction deficient with re spect to the qualities that make for leadership?" So many people say that if an undertaking centering chiefly upon matters that affect the Italian is to be successful it must be organized and managed by others than those of Italian blood! Equally serious is the charge that a lack of cooperation exists among these people and that their relative disorganization is shown in the variegated sec tions within the Italian colony itself where on one street lives a type that has customs and habits entirely distinct from the customs and habits of those occupying the next street. "Is this lack of cooperation more apparent than real?" Finally and most important we are interested in knowing if what the American of Italian extraction brings to us is a pro rata share towards the creation of the type of mind and character of institution that we can label as being distinctively AMERICAN. It is not expected that questions such as those above will be settled by this study. It is sufficient, if by rais ing these issues, it will become more apparent than was hitherto true, that a great deal of the internal racial problems of America are due to SOCIAL MALAD JUSTMENTS in immigrant localities rather than to any inherent defect of mental traits — thus raising a prob lem, essentially sociological rather than psychological, for the future to solve. REASONS FOR INVESTIGATION— One may ask for the reasons of a study of this kind. There are many reasons why a study of this description is useful. The chief one is a lack of definite sociological data regard ing the second generation of Americans of Italian ori gin. Equally important is such a study because as the writer believes, with the detailed sociological and psy chological study of racial groups such as this is, there will be less of that forwardness on the part of some individuals to assert superiority for any one group. It 10 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION will more clearly be seen how much is due to opportunity and environment and how little to race superiority, if such a thing exist at all. Again, with regard to the pro cess of Americanization, it is desired that chief attention be given to aspects of synthetization. Not unimportant also is this study in defining anew for us the term "democracy" and the help that such a study gives in reminding us of the need of keeping constantly in the foreground the fact that for us, as yet, democracy needs to be continually redefined; that it is not a com plete and finished thing but is being constantly moulded and shaped in accordance with our changing socio-po- litico-economic conditions. It can clearly be seen, there fore, that such a study is of great value in increasing the means whereby we can rationally and intelligently direct our Americanizing movements, and is of inesti mable importance in marking out a clear line between the old emphasis of the past, which was built chiefly around an alien, and the new, which aims to focus its fullest rays of light upon those individuals who, to be gin with, are distinctly AMERICAN. Lastly, if we wish, we might read into this study, in so far as the Ital ian strain is concerned, at any rate, something con cerning the rate of success that our social institutions are meeting with in their endeavor to turn out normal Americans. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 11 PART II SURVEY OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS CHAPTER III POPULATION AND DISTRIBUTION DIFFICULTIES OF ACCURATE ENUMERATION — It is difficult to ascertain with absolute accuracy the number of Americans of Italian extraction located in the greater city. The reason for this is that no organi zation, social, educational, political or religious exists today which is sufficiently interested in collecting and keeping statistics of the type of American under con sideration here apart from Americans of other racial stocks. If one were to attempt this task the ideal method would be a house to house canvass. The thousands of homes that would thus have to be canvassed make this impossible. Instead therefore, the figures of this pop ulation under investigation are derived from other sources * The only study ever made and bearing on this problem is not a recent one and many changes have occurred since to modify the findings then reported . As an ap proximation tho it can still be instructive. In 1903 the Italian Chamber of Commerce decided to find out how many Italians were domiciled in both the City and the State of New York. * Since the war Italian immigration has become nil. Never theless, the process of Americanization is still going on among those who have come here from Italy and among their de- scendents. As these latter people become more and more ma ture, they move away from the settlement formerly inhabited and locate elsewhere. It is safe to say that nine out of every ten such individuals the moment it is possible for them to do so move out and locate elsewhere than in the original set tlement of the parent, thereby mingling inextricably with Americans of other extractions. Because of this fact and also because of a definite percentage who thru marriage become inseparably intermingled with other stocks any attempt to deal conclusively with the numbers of Americans of Italian blood in New York City is well-nigh futile. 12 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION A committee was appointed of which Giovanni Bran- chi, then Consul General, was chairman. This commit tee reported the following data : RESIDENT ITALIANS NEW YORK STATE NEW YORK CITY 272,572 (pop. in 1900) 225,026 (pop. in 1900) 18,322 (excess of births over 14,121 (excess of births over deaths) deaths) 195,281 (excess of arrivals 143,628 (excess , of arrivals over departures) over departures) 486,175 (total 1903) 382,775 (total 1903) The large excess of births over deaths is testimony to the high vitality of the race while the high preponder ance of male entrants as compared to females is an in dication of the type's economic possibilities. Various other writers have at times attempted to cal culate the distribution of Italian blood in New York City. Professor Willcox figured that in 1900 the Italian popu lation in New York City was 145,433.* The last census in 1910 found 340,322 Italians residing here who had been born in Italy. A great many of these tho came here at a very early age; to be exact 10.4% came to this country before their fourteenth birthday and therefore are eli gible for inclusion in this study. Altogether in 1910 there were 531,857 Italian speaking people domiciled in Greater New York from which those born in Italy, namely 340,322, are to be subtracted leaving us a total of 191,535 Americans of Italian extraction residing here ior the year 1910. To this are to be added the subse quent births for the ensuing years. These latter figures are 206,163 distributed by years, viz : NUMBER OF REPORTED BIRTHS OF ITALIAN PARENT AGE IN NEW YORK CITY** 1911—28,290 1912—29,6001913—29,533 1914—31,023 1915—29,717 1916—29,011 1917—28,989 Total— 206,163 * Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 20, pp. 523-46 ** Thru courtesy of Dr. Wm. H. Guilfoy, Registrar of Records, Department of Health. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY - i3 From 1911 to 1917 one million seven thousand Italians entered this country but from this number the 801,792 that returned are to be subtracted.* Of the 205,208 that remained only 24 per cent or 49,249 located in New York City. This last added to the 340,322 persons of foreign- born Italian stock here in 1910 raises the present popu lation representing the older generation to 389,571. The deaths for the Italian strain since 1910 have averaged in any one representative year 10.24 per thousand popu lation.** This permits us to deduct 27,923 and 28,504 from the figures representing the older and the younger generations respectively, leaving a final grand total of 730,842 Italian speaking people domiciled in New York City. These computations include both the adult Italian and his offspring the American of Italian extraction. In tabular foiim these figures compared to the total popu lation of the Greater City are : ITALIAN BLOOD IN POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY, 1917 Total Italian-speaking Population £* V £> ^ re ( * zl.- v * ° 2 5 2.2- ~ S °2. o E. 5-o *s 5-o n> o in rt- 3 3 O 1880a 1,911,698 12,223b 6 x 1890 2,507,414 74,687 3 40,190 2 1900 3,437,202 145,429 4 74,168b 2.5 1910 4,769,883 340,322 7 191,545 4 1917 5,748,629c 361,648 6 369,194d 6 a In 1850 the Italian portion of this country's population was so small as to be negligible amounting to but 0.2%. (Century of Pop. & Growth. Bur. of Census, p. 130) b Foerster, R. F. The Italian Emigration of Our Times, p. 325. cNew York City Board of Health figures. d Computed from original data furnished thru kindness of Dr. Guilfoy. , x Negligible owing to large percentage of early returns to homeland and scarcity of females. 14 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION For the first and second generations of Italian blood alone the figures given below are arranged to include not as. Italians but as Americans the 10.4 per cent of the entire Italian foreign born population of this city that entered who had not attained their fourteenth birthday. These individuals, notwithstanding their foreign birth, are for our purposes here classed as Americans of Ital ian origin because the plastic state of both their minds and bodies will unquestionably render them extremely susceptible to American ideas and education. They rep resent a type different from the adult Italian who is so ingrained with the traditions of the "homeland" that he himself is neither able to be affected in any very radical way by American conditions nor to contribute creatively to American democracy. Some of the biggest leaders of the second generation of Italians in New York City as well as some of the most promising material now at tending our schools and universities are of this class. It it curious and interesting to note in this connection that the only two books intelligently written on the subject of Italians in America and recently published should be written by individuals of this type who having been born in Italy came here before their 14th birthday. Wm. P. Schriver and Dean George Hodges in writing the pre faces for "Sons of Italy" by Antonio Mangano and "So cial and Religious Life of Italians in America" by Henry C. Sartorio both make mention of this fact. Instead of tabulating the figures below as "first" and "second" generation it is more proper to label them as "Italian" and "American of Italian extraction." For the entire city the figures are : THE ITALIAN SPEAKING POPULATION OF NEW YORK CITY— 1917 TYPE NUMBER PERCENT Italians 324,037 44.3 Americans of Italian extraction 406,805 55 7 TOTAL 730,842 100^0 * Compiled from Annual Reports of Commissioner-General of Immigration. ** Actual death rate for Italians in New York City in 1915. (vide, Guilfoy. Influence of Nationality upon Mortality of a Community, Monograph Series, 1917, No. 18, p. 26. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 15 Other writers make the figures a little lower. An tonio Mangano in a very excellent book referred to above figures that the Italians in New York City approximate 600,000.* Others put it at 700,000.** The more recent writers accept this.f Corporation Counsel Burr before a recent meeting of the Academy of Political Science said that there were more Italians here than there were in Naples. If this ir so not only would the approximate figures of 700,000 be true but it would make of this city the greatest Italian center in the world. DENSITY — By density is meant the number of per sons to each square mile of land area. No very recent figures exist for comparing the densities of the various racial groupings scattered thruout the city. Certainly, the Italian colony| located at Mulberry Bend Park is as densely populated as any other section of the city. Not very long ago it was found that the most densely popu lated spot in the world was located somewhere in the section around 10th and 11th avenues, north of 34th * Published by the Missionary Education Movement, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City-. (Mangano takes no account of the population increase since the last 1910 census). ** World Outlook; Italian Number, October 1909. ed. Willard Price. t Train, Arthur, "Unhooking the Hyphen," Saturday Evening Post, August 10th, 1918. + One great difficulty universally experienced in writings dealing with people of Italian blood is the haphazard and loose way in which the term Italian is used to designate individuals. If an individual's name ends with a vowel, he is classed as an Italian tho he may have come from stock that was born in this country, as is true particularly of a large group of Genoese located around the Five Points section in Mulberry Bend. Italians who have come from Italy and who have never been naturalized, Italians who after having lived here a greater or less number of years, have become naturalized and there fore are Americans, and Americans born of Italian stock, and Americans born of Americanized Italians— all are promiscu ously lumped together and dealt with as tho they were of a lik„ class. Very often the gulf between them is wide. This stuay thruout uses the terms "Italian," and "American of Ital ian extraction," the two main types, very guardedly and de precates the use of careless language with its consequent con fusion, described above. 16 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Street and south of 59th Street and that there were lo cated in this section 11,000 persons to the acre.* The survey of the Federation of Churches, conducted in 1904 found the block bounded by Second and Third streets, Ave B to Ave. C (a Jewish block) to have 4,105 residents and "this appears by a comparison of all the blocks of the Tenement House Report to be the largest population within four streets of Manhattan." Dr. Laid- law adds however that while it may be the most popu lated it need not be the densest.f It is likely, however, that since then other sections have increased at a more rapid rate so that the most densely populated section of New York City lies elsewhere. The writer is inclined to believe that this distinction lies between the large Jew ish colony located on such streets as Rivington, For- sythe and Eldridge and the Italian colony at Mulberry Bend, Bayard, Baxter, Elizabeth and Hester Streets, both of which sections have very many characteristics that are similar. Dr. Bushee found the density of population in the Italian quarter at the North End of Boston to average 1.40 persons per sleeping room.** This was true in 1891 but it has since increased 65%. The same condition exists among the Italian quarters in New York City. The only data we have regarding density in such quarters is fairly recent. In 1912 Dr. Antonio Stella made a study of housing conditions in the Italian quarters in the lower part of this city. His findings are both interesting and instructive. "The old seventh ward which contains a great part of the Italian population," he says, "has a density of 478 people per acre. This is greater than the density of the districts of Bethnal Green and Skelder- gate in London where the greatest density was found to be 365 and 349 people to the square acre respectively, and this Rowntree considered greater than that of any other city of Europe."*** Five separate investigations * Lectures by Prof. Franklin H. Giddings ; in Inductive So ciology given at Columbia University in 1915. (It is to be added tho in this connection that accurate data regarding condi tions in China and in India are not to be had). t Federation, December, 1904. ** Bushee, Prof. F. A. "Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston" American Economic Ass'n. Third Series, 1903. *** Stella, Dr. Antonio ; La Lotta comtra La Tubercolosi fra gli Italiani nella Citta di New York. p. 47 passim. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 17 made at various points in this city are quoted here to point out the general character of over-population and unusual density among Italian speaking people. In cer tain places on East 13th Street, a Sicilian district, Dr. Stella found that 1231 people lived in 120 rooms, an av erage of ten people to a room, with less than 18 cubic meters of air for each individual. f In another section on Seventh Avenue, a Calabrian section, he found twenty rooms populated by eight fam ilies totalling 42 people of whom 24 were children. Dr. Guilfoy found seven tenement houses populated by 1500 people.* Block X of the old 14th Ward, Lord found to have the most unenviable distinction of being the most densely populated of Italian blocks he investigated and to contain the largest number of Italian families of Italian origin in the city. In this block 492 families were lodged in an area extending north from Prince Street between Mott and Elizabeth Streets. In one of these blocks alone, the so-called "Lung" block, were counted more than 4000 people, one quarter of whom were Americans of Italian extraction.'** Lastly Chapin's study of con ditions in New York City showed the Italians (disre garding the Bohemians whose numbers are insignifi cant) rivalled only by the Austrians in over-crowding, viz : X OVER-CROWDING BY NATIONALITIES Total No. No. reporting more Nationality of Families United States 67 Teutonic 39 Irish 24 Colored 28 Bohemian 14 Russian 57 Austrian 32 Italian 57 TOTAL 318 These findings if true point to the fact that perhaps in the Italian colony at Mulberry Bend Park there are t ibid. p. 48. * Medical Record, Jan. 5th, 1908. **Lord Trenor and Barrows. The Italian in America. tChapin, Robert C. The Standard of living in New York - City, p. 81. than lyi persons Percent per room 20 30 8 21 12 50 16 57 11 79 35 61 21 65 37 65 160 50 18 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION more individuals living per square acre than upon any other square acre that we know of in the world. Prof. Foerster's vivid description is both interesting and in structive in this connection.^ New York City's total acreage is 201,659. With a population of five and one half million this would average a population of 22.31 per square mile. Distributed by boroughs the figures of the city's population for all nationalities are :* DENSITY OF POPULATION PER ACRE IN NEW YORK CITY Year N. Y. City Manhattan Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond 1910 23.66 166.08 16.56 32.89 3.78 2.34 While we see in the above the density per acre for the city at large is but 23.66, in the old Second Assembly district which is predominantly Italian it jumps to 170.4 and in the old Sixth District to the astounding figures of 397.6,** pointing to a physical background for the type that we are studying that is highly abnormal. J "Who that has sauntered thru these colonies can forget them? Who, since they are unique, can describe them? An ant hill is like them or a bee-hive — but too soon all analogies break downl Where East Houston, Mott, Prince and Eliza beth Streets come together in New York, making one block fairly long but very narrow, dwell 3500 people, 1100 to the acre. It disputes with few other blocks the dismal honor of being the most populous spot on earth. Its tenements rise tour or five stories into the air but each story bursts, as if the inward pressure were too great, into a balcony. The street below is at once playground and place of business ; one threads one's way betwixt pushcarts and stands, past little children and quite as little old women, whose black eyes scin tillate above their bronzed Sicilian cheeks. Here doctor and mid-wife might make a living while scarcely leaving the block. (One child in nine dies before the age of five.) On each floor, as a rule, are four 'flats,' often of two rooms ; one room serv ing as kitchen, dining-room, and general living room, the other as bed-room. 'There is not,' says a government report, 'a bath-tub in this solid block, unless there be some in the Chil dren's Aid Society building, and only one family has a hot water range. In one of the buildings there are radiators in the hall, but the furnace has never been lighted in the recol lection of the present tenants. All halls are cold and dirty the greater part of the time, and most of them are dark.' Neither bath-tub nor stove is an institution which these immigrants have known in Italy, but in America both climate and the perils of crowded living make their omission costly." (Taken from The Italian Emigration of Our Times, p. 382-3). * Pratt, Edward E, Industrial Causes of Congestion in New York City, p. 28. ** ibid p. 31. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY , 19 DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES— Because as one writer puts it "no other nationality in New York City is so given to aggregation as the Italian" there is scarcely another nationality that so thoroughly stamps as foreign the district it occupies. Never theless in with the Italians are Hebrews, Syrians, Greeks and other nationalities of Southeastern Europe. Again there are thousands of Italian speaking people domiciled in sections where other racial stocks predom inate so that these are not included in the estimated fig ures by districts that follow. It is understood that the figures given for the population of the different colonies or sections are approximate. A distribution of the Ital ian speaking population in New York City by Boroughs follows : DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES IN MANHATTAN Section or Locality Street Boundaries Chief Estimated Dialects Population Spoken (Approx.) Mulberry Worth, Lafayette, Bow Bend Park ery and Houston Sts. West Side Canal, West 4th, West (lower) Broadway, North River East Side East 9th St., East River, (middle) 2nd Ave., and 33rd St. West Side 34th St., 59th St., North (middle) River and Ninth Ave. E. Harlem 134th St., 125th St., 2nd. (Little Italy) Ave. to East River White Plains Ave. Van Cort- landt Gun Hill Road Genoese Calabrian Neapolitan SicilianCalabrianPiedmontese TuscanNeapolitan SicilianCalabrian Neapolitan Genoese Turinese Milanese NeapolitanCalabrianSicilianSalernitanoNeapolitan Sicilian 110,000 70,000 18,000 15,000 75,000 3,500 2,000 Calabrian 1,500 Miscellaneous 15,000 20 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES IN BRONX Section or Locality Street Boundaries Chief Dialects Spoken Estimated Population (Approx.) Fordham Morrisania Williams- bridge Van Nest Bedford Pk. Scattering TOTAL Fordham Rd., So. Boule vard, 180 St. and 3rd Ave. 3rd St., Ave., 149th Park Ave. Bedford Pky., Pky., Jerome Ave., The Concourse Abbruzzese BareseSicilian Barese St., 161st Sicilian AbbruzzeseNeapolitan Neapolitan Sicilian NeapolitanCalabrian Moshulu Calabrian and Neapolitan Sicilian Miscellaneous 35,00020,000 20,000 15,00015,000 10,000 115,000 DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES IN RICHMOND Section or Locality Street Boundaries Chief Dialects Spoken Estimated Population (Approx.) Rosebank Tompkins- ville New Brigh. ton Arrochar Port Rich mond West New Brighton Dongan Hills Tottenville Stapleton Arlington Mariner's Harbor Elm Park, etc. TOTAL St. Mary's Ave., Tomp kins Ave., Chestnut Ave. Van Duzer St., St. Paul's Ave., Hannah St. Jersey St., Brighton Ave. Richmond Ave. Old Town Road Elm Street Richmond St., Brighton Ave. Puritan Ave., Liberty Ave. Sicilian Calabrian Neapolitan 6,500 Neapolitan 3,500 Calabrian 3,000 Sicilian 2,000 Neapolitan 1,000 Sicilian 1,000 Neapolitan 500 Miscellaneous 2,500 20,000 TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 21 DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES IN BROOKLYN Section or Locality Street Boundaries Chief Estimated Dialects Population Spoken (Approx.) Bridge Section City Park Front, High, Gold, and Prospect Sts. Hudson Ave., Navy Yard, N. Portland & Myrtle Avs Hamilton Ave., Court St., Atlantic Ave., Columbia St. Fifth Ave., Degraw St., ' Nevins St., and 22nd St. New Utrecht Ave., 60th St., 11th Ave., 70th St. Bay 11th, Bath Avenue to Coney Island DeKalb Ave., Marcy Ave., Flushing Ave., Grand Ave. Union Ave., N. 6th St., Bedford, Graham, John son Aves. Evergreen Ave., Willough- by Ave., Knickerbocker Sicilian Ave., Flushing Ave. Malbone St., Nostrand Ave., Kings County Bldgs Neapolitan and Flushing Ave. Troy Ave., St. Marks Ave. Neapolitan Utica Ave., Fulton St. Hamilton Ave. Fourth Ave. Lefferts Pk. Bath Beach & Coney Is. Franklin Ave. Williams burg Ave. Bushwick Flatbush Troy Ave. East N. Y. Elton St. Scattering TOTAL Calabrian 10,000 Neapolitan Gragitano 15,000 Sicilian 20,000 Neapolitan 30,000 Calabrian 10,000 Sicilian 15,000 Calabrian 15,000 Neapolitan 40,000 Rockaway Ave., Liberty Ave., Pennsylvania Ave., and Fulton St. Atlantic Ave., Ashford St., Glenmore Ave., Essex St. 30,000 5,000 5,000 Neapolitan Salernitano 20,000 Barese Neapolitan 5,000 Miscellaneous 15,000 235,000 22 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN COLONIES IN QUEENS Section Chief Estimated or Street Boundaries Dialects Population Locality Spoken (Approx.) Long Island w;n g { ^ (No. Sec.) ' Hallet St-- H°yt Ave- err * c i Ninth Ave., Astoria Ave., c , .. » nnn (East. Sec.) Steinway Xve. Salernitano 4,000 Ridgwood, Hamilton St., Peeree St., Washington Sicilian (West. Sec.) Ave., Webster & Graham Neapolitan 6,000 Ave., Ridge St., Camilier Piedmontese St. (So. Sec.) Fifth to 10th Avenues Neapolitan 2,000 r Fifth Ave., Moore St., c , rw?S-<;«0 Sycamore Ave., Alburtis [Salernitano 6fiQQ (West.sec.) .¦' ' Neapolitan ' (No. Sec.) Corona Ave. Basilicatanese 2,000 (East. Sec.) Scattered Miscellaneous 2,500 ¦/West cer \ South St., Rockaway Ave. Basilicatanese 6,500 Flushing Amity St., W. Grove St. m"1'3?-, , nnn (East. Sgec.) and Vicinity ^olitan 5,000 Scattered Miscellaneous 15,000' TOTAL 55,000 AGE CLASSIFICATION— According to the 1910 cen sus the actual age distribution of Italians that entered was: . AGE GROUPS OF ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS BY PERCENTS, 1910 Year Race or People Under 14 Yrs. 14-44 Yrs. 45 Yrs and over 1910 Italian 10.4 83.5 6.1 When we come to consider Americans of Italian ex traction it is perfectly safe to say that because of the very recent character of Italian immigration this type will plot its heaviest below the 21 year age line. When we consider that immigration from Italy that first amounted to anything started in 1882 with but 32 160 entering and that it was not until 1900 that it had crossed the 100,000 mark, we see that the descendents of these TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 23 people must be in a comparatively youthful stage. A glance at the age-figures of those entering in a repre sentative year will show how truly homogeneous is this group of Italian origin from the standpoint of age-char acter — the great bulk of their parents being still in the prime of life when they arrived at this port. In actual numbers those entering in 1914, the year of the greatest immigration notwithstanding the abrupt stoppage due to the war, were : ITALIAN IMMIGRATION INTO THE UNITED STATES, 1914 Number Race Admitted Under 14 yrs. 14-44 yrs. 45 yrs. & over Italian, North 44,802 4,775 38,106 1,921 Italian, South 251,612 32,936 201,428 17,248 Total 296,414 47,711 239,534 19,179 There are no age statistics for the second generation. The census bureau lumps the native-born of all foreign stocks together and makes one class of them. Before 1900 however the number (74,168) was so small as to be inconsequential. It has steadily increased since so that in 1910 it more than doubled itself, rising to 191,545 in actual numbers. But it has remained for the last decade from 1910 on to witness the most phenomenal increase of this class in New York City.* From 1910-1917 there was an increase of 177,649 or a scant 15,000 to keep the original 1900 figure from again having doubled itself within seven years this time instead of ten. Computed in round numbers there are today in New York City 175,000 Americans of Italian extraction (or 47%) of the second generation between one and nine years of age; 125,000 or 34% between ten and nineteen years of age ; 35,000 or 9% in each of the two succeeding age groups namely, *The actual increase by births for each year is as follows: 1901 11,130 1909 24,882 1902 12,746 1910 28,369 1903 14,625 1911 28,290 1904 16,301 1912 29,600 1905 18,252 1913 29,533 1906 21,216 1914 31,023 1907 23,805 1915 29,717 1908 25,754 1916 29,011 1917 28,989 (Above figures from original data furnished by Dr. Guilfoy) 24 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION 20-29 and 30-39 years, and finally 5,000 or 1% forty years and over. As these figures show, the type we are studying is essentially in a state of transition, the majority of them or fully 90% being contained in the first two age group ings all below twenty-one years of age. Because of this fact the socio-economic conditions that we shall disclose in subsequent chapters like the "Standard of Living" and "Occupations" will be a standard of living dictated by the old generation and the facts themselves be largely socio-economic facts pertaining primarily to the first rather than to the second generation. For the reader to remember this is important because it affects practically the entire body constituting the second generation the members of which represent a state of transition, not having definitely and fully adjusted themselves to Amer ican life from the standpoint of their own free choices because of their immaturity in years. In the chapter on LITERACY we notice the position of this class "en masse" in our public schools. The figures there shown corroborate the above reflection for by far the greatest number, namely 72 percent of the American of Italian extraction is found in the primary grades. According to the last available estimates of this city's population the figures put forth by the Board of Health show a population of 5,748,629 people. The population of New York City of school-going age i. e. 5-18 is 1,352,- 460 or 23.6 per cent of the total population. Italians and Americans of Italian extraction numbering 730,842 rep resent 12.7 percent of the total population while the second generation constitutes 30.1 percent of the city's school going population. SEX CLASSIFICATION— Just as in the age distribu tion so in the matter of sex no one study is available showing the distribution of this 700,000 odd population. According to the census taken in 1901* Italy with a pop- *The latest census was taken in June, 1911 and showed for the entire population over 10 years of age the following- males 12,889,847; females 13,680,201 or substantially no difference from the figures quoted above. (Taken from ITALY TO-DAY, Bul letin of Italian Bureau of Public Information, 1918.) TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 25 ulation of 32,475,353 showed the following proportions between the sexes; Date of POPULATION Proportion of Country Census Male Female Males to „ . 100 Females Italy 1901 16,155,130 16,320,123 99.0 The sex of our Italian immigrants was not anywhere thus evenly distributed because at the beginning approximately six males to one female entered this coun try. This disparity has been steadily decreasing, how ever, until now the proportion of men entering is three to one female. In the United States the percentage of males to fe males is 106 in favor of the latter. For New York City according to the last census 1910, the proportion between the sexes is as follows : Borough ManhattanBronxBrooklyn Queens Richmond Dr. Laidlaw found thruout Manhattan as a whole which he considered representative, that native born fe males of all racial strains exceed the native-born males by 12,277 while the foreign-born females exceed the for eign-born males only by 1298. In the Bronx males ex ceed the females among the foreign-born population while the females exceed the males among the native- born. Dr. Laidlaw stated, however, that the above dis crepancy was in large part due to the fact that a great many Italians were at that time engaged on the public works of this Borough.* It would seem from all this that of the adult generations the males predominate ; but with the American of Italian extraction, no great dis parity in sex exists that is of any moment, the distribu tion between male and female being practically even. ' For the entire population of foreign parentage, as a mat ter of fact, this same ratio of evenness between the sexes exists and has remained stationary since 1890 with a * Federation, April 1912, p. 25. Males Females 1,168,657 217,126 809,891 144,205 44,757 1,164,883 213,860824,560 139,836 41,262 26 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION tendency in most cities towards a decline in the number of males.* CONJUGAL RELATIONSHIP— Marital statistics for Italians and Americans of Italian extraction show marked differences as is to be expected. For all nation alities daughters of the foreign-born show only 19% of those aged between 15-24 to be married, while among daughters of native-born parents 30% are married; for the men between 20-29 only 26% of the native-born sons of foreign stock are married; while of the sons of na tives 38.5% are married.** As Prof. Commons points out this phenomenon sustains what can be proved in many large cities, and New York City is no exception. The following table shows the conjugal condition of en tering immigrants : CONJUGAL CONDITION OF IMMIGRANTS, 1910 PERCENTAGE Sex 14 to 44 years 45 years and over Single Married Wid. Div. Single Married Wid. Div. Males 55.3 44.2 0.5 a 5.2 86.8 7.9 a Females 57.7 39.9 2.3 a 6.6 52.8 40.5 0.1 a. Less than one-tenth of one percent. Fairchild points out the deep significance that these figures have for us in our problem of synthetization. More than half of all immigrants of both sexes are sin gle, showing therefore that the immigration movement is not a movement of families. One of the greatest forces for Americanization in immigrant families is the growing children, in this case numbering 300,000 or 81 per cent. "Where they are lacking the adults have much less contact with assimilation influences."*** Together with the American of Jewish extraction, the type under surveillance here is able to bring all the possible ad vantages that numbers carry upon the process of syn thetization and Americanization. Our type here as we have seen is most numerous within the three to nine age * See also hand-book of Federal Statistics of Children, Chil dren's Bureau, Publication No. 5, Second Edition, passim, where for the entire country for both the foreign and native stocks "the number of boys and girls is always nearly equal." p. 10. ** Commons, J. R., Races and Immigrants in America, p. 203. *** Fairchild, H. P. Immigration, p. 202. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 27 group and is consequently for the most part unmarried. MIXED MARRIAGES— In the matter of children the question whether the two parents are of one strain is an important one. Dr. Jones found that the antipathy ex isting between the Irish and the Italian vanished when the latter learned the American point of view, and he hereafter expects to see a family life where marriages between the Italians and the Irish will be as numerous as have been marriages between the Germans and the Irish. In the latter case there is perhaps more in com mon. Both the Italian and the Irish colonies are strong holds of Catholicism and this coupled with their con vivial affinities would help draw the emotional and highly strung natures of both these stocks together more fre quently. As a matter of fact this mixing of the Irish with the Italian is a process that is going on rapidly, particularly in the Italian families on the middle West Side of New York City. We call to mind in this con nection the situation as it exists for the City of Boston where a special inquiry showed that 236 Italian families in a colony of 7900 were of mixed parentage with pre dominantly Irish tendencies. Some idea of the rapid absorption of Italian blood thru mixed marriages is- afforded by the study of Ripley made some years ago. In all there were 484,207 Italians in the United States in 1900. Marriages of Italian mothers and American born fathers produced 2747 offspring; 23,076 had Italian fathers and native-born mothers ; 12,523 had Italian fathers and mothers of some other non-American nationality, while 3,911 had Italian moth ers and fathers neither American nor Italian born. Thus of the 484,000 Italians, nearly 1/10 were of mixed blood. , This is as high a ratio of blood mixture as is found among any other group of immigrants representing the "newer immigration."* For New York City we have some interesting data available for the first time. In 1900 there were only 108 births of mixed parentage in this city ; by 1916 this had increased to 530 or a gain of 390.7 per cent : the fol- * Ripley, Ezra P. "Journal of the Royal Anthropological In stitute" Vol. 38, p. 233. 28 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION lowing year 1917 saw a gain of 257 or 48.4 per cent over the preceding year* and if the figures of 1918 were available this percentage would be even higher. Dr. Guilfoy concludes from the above figures that "the war apparently has resulted in more Italian women marrying men of other nationalities." The war unquestionably was a factor in explaining the above but it was not the most important by any means. To the writer the main reason for the increasing prevalence of mixed marriages is the increasing number of Americans of Italian extrac tion, men and women alike, that are coming into what Jones has termed "the American point of view" and be cause of this, rather than because of the war we can confidently expect to see an increasing frequency of mixed marriages among these people. RELATION BETWEEN SIZE OF FAMILY AND ITS PLACE IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SCALE— It is obvious that for the earliest periods of family life there is a direct relation between the size of the family and its place in our socio-economic life. The more mouths there are to feed the more severe is the struggle for existence. This is but temporary, however, and after the children have grown up the burdens of the parents are considerably lessened. It is the trying early period and the large percentage of the second generation among Italian speaking peo ples of New York City that brought the Italians third in the bad preeminence of congested families. The test made was that of finding the greatest frequency for the highest number of persons per sleeping room. Twen ty-two percent of all the Italians from the southern part of Italy occupied all of their rooms as sleeping rooms; outranked by but the Greeks and the Syrians who showed for this same phenomenon the percentages of 42.9 and 42.1 respectively.** The Immigration Commission found that approxi mately 26 percent of the households they visited kept boarders or lodgers. In New York City this proportion * Courtesy of Dr. Wm. H. Guilfoy, Registrar of Records New York City Health Dept. **Jenks and Lauck; The Immigration Problem, p. 133 passim. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 29 was in round numbers 25 percent. Among Italians 42.9% were found to have used this means as an aid in solv ing the problem of living. In this they were outranked by the Lithuanians with 70.3 and Hungarians with 47%.* In contrast we find that only 9.5% of the Germans had boarders; 5.3% of the Syrians; 16.7% of the Irish; 13.1% of the Bohemians — all of which groups excepting the Germans constitute what is called the "old immigration." The writer's knowledge of the Italian home and the Italian temperament makes him believe that the social and convivial nature of the Latin, apart from the econ omy involved, helps markedly to give the Italian his high percentage. The American of Italian extraction comes from a race where family ties are strong. This is evidenced by the fact that 13.7% of the contributors concerning them selves with the question "What does the American of Italian extraction lose by his contact with American de mocracy?" say that one of the chief losses that this type of American sustains thru his contacts with his new home in our American democracy is the loss of the warm and intimate family relationships that obtained among the older generation.** The nature of this strong family relationship is important to understand because usually the degree or intensity of saturation with Amer ican culture gained by individuals of this type varies inversely with the degree or intensity of grip that the family life of the older generation holds upon such an individual. There is a constant struggle or competition j going on between the forces of the outside world, rep- ; resenting on the one hand, AMERICANISM, and on the!: other hand the influences of the home or of family life! playing for the predominance of Italian habits, customs,! ways of thinking and of ideas. Jane Addams in her book "Twenty Years at Hull House" tells of a play written by an Italian playwright which depicted the too often insolent break between Americanized sons and old country parents so touch- *ibid.** Symposium, infra Chapter 25. 30 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION ingly that it moved to tears all the older Italians in the audience. It is this tenacity of holding on at all costs and for all time by the adult Italian to some of their old world standards that often makes the Irishman hate him very bitterly for he is willing to work regardless of workingmen's standards in this country. In many cases this "hiatus" between both generations is enough to account for the entire difference between a delinquent and a normal member of society. The best instance of this is seen in the cases of girls belonging to Italian homes. Held down close to the home of the older gen eration, essentially foreign, and dominated by the tradi tions of an environment and way of life totally differ ent — the newer impulse of our freer life when it comes is sufficient to account for the many over-balancings. As Woods says "the Italian girl unless she has stepped be yond the confines of morality is rarely seen in any public place of amusement save in the company of an older person." It is this carrying over of foreign traditions and over-assiduity by the parents that makes for mis chief and which accounts for the reason why so many girls of Italian origin are to be found in the custody of probation officers and the like. Yet as Woods again points out "no daughter is more carefully looked after than the child of Italian parents." The point we wish to make here is that the "family life" such as the Amer ican of Italian extraction often encounters operates as a fetter or hindrance to a full-blown Americanism. In some cases and particularly in the poorest sections the "family life" is of a kind almost worse than none at all. Summarizing the above we see that the type of indi vidual we are studying is unique in that it represents a new generation fitted into the standards of an older one. The restrictive influences of a perverting social environ ment upon the full play of the forces that make for Americanism are easily seen. Most apparent of all is the paradox attempted by the American of Italian ex traction in seeking to retain the best and most represen tative of the old world culture of an older generation while striving to secure a full measure of the new.'* TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 31 CHAPTER IV OCCUPATIONS RELATION OF ITALIAN TO OTHER STOCKS IN AMERICAN INDUSTRIES— It was found that foreign- born laborers made up 58% of the total number of the labor force in American industries.* Of this the Italians form 7%.** Their children, or Americans of Italian ex traction, in a representative study made by the Immi gration Commission constituted but .3% of the total can vassed. It was found that while 22.5% of foreign-born laborers were so classified only 9.9% of their sons fell in the same category. f Compared with native-born Americans of foreign fathers from other countries the distribution of Americans born of Italian blood in Amer ican industries is as follows :$ INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION OF IMMIGRANT WAGE- EARNERS General Nativity and Race Total of 21 Industries Native-born of foreign father: Germany 4.8 Ireland '. 4.6 England 2.1 Canada 1.9 Austria -Hungary .9 Scotland ••• -6 Russia 5 Wales 4 Sweden 3 Italy 3 Netherlands 2 France 2 Switzerland 1 DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIAN BLOOD IN DIFFER ENT INDUSTRIES— Mangano says that three-quarters *Lauck and Sydenstricker— "Condition of Labor in Amer ican Industries'' p. 1. ** Ibid p. 4. ; t Immigration Commission Abstract of Report on Occupa tions of the First and Second Generations of Immigrants in the United States, pp. 13-27. tJenks, J. W.— "The Immigration Problem" p. 516. 32 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION of the people of Italian blood who come here worked in the fields at home and that but 16% do similar work here. The remainder are employed chiefly in the coun try's silk mills, machine shops, subways, water-works, railroad-construction gangs, quarries and mines.* Lauck found that the largest number are employed in railroad and other construction work.** Coming from Italy the status of Italian immigrants for the last two decades was as follows :f OCCUPATION OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS REPORTING EMPLOYMENT 1899-1910 People No. Reporting PERCENT Employment Professional Skilled Laborers Occupa- Occupa- including Misc. tions tions Farm Italian, North 296,622 1.1 20.4 66.5 12.0 Italian, South 1,472,659 .4 14.6 _ 77.0 7.9 Prof. Pecorini's study of the industrial distribution of Italians in the United States shows that one-fifth of those from the North of Italy and one-sixth from the South are skilled.:}: A distribution of such labor for 1914, the heav iest year of Italian immigration to this country shows up as follows :§ Group * NORTH ITALIAN SOUTH ITALIAN Professional 508 608 Skilled labor 6,073 22,606 Misc. occupations 2,079 165,205 No occupation 10,142 63,193 There is no way of telling what the wages of the dif ferent industrial groups according to racial lines in either New York City or elsewhere may be. Other im migrants from South-eastern Europe include Poles, Slavs, Hungarians, Austrians, etc., and all these are in- * Mangano, Antonio — "Sons of Italy" p. 21. ** Lauck and Sydenstricker — "Conditions of Labor in Amer ican Industry" p. 4. t Statistical Review of Immigration, p. 53. JPecorini, Alberto — "The Italian as an Agricultural La borer," Annals of the American Academy of Political and So cial Science, Vol. 38—1909. § Reports of Commissioner-General of Immigration, p. 62 seq' ffc. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 33 extricably intertwined with Italians in the city's and the nation's working population. The average weekly earn ings of industrial workers of Italian blood according to sex and generation, are shown in the following table, viz;* AVERAGE AMOUNT OF WEEKLY EARNINGS OF AMER- ICANS OF ITALIAN EXTRACTION AND ITALIANS 18 YEARS OR OVER _ XT Average for all Industries General Nativity and Race Male Female Native-born of foreign father: Italy $10.61 $7.70 Foreign-born : Italian, North 1128 7.31 Italian, South 9.61 6.64 Italian, not specified 12.64 a a Not computed, owing to small number involved. DISTRIBUTION IN NEW YORK CITY— The ex haustive inquiry into the racial composition of America's industrial army conducted by the United States Immi gration Commission some years ago found that Amer icans of foreign fathers constitute 17% of this country's total working force. Just how much of this includes Americans of Italian extraction in New York City is im possible to determine. Different proportions hold for the adult Italian and for his children. Of the former 82% are industrially employed; for his children no ade quate figures are available. Prof. Ogburn found that in New York City 7.5% of its entire children were gainfully employed in industry in 1910. If this rate held true for children of Italian blood, and unquestionably it does, then fully 30,000 Americans of Italian origin are industrially employed.** In New York City it is safe to say that the Italian predominates in the Street Cleaning Department, sub way construction work, barber shops and building trades. It is impossible to predicate a distribution of their de scendants because as yet the vast majority have not at tained the years and maturity necessary to their be- *Jenks, J. W. — "The Immigration Problem" p. 521 seq. ** Ogburn, W. F— "A Statistical Study of American Cities" Reed College Record, No. 27, Portland Oregon, Dec. 1917. 34 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION coming "set" or "adjusted;" thus we cannot assign them a place in the industrial and commercial world. The few that have gone out before represent but an infinitesimal portion of the Italian blood in this great est Italian center in the world. The chances are that when this chapter comes to be written it will differ markedly from the situation as it exists today among the adult ancestor. This is to be expected because of the marked disparity in the percentages of the industrially employed Americans of Italian extraction and Italians proper, as was shown in the preceding diagrams. Most conclusive of all, however, is the marked differ ences in the occupations chosen by the Italian and the American of Italian extraction as shown in the Report of the Immigration Commission. The very notable advance is made in the rank of clerks and copyists from twenty-fourth place in the first generation to fourth in the second; and of salesmen from twenty-first in the first generation to sixth place in the second.* By far the greatest majority of these industrial work ers are crowded in the lower part of Manhattan as is shown in the following diagram :** DISTRIBUTION OF ITALIANS AND RESIDENCES OF WORKERS EMPLOYED IN LOWER MANHATTAN Proportion of total workers living in Sex Manhattan Manhattan Other below 14 St. above 14 St. boroughs Jersey Male 61.7 14.4 21.3 2.6 Female 75.7 8.5 10.5 5.3 WHAT THE "NEW" GENERATION HOPES FOR— Miss Brandt tried an experiment some years ago, going down to the large Italian School at Mulberry Bend Park and asking the children there what they would like to do for a living. She says, "The most striking manifes tation of the American spirit was disclosed in the econ omic aspirations of the children i. e. Americans of Ital ian extraction. The ambition which in Italy would have * Occupation of the Immigrant — Vol. 65, p. 173. ** Pratt, E. E., "Causes of Industrial Congestion in New York City" pp. 138-140. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 35- been dormant is aroused in America by the all pervasive idea of 'getting ahead.' It is the exception if the son of the immigrant who works at the shovel or goes out with the hod, grows up to use the same tool."t Of the 150 children of whom the question "What are you going to be, or what do you prefer doing for a living," was asked, the following were the answers received: BOYS (66) GIRLS (77) 4 — undecided 47 — dressmakers 10 — chose father's calling 13 — teachers 2 — not indicated in any way 49 — vocation different from father NOTE : Of the 49 who chose vocations different from that of their father's, the following occupations were noted in order of greatest frequency — physician, lawyer, musician, painter, writer of books, teacher, sculptor, policeman, fireman, and saloon keeper. Dr. Van Denburg* put practically the same question "What do you expect to do for a living" to 211 boys and 278 girls in the public high schools of this city and got the following results: Of the 211 boys who ex pressed a choice, the occupations chosen were Vocation Number Pupils Approximate Percent Architect 7 3.3 Business 36 17.0 Electrician 9 4.2 Civil Engineer 39 18.4 Electrical Engineer 27 12.7 Mechanical Engineer 5 2.3 Law , 24 11.4 Medicine 7 3.3 Msce. Trades 8 3.7 Msce. Construction 14 6.6 Teacher 11 5.2 Engineer 5 2.3 Scattering 19 J^O TOTAL 211 100.0 t Brandt, Lillian— "A Transplanted Birthright" The De velopment of the Second Generation of Italians in an Ameri can Environment, Charities, 1904. *Van Denburg, Dr. J.— "Causes of Retardation and Elimi nation in our City Schools" Columbia University, Studies in Education, Teachers College Record, p. 49. 36 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION The girl's choices were expressed as follows : Vocation Number Pupils Approximate Percent Bookkeeper 9 3.2 Designer 6 2.1 Dressmaker 7 2.5 Musician 7 12.5 Stenographer 46 16.9 Teacher in Public School.. 167 60.0 Teacher 12 4.3 Scattering 24 8.6 TOTAL 278 100.0 The same experiment as conducted by Miss Brandt was repeated at the Italian School by the writer with the following results : BOYS (81) GIRLS (78) Vocation Number Vocation Number Mechanic 17 Dressmaker 31 Stenographer 6 Operator on machines 21 Soldier 6 Typists 8 Sailor 6 Teacher 8 Printer 6 Embroiderer 4 Carpenter 5 Doll maker 2 Engineer 4 Music teacher 1 Civil Engineer 4 Glove maker 1 Machinist 4 Pianist 1 Truckman 4 Housekeeper 1 Doctor 3 Shipping Clerk 3 Lawyer ..: 3 Professor 3 Telephone operator 2 Chauffeur 2 Fireman 1 Artist 1 Musician 1 These figures all show beyond peradventure of doubt the Americanizing influences going on rapidly apace among the Italian element in the life of our city. It also tends to show that the day is passing when most of the physical work, such as digging, building, and heavy con struction work is to be done chiefly by our Italian ele ment. The growing generation of Italian origin changes markedly in his desires, aspirations and ambitions for the future from his parents, as the figures show. Of those al ready sufficiently advanced to show what choices are actually being made the profession of medicine seems most popular. This is followed by law and lastly by teaching. For the girls, no adequate indices exist that warrant us making any statement. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 37 CHAPTER V HEALTH INTRODUCTION— The American of Italian extrac tion is descended from a race that is noted for its ro bustness and vitality. Years of labor in the sunny fields of Italy, a life almost continuously out of doors, have served to enrich the Italian with a native physical con stitution and endowed him with a fund of rugged health that stands him in good stead. This fact alone has made possible his standing up under the severe strain and stress to which his physical constitution is subjected in doing such work as digging tunnels, erecting sky-scrap ers, and building railroads. With his children however, the case is different. An unusually high, in fact the highest mortality rate for first generation of Americans of all descents obtains among the offspring of the Ital ian. With respect to tuberculosis, the disease that is most ravishing and takes the highest toll, Dr. Stella, who has made specific and detailed studies of Italian sec tions in New York City, says, "If we are to accept the principle of health, that a density greater than 25 persons per acre and an aggregation greater than 2 people per room which does not allow at least 85 cm. of air per person, is bad for both the social well being and the in dividual health, we must immediately conclude that the homes in which the Americans of Italian extraction live are absolutely responsible for their acquired suscepti bility to tuberculosis."* Other authors in attempting to explain the high death rate among Italians, have mis takenly had recourse to the facts of diet as the entire cause for this high mortality rate. Jones, for instance believes that, "The necessity for a different food from that to which he has been accustomed is not understood at first. Italians learn to eat the proper amount of meat only after they have been here some time and find them selves unable to cope with the conditions of labor and ?Stella, Antonio — "La Lotta contra la Tuberculosis fra gli Italian! nella Citta di New York", p. 48. 38 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION of weather to which they are subjected. The high death rate among them is totally due to a diet too exclusively vegetable to supply the necessary nutrition."* The authors of "The Tenement House Problem" also conclude that, "The generally high death rate of the Italian race is due to the fact that they are unable to adapt their diet to our climate and live upon a kind of food, adequate for the South of Italy, but totally inade quate for New York City."** In this the authors fail to keep apart the problem of the Italian and that of the American of Italian extraction. The two problems from the standpoint of health are as different as are the in dividuals concerned. It is patent that in the case of the American of Italian extraction who has not known for at least the first twenty years of his life, the frugal cereal diet of his father, the problem of dietary read justment is of less concern than that of congestion, over crowding and filthy rooms, inadequate ventilation, lack of sanitary appliances, and absence of fresh air and sun light. It is these latter causes that have given the Amer ican of Italian extraction the highest mortality rate of any descendants of any immigrant stocks in our city, and have made for the "heightened susceptibility" to disease of which Dr. Stella speaks. VITAL STATISTICS— Comparing the death rate for foreign-born children with the children of native stock, it is impossible to determine for the racial stock that we are studying, figures that apply directly in this connec tion. An investigation conducted some years ago on an extensive scale in New York City among school children will point out what undoubtedly in a general way exists among this particular type, excepting that conditions on the whole are constantly being bettered. Taking the entire city, it was found that about two- thirds of the children examined in the public schools several years ago were physically defective. The spe cific causes found were mal-nutrition, present in 12.9% of the defective children ; 79% with bad teeth that needed treatment; 45% suffered from throat trouble; 47% with * Jones, T. J. — "Sociology of a City Block", p. 72. ** De Forest and Veillier — "The Tenement House Problem", p. 294. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 39 nose trouble; and 70% suffered from enlarged glands. In round numbers, the conditions found in New York City showed that 41,600 children were insufficiently fed, and that almost 300,000 had bad teeth.* Among the higher ages, correspondingly high figures for New York City were obtained. For the whole coun try during the war more than 50% of our young men were rejected on account of physical unfitness out of which city boys contributed 28.47% in New York City.** At many recruiting stations 80% out of 100% recruits who presented themselves, were frequently found unfit. Out of a group of 80 volunteers only 8 could stand the preliminary examinations. f Dr. Ayres' investigation of 3,304 New York City children, found only 919 to be without defects.! Data from the office of the Italian Consulate for a representative year showed that out of 11,396 men about 20 years of age examined for military service, 3,921 were rejected and only 7,475 accepted. In Italy the percentage of rejections varied from 15% to 22% ; in New York City, for the same stock the percentage jumped from 30% to 35%. In the only study of its kind made in New York City bearing directly on the type in question here, we are able to present some data regarding the extremely high mortality rate prevalent. Dr. Stella, President of the Roman Legion of America who made this study says, "thru the courtesy of Dr. Guilfoy, Registrar of Vital Statistics and who personally checked the figures herein cited, and to whom I desire publicly to express my grat itude, I am able to present some very interesting data regarding Italian children in certain blocks in New York ?American Statistical Association, Vol. X, p. 30. Frederick Hoffman, "The General Death Rate of Large American Cities." (It is added by the author that the term "foreign-born" is seriously misleading if the various nationalities are considered in the aggregate for there are wide differences in the mortality and disease liability of the different nationalities.) ** Evening Mail Editorial, July 10, 1918, Dr. Maximilian P. E. Groszmann. t Rumely, Dr. E. A., Evening Mail, July 6, 1918. % Ayres, Leonard P.— "Laggards in our City Schools," p. 124. 40 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION City, classified according to ages and kinds of sickness. This is the first time that such a study has been made with respect to age and nationality in Manhattan and the results are extremely instructive."* The studies conducted by Dr. Stella are particularly valuable because they represent actual conditions. What he did was to make a first-hand investigation or a health- assay as it were, of specific localities. His data repre sent concrete facts painstakingly gathered and carefully analyzed. As he himself puts it "it was a study of the particular conditions and habits, in short of the whole life of that population which is crowded in blocks below East 112th Street, between First and Second Avenues, and of Block X, East Houston, Prince, Elizabeth and Mott Streets. The conditions found afford graphic evi dence illustrating the effects of over-crowding. I have picked for the study ten blocks afterwards described be cause they contained a representative number of tene ment houses in various parts of the city among those most populated and which were at the same time in habited by Italians."** The results of his investigations are amazing. According to the original data carefully collected from certain typical blocks, it was found as can be seen in the following tables that the general mortality for New York City when this study was made was 18.35 per 1000 popu lation and for children below 5 years of age, 51.5 per 1000. On the other hand contrasted to these figures the data for 6 typical Italian blocks gave the following as tonishing results : AVERAGE ITALIAN MORTALITY (For 1000 Inhabitants) Block (isolated) A 24.5 Below 5 years of age 8703 B 24.9 " ""922 c 22.4 " ;;;;;;;;8i;6 D 22.5 " 747 E 22.3 " ZZsu F 23.2 " 59.5 * Stella, Antonio ; La Lotta Contro La Tubercolosi fra gli Italiani nella Citta di New York, ed Effetti dell' Urbanismo. (The struggle against tuberculosis among Italians in New York City and the effects of city life.) **The quotations below are translations by the writer from Dr. Stella's work cited above. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 41 AVERAGE MORTALITY FOR RESPIRATORY DISEASES For the entire city (per 1000 pop.) 12.7 Rate for Italian blocks (below 5 years) : Block A 32.9 Block D 286 " B 47.8 " E 49 0 " C 35.3 " F 17.8 AVERAGE MORTALITY FOR INFANTILE DIARRHEA Average mortality for the entire city (per 1000 pop.) 12.9 Average mortality for Italian blocks : Block A 22.3 Block D 13.8 " B 19.1 " E 19.3 " C 17.6 " F 14.9 GENERAL MORTALITY FOR DIPHTHERIA Mortality for entire city (per 100 inhabitants) 2.8 Average mortality for Italian blocks : Block A 4.34 Block D 8.93 " B 3.71 " E 3.20 " C 4.61 " F These figures speak for themselves. Dr. Guilfoy, Regis trar of Vital Statistics for the New York City Depart ment of Health, in reviewing them calls it "an astonish ing condition heretofore unheard of, for the rate of mor tality presented by these above figures was over 2y2 times that among American boys and girls." He has himself recently collected the same data though for all nationalities and brought them down, up to date, in an excellent little monograph.* In this little brochure Dr. Guilfoy shows where the rugged constitutions of the Italian parent operate to have a favorable showing for the Italian stock when compared to the native American stock.** These figures hold for children under 1 year of age: BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN— 1915 INFANT MORTALITY ACCORDING TO NATIONALITY OF MOTHER FROM CONGENITAL DISEASES PER 10,000 BIRTHS RECORDED Country Total births Deaths Total congenital Rate reported diseases United States 17,210 81 937 544 /Italy 14,946 53 442 295 ! * Guilfoy, Dr. Wm. H— "The influence of Nationality upon the Mortality of a Community" (with special references to the City of New York) Monograph Series No. 11, Dept. of Health, Nov. 1917. ** Ibid. p. 11. 42 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION These figures show to the great disadvantage of the native or American population. As the Italian lengthens his stay here however, environment begins to tell. In considering the mortality of children up to five years of age according to the nationality of the mother, the high est mortality was found among the Italian children where 425 out of every 10,000 children of Italian mothers died during the year 1915. Taking the mortality figures for particular diseases we note the following: for in-~ fectious diseases the children of Italian parents show the highest mortality or 381 per 10,000 births as compared to 259 for children of native stock in 1915; for respira tory diseases their preeminence is established again with 176 deaths as over against 97 for every 10,000 births of native stock, or what is more than 3}4 times that of children of German mothers, almost 3 times that of children of Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Irish moth ers and a little less than double that of American mothers.* HEALTH AGENCIES — There are two chief agencies that look after the health of these people, (1) The Ital ian Colony and (2) The New York City Health Depart ment. Because the work of the latter is in no way dif ferent among these people from that which obtains among other city dwellers only the first agency is dealt with here. The work of the Italian health agencies in this city, however, need not detain us long. Mangano says :** "There are numerous special efforts made to reach the Italian stock, yet it is a lamentable fact that few insti tutions exist as a direct result of Italian initiative." There are no Mt. Sinai's in the Italian colony. The two chief reasons for this are (1) the lack of a moneyed class among the Italian-speaking people, (2) the compara tively low percentage of medically employed Americans of Italian extraction in New York City who are in a position to point out to the public particular conditions, and put into effect possible remedies. Columbus Hospital is the oldest Italian health agency * Dr. Guilfoy, p. 13 seq. ** Mangano — "Sons of Italy" p. 136. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 43 in the city. It is located on 20th Street, between Second and Third Avenues, and was organized in 1892. Its su pervision is under the order of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Columbus Hospital has no en dowment, and depends entirely for support on the work of the Sisters of this Order. Although it is generally known as an Italian institution, yet figures for some years back show that of the 21 doctors on the staff, not one was Italian. The Sisters, who are responsible for the continuance of this institution though, are all native Italians ; of the patients, fully 95% are of Italian blood. The one public enterprise that has had the backing and support of Italians in New York City is the Italian Hospital on E. 84th Street. * The wealthy silk manu facturer Celestino Piva has made this his particular "hobby" and an annual reception is given under his di rection, the proceeds of which go toward the mainte nance of this institution. In this way thousands of dol lars are collected. The Italian Hospital, while not a large hospital, is thoroughly up-to-date, with modern equipment, and does a very effective work. The Washington Square Hospital in Washington Park was started some years ago by Dr. Carlo Savini. Dr. Savini is one of the best Italian surgeons here and his hospital is as efficiently managed as is any mod ern high class private institution. Dr. Savini has at tracted to him not only Italian-speaking people, but many of other descents in this city. Notwithstanding the rather dark picture of conditions in the Italian districts above painted, the Tenement House Department declares that the tenements in the Italian quarter are much cleaner than those in the Jew ish or the Irish quarters. The writer believes that there is very little to choose from any one of these three that would, in any great way, be different today, though in the early days going back as far as 1842, in his first an nual report for the Health Department, Dr. Griscom de scribed unhygienic conditions, dirt, and gave mortality *The president of this institution is the well known and popular Dr. John W. Perrilli, who not long ago was appointed by Mayor Hylan a Trustee of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. 44 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION figures among the Irish of that day that were very much worse around Cherry Hill, Crosby Street and the Five Points section, than are those which exist today in the worst Italian blocks. There is no doubt that the values in Italian quarters have risen immensely and that this is not entirely due to the unprecedent rise in New York City real estate values. Mangano says that "Fifteen years ago before the Italian influx, twenty-five foot tenements were worth $10,000 to $15,000. They are now worth $40,000." How much of this is due to the fact that Italians make desir able neighbors, and how much to the natural increase in values it is of course impossible to say. Both obtain. Education and municipal attention to the problem of health is doing much to better the health standards of this group and increase the value of the quarters they oc cupy. The Charity Organization Society conducts in greater New York under the authority of the City Health Department an Italian Bureau, and furnishes the latest knowledge in preventive measures. By means of lec tures, slides, literature, and practical demonstrations, an effective campaign is being constantly waged against that most insidious foe — ignorance. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 45 CHAPTER VI STANDARD OF LIVING INTRODUCTION— The "Standard of Living" is a phrase that has been variously defined. Streighthoff says that "the standard of living consists of what men ac tually enjoy."* Chapin, in a study bearing directly on conditions in New York City holds that the problem of the standard of living presents both an absolute and a relative aspect, namely (1) "a reliable presentation of actual data for a given time, place, and class" and (2) "a comparison with the standards of different times, places, and classes."** Morimoto in the most recent study on this subject says that "the standard of living is the controlling element in economic activities."! Franklin H. Giddings says "the commodities that a la boring class consumes are not its standard of living. They are merely an index of its standard. The real standard of living is a certain conception of economic life which regulates beliefs and new ideas in varying proportions and changes as these factors change. "$ It may seem strange that in studying Americans of Italian extraction we should concern ourselves with so ciological data that are preeminently Italian. This fol lows though necessarily from the fact that the first and even the second generations of Americans of Italian blood are never absolutely removed from the influences and physical environment of the Italian parent. For twenty years, and more in very many cases, the Ameri can of Italian extraction has been under the shaping in fluences of a home that in many cases is more Italian than American. § * Streighthoff, F. H. "The Standard of Living" p. 2ff. ** Chapin, R. C. "The Standard of Living Among Working- men's Families in New York City" passim. t Morimoto Kokichi, "Standard of Living in Japan, John Hopkins Univ. Studies," 1918. p. 11. X Giddings, Franklin H. "Descriptive and Historical Sociol ogy", p. 253. § See explanation, supra, p. 29. 46 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION The degree of saturation with foreign culture varies. There is a constant change and shifting in the influence and importance of home life upon the American of Ital ian extraction rising directly from the fact that he is get ting older and thinks for himself, and secondly, because the parents themselves are slowly but surely becoming changed. In times like these it is difficult to get any data con cerning family budgets and living expenses that the next few years will not see materially changed. It is a ques tion whether any of the past studies will hold to the same relative degree because of these shifting stand ards due to the war. How different conditions are from what they were a year ago can be seen in a little re port* made by a special committee appointed to investi gate increased living costs. The findings of this com mittee show an increase of 85% in food and clothing prices alone. An investigation carried on among families of limited means in Boston showed similar results. In this latter instance of the 200 families studied which included seventeen nationalities, one-fourth were Ital ians. The average income of each family was shown to be somewhere between $15-$19 a week.** In New York City a group of 377 families, a majority of which were exactly the type that we are studying according to the investigation made by the New York Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor showed that increased living costs had mounted to 26% or that "the wage earner's dollar of January, 1918 had slightly less than four-fifths the purchasing power of the wage earner's dollar of 1917."f That the whole general stratum of living costs in re lation to wages has been upset by war times can be readily seen when we consider that Federal statistics show the increase in the cost of living to be about twice * Bankers Trust Company Report on Increased Living Costs, 1917. ** League for Preventive Work' — Food Supply in Families of Limited Means, Michael M. Davis, Jr., Boston, 1917. fWinslow, "My Money Won't Reach" Committee on Home Economics, Charity Organization Society, April, 1918. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 47 as great in relative percentages as the increase in wages.* Perhaps as good an impression of the way wages have changed within the last few years can be gathered from a copy of the "Report of the Committee on War Finance of the American Economic Association" given to the writer by its chairman Prof. E. R. A. Selig- man. The committee in summarizing the data of wage changes for different sections of the country shows "that the average increase of laboring men's wages from 1913- 1918 was somewhere between 40-50%."** In some dis tricts wages advanced from 40-70% but in very many others, wages such as those of bakers, hod carriers, bricklayers, plasterers, etc., increased but 20%. This same committee's report on price changes show the aver age advance "of 75% from 1913-1917 and of 92% to 1918 * The index number for the relative prices of food alone in the United States prepared by the Bureau of Labor Sta tistics shows an average increase from 1913-1917 of 46% where as wages have risen less rapidly. Dr. Kemmerer through the courtesy of Dr. Royal Meeker, U. S. Commissioner of Labor Statistics was able to give in advance figures regarding the Bureaus recently compiled index numbers covering rates of wages per hour for union labor in a large number of occu pations throughout the United States. The official figures are given in column 1 of the following table, and the same figures adjusted to the basis of the average for the period 1910-1914 as 100 are given in column 2. (See American Economic Re view, Vol. 7, June 1918, p. 265.) INDEX NUMBERS OF UNION WAGE RATES Year 1 2 1910 105 96 1911 107 98 1912 109 100 1913 111 102 1914 114 105 1915 115 106 1916 119 109 1917 127 117 This shows an increase of 14% in Union wages since 1914, as compared to 75% increase in wholesale prices and 46% increase in the retail prices of food. ** Report of the Committee of War Finance, Amer. Econ omic Association, p. 106. 48 ' THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION for wholesale prices ;"* for retail price changes the com mittee quotes the average increase of 70% given out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the 77% increase for clothing; 45% for fuel and light and 15% for rents — quoted by National Industrial Conference Board.** The most thorough study of conditions representing the standard of living in New York City was made by Chapin in 1909. Three hundred ninety-one families were studied, of which sixty-nine were Italian — a number that was surpassed only by the American and the Russian groups. It can be assumed therefore that the Italian families studied are fairly representative of the type to be met anywhere in the Italian colonies in the greater city. Of the sixty-nine Italian families investigated, fifty-seven showed that they possessed annual incomes between $600 and $1100, while the average number of persons per family was five.f INCOMES — There are three chief sources of income in the home of which the American of Italian extraction forms a part. They are (1) the adult breadwinner (2) boarders, (3) the work or labor of this type of Ameri can himself. The adult breadwinner includes both male and female workers. An investigation made by the Im migration Commission revealed the fact that of the women of Southern Italian families studied, two-thirds reported average earnings of less than $200. The writer is inclined to think this amount too small because as a rule the immigrant worker is suspicious and distrustful about making disclosures of this sort. Among the men the average yearly wage for the 2000 cases studied was found to be between $500 and $600. Another source of income as shown by its prevalence among the poorer Italian homes is the lodger or boarder. Here though the Italian family has a low average compared with * Report of the Committee on War Finance, American Economic Association, p. 104. ** Wartime Changes in the Cost of Living, Research ReDort No. 9, Aug. 1918, p. 64. t In a study of 200 workingmen's families in New York City, Mrs. L. B. More found 6 persons to be the average. (Wage-earners Budgets — L. B. More.) TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 49 other races. Lauck found that excepting for the He brew and Bulgarians, the Southern Italian ranked well up with an average of but 33.5% of householders keep ing boarders or lodgers. The Serbian family was high est with an average percentage of 92.8% and was fol lowed closely by the Roumanians with 77.8% respect ively.* In a study of over 2000 households these figures were largely substantiated in the following:** iNUMBER AND PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS KEEPING BOARDERS AND LODGERS Households keeping lodgers or boarders General nativity Total number and race of head of household households Number Percent Italian. North 653 223 34.2 Italian, South 1530 512 L 35.5 The third and last chief source of income in the Ital ian household occurs when the American of Italian ex traction himself is made to go out and help support the family. If this is ever at all necessary it usually begins at an early age and is one of the greatest handicaps in the development of this type. The chief channels open to children of fourteen to eighteen are usually the making of artificial flowers, working on garments for girls, machine operating, run ning errands, shoeblacking, truckdriving, office work and other blind alleys for the boys. Divided among male and female it was found that 9.9% of males and 7.3% females of these foreign-born children between the ages of six and sixteen were at work. For the male this is but 2% higher than the average of all nationalities of children in New York City gainfully employed as found by Prof. Ogburn.*** The percentage of females so em ployed is normal when compared with other nationali ties. An age distribution of over 500 Americans of Italian extraction found doing work in their tenement homes * Lauck and Sydenstricker, "Conditions of Labor in Amer ican Industries," p. 299. **Jenks and Lauck, "The Immigration Problem," p. 506. ***op. cit. p. 33. 50 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION by Dr. Stella while making his investigations is the fol lowing : CHILDREN FOUND AT WORK IN TENEMENTS Number AGES 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314-16TV1 Children found at work 1 3 21 23 44 45 76 71 62 90 76 46 558 Boys 1 4 8 10 14 26 IS 21 26 19 8 152 Girls 1 2 17 IS 34 31 56 41 64 57 38 406 Attending school 12 16 41 43 70 68 59 82 67 33 491 Not Attending school 1 3 9 7 3 2 6 3 3 8 9 13 67 In this matter of child labor it was found in the in vestigation made by the Immigration Commission that the lowest percentage fell to the Italians, namely 13.3%. The Germans pressed closely after with 13.9%, and the Syrian and Scotch were highest with 22.6% and 19% respectively.* Of 184 cases of Americans of Italian extraction be tween the ages of fourteen and eighteen studied by the Immigration Commission, it was found that the weekly wage averaged $6.14 for the boys and $5.54 for the girls.** A similar investigation conducted among working- men's families in Buffalo contained one-fourth of Ital ian families. In 29% the mother's earnings added to the income, and the number of cases were fairly evenly distributed among the different races with one excep tion. The exception was in the Italian families where only one mother was reported as adding to the in come.*** In New York City the comparisons afforded in Chap- in's study of different nationalities with respect to their sources of income "show that the greatest dependence on other sources than the father's wages is found among the Bohemians, Austrians, and Russians. "f The Italians rank better than the average with almost 51% of families supported entirely by the father — leading all the other racial stocks of the "newer immigration." This is a sub stantial verification of the responses that the symposium * Report of Immigration Commission on Manufacturing and Mining, Abstract, pp. 194-195. **Jenks— "The Immigration Problem" pp. 534-535. *** Report on The Standard of Living Among Working Fam ilies in Buffalo. t Chapin, R. C, Standard of Living in New York City, p. 59. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 51 in Chapter XXV brought out in showing that 18% of the contributors attest to the quality or trait of indus- triousness as being a marked characteristic of the Ital ian people. HOUSING— Of the 3,437,202 people living in New York City at the time the Tenement House Commission made its investigation 2,372,079 people were occupying 82,652 tenement houses where there were 350,000 dark interior rooms.| Conditions therefore that we shall de scribe among Italians are GENERAL. An assay of one section will reflect truly the general conditions that exist in all of the Italian colonies scattered throughout the city. Dr. Laidlaw found the housing conditions of the Italian district he visited involving 9,353 tenement families living in 31,522 rooms, an average of 3.37 rooms per family. There were eleven blocks of the thirty-two he visited with 3,413 families resident without a bath tub. In one of these blocks lived 628 families, mostly Italians.* Chapin's investigation showed the average size of the families that constituted the type he investigated to be five, and the average income anywhere from $600- $1000. Of this sum $144 or 18% must be paid for rent. Compared with conditions in Chicago among Italians we see that things are worse here. In Chicago** the me dium rental for a four room apartment was $12.00 to $12.50 paid by Italians. This is higher than what is paid by any other race and is a condition that is general among Italians for less than 15% of such families own their own homes. The average number of rooms per apartment was found to be 3.64.f The average number of occupants per sleeping rooms was 1.42 as compared to .93 of native-born white of native father. In New York City no existing investigation is available that has feat ured housing expenditures according to nationalities. Chapin with reference to his own labors states that the JDeForest and Veillier— "Tenement House Problem" Vol. 1, p. 3. ?Federation, Sociological canvass of the fourteenth dis trict (assembly) of the lower east side, June 1900, p. 231. ** Walker— "Greeks and Italians in the Neighborhood of Hull House." t Fairchild— "Immigration" p. 136. 52 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION number of cases is too small to warrant very confident assertion. What meagre data were obtainable showed that the Italians ranked lowest with an average of 2.6 for incomes at $600 and 3.9 for incomes at $900.§ In the matter of crowding the Italians showed up again badly viz :* Number reporting more than \l/2 persons Percent per room 20 30 8 21 12 50 16 57 11 79 35 61 21 66 37 65 318 160 Jones corroborates these findings, discovering 120 families housed within 14 buildings and numbering al most 900 people. Supporting these are the figures of Dr. Laidlaw who also discovered the Italians at the top in this deplorable characteristic with 13.3% of their fam ilies housed in one room. In a study of 76 families out of 11,546 in New York City where overcrowding was found, the Italian distribution showed up as follows :** Total number Nationality of families U. S. 67 Teutonic 39 Irish 24 Colored 28 Bohemian 14 Russian 57 Austrian, et c. 32 Italian 57 lumber of Number of Number of Italian families persons rooms nationality 33 6 3 4 14 8 4 3 11 9 4 2 11 7 3 1 1 10 4 1 7 8 3 1 1 6 2 1 76 54 23 13 The Italians in this investigation lead with 13.3% of overcrowding. The Americans are lowest with but .2%. SAVINGS AND THRIFT— Of the families studied by § Chapin — "Standard of Living in New York City" p. 77. * Chapin — "Standard of Living in New York City," p. 81. ?* Federation. Report of Auxiliary D, Third Sociological Can vass, p. 60. See Mrs. L. B. More's investigation of 2200 workingmen's families in New York City, Wage-earners Budgets, p. 67. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 53 Chapin in New York City, the largest percentage report ing a surplus fell to the Italians, viz :* Total Number TOTAL Nationality of Balance within $25 Surpl us Deficit Families No. % No. % No. % U. S. 67 27 40 15 23 25 37 Teutonic 39 21 54 9 23 9 23 Irish 24 9 38 7 29 8 33 Colored 28 9 32 7 25 12 43 Bohemian 14 12 86 2 14 Russian 57 11 19 29 51 17 30 Austrian, etc. 32 13 41 16 50 3 9 Italian 57 14 25 33 58 10 17 TOTAL 318 116 36.5 116 36.5 86 27 How much of this is due purely to thrift, industry, and savings, and how much because this type is satis fied to endure a lower standard of living is impossible to determine. Industry and thrift, as an overwhelming majority of the contributors to the symposium on page 252 prove, are innate traits of the Italian family. Regarding the second point, the matter of a lower stand ard of living Chapin reports a very favorable finding for the Italian viz :** NUMBER OF FAMILIES BELOW STANDARD AS RE GARDS FOOD, CLOTHING AND SHELTER s v 3 > rt S a o to 'Z» rt o 55 Z U. S. 67 Teutonic 39 Irish 24 Colored 28 Bohemian 14 Russian 57 Austrian 32 Italian 57 a st a v "S"0 IN o-e -o'° ¦So -ss .3 5 z** c h g u-o 3 " 3J3 £ 3 £ So II l! IS s-ss 4 4 7 2 3 2 1 12 6 1 3 5 8 4 1 14 18 14 10 6 8 13 5 2 2 31 2 TOTAL 318 33 45 81 20 * Chapin — "Standard of Living in New York City," p. 235. ** Ibid, p. 240. 54 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION This thrift spirit of the Italians was by Chapin re ported to have resulted in the largest proportion of fam ilies with savings viz :* SAVINGS BY NATIONALITIES Nationality No. of families Savings United States 67 5 Teutonic 39 14 Irish 24 1 Colored 28 6 Bohemian 14 Russian 57 19 Austrian 32 9 Italian 57 29 TOTAL 318 83 This same spirit has left its influence on New York City through the fact that of the real estate of New York City a conservative estimate is that $100,000,000 of such land is today owned by Italians or Americans of Italian extraction,** and this is proportionally not as much as is owned by this same type in St. Louis, Boston, San Francisco and elsewhere. Lord says that the thrift of the Italian is so exceptional that even bootblacks and common laborers sometime figure as tenement owners. Italian barbers quite fre quently acquire equities in tenements. There is further a rising disposition of the more wealthy merchants and fruiterers to invest their earnings in tenements in the Italian quarters. f This is born out by G. Tosti, a real estate dealer who says that whereas twenty years ago there was hardly an Italian real estate owner, today one is able to list over 800 in this city alone. The war brought forth in a most marked way their spirit of saving. In Brooklyn the Italians have organ ized very effectively under the leadership of F. P. Buon- ora and enrolled in the aggregate fully one-third of all the Italians in Brooklyn for the purpose of "saving" through the purchase of War Saving Stamps. Over 200 * Chapin— "Standard of Living in New York City," p. 243. ?* Sartorio, Henry — "Social and Religious Life of Italians in America," p. 20. t Lord, Trenor and Barrows — "The Italian in America," p. 77. V TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 55 societies were banded together and more than $100,000 was collected. The best record however that comes to light in this connection is that made by the people of Italian blood in the north-end district in Boston. Their thrift netted them $300,000 for war-savings and thrift stamps alone, and to them was awarded a silver cup and banner for having made the largest percentage of gains in the sales of War Saving Stamps for Suffolk County. The Hanover Street Postal Station under the able leadership of Lawrence A. Brignati ranked third in the country in the amount received in postal savings, having on deposit about $100,000,000, of which about 85% is to be credited to Italians and their off spring.* In this city the latest reports show Italian blood here to have invested $20,000,000 in the last Liberty Loan. The savings banks of New York City show that $24,000,000 is credited to them. The Italian Savings Bank at 64 Spring Street is the largest bank of its kind in this city, having a total of de- ' posits amounting to $7,769,064 and a surplus of $453,622. Perhaps the bulk of savings owned by Italian speaking people not only of this city but for the country at large is in the hands of private bankers. Lionello Perera, 69 Wall Street, probably is the largest and most influential Italian private banker in this city, having a working cap ital of almost half a million. M. Berardini, owner of the M. Berardini State Bank at 34 Mulberry Street is perhaps next with a capital and working surplus amount ing to three-quarters of a million. Others to be men tioned in this connection are the Banca Tocci, Sessa, Verrilli, Prisco and Avalona. Italian finance in this city is represented by four in stitutions. The Banca Commerciale with a capital of twenty-five million is of continental fame. The Credito Italiano is represented in this city by Felice Bava, 66 Broadway. The Banco di Napoli is the oldest Italian bank and is capitalized at one hundred and eighteen mil lion lire. Its offices are at Spring and Lafayette Streets. Two important features pertaining to Italian finance * Boston Chamber of Commerce— Current Affairs, July 15, 1918, p. 7. 56 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION in this city are of recent date. One is the purchase by the Banca Commerciale of the Lincoln Trust Company. The 100,000 shares of this stock were purchased at $80 above their par value. The other is the opening of the new Banca Italiana di Sconto with a working capital of half a million and jointly controlled by the Guaranty Trust and the Italian Discount and Trust Com pany. These two features Luigi Criscuolo believes to be "undoubtedly part of a plan whereby commercial credits between Italy and American business concerns can be facilitated."* The East River National Bank is an Ital ian owned bank. The names of Giannini and Granata stand out in this connection. * Luigi Criscuolo, former secretary of the Advisory Finance Committee, United States Railroad Administration ; II Car- roccio, Jan. 1919, p. 68. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 57 CHAPTER VII. LITERACY THE "OLD" VERSUS THE "NEW" GENERATION — "Thanks to the excellent public schools of the United States and to the compulsory educational laws of many of our states, the question of illiteracy is not one of the greatest importance in the second generation."* With the immigrant however the case is different. The rate of synthetization of our racial stocks depends in the first instance upon the degree of literacy prevalent. The percentage of illiteracy varies greatly among immigrants of different countries. The following tables showing the different percentages of illiterates among Italians as compared with other immigrant stocks were compiled from the reports of the Commissioner General of Immi gration and appeared in the Statistical Review of Im migration. ILLITERACY OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS 1899—1910 Immigrants 14 yrs. Immigrant illiterates of age and over 14 yrs. of age and over People Number Percent Jewish 806,786 209,507 26.0 Bohemian and Moravian 79,721 1,322 1.7 Croatian 320,977 115,785 36.1 English 347,348 3,648 1.0 Finnish 137,916 1,745 1.3 German 625,793 32,236 5.2 Greek 208,608 55,089 26.4 Irish 416,640 10,721 2.6 Italian, North 339,301 38,897 11.5 Italian, South 1,690,376 911,566 53.9 Lithuanian 161,441 79,001 48.9 Magyar 307,082 35,004 11.4 Polish 861,303 304,675 35.4 Ruthenian 140,705 76,165 53.4 Scandinavian 530,634 2,221 .4 Scotch 115,788 767 .7 Slovak 342,583 86,216 24.0 TOTAL 8,398,624 2,238,801 26.7 Illiteracy figures for the total immigration to the United States show that the Southern Italian leads, ?Jenks— "The Immigration Problem," p. 33. 58 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION being surpassed only by the Turk and the Portu guese. Looking at this question in the large, how ever, the authors quoted above conclude that too much emphasis must not be laid upon the ques tion of illiteracy since this disadvantage in most cases disappears in the second generation, i. e. the type we are studying here. When we consider that in Italy 84% of the taxes are spent upon the national debt, upon the administration, and upon the national defense, leaving but 16% for other expenses, we can realize the financial predicament that faces the Italian there, for out of this 16%, only 2.79% may be spent upon education. STATUS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT LARGE — The School status of Americans of Italian extraction for the country at large as compared with other Amer icans was found by the Immigration Commission to be, as follows : * PERCENTAGE OF PUPILS IN THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS BY GENERAL NATIVITY AND RACE OF FATHER OF PUPIL 2 5 V a ffi H g -1 -i o 3cr 3 p w a.n 3ft! 3 3* ftT n> -n -1 • 3 in -i TO <% and is the highest. The only lesson these figures offer is the stressing of the comparative recency of Italian* immigration as a movement "en masse." RETARDATION AT LARGE— More significant than mere numbers of school attendance though is the con dition of affairs regarding retardation or the percentage of pupils of a race older than the normal age for that grade, and the reason for that abnormality. It was assumed in the instance of the study made throughout the entire country by the Immigration Commission cov ering thousands of cases of descendents of immigrants of all stocks, that seven years was the normal age for the first grade, eleven for the fifth, and fourteen for the eighth. It was found that the average retardation for all foreign-born races was 36%, a scant margin above the 34.1% representing the average for all white chil dren of native stock.** Different races, tho, show marked fluctuations and the type under surveillence here achieved the unenviable pre- ? Reports of the Immigration Commission, Vols. 29-33. ??Jenks and Lauck, "The Immigration Problem," p. 308. 60 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION eminence with 48.6% followed closely by the Poles and French-Canadians with 48.1% and 43.1% respectively. The Finns made the best showing with but 27.7% of re tardation. If one were to go into the details beyond the data disclosed, he would get some interesting in formation.* A study of 46,846 pupils of the types above mentioned was made and marked differences were found between those whose foreign-born fathers could, and those who could not speak English. In the case of the German pupils whose fathers spoke English, 31.7% were retarded; of those whose fathers did not, 40.6% were retarded.f The Americans of Italian extraction showed 59.2% of retardation for those who came from homes where English was spoken and 72.7% where it was not4 Similarly with respect to whether or not English is spoken at home ; of the Germans early in migration to this country, 30.4% are retarded where English is spoken and 37.4% where it is not ; the American of Ital ian extraction had 56% of retardation where English i is spoken at home and 67.3% where it is not.§ A very bad showing though for this type is to be had when we consider retardation as existing between those who attend school regularly and those who do not. It was shown that with pupils of eight years or more who attended school three-fourths or more of the time, the degree of retardation for the children of native-born whites was 26.2% ; where they attended less than three- fourths of the time this percent rose to 43.9%. Of the Americans of Italian extraction the percentage of those in the first instance was found to be 56%, and in the latter 85.6%. Here again Jenks adds "the fact that ? In extenuation of the above figures, the authors making the study add that altho opinions were asked of the teachers as to the excuses for retardation, the answers were not defi nite enough to be tabulated. The figures show tho, that in ability of the father to speak English and the use of a foreign language at home are very important factors. Races making up the "newer" immigration show higher percents of retarda tion. Retardation is also due to ill health, late entrance to school, mental defects, etc. t ibid. p. 309. t ibid. p. 309. § ibid. p. 309, TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 61 children of certain races show a greater degree of re tardation than others is not necessarily a sign of less mental ability but rather of some external circumstances, that in another generation may entirely disappear." RETARDATION IN NEW YORK CITY— Touching on conditions in New York City the findings exhibited above for the country at large are generally substan tiated. In speaking of the mentality of the Italians and particularly of the Southern Italians from whence this large percentage of illiteracy and of retardation is de rived Mangano says "The Southern Italian is illiterate but not unintelligent. Northern Italians have as low a percent of illiteracy as 11.8 and are outranked by but four other nationalities i. e. the Scandinavians with .4%, the English with 1.1%, the Irish with 2.7%, and the Ger mans with 5.3%." In all of these excepting the last, the difficulty of mastering a new language as exists with the Italian does not obtain. This percent of 11.8 is but a fraction higher than the average of the illiteracy of the general population of the United States which is 10%. In New York City the average daily attendance of pupils in the public schools according to the latest avail able reports from the Supt. of Schools is shown to be 721,136. The percentage of pupils of foreign-born fa thers was 71.5% of the total attendance. Of this the Americans of Italian extraction represent 30.1% or ap proximately 200,000 of the total school-going popula tion of this city. Concerning retardation among pupils of Italian origin in our schools here, we have some very interesting data. Dr. Ayres made a study of fifteen nationalities in fifteen New York City schools and took 20,000 records. He found the American of Italian extraction to lead in re tardation, viz :* Nationality Percent recorded German j° American }„ Mixed J9 Russian ~~. English *Z Irish 29 Italian 36 ?Ayres, Leonard P. Laggards in Our City Schools. Russell Sage Foundation. 62 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Dr. Ayres adds however, by way of comment on these figures that "opinions may differ radically as to the sig nificance of these figures." The conclusion is that while the nationality factor has a distinct bearing on the prob lem of retardation and elimination, there is no evidence that these problems are most serious in those cities hav ing the largest foreign population. Dr. Van Denburg who also studied the causes of the elimination of students in public secondary schools of New York City has some interesting figures regarding the distributions of pupils studying there. His figures by nationality of pupils attending the High Schools of New York City show that the Italians of whom there is a constantly increasing number in that city, send more boys than girls to High School. The ratio is ap proximately three boys to two girls. This is shown in the following table, viz : TOTAL HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ARRANGED BY PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES Parentage of Pupil Boys Girls Total American, White 4,666 6,610 11,276 Russian, Hebrew 1,661 1,354 3,015 German 1,330 1,443 2,773 Iris.h 618 1,043 1,661 German, Hebrew 624 652 1,276 English 323 598 921 Italian, North and South 342 197 539 Scotch 140 244 384 Polish, Hebrew 171 165 336 Swedish 101 164 265 Roumanian, Jew 143 110 253 Canadian, English 84 131 215 American, Negro 78 123 201 Danish 47 130 177 French 67 103 170 Montenegrin 49 76 125 Russian 36 87 123 Magyar 67 53 120 Bohemian 51 31 82 Spanish 38 34 72 Polish 35 31 66 Holland, Dutch 18 23 41 Canadian, French 13 25 38 Welsh 7 24 31 Roumanians 13 8 21 Austrians 9 11 . 20 Scattering foreign 66 59 125 Unclassified foreign Hebrew 666 458 1,124 TOTAL 25,460 TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 63 Comparing the percentage of population in New York City at large with the percentage represented in the High School, Dr. Van Denburg finds the Irish most poorly represented. With 19% of the population they furnish but 6.5% of the total High School registration. Next come the Italians making up 6.4% of the popula tion and furnishing but 3.1% of the High School pupils. GENERAL POPULATION VERSUS HIGH SCHOOL POPULATION* Countries of Origin Numbers Percentages High School General High School General Population Population Population Population United States 11,477 907,351 451 264 Germany 4,049 735,992 15.9 21.4 Russia 3,166 240,805 12.4 70 Ireland 1,661 649,302 6.5 18.9 England 921 116,044 3.6 3.4 Italy 539 217,920 3.1 6.4 Poland 392 51,621 1.5 1.5 Scotland 384 37,668 1.5 1.1 Sweden 265 41,234 1.0 1.2 Canada, English 215 19,623 .8 .6 Denmark 177 8,223 .6 .2 France 170 23,203 .6 .7 Norway 125 16,746 .5 .5 Canada, French 38 3,899 .1 .1 Wales 31 3,119 .1 .1 Other Countries 1,942 361,472 7.6 10.5 TOTAL 25,452 3,434,222 100.0 100.0 THE PRESENT NEED— When the Immigration Commission made its report, it found less than 100 teach ers of Italian blood in the public schools. In New York City there were 17 teachers of parents from the North of Italy, 8 from the South and 7 not specified, in all less than .1% of the total number of teachers of foreign lineage in this city. Today, according to Dr. Vittorio Racca, president of the Italian Teachers Association this mark has more than been doubled. Nevertheless on a pro-rata scale, or compared with the number of children of Italian origin in this city, the one great deficiency with respect to providing an incentive necessary to ?Van Den Burg, Dr. J. K. — "Causes of Elimination of Stu dents in Public Schools (Secondary)" p. 36. 64 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION raising the low percentage of pupils of Italian origin in the schools of this city is the lack of teachers among their own kind. If there were a large well-knit and actively operating corps of public school teachers of Ital ian origin interested in visiting the homes and families of the great masses of Italian-speaking people in this city, the great stopping-off place between the public and the high school would cease to exist. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 65 CHAPTER VIII CITIZENSHIP OBSTACLES TO CITIZENSHIP— Ignorance of the language is perhaps the greatest bar to citizenship. With the Italian another factor enters, namely, the tendency to return to Italy. Fully 30% of these immigrants go back to the homeland after they have accumulated some "savings." Taking the period of 1905-1910 as an ex ample, we note the following proportions of returning immigrants.* 1905—31% 1908—34% 1906—38% 1909—30% 1907—62% 1910-^2% Because of this tendency the state of affairs found in 1898 when out of 16,000 workmen engaged in the con struction of the Erie Canal 15,000 were unnaturalized, is not surprising.** This is not the whole story however. Fully 15% who returned to Italy with their savings are inevitably found among those who come to America the following year, viz : PREVIOUSLY ADMITTED ITALIAN SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS— 1899-1910 Number In United States previously People Admitted Number Percent admitted Italian, North 372,668 56,738 15.2 Italian, South 1,911,933 262,508 13.7 But both these factors are absent in the case of the offspring. Many of these individuals do not speak Ital ian as well as they do English, and a few speak no Ital ian at all. The majority, not having known Italy, have no desire to go there and reside permanently. RELATION OF IMMIGRANT TO NATIVE VOTE— The importance of immigrant races as possible voters is greater than their importance in proportion to the popu lation. This is so because males come in greater numbers than do females. For instance 10,000,000 foreign-born population furnishes 5,000,000 males of voting age, but * Stella, Dr. Antonio— "Assicurzione Obbligatoria Degli Emi grant contro la Tuberculosi," p. 15. ??New York Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1898, p. 1155. 66 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION 66,000,000 native population furnishes only 16,000,000 males of voting age. This is to say one-half of the foreign born and only one-quarter of the native-born are po tential voters.* Of the foreign-born population two- thirds have either become citizens or have declared their intentions in 1900. Probably the proportion of native- white who did not vote was 15% of the total number while the percentage of the foreign-born who did not was over 40%.** This last proportion however varies with different races. Commons thinks that it is not so much a difference in willingness as it is a difference in appreciation. To be naturalized one must live in the country five years. The census authorities found that whereas 40% of those who had been here six to nine years have not declared their intentions of becoming citizens, only 7% of those who had been here twenty years had retained allegiance to their former govern ment. The "older immigration" represented by the German and Irish stocks have greater political significance be cause of this when compared with the "newer immigra tion," the Italians, Slavs, and Russian Jews. While but 7 to 13% of the foreign immigration are aliens, from 35 to 60% of the immigration from Southern Europe are aliens and therefore have no influence through the fran chise. Time however will reduce this disparity very ap preciably. The percentage of Italians that are citizens as found by the Immigration Commission in a represent ative investigation covering more than 8000 cases is : NUMBER PERCENT Race No. reporting Fully First Fully First complete data Naturalized Papers Naturalized Papers Italian, North 4,069 1,028 834 25.3 20.5 Italian, South 3,811 597 547 15.7 14.4 This percentage of 25.3 true in the case of the North ern Italian surpassed the percentages found in this in vestigation for other numerous immigrants from South Eastern Europe. The Russian Hebrew had but 22.7% ; the Lithuanian 21.1%; the Poles 19%; the Russian ? Commons — "Races and Immigrants in America," p. 191. ?? "Twelfth Census Abstract," p. 18. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 67 15.1%; the Slovak 12.1%. Further investigations have shown that 111,696 out of a total of 145,333 persons born in Italy were naturalized in 1900. CITIZENSHIP STATUS IN NEW YORK CITY— In speaking of the contribution to citizenship that the Ital ian makes to America, Roberts says, "The Italians are old. at the game of politics. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries they furnished political leaders to every country in Europe."* Lord on the same subject says, "The innate bent for politics of the Italian is strongly marked and nowhere is this more plainly shown than in America in spite of the common handicaps of un- familiarity with our language and the absorbing de mands of the struggle to earn a living. He is quick to comprehend the use and possible force of his ballot here, and is eager to become naturalized. This is signally shown in the extraordinary percentage of naturalized Italians in comparison with the total number of Italians in New York City. The carefully prepared records of the Commission established by the Italian Chamber of Commerce showed that 191,289 of the 225,026 persons of Italian parentage then living in the city were either born or naturalized Americans comprehending 83.4% of the total Italian population."** Today this percentage is even higher for approxi mately 200,000 Italians of those who were unnaturalized have returned to Italy to fight. These represent a lot almost hand-picked from the unnaturalized group so that it would not be greatly out of the way if we said that perhaps of all the immigrant groups representing the "newer immigration" the greatest percentage of naturalized citizens belongs to the Italian group. Notwithstanding the frequent disparaging remarks made about the "Italian vote being a joke" by city poli ticians, or past criticism that the Italian has a constitu tional defection regarding the qualities of political ge nius, we have testimony of two men who are in a posi tion to know, pointing to the contrary. George B. Mc- ? Roberts, Peter— "The Newer Immigration," p. 256. ??Lord Trenor and Barrows— "The Italian in America," p. 223-224. 68 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Clellan for seven years Mayor of New York City and whose last (1909) election could have been swung one way or the other according as the Italian vote was cast says, "Already we are beginning to feel the good effect of our schools upon our foreign-born population. Take the Italian . . . the number of them that are taking out citizenship papers is increasing every year. They make good citizens." The present incumbent of this office says, "The Italians in this city are among our best citi zens and are held in great respect."* THE PLACE OF THE WOMAN OF ITALIAN BLOOD — There is at present no way of telling how the girl or woman of Italian blood is going to take to her newly acquired citizenship and right to vote. As Dr. Van Denburg has shown, the Italian sends his boys to the city's High Schools in the ratio of three to every one girl that attends. The strong family ties of the Italian home are against and look with disfavor upon any and all worldly activities tending to break these bonds. Nevertheless Miss Elvira Barra, Italian District Leader in the Little Italy Harlem Colony, from her ac tual experience recently said, "These people have changed — the older woman who at first shrugged her shoulders at the thought of voting has become enthu siastic. I have reached the mothers through the younger generation who can read and write. "f This is one of the new and fertile fields yet unexplored as it is even with many men. As Prof. Steiner says, "Perhaps the greatest problem still to be solved is how to interpret the one supreme gift which most men never possessed — the right of citizenship."** DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITALY AND AMER ICA — In passing it is well to make mention of the dif ferent attitude regarding the matter of citizenship that exists between the two governments — Italy and Amer ica. Italy holds that the children of any subject no mat ter where these children are born, take the status of the ? Letter from Mayor John F. Hylan to F. P. Buonora, Sept. 10, 1918. t New York Evening Telegram — Sept. 8, 1918. ?? Steiner, E. A.— "The Immigrant Tide," p. 199. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 69 parent. The United States holds that the individual de cides this for himself and that the place of birth is a factor. Speaking for the people themselves it is safe to say that the majority of Italians come here to stay and willingly take on the obligations in order to exercise the privilege of American citizenship. A con crete instance of the way that Americans of Italian ex traction and naturalized Americans from Italy have lived up to these obligations is shown in the present war. "20% or 70,000 of the total voluntary enlistments around Boston at the beginning of the war were of Italian blood."* The American of Italian extraction is an Amer ican and considers himself such. The difficulty that arises in relation to Italy is one of long standing and apparently due to the rigidity of the Italian constitution. In this instance it is illuminating to quote from a speech of the former Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Tom- maso Tittoni given in the Chamber of Deputies at the March 3rd, 1905 sitting : "practically, from the Italian point of view, the question (naturalization) presents itself as follows : our Civil Code establishes at Article 4 that the son of a father who is an Italian citizen is himself an Italian citizen, and at Article II it declares that, whoever has obtained naturalization in a foreign land loses his Italian citizenship. Therefore the Italian subject who has fixed his residence in the United States finds himself confronted with this alternative : either to remain faithful to his nation ality of origin and renounce those political and ad ministrative rights which, in the great centers of emigration, would be the most efficient means of influence and protection of his interests ; or else to accept the nationality of the country he resides in, losing de jure and de facto his Italian citizenship. "... inasmuch as regards the avoiding of pos sible conflict negotiations have been opened with the United States of America with the purpose of endeavouring to regulate by fixed rules all those ? Prof. James Geddes, Jr., From his contribution to the Symposium, p. 272. 70 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION cases which could give occasion to such conflict. After having reached a certain point, however, it has been impossible to proceed with these negotia tions on account of the manifest reluctance of the United States. In order to satisfy Senator aspirations on the subject of naturalization it would be necessary to modify our Civil Code. It is a grave and arduous question upon which I can not commit myself; but since it has been so often raised I will have it examined by a Commission of Jurists and Sociologists acting in colleague with the Minister of Grace and Justice."* This matter still remains to-day as it was left then by the Italian Foreign Minister with the result that no American of Italian extraction may go to Italy except ing that his father has been naturalized before his birth, without fear of being taken up as an Italian subject. In this matter of citizenship it is coming to be a great source of racial pride and loyalty among the Italians and the Jews as well as with other races to place themselves on an equality with those who assume superiority over new-comers. They wish to escape the contempt with which the ignorant treat foreigners. As Woods puts this "they crave the full round of American experience . . . soon they realize that their children are to be Americans and this makes American citizenship more clearly their own destiny . . . the word REPUB LICAN is one that the Italian is familiar with and it has inspiring associations for him. They make good polit ical workers. They organize effectively."** * Senator Tittoni Tommaso, Italy's Foreign and Colonial Policy (Memorial Volume dedicated to Rt. Hon. A. Balfour, translated by Baron Bernardo Quaranta di San Severino, p. 168-9. ** Woods, R. A. — "Americans in Process," p. 138. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 71 CHAPTER IX. PHILANTROPHY AND SOCIAL WELFARE INTRODUCTION— It has been found that there are two periods when the immigrant is most in need of re lief. The first occurs when he has landed and follows from the fact that he has a slender store of savings upon which to depend. Among the Jews in New York City the United Hebrew Charities Society office stated that 7% of the total Jewish immigration found it necessary to apply for relief within one year. According to the reports of the two chief agencies in New York City that offer relief to Italian immigrants we find that the num bers run into the thousands. The Italica Gens took care of 27,861 cases during a period of eight years and the San Raffaele almost a thousand every year. In New York City during the year 1917 for the Italian element 117 men and 23 women and no children under 16 years of age applied for relief ; in 1916 (a year of in dustrial depression) there were 10,035 men, 187 women and no children. Roughly speaking the average for persons of Italian blood was a little over 1% of the total number of persons who applied to the Municipal Lodg ing House for relief.* Private agencies of relief cor roborate this low finding of approximately 1%.** Relief of this sort however, is temporary, for unless thF~ immigrant becomes self-supporting soon, the law makes him liable to deportation. The other occasion when such a one is most liable to need assistance is after he has spent some years in this country. He has then exhausted his native fund of physical vigor and lost his former elasticity of youth and so- becomes unable to struggle against those who are fit and who adapt them selves into our industrial system. Individuals of this sort represent a chronic state of ?From original data furnished by the Secretary of the De partment of Charities. ??Wm. L. Butcher, Supt. Brace Memorial Home, New York City. 72 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION dependency which naturally affects their children. It has been found that of all the foreign-born heads in cases cared for by charity organization societies 38% had been in the United States twenty years or more and 70.7% ten years.* The percentage of cases reported by the Charity Or ganization Society to the Immigration Commission for the country showed the North Italian to have made the best showing with a percentage of but 25.6%.** Like the Jew, the Italian sees to it that he does not tax un duly the state into which he migrates. DEPENDENCY— With respect to the causes of de pendency among Italians it is interesting to compare their status with other nationalities :f Cause Italian Irish English German Jews Neglect or bad habits of breadwinner 8.7 20.9 14.0 15.7 12.6 Lack of employment 67.8 34.8 63.3 58.1 In the first instance the Italians show up best; in the latter there is but a slight preponderence in their dis favor due chiefly to the fact that they represent the "newer immigration." \ The American of Italian extraction comes from a ] home that knows little of what it is to be dependent J upon others. Yet this can scarcely be said to be the I common impression of most people. Too often the Ital ian is accused of being a characteristic beggar. Riis in "How the Other Half Lives" said on this point, "It is curious to find preconceived notions quite upset in a review of the nationalities that go to make up our squad of street beggars. The Irish lead off the list with 15% and the native American is only a little way behind him with 12%, while the Italian has less than 2%. The Ger mans constitute 8%." The analysis of the Bureau of Immigration confirms this. The Irish in the charitable institutions of the country compose 30% ; the Germans 19% ; the English 8.5%, while the Hebrew and the Ital ians both have 8%. * "Paupers in Almhouses," p. 101. ?* Fairchild — "Immigration,"' p. 322. t Associated Charities of Boston — 23rd Annual Report. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 73 Other authorities follow the same strain, viz : "The variation in the number of Italians applying for relief is interesting. 54 families came to us in 1891 and only 69 last year though the Italian population had increased 15,000."* In New York State the data submitted in the 35th Annual Report of the State Board of Charities by the Hon. John W. Keller, President of the Department of Public Charities for New York City, contained the following tables : TABLE A (Showing nativity of persons admitted to almshouses) Countries Male Female Total United States 355 199 554 Ireland 808 809 1,617 England and Wales 111 87 198 Scotland 25 14 39 France 19 2 21 Germany 290 84 374 Norway, Denmark and Sweden 22 6 28 Italy 15 4 19 Other Countries 50 36 86 TOTAL 1,695 1,241 2,936 TABLE B (Nativity of those admitted to incurable hospitals) Countries Male Female Total United States 7 4 11 Ireland 5 6 11 England 1 1 f Poland 1 > Germany 4 4 Italy ! J_ TOTAL 17 13 30 TABLE C (Nativity of those admitted to blind asylums) Countries Male Female Total United States 45 4 49 Ireland 36 3 3y England 3 ^ Germany i i Italy TOTAL 89 8 97 ?Associated Charities of Boston— 23rd Annual Report. 74 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Other data available regarding the Italians in New York City are the "statistics for a, representative year showing that out of every 28,000 Italians in the city of New York there was only one in the almshouses on Blackwells Island; while out of every 28,000 Irish there were 140."* Mr. James Forbes, Chief of the Mendi cancy Department of the Charity Organization Society says that he has never seen or heard of an Italian tramp. The fact that for actual dependency this strain repre sents but one percent of the city's pauper population is the other side of the almost universal recognition of his industry and thrift. DELINQUENCY — The subject of crime in discussing newer types in our population is often connected with the problem of the pauper. The only study that any court of record in the United States ever made with race differences serving as a basis was in New York City. In 1909 the Court of Special Sessions upon the instigation of the Immigration Commission investigated over 2200 cases that came before it and demonstrated the futility of attempting to prove any relation between im migration and crime. Their conclusions were that no satisfactory answer could be found to the questions: (1) Is the volume of crime in the United States augmented by the presence of the immigrant and his offspring? and (2) if immigrants increase crime, what races are re sponsible for such increase? Not only did this investi gation conducted among immigrants and their offspring in New York City find no basis for the common notion that the Italian race furnishes the highest percentage of those filling our jails but in the words of the committee making the investigation "immigrants are less prone to commit crime than the native American."** Changes, however, are noticed in the character of crimes com mitted. In the matter of crimes committed against the person the Italians lead but as is usual with such crime statistics for the whole United States, no differentiation is made between the Italian proper, who has come here ? Ed. by Willard Price— World Outlook, Oct. 1917. ** Report of Immigration Commission — Immigration and Crime Abst. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 75 and his offspring, the American of Italian extraction who was born here. As it is but three percent of crimes committed by Italians for murder are convictions.* This whole question of crime among both the Italian immigrant and his descendants needs more careful study than has been accorded in the past.** Some time in the future when we know the Italian nature better, we will appreciate what Dr. Prelini, Professor of Engineer ing in Manhattan College has in mind when he says, "The contribution of the Italian toward American de mocracy are sincerity of purpose, and the greatest re spect for justice, which are the essentials of true de mocracy; they hate hypocrisy; the respect for justice is so deeply rooted in the Italian mind that many crimes are committed to redress suffered wrongs. Under this point of view even the crimes committed indicate a mis applied respect for justice among the lower classes of Italians."*** An interesting and instructive attempt has been made by Lord, Trenor and Barrows to set in its true light the apparently mistaken conception that some people have with respect to the so-called innate trait of criminality among Italians. These authors go on to say, "A careful examination of police records secured from every, city in this country where nationalities are distributed in the ? Mangano, Antonio, Sons of Italy, p. 122. ??The fact that Prof. Bailey in a study of juvenile delin quency in New Haven found the American of Italian extraction to constitute 47.7% of the total number arraigned though ac cording to the 1910 census only 15.7% of the total number of the native-born population of foreign parentage were of this nationality carries but little weight. New Haven has a popu lation of but 133,605 (1910 census) and in no wise can be con strued as constituting an example that is indicative of a con dition that is general.. It is interesting to note in this con nection that this same investigation was extended to New Britain, a typical manufacturing town with a population of approximately 50,000 and of the total number of native-born delinquents of foreign extraction that appeared before fhe courts of this state, not one was of Italian blood. Bailey, Wm. B— "Children Before the Courts of Connecticut." Children's Bureau, Department of Labor. Bureau Publication No. 43, p. 73. *** Contribution to symposium, infra Chapter 25. 76 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION records of arrest does not justify the assumption that the criminal tendencies of the Italians exceed the aver age of the foreign or of the native population. It must be born in mind that no comparison is valid which does not take into account the factor of age and relative pro portion of males to females. Yet in Boston, Providence and even in other cities attracting the greater part of the Italian immigration the percentage of arrests of Italian foreign-born is less than the average for the total foreign-born," viz : COMPARISON OF PERCENTAGES OF ARRESTS BE TWEEN ITALIAN AND OTHER NATIONALITIES* co 13+3 c c o ,.2 *! "S*3 O o ou ct!rt O 'o u talian oreigr opula J: c _H ^ ¦° li •° ~ H* O. oj nj « a E u 3 E «3 & o r-t 11 ITALY 12 Russia 13 Hungary 14 Denmark 15 Germany 16 Switzerland 17 When we come to consider the nature of offense com mitted we come to what has always been a knotty prob lem. Here again the figures offered are for the entire country. We have what in the face of things looks like a blasting indictment because in crimes committed against the person i. e. assault, the Italian strain shows up at the top with the highest rate of any. The figures are: ?The ratio referred to is the number of foreign born white prisoners and juvenile delinquents committed in 1910 per 100,000 white population born in the same country. ??Report on Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents. Bureau of Census 1919, p. 128. 78 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION PRISONERS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS COMMITTED FOR ASSAULT* 1910 Nationality Number Percentage Ratio§ of Commitment ITALY 903 12.8 67.2 Hungary 243 10.6 49.0 Poland 487 9.7 51.9 Austria 595 8.6 70.4 Russia 433 7.7 36.6 Other Countries 331 6.6 44.3 One must be cautious however in interpreting the sig nificance of such figures as the above. The figures cited by the census authorities are based on the total number of offenders and not on the total population, or to use the words of Dr. Joseph A. Hill, Expert Special Agent, who pre pared this report, "The figures above do not necessarily mean that in proportion to their numbers in the total population the Italians are committed for assault more frequently than other nationalities."** In New York City however, the figures Lord was able to collect showed slightly to their disadvantage as was to be expected, viz :*** Total foreign-born population 1,270,080 Total born in Italy 145,433 Italian percentage of total foreign-born population 11.5% Total arrests for foreign-born 59,077 Total arrests of Italian nationality 7,307 Percentage of arrests of Italian nationality 12.3% In further explanation of the above the authors point out that there is at the outset a deduction to be made for discharges and acquittals ; that the arrests made are largely for breaches of city ordinances such as peddling without a license, etc. Lord shows the injustice in past attempts operating ? Compiled from tables in "Report on Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents." Bureau of Census, 1919, pp. 130-131. § Number committed per 100,000 white population born in the same country. ** Compiled from tables in "Report on Prisoners and Juve nile Delinquents." Bureau of Census, 1919, p. 130. ?** Lord, Trenor and Barrows — "The Italian in America." TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 79 to jack up the figures showing Italian criminality to be higher than the average through the device of dropping from the record all crimes resulting from drunkenness. Such an instance is the following: A report had been prepared by the Immigration Restriction League based upon the criminal record of Italians in Massachusetts. Now Massachusetts is the one state that has made the most thoro examination of the whole question of in temperance as related to crime, and the report showed that about 87% of all crimes committed in Massachusetts grow out of intemperance of some form. The Italian population of Boston and of Massachusetts show a higher percentage of arrests than all the races from Northern Europe ; but while three in any one hundred cases of the Northern races including the Scotch-Irish, the English, and the Germans were arrested for intem perance, only three in one thousand cases of the Italians were so arraigned. In fact, from the investigation made by the Committee of Fifty of nearly 30,000 cases in the records of Organized Charity, the Italians had the re markably low percentage of 3.5, while the Irish and the English showed 25%, Americans 24%, and the Ger mans 24%.* The following excerpt taken from the Joliette Prison Post, a paper edited by prisoners of the Illinois State Penitentiary will attest to the universal rather than the national trait of wrong-doing among human individuals, viz: "One of the most popular but highly erroneous be liefs of the day is that illiteracy and crime are closely related. It is customary to plead for a wrongdoer that he did not enjoy the advantage of an education when young. Quite recently a survey was made of the prisoners in the State Penitentiary which served to upset some of these cherished no tions." "In a total population of 1886, it was found that 1181 had received a major portion of an elementary education and only 309 were illiterate. There were ?Koren. John— "Economic Aspects of the Liquor Problem," 80 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION 29 University graduates on the roll, and 106 High School graduates. The survey was made by a man convicted of forgery and educated at the Lake For est College."* The lesson from these and other figures is not diffi cult to read. Prof. Howard writing on this question says : "Among the foreign-born residents of the United States, the relative percentage of felonies due to in temperance for each nationality stands in direct ratio to the drinking habits of such nationality. The hardest drinking peoples show the highest relative per centages of heinous crimes induced by alcohol."^ When we consider the exceptionally low percentage of alcoholism among the Italian-speaking population this last statement has increased significance. Miss Clag- horn's intensive studies of Italians in New York City leads her to think that "The Italian immigrant is very little given to drink." This statement is frequently made and universally accepted. If one were to enter almost any home in New York City where Italian is spoken. he would be sure to meet with the usage of wine. Ital ian families use wine as a food and have through cen turies so regulated their diet and manner of living with respect to it that abuses of it are rarely encountered. The writer is able to present for the first time the actual statistics relating to the frequency of the phe nomenon of drunkenness among Italians thruout the United States. The Census Bureau has just published its final report on prisoners based upon the data ob tained from the last census in a large 535 quarto page volume. The figures below are compiled by the writer from the tables contained therein, and show for the Italian strain the lowest percentage of commitments arising from causes of this description when compared with all other nationalities : ?Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology. Vol. 8, p. 140. tThe American Journal of Sociology — "Alcohol and Crime," George Elliott Howard, July 1918, p. 65. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 81 PRISONERS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS COMMITTED FOR DRUNKENNESS, 1910* Ratio of Percentage Commitments§ 30.0 158.1 49.4 234.0 50.9 416.9 51.2 302.0 51.5 239.1 53.5 167.4 57.1 218.9 59.0 1,379.0 64.1 435.4 63.2 402.3 77.7 1,540.1 54.5 366.0 ? Compiled from "Prisoners and Juvenile Delinquents" — Bu reau of Census, 1919, pp. 130-131. § Number committed per 100,000 white population born in the same country. Nationality Number ITALY 2,124 Russia 2,771 Austria 3,525 France 3,354 Hungary 1,185 Switzerland 209 Germany 5,060 Mexico 3,031 Canada, English 3,531 Canada, French 1,549 Ireland 20,825 Other Countries 2,735 82 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION PART III. PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAITS^ CHAPTER X INTRODUCTION DIFFICULTIES OF CLASSIFICATION— In placing Americans of Italian extraction in the four** classes de scribed below the writer is following a purely arbitrary plan of classification. It is not meant that there is any hard and fast line which serves to mark off one class from another or that any objective indicia exist that can be used to measure exactly subjective states of mind; or even that the four following types exhaust all the types of mind that there are to be found among the peoples of Italian lineage that make their homes here. Relative rather than absolute standards are behind the classifications made. The question of the quantitative measurement of sub jective states of mind has produced a good deal of dis cussion. Giddings has attempted to derive a law of sym pathy, and therefore likeness, inherent in a population based upon their "consciousness-of-kind", seeking to show that the nature of a population's density and horno- geneity corresponds to the character of its material en vironment. f Another well-known sociologist Gabriel Tarde in his "Social Laws" holds that intellectual activi ties of the individual can be quantitatively measured.! ?The terminology, classifications, and descriptions, used —through PART III— Psychological Traits, follow closely and are adapted from- the terminology, classifications and descrip tions of Giddings (vide, Inductive Sociology, passim.) ??The four types of individuals to be briefly described in this section are: (a) The "tenement" type (an ideo-emotional type). (b) The "trade" and "business" type (a dogmatic-emotional type). (c) The "Y. M. C. A." and "College'' type (a transitional type). (d) The "professional" type (a critical-intellectual type). t Giddings — Inductive Sociology, p. 118. JPage 34. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 83 M. M. Davis, Jr., shows how this quantitative method has been applied to anthropological data.§ With socio logical data, however the case appears to be different. Too many factors are concerned, and too many variables need to be considered. Social facts can not altogether be stated in terms of number or volume or density. An able presentation of this last view is the recent article by Boodin who holds "that statistical methods applied to social processes must indeed seem vague as compared to the laws of mechanical science and we are indeed rightly suspicious of too exact formulas in the social sciences."* Munsterberg has shown that the only way mental eval uations can be quantitatively compared is by first reduc ing them to their physical correlates as is done in phy siological psychology. But this leaves out the very heart of the phenomenon that is to be compared. As Bristol says "evaluations differ from moment to moment and social facts are the outcome of these ever shifting mo ments." Finally one of America's foremost sociological methodologists in a very recent text while ascribing the utmost importance to precision in preparing the data for social science does not believe its true aim is to bring society within the sphere of arithmetic. He says "exact prediction and mechanical control for the social world I believe, to be a false ideal inconsiderately borrowed from the provinces of physical science. There is no real reason to think that this sort of prediction or control will ever be possible."** It is impossible therefore to subject Americans of Italian extraction to any statistical analysis that would permit us to measure quantitatively their mental product and to compare it with the product of other Americans. The only alternative is to judge them by the institutions which reflect their stage of mental, moral and general civilizatory progress and to sociologically evaluate these. Just such an analysis is attempted in Part IV, Social Or ganization of this book. § Psychological Interpretations of Society, p. 217. * Boodin— American Journal of Sociology, March 1918, p. 705 passim. ?? Cooley, Charles Horton, The Social Process, p. 398. 84 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION At some time or other probably every one in the class labelled the "tenement" type, in certain specific reac tions, closely resembles individuals falling within the class labelled the "professional" type and vice versa. But taking a broad perspective it can be said that the reactions of those individuals described in the class called the "tenement" type consistently resemble the type of mind that Giddings has called the "ideo-motor" type ; as does the class of individuals making up what is called here the "trade" and "business" type resemble more than any other, the type of mind called by Gid dings the "dogmatic-emotional"; and as the last two types here described namely the "college" and "profes sional" types resemble the so-called "critical-intellectual" type of mind. In dwelling then on the general characteristics of the American of Italian extraction it would be difficult to say that any one individual corresponded altogether and exactly, to such and such a type. One finds that in cer tain situations this individual's reactions are such as categorize the "ideo-emotional" type, and in other sit uations the reactions more nearly correspond to those distinguishing the "critical-intellectual" type. In be tween these two types of extremes are represented all possible combinations and shadings of reactions that make classifications difficult at best and open always to grave sources of error. Dogmatization here is for the sake of clarity. While the basis for classification of types of Ameri cans of Italian extraction is therefore a purely arbitrary one, nevertheless there are certain constant factors no ticed thruout that are helpful in forming a judgment as to what logically constitutes the proper ground or basis for classifying an individual in such and such a category. More important perhaps than any other factor is that of education. Not only does it determine the kind of activities that are indulged in, but also the associations that are formed and the nature of the contacts estab lished. The full volume of the type under surveillance here has not yet advanced sufficiently in years to give us any basis for making any conclusions in this respect. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 85 ECONOMIC STATUS— The economic status of the home determines in most cases the circle in which the individual is to move. As a rule the American of Ital ian extraction is poor and this class has not produced any great financial men such as the Hebrews have. Not infrequently however, the individuals of this class rise above the economic obstacle. The president of the Co lumbia Circolo* at Columbia University at the outbreak of the war figured out that almost fifty percent of this type of student at Columbia was there either thru schol arship aid or by means of work done after school hours. The economic background for the great majority of Americans of Italian extraction is that lowest down in our wage scale. PLEASURES — The physical background for by far the overwhelming majority of this type of American is the "street-!' It is their playground. The home is not to be considered as a desirable place to spend one's leisure time in so far as fully 85 percent of these Ameri cans in New York City are concerned. That the "street" has the better of the competition between the two is shown by the frequent claim made by so many Italian mothers that "their children are wild and so they put them in an institution or an asylum." A survey of the Italian colonies in New York City shows that there are at least 300,000 such people in New York City of an age calculated to make fit subjects for the influences of the "street" to effectively work upon. The ages of each group determine the nature of the activities indulged in. For instance in the professional type our individuals are settled and matured. Their status can be more easily determined and with greater accuracy than that of the other three types discussed which are still in a transitional or unsettled stage. Length of stay in this country affects the vocation of the individual but hardly his status with the different groups noted. But the degree of parental influence ob taining is very important in that it determines largely the attitude one takes towards questions in politics. If one is closely linked up with the family of an older gen- ? Nicholas Bucci— "Italian Scholarship at Columbia." The Italian Intercollegiate— Vol. 1, Jan. 1917, p. 4. 86 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION eration and the influence of the parent is strong he is apt to think as does the parent, thereby thwarting the development of a full-blown American habit of thinking and of action. In the instance here under discussion however, this family bond or parental sway, among the Italian speaking Americans, is very attenuated. By noting one's play and recreational activities we get the surest index of the innate bent of the type. Among these people too often the work they do is least expressive of themselves but "in their pleasures they are themselves and follow their bent."* The largest modicum of free choice is evidenced in one's play, and so by observing the nature of the recreations indulged in one is afforded another way of judging the type of mind in question. One's mode of' life includes such fac tors as cooperation, individual and social choices, per sonal characteristics, etc., and these are all helpful in dices for judging the type. Whether one is a citizen or not plays little part in determining the class into which he falls. Vocation is a factor in determining the way an individual is to de velop and the class into which he is placed. All these factors together serve to point out or gauge in a rough but approximately certain way the general trend of the individual type. None of the distinctions made are ab solute — a constant over-lapping exists and the classifi cations made correspond as was said before, in a rough way and reflect the type of organization described in the chapters on Social Organization. So that judging from the above we find what we have been led to suspect, namely that it is the "ideo-motor" and "ideo-emotional" types of mind among Americans of Italian extraction in New York City that belong to the "street," "athletic" and even "settlement" clubs ; the "dogmatic-emotional" type that is joining the Y. M. C. A. Associations and their like, such as the religious and benevolent associations and the civic club; and the "critical-intellectual" type of mind that is interested in the high-school and college Circolo, the Social Welfare League and the Professional club. ?Williams, An American Town, A Sociological Study, Co lumbia University Studies in Political Science, etc., p. 107'. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 87 CHAPTER XI THE "TENEMENT" TYPE (AN IDEO-EMOTIONAL TYPE) BACKGROUND — A general survey of the features characterizing the "tenement" type of American of Ital ian extraction will disclose the following information. As a rule they are not the muscle-bound, stolid, heavy-set coarse physical type such as is represented by the immi grant who comes here "en masse." Boas' studies of the descendants of Italian immigrants show that they suffer physically from the readjustment to this climate and environment. The home conditions are such that one wonders why there are not more perversions of the natural instincts than actually is the case. Coming from neighborhoods whose inhabitants find their margin of economic subsist ence a very slender one, as a rule little time is left or inclination evolved that can be devoted to things of the spirit or to matters cultural and influences refining. Congestion, poor sanitation, foul air and poverty all breed in time a nonchalant indifference to these. Am bition is starved and where not actually killed, the resi dual modicum lives on to embitter a rancorous cynicism. It is true that as you keep piling on opportunities, a lad is apt to hold them cheaply if not altogether indiffer ently; but it is equally true that if the struggle to achieve be made too bitter it will inevitably poison the springs of character. For those of Italian stock the \ percentage of criminals is recruited largely from this class, and is the shadowy basis for the grossly exag gerated statement of Hall that the descendants of the Italian immigrants are twice and three times more crim inal than are their fathers. To a large extent these Americans "gone wrong" have lived too long under the perverting influences of the "street" and the niggardly auspices of our social organization which found no proper outlet for their pent-up energies. 88 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Looking at the spiritual development of this type one must report a dearth or paucity of spiritual thinking or even interest. They are a people of deed and not of creed. Where there is avowed adherence to religious tenets it is apt to be of a formal and perfunctory kind, in many cases representing what is feared rather than understood. Dr. Jones was led to say that _ the "religious life of the Italian is spasmodic and is stimu lated chiefly by religious celebrations that appeal to the dramatic instincts, or as it is stirred by some calamity that befalls the individual or his friends."* This is ex actly what Woods has in mind when he says that "the Italian goes to church for social reasons."** It can safely be said that the "tenement" type has had little if any schooling extending beyond the grammar grades. The work they do must be financially remun erative and that immediately so. The membership dis tribution of the "Huskies" and of the "Nameoka" As sociations which are the two organizations with mem bers of this type specifically described showed that the majority are practising vocations that require little if any school discipline. Such vocations as are practised are varied and the character of application to such is intermittent. The home offers little incentive to con tinued employment, for in the main the influences eman ating from the crowded tenement homes where the Ital ian speaking population literally teems, are unsocial in character. The growing generation of such Italians in New York City misses by a wide margin the courtesy, politeness and generally social qualities of his parent. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS— In disposition these Americans correspond most nearly to what Gid dings calls the "instigative" type. A marked tone of pleasure-craving exists thruout and is perhaps dominant. The pleasure-loving character of this type calls for pleasures that are of a motory and sensory kind. Boon companions, a good social time and not too long and ? Jones, Dr. Thomas J., Sociology of a New York City Block, p. 95. ??Woods, Robert A., Americans in Process. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 89 concentrated time and attention on any one problem — betray the "Latinity" of this group. While no adequate statistical proof exists from which to determine the distribution for all types of disposi tions for all nationalities that are most prevalent, com mon observation assures us that instigative dispositions are more numerous than the "aggressive" and much more numerous than the "domineering" while relatively few dispositions are "creative."* In noting these indi viduals of the "tenement" class as instigative in dispo sition we see that they conform to the type of disposi tion that is most prevalent for all races. We find also that theirs is a type of character that employs "temptation" and "persuasion" as a means of ac complishing its end. The dispositions of this "tene ment" population are made to follow along indirect ra ther than direct channels. There is always some "dou ble-crossing" (to use their own expression) going on among these people. The native suspicion of the mem bers of this class makes this a widely used thing. COOPERATION— These people all have the Italian language as a background for their linguistic inheritance. But it is not that liquid and musical Italian of which we read; instead it is a blend or jargon of dialects under stood only by the group of families that came from the same district in Italy. Cooperation for the adult is lim ited to these similarly speaking Italians ; for the younger generation it is limited by the objective conditions that obtain. The generally cooperative nature of the Amer ican of Italian extraction is shown by the numerous so cial, educational and political interests that he always has in hand. Subjective conditions of cooperation are determined by type of mind, of disposition and of char acter. Because the mental type of this class of indi viduals is largely "ideo-emotional" we have a coopera tion evidenced that is largely based upon action swiftly and even superficially sympathetic. All the forms of ac tivity indulged in show simple action and lots of it whether it is a picnic or a dance. Giddings found an * Giddings, F. H., Descriptive and Historical Sociology, p. 210. 90 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION overwhelming majority of the American people^ to be of the "ideo-emotional" and "dogmatic-emotional" type. His words on this point are "the general conclusion that the mental mode of the American people as a whole is 'ideo-emotional' to 'dogmatic-emotional' may probably be accepted as established."* In this instance therefore and so far as mental modes are concerned our American of Italian origin is not very different from the native stock. The group of organizations with memberships of in dividuals falling within this category among Italian speaking Americans affords many instances of the char acter of their cooperation ; and because their Latin ap preciation is relatively high the result is that the coop erative activities entered into fall along instinctive as well as along sympathetic lines. There is no doubt that in every organization effected on the East Side the indi viduals comprising it are foremost of all else conscious of their group integrity and deliberately seek to follow out lines of cooperation that will strengthen the instinc tive basis upon which they are organized. When the Italian has lived here long enough to no longer resist the assimilating influences of environment, this instinctive character or basis of their forms of co operation will be changed, but not before. Dr. Jones says "tenement dwellers see many sights and hear many sounds and are influenced by many people every day of their lives. But each day the stimuli are the same, in Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and the people they meet are very much the same as those to whom they are accustomed. There is little time for individual improvement and so while the elements composing these people are immeasurably different in character and in mind, assimilation is inevitable. Appreciation of one another will increase ; inter-marriage and blending of characteristics will follow and similarity of behaviour will be greater. The Italian will be less impulsive in his responses."** When this occurs, probably not until ? Psychological Review, Vol. 8, No. 4, July 1901, pp. 337-349. ** Jones, Dr. Thomas J., Sociology of a New York City Block, p. 40. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 91 the third generation, a radical modification of this in stinctive basis for the forms of social organization of this type will be in order. Because such groups of this "tenement" type of peo ple are limited in membership to those who come from the same district or neighborhood and are easily access ible one to another, intercommunication is easy, contacts are frequent and both these serve to strengthen the sub jective conditions of cooperation. Frequent contacts af ford the widest opportunity for intimate associations but as Jones has intimated, only with those of a relatively like kind. It is not surprising- therefore to find the "esprit de corps" among such groups remarkably te nacious. Concrete instances of collective behaviour are numerous. At practically all bazaars, entertainments, and benefits of an extra-local nature where the call is made on the basis of their common Italian ancestry these individuals are enlisted with enthusiasm. Such affairs are numerous. Some of those of recent date are the McDougal Alley Festa, Italian Allied Bazaar at the Grand Central Palace for the relief of Italian Reservists, the Italian Village, New York Public Library (auspices of Italian Ambassador), Italy Day (June 24th), the An nual Benefit for the Italian Hospital, etc. It is this dis play of the cooperative spirit v within the group that largely makes possible the continuity of such affairs. One could very easily add numerous other instances to show how definite and real are the bonds between such individuals that make for cooperation. The "tenement" type of Italian speaking American, it is true often contributes to affairs as have been men tioned without any very great understanding of their real nature ; but this is because he is able to discern one of his own kind or of a relatively like kind very readily. As a rule his Italian nature is apt to view with distrust adVances made by strangers. Possible friends are greeted with a cordiality that depends not so much upon any reflective sympathy as it is due to the spon taneity of their effervescent natures. This is to say that their consciousness of kind is in tensive in feeling but narrowly grooved. It does not 92 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION allow for the breadth and latitude discernible in the wholly tolerant and always "open mind" which devel ops only from extensive reading, varied intercourse, in tercommunication and wide travel. Let the intense Ital ian nature once get "set" and it becomes intolerant of doubt, impatient with hesitation and scornful of weak ness in others. In eighty-six families within the Italian block studied by Jones, instinctive responses of this type of mind to set stimuli were found to be the pre dominant method of appreciation and in 93 cases were judged to be an important subordinate method.* Americans of Italian extraction of this class desire and feel affection; desire and expect sympathy; experi ence penetratingly the desire to be recognized and ap preciated; are acutely conscious of resemblances — but their environment and associations do not operate to give them the mellowness and sanity of balance in these things as come only with varied intercourse and associa tions, communication, quiet time for reflection, leisure, deliberation, opportunities for exercising options and the exercise for independent judgment on matters of finan cial and social import. These aspects of development are pitifully circumscribed in their cases, by the fact that many of these opportunities are the reflection of a cer tain economic freedom and relatively higher social plane of living than is that with which they are familiar or that their circumstances permit them to enjoy. Further more, the environment of the East Side and of the other colonies where there are Italians, acts as an effective damper upon any excessive and sustained idealism and, incubus-like, clots out any such effort. PLEASURES — Pleasures of this type, as has been said, are largely of a motor and sensory kind and in no way greatly different from the pleasures of the "tene ment" types of the various nationalities that one readily meets in a tour thruout the slum sections. One meets with the usual round of socials, dances, picnics, parlor and athletic games. Music is always made most of and individual performances by persons of superior talent ? vide Jones, Thomas J., Sociology of a New York City Block, p. 52 seq. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 93 the writer has found more numerous among these peo ple than among the American of Jewish, Irish or Ger man extraction. Cards are a close second and the game invariably is attended with betting. Pleasures of emotional ideation include religious ac tivities. One notes that interests along these lines are not up to par, in many cases not even extending to at tendance of religious services. Belonging to a church, with many, is a mere verbal adherence to its traditions. Little if any original thinking is done. Some outward manifestations such as church going, wearing amulets, charms, and lighting candles in the homes are practised but all this is indicative of the adult's prerogative. If it means anything to the youth it is a sapless acquies cence to what is feared rather than what is understood. They say and feel themselves to be living in the present and in their thinking what is not in the present is not at all. With regard to his pleasures of inductive ideation the case is more hopeful. Practically all read, for all have had a smattering of public school education, some even having finished the elementary course. It would be difficult to say what constitutes the back-bone of read ing for this type. Topics run thru the whole field of choices and are both well chosen and persisted in. News papers and magazines are commonly read. Of news papers perhaps the Journal is the most read and more widely known than any other. This group character ized as the "tenement" type is the most common type of mind among the Americans of Italian extraction in New York City and more than quadruples the "critical- intellectual" type of mind existing among the profes sional class. TYPE OF MIND — Already several investigations have been made each attempting to determine the most preva lent type of mind characterizing the "tenement" type of the Italian portion of this city's population. All agree that the "ideo-emotional" type is the most common. Douglas* in specifically describing six representative in- ? Douglas, David W., Influence of the Southern Italian on American Society (Columbia Univ. Studies in Sociology). 94 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION dividuals by character sketches, points out that they are representative of the entire population so situated. Like wise Haynes** in the group described by him, again using the method of individual character sketches, in eight out of ten specific instances points to this ideo* emotional tone as indicative of the entire "tenement" portion of Italian speaking Americans. Jones'f findings are in like accord. Elsewhere the present authorj has used the same method, employed by these writers, and describing minutely the individual characteristics and personal traits of over a dozen individuals of this class, pointed out the "ideo-emotional" nature of their mental modes. It seems fairly well established therefore that this is the most prevalent type of mind in the Italian quarters of this city. It would not however be without profit if we inserted here just one such character sketch, typical of this type, as it is pictured by one not of a like racial strain. Bryce Haynes says of A . "We have no difficulty in classifying A as dis tinctively of a pleasure-loving, convivial type of character and of an instigative disposition. His motor reaction is rather slow and continuity of thought decidedly intermittent. The kind of move ment may most properly be described as semi- voluntary; his emotions as weak and temperament as sanguine. His formation of belief. or judgment may be classed as objective and his mode of reason ing as imaginative (analogical). His motives of appreciation are clearly pleasures of sense, idea and emotion and his wide interest would cause his method of appreciation to be called 'curious inspec tion.' While his degree of appreciation is high, his motives of utilization are clearly appetitive' or craving for pleasures and the method that of insti- ?* Haynes Bryce, Some Italian Types of Mind (Columbia University Studies). t Jones, Thomas J., Sociology of a New York City Block (Columbia University Studies). t Mariano John H., A Sociological Study of Certain Italian- Americans. (Columbia Univ. Studies in Sociology). TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 95 gation. Motives of characterization may most properly be classed as new desires while accommo dation fittingly describes the method. Comparing the above with the description of the ideo-emo tional type of mind we find that A is a typical example."* Naturally with such individuals we find that motor impulses are high and strong; instincts are saturated with varying emotions, the gay predominating. In sym pathy the American of Italian extraction of this class is quick to respond but the reactions tend to be instable as often as they are stable. An overwhelming exuberance regarding a new undertaking is frequently apt to meet with a quiet death through as rapid a disinterestedness. The American of Italian extraction is rich in imagina tion, again speaking for this type only, with greater than the pro rata decrease in creative intellect that often corresponds. Ideas are abundant but tend to be loosely organized and so lack much of that strong centralizing bond that is needed to harness them and render them fit to be put into execution. But much that is depreca tory in this respect is subject to some discounting by virtue of the fact that excellency in these is a reflection of exposure to systematized instruction and maturity in years neither of which factors are of paramount im portance in considering this American of the "tenement" class. The American of Italian extraction as we find him here is quick to respond to any stimulus but such prompt ness is often at the expense of persistency. Such reac tions are apt to be as involuntary as they are voluntary. Reactions are followed frequently by discussions setting forth good reasons why a particular enterprise should be supported giving the whole affair an air of concerted volition supplemented by rational, intellective motives and by logical rather than by analogical reasons. But this again is apt to be more external than internal. Dr. Jones believes from this that "the manner and intensity of response to stimulus is quick but irregular. Often Haynes, Bryce — "Some Italian Types of Mind." 96 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION it seems out of proportion to the stimulus in kind or in intensity — likewise can be noted the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race in the close correspondence of stim ulus to response."* This last deduction may be "rela tively" but not "absolutely" true. One must raise the question, not "Does the American of Italian extraction gesticulate more?" but "Does he reason less?" An an swer to this question is still forth-coming from the gen etic and social psychologists. We leave this type of American therefore with the feeling that his greatest need is "direction." ?Jones, Dr. Thomas J. — "Sociology of a New York City Block," p. 28. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 97 CHAPTER XII THE TRADE OR BUSINESS TYPE (A DOGMATIC-EMOTIONAL TYPE) BACKGROUND — As was said earlier there is no absolute way of measuring quantitively innate differ ences of type. Everything therefore must be relative. All the individuals in one category are found at times acting in ways more or less used to distinguish a dif ferent type. The Americans of Italian extraction described here as constituting the "trade or business" type are not the adult Italians in New York City who are in busi ness today. Such individuals for the most part are products of a different environment and social organiza tion. The numerous businesses trafficking in wines, li quors, oils, macaroni, cheeses, groceries, fruits and other Italian products are for the most part conducted by Italians or (Americans now) who were not born in this country and such as a class fall outside this study. What we are describing here is a type of American of Italian blood who has been since his early years engaged for the most part in subordinate positions in different American industries of all descriptions, offices, factories and other commercial enterprises. These Americans of the "trade" or "business" type are so-called because to all obvious appearances the main activity which admits of observance is that con cerned with the work which brings in their weekly wages, in other words, their vocation. The matter of temperament however is just as important and must not be overlooked. It seems that such individuals are less susceptible to American methods, ways of thinking and of doing things. Their membership is largely recruited from individuals representing the 10.4% portion of Italian immigration that came here before their fourteenth birthday. Their "Italianism" hangs with them too long for them to be 98 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION permitted an early start into American life. If a house to house canvass of this type were possible it would be found that a less proportion of these are voters than is true of any of the other classes. For instance the Ital ian banks, benefit societies, fraternities and newspaper hold little or no attraction whatsoever to any of Italian extraction belonging to the tenement, college, or pro fessional types, but to the American of Italian extrac tion of the "trade" or "business" type the opposite holds true and one-third of them support such institutions in some way or other. Such individuals reflect also a larger share of suscep tibility to home culture. They are not likely to go to work as office boys as do the "tenement" or settlement types, or as clerks in American industries and business houses downtown, or as clerks for the U. S. Postal Service or even as truckmen. Instead they flock to the shops and factories performing mechanical work or work such as tailoring, cloth sponging, cigar-making, etc., where a knowledge of the English language is least necessary. It is from this group that the adult immi grant institutions derive all of the little flow of the younger generation they have to swell their ranks. The physical background for the "trade" type is the same as that of the previous type with the difference that the home influence in the former class is dispro portionately large. The fact that they are categorized as the "trade" or "business" type shows that their schooling as a primary thing is over and must have been limited judging by their ages and the nature of the work in which they are en gaged. The wages of the "trade" and "business" class compare favorably with the wages of the "tenement" group because usually it represents labor that is skilled or technical like barbering, tailoring, shoe-making. Their trades pay them anywhere from $25 to $50 a week and this enables them to live comfortably. Their mode of living is plain and gives them an air of thora- going stability and steadiness. Theirs is the steady plodding nature. In mentality such fellows are strong but narrowly TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 99 grooved and therefore imperfectly developed. If a thoro- going study were to be made of the politics of this type it would be found to contain 90% of the socialistic vote coming from the Italian element of this city. At the same time, these people are more amenable to^ church rule and regulations than the previous type. This is true partly because of the degree of dependence they as strangers in a new land place upon a recognized and stabile institution such as is the church. Tempera mental differences also count and help explain the at tachment of this dogmatic-emotional type to the Church. Their religion is taken seriously and acted out with ex treme literalness. Their home conditions foster a nar row and cribbing viewpoint in all things. It was this type that "in a small town in the State of New York/- petitioned the Bishop for a church." PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS— Individuals of this type more nearly correspond in disposition to that which is understood by the word "domineering." Every thing that comes to their notice and that takes their time must continue to prove its worth if it is to stay. Such an individual subjects everything excepting his per sonal "hobbies" to a searching analysis and he is ready to dissent quickly everywhere and everytime that an occasion presents itself. An organization effected by such a group is usually the seat of more turmoil and discussion than is true of others. This type of mind makes such individuals inclined to introspection and they can and do become very un-social, missing by a wide margin the "Latin" buoyancy of the race from which they are descended. Many Americans say that the greatest loss that the Italian sustains in his contact with American democracy is this perversion of his "inherent social sense." Mr. Davenport, Head- worker of the Italian settlement says on this point, "The Italian is infinitely bettered industrially by emigrating but socially he suffers a great loss." Both of these "gains and losses" — the economic and the social — are most markedly shown by way of contrast in the cases of this type we are now discussing. In Italy these indi viduals would have been agriculturalists; in America 100 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION they are skilled mechanics or artisans commanding a relatively high wage. But in the transition they lose their "social" poise. It results in this type of individual continually photographing his own inner mental states. He is altogether too much with himself and from one who is un-social, he easily slips into the type we dis tinguish as anti-social. COOPERATION— That the above is possible is ex plained in part by the circumscribed character of their circle of friends. This fact is due chiefly to their imperfect grip of the language. Such individuals strike one as being always unhappy, though in talking to them this is not easily seen or made apparent. One can't escape the impression that here is an individual who has attained maturity without ever having passed through the preliminary stages of youth, play, etc. Even when this type does play it is made a business and taken very seriously. They apply themselves to it with an assid uity that makes it seem a task to the outsider. It is this type that Jones had in mind when he saw the convivial nature of the Italian change because of the hard work to which he was subjected here. Change with this type tho perhaps is slowest of all. Mr. Douglas believes that this type does change, and changing, leaves influences that are not bad. He says : "The influence that the Southern Italian is exert ing depends on the degree of his assimilation into our American stock, and indirectly on the extent to which he modifies any of our customs or man ners. If he is not pliable and does not respond fa vorably to the right kind of leadership ; if he per sists in his old habits and customs ; if in short he is lacking in the potentialities of good citizenship, then without question we should say that he is a dangerous element and his influence could only re sult in evil. We have tried to show in the body of this paper that the Italian is pliable and is willing to learn. He is thrifty, industrious, and often ar tistic and is lacking in that spirit of "rowdyism" that is prevalent in some of the classes of our so- TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 101 ciety. We cannot say therefore in the face of these facts that the Italian is detrimental to our social welfare.* PLEASURES— In character the "trade" type repre sents most truly the austere type. What avocations they have are apt to have a moral coloring. These indi viduals consider themselves immensely superior to the individuals composing the "tenement" or "settlement" types whose occasional infractions of the law are pointed to as disgracing the Italian name or stock from which they are sprung. To their children they point out how little America cares. Possibly this class feels that they have not been given a fair chance. All excesses of conviviality among themselves as well as with others are frowned upon. This is the class of the Italian- speaking people that frequent the theatres which give whatever Italian plays are to be seen in New York City. Baseball and basketball is unknown or certainly not practised. Sometimes the Italian game of "Boccie" is indulged in. This is a very simple game and requires no skill or dexterity save that gained in throwing a ball with one hand. Pleasures of a moral tone are appreciated more. They like to read religious magazines and period icals and are often ardent workers for the church and Sunday School. This form of activity keeps them con stantly among their own kind and does not permit them to go out and mingle with others. As they themselves are not to be changed in habits and in mind, their con duct serves to inevitably repel others who either are not of a like kind or susceptible to their influence. TYPE OF MIND— When we come to classify the "trade" class according to type of mind we meet with a difficult problem. This is so because they do not fall clearly within any one of the four classifications made here. The individuals within it present a cross between the dogmatic-emotional and the critical-intellectual types with the greater emphasis perhaps on the former. Beliefs and ideas are subjectively determined by the * Douglas, David W.— "The Effect of the Southern Italian on American Society. 1915, 102 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION mood they happen to be in. Sheer perseverence will cause such an one to hold on to first beliefs whether right or wrong. Often though, they are apt to be orig inally critical of a proposition presented to them and subject it to an analysis showing the greatest latitude of view, clear perception, sound judgment and careful reasoning. But while all such mental processes are pos sible, they do not always hold. Of a moralizing strain this type is more apt to let emotion and feeling rule so that sheer dogmatism makes it impossible for them to keep the "open mind." With them emotions are strong but are blended with their beliefs and partisan convictions. Such convictions are tenacious and a dominant factor in their mental make-up. When such an individual has taken an un equivocal stand on a proposition, he becomes intolerant. With all this is accompanied a huge dash of idealism. It is with this type of mind that the "benefit" idea is strong. The benefit organizations are most numerous among this type. In a measure also the adult immi grant fraternal organizations, immigrant banks, and foreign language newspapers derive all of the little sup port they have from Americans of Italian extraction from within this subdivision. It is this type of mind also that instances a degree of appreciation closely resembling the "intellectual" type that Dr. Jones failed to observe and which led him to the mistaken statement that it did not exist.* The reason for this was that he failed to distinguish between the adult Italian who has become Americanized, and the American of Italian extraction not far enough removed from Italian culture to be distinguishable as offering any different degree of appreciation. The "trade" or "business" type, while the second larg est group numerically among the Italian-speaking popu lation of New York City affects least of any of our Amer ican life and social institutions. It is the least Ameri canized of the four main mental groups observable in New York City today. ? Jones — "Sociology of a City Block," p. 69. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 103 CHAPTER XIII THE "Y. M. C. A." AND "COLLEGE" TYPE (A TRANSITIONAL TYPE) BACKGROUND— It can truly be said that the hope of America so far as the descendants of its immigrants are concerned lies with Americans of the second and subse quent generations and not with the immigrant himself. Speaking for the Italian strain we come now to a type that is distinctly different from the two classes pre viously discussed. The "college" type of Italian speak ing American is distinctive because for the first time we meet thru him a stratum of social life in the Italian speaking colony of New York City that is not subnor mal. Of the three million or more of people of Italian origin within our borders the interpreters of this great mass must come from within this so-called "college- group." Just as the hope of the new China lies with the Chinese students of the growing generation, essen tially a transitional type, who are studying in our Amer ican schools and universities, so in a certain sense like wise, it is this class of "college" Italian-speaking Amer icans that is the hope of Italy. For it is upon such chosen individuals as these that the responsibility for transmitting a national contribution, lies ; and to them we must look for the interpretation of the social, intel lectual, and moral heritage of this stock they represent. Italian-speaking Americans representative of previous types have shown how little was to be expected of them because of their limited opportunities and how because of these limitations they have not been able to reach for or even to know the best that real America af forded. In the case of the individuals now reached this does not hold. In one sense, at least, namely that of education, they are on a level with Americans of other descents. A comparative survey of the reactions of such individuals will point out in an informing way how this type is developing. 104 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION One distinctive outstanding feature here is the nature of the institution with which they are connected. The Y. M. C. A., high school, or college point out decidedly how transitional a stage is represented in the individuals with which we have now to deal. As yet they have not separated themselves fully and completely from insti tutions where their attitude is chiefly one of receptivity. Time will have yet to tell, when as a class, sufficiently numerous, such individuals go out, whether they will put forth and evidence those striking qualities of leadership, resourcefulness and initiative in an American or trans planted environment, which have been true of the Ital ian nature of old. The physical background for this type is considerably improved over that of the two groups previously de scribed in that a greater measure of contact with what is best in American life and most true of representative American institutions is afforded. The Y. M. C. A. and the college both permit these Americans to imbibe the unalloyed spirit of Americanism in such degree as is possible in a cosmopolitan centre like New York. This, to begin with, is a highly selective factor. For instance the economic opportunity for this group is vastly dif ferent. Membership in the Y. M. C. A. costs $20 per annum and must be paid in advance. Tuition in college is anywhere from $100 to $200 per annum apart from the necessary incidentals for books, and exclusive of food and rent. This operates as a bar, and a selective process begins. Next the general setting of the Y. M. C. A., its cultural atmosphere and even spiritual empha sis, the college with its campus, its stress on class routine, abstract training and discipline are other effect ive weeders-out. The settlement type sometimes is graduated into the Y. M. C. A. (but more often is not) and sometimes the winner of a Phi Beta Kappa key has had a background of "street" culture of several years length to his credit. But more often the transition is too abrupt and so is not made. In some ways the set tlement so pauperizes and the Y. M. C. A. so patronizes that the free and easy passage or the feeding of indi viduals step by step from the lower to the higher insti- TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 105 tution is not made. This condition also reflects to be ! sure, basic differences of mental modes and gives pause to one inclined towards overstressing the factors of en vironment and opportunity, as over against heredity. . It would be difficult to say how different are the home conditions of members of this type from those of the preceding unless in each case a separate investigation were made. Both extremes are represented, the very well-to-do Italian home and the poor, squalid and over crowded one. It is safe to say that the majority of homes of members of this type have as the chief wage- earner a skilled workman rather than an unskilled la borer. If the home represented by such an individual is that of the well-to-do Italian, one is not unlikely to find that the parent has had a good education in Italy, and is either a business man or practising a profession ; if the home represents the other extreme, the wage-earner is more apt to be a skilled barber or tailor or musician rather than a ditch-digger, street-cleaner, mine laborer or hod carrier. Because in the main, the high-school type, of which there are thousands now in New York City, is every thing that the college type represents, in embryo, and with the same traits only less accentuated and devel oped, we will discuss the chief traits of this latter class only and mean it to include a large portion of the younger Americans of Italian extraction studying in the different high-schools and even business schools of this city. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS — The physical characteristics of this type afford little indication of their racial ancestry. There is a tendency toward dark complexions and shortness of stature, but the features while of a foreign cast are difficult to define readily as Italian. One might very easily mistake them for the Spanish or various South American types that are be coming more frequent. The similarity to the Greek countenance is also marked. On the whole they are careful of their clothes and spend a good deal of time on this detail. The excellent formal discipline to which they are being subjected, makes for a mind that, as a 106 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION rule, has ideas logically correlated and unified. Their disposition is aggressive while their ages serve many times to make them impulsive in action. It is a type that sets fashions. Comparing them with other Americans of Italian extraction it would be nearest the truth to say that they are of a creative disposition, for they lead where the others follow. Dr. Jones in saying that the Italian stays on the two lower mental levels (ideo-motor and ideo-emotional) had in mind the "tenement" type which was the only type he investigated and possibly i even referred to the fathers or immigrants. At any rate "such was the only type he uncovered when he made his sociological investigation of a New York City Block more than a decade ago. It is evident that when Dr. Jones wrote his dissertation at Columbia, he failed to meet one of the handful of individuals who could be classed by him as being of a creative disposition and who happened to be studying there; today however, more than 250 names in the Columbia catalogue alone can be counted as eligible to such classification. In character these individuals are apt to be of a con vivial type but the nature of the years or ages at which we find them serves to discount this generalization somewhat. As a matter of fact, what we do find, all things considered, is an unusually large strain of seri ousness probably because so large a percentage find it necessary to rely on other means than parental support for continuance in their present most engaging busi ness, namely that of getting an education. It is difficult to say whether as a class their reactions in mental mat ters are slow or quick. However such reactions are for the most part voluntary and tend somewhat towards being individualistic. In reasoning they are as careful as the average both of the premises and the logic in question at issue, there being nothing in race as such operating as a deterrent or otherwise. COOPERATION— These Americans of Italian extrac tion do not feel themselves to be different from other Americans. Of course they say they are conscious of their Italian ancestry. One generation never can ab solutely remove them from this. In some cases they TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 107 even try to hide it. On the whole this difference does not, to their mind, serve to set them off as a class apart. Their pleasures and their work are exactly similar in all respects to those of other peoples and are dictated by an economic and mental rather than by a racial back ground. Towards strangers their attitude is one of per haps unusual cordiality because "lit" up by their Latin warmth. In sympathy they are quick to respond and the college American of Italian extraction is continually giving to benefits and other forms of charitable move ments. There is this one difference to be noted, he gives more if such are for Italians. The Italian Circolo movement is an attempt to secure recognition for these individuals as a class; as individuals recognition is secured by their participation in college and campus activities. So thoroly acclimated is this American to the whole so cial and intellectual background of college life that no I big feature worthy of mention exists among them that is based upon pure race lines. Our conviction therefore, is that their "consciousness-of-kind" concerning race at any rate, is eclipsed by their desire for recognition, or "consciousness-of-kind" as members of a larger group, that is, the college or the university. No persistent or well-defined cooperation among these individuals is dis cernible as a class. Such efforts are thrown into the general melting pot of efforts contributed towards by all the differently blooded Americans attending the same school and for the same general purpose. Their "Ital- ianism" is subordinated to their Americanism. And so by the nature of both the objective and subjective con ditions that exist, these Americans of Italian extraction instance no cooperation of a narrow or inclusive fashion that would distinguish them as different from other Americans. PLEASURES— All honors whether athletic, social or scholastic are thrown open to them on an equal footing. Specific achievements by members of this group are de scribed in the section on Social Organization. The one pleasure indulged in as a group that serves to set them apart is along dramatic lines. This follows from the difference in the language. An Italian play is annually 108 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION given by the Circolo at Columbia, City College and Hunter College. This play is given in the native tongue. Its greatest value, it seems to the writer who has seen these rehearsed and given for the past six years, is social in character. In this one solitary group activity the college American of Italian origin follows out truly what a goodly portion of the contributors towards the symposium in a later chapter shows him to possess, namely "a sense of dramatic and artistic values." The annual Italian plays at Barnard and Columbia are said to be among the very best of the language plays given on college campuses. Again true to this type or perhaps more because in this their option is limited, the plays invariably given are plays stressing sensory and emo tional values and show high conviviality. All this illus trates the gay strain of the Italian. In his choice of plays this individual is neither to be praised nor blamed, for fully ninety percent of all plays written in Italian follow this vein. TYPE OF MIND — For this group motor impulses are strong and instincts and passions are often swayed by desires as well as convictions. This is to say, the Italian nature causes one to desire strongly and passionately, be it athletic or scholastic honors, and follows directly from the tense character of Italian fibre. In many cases this intensity of nature makes them do foolish things and many times their valor like that of other school-boys is that due to ignorance. The mental responses of the "college type" are prompt but whether persistent is a mooted question. At times they are apt to be domineering, arising from the fact that they feel this is part of one who is college-bred. On this point we notice a difference from the average. Gid dings found the mass of Mediterranean stock "to be in stigative rather than domineering and while leisure- loving, not indolent and used 'instigation' rather than 'dominancy' to accomplish their ends."* Often these in dividuals possess a relative abundance of ideas, tho these ideas are loosely organized around a vocabulary ? Giddings, F. H., Descriptive and Historical Sociology, p 210. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 109 greater than that of which they are the master. Italian loquacity is made apparent. It is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy just how scrupulous they are with respect to immoral indulgences. The only safe guide here is the individual. True to their age many will attack a problem with insufficient deliberation, and this may seem to mark them as capricious. This tho is more apparent than real. Capriciousness which is to be distinguished from "impulsiveness" and sensitivity to high emotion, is not an Italian trait. On the whole it can fairly be accepted that these in dividuals making up approximately 1.5 percent of the entire Italian speaking population of the younger gen eration in New York City, are proceeding at a rate of development commensurate with their economic stand ing. As economic conditions become better for the average Italian family — the children will, in increasing numbers, go to the high-schools of this city instead of going immediately to work, or trust to evening schools, to complete their schooling. Subjecting added numbers to a relatively longer period of formal academic discipline will greatly increase the frequency of this type. 110 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION CHAPTER XIV THE PROFESSIONAL TYPE INTRODUCTION— It is difficult to put down here anything that, racially distinctive, would distinguish this type from the professionally employed American of other descents and which would serve to mark it off as being in very many ways radically different. In fact there seems to be little, if anything, in the way of psychologi cal peculiarities when compared to other stocks that might be mentioned. It is true that differences such as vowel endings to the name, a swarthy skin, brown eyes, and dark color of hair, possibly a tendency to under- stature — if anthropometrically plotted — would show a resulting curve with a preponderance of these above physical characteristics on the side of this professionally employed American ; or possibly one even would be able to show in such individuals a tendency towards greater usage of hands accompanying speech, in many cases even violent gesticulation and besides a greater fre quency in loss of temper ; that perhaps associated with this trait is the tendency towards a quicker changing of mind and emotion ; or even that this is more apt to be associated with superficial moods. But one scarcely can say that these are indices of mental inferiority, or even that they are indices more truly indicating the "race" rather than the "individual." Certainly the well-accepted psychological tenet that "intra-group are greater than inter-group" differences would tend to make one dis believe this. As Todd says "to base a theory — on certain assumed inherent differences of racial character or con stitution is incautious ; for greater variations of skull formation, brain weight, mental and physical capacity are able to be found between members of the same ethnic group than between separate ethnic stocks."* Whether a lawyer, or a doctor, or a teacher, in the main, if such an individual has secured the greater part of his or her ?Todd, A. J. Theories of Social Progress, p. 279. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 111 training in this country no appreciable differences exist, worth mentioning, that would serve to justify us in dis criminating either for or against that type as being something "sui generis." If it is true that a heightened susceptibility to mental, emotional and physical changes exists with these people, it does not warrant the assump tion made by Dr. Jones that along with such changes go an analogous tendency to be superficial in their think ing. It is true that the lawyer is apt to have a clientele in which the percentage of those having Italian names predominates, and that a like condition exists with that of the doctor. But such a condition is to be noted as being equally true of the American lawyer of native parentage and the physician of Jewish, Bohemian, Ger man and other extractions. The real way of judging whether a difference exists at all is to determine whether such individuals fit into the life of those people, what ever generation or extraction they be, we call to mind when we think of AMERICAN. This as judged by the institutions effected by them and described in Part IV, Social Organization, they apparently do.* BACKGROUND— The membership rolls of three rep resentative professional organizations of this class, the Circolo Nazionale, The Italian Teachers' Association and the Italian Educational League show a distribution of members according to residence as follows : DISTRIBUTION OF PROFESSIONALLY EMPLOYED ITALIANS ACCORDING TO RESIDENCE Borough Italian Teachers Italian Educa- Circolo Association tional League Nazionale Manhattan 42 82 108 Bronx 31 38 62 Brooklyn 25 52 94 Queens 12 28 21 Richmond 4 3 12 Out of Town 18 55 27 This class then is not located in any one spot, but is ?Racial differences do exist. Americans of Italian extraction of both the "tenement" and "professional" types evidence a marked tendency towards an exceptional demonstrativity but that because of this, reasoning is any the less or inferior even, remains yet to be settled, 112 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION scattered throughout the city. Fully 70 per cent of the lawyers are located in the heart of the office district downtown. The Italian-speaking doctors we find scat tered throughout the Italian sections of the city, usually in the section where they have grown up and where they now practise their profession. The numbers vary accord ing to the density of the colony. Thruout New York City there are approximately four hundred doctors compared to about six hundred lawyers of Italian origin. The members of the Italian Teachers' Association are scattered most promiscuously and domiciled in no way as could be shown to connect up with their place of work. The same condition exists for the membership distribution of the Circolo Nazionale. The background therefore for the professionally employed American can be said to be as typically American as is possible in a cosmopolitan center like New York. For this class of people very few indeed, if any at all, are not citizens. The writer knows of none excepting a few who have secured their professional training abroad and have come here fully matured in mind and habit. Such individuals, however, are not intended for inclusion in this study. For the most part then this class of professionally employed people have either been born here or have lived here the greater part of their lives. Certainly, a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher trained in Italy rarely practises his or her profession among Americans of Italian extraction. Should such practise be indulged in by any such it usually is confined to Italian immigrants who have in no way been gripped by American influences. In the homes of the majority of this professional American the culture influences are those of the younger and not of the older generation, primarily because the chief wage-earner now is Ameri can. These Americans fit themselves and enter into American life and culture with ease and are welcomed. In no way is their mode of living radically different from that which obtains among Americans of other descents. In feeling, in speech and in action surely no such dif ferences exist. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS— In disposition TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 113 undoubtedly the creative type predominates, a charac teristic dictated by class not by race. Their training permits these individuals to think for themselves. It was this type of individual, even among the adult, evi dently that Dr. Jones ran across and "found in House No. 211, and four others filled with Italians of the more deliberately-minded kind, German-like Italians from the north of Italv."* What Dr. Jones mistakingly calls "deliberately-minded kind" of Italians are in reality Americans of Italian extraction belonging to what I have termed the "professional" type. In character these resemble individuals within the classification labelled by Giddings as the "rationally conscious" or individuals who are aware of the nature, purpose and intent of their actions both individually and collectively. Their actions because of the respon sible character of the work they perform are to be designated as of a "conscious" kind and not narrowing as is apt to be the case when we considered the voca tions of the "trade" or "business" type. COOPERATION— It is the business of this profes sional class, among their other work, to be occupied with providing for the civic, educational, moral and physical welfare work that is conducted among the people from which they themselves have sprung. The problems such as these individuals of the professional class meet in their daily tasks require the exercise of original judgment, initiative and considerable tact. Fur thermore their survival in the competitive struggle within the sphere of professional activity which engages them is dependent upon the display of just such qualities as resourcefulness, deliberation, good judgment and logical thinking — all characteristics that typify the "critical-intellectual" type of mind as expounded by Professor Giddings. Consequently in their work for their people as well as in the practice of their professions such individuals are being constantly thrown in contact with Americans ?Jones, Thomas J. Sociology of a New York City Block, p. 25. 114 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION of all descents. In no way is it possible to distinguish in these contacts any feeling or sense of difference be- because of race. Perception of resemblances is marked by the wider sphere of similar mental modes and not similar racial backgrounds. It is not uncommon to find Jewish lawyers with a heavy Italian following. On the middle East Side and in Brooklyn are springing up lawyers of Italian blood with almost an entirely Jewish clientele. Likewise the Italian teacher is often found in a public school frequented largely by Jewish children and vice versa. Cooperation for individuals of this class has broken completely beyond the confines of race. Their attitude towards strangers is one of the best indi cations of this. Future contacts with any such follow individual tastes, determined by volition and choice apart from any identity of descents or extractions. A harmony of musical, professional, social, or educational interests will in their cases prove more binding than nationality. TYPE OF MIND— The real way to test whether or not an effective consciousness-of-kind has been or is being developed among this class is to take the individual and subject him to personal and specific tests. This manifestly is impossible. An alternative is to ascertain what positions involving leadership have fallen to this type, therefore instancing a process not delimited by race lines. This alternative consists in picking out those individuals who by virtue of opportunity and training have become leaders. To do this is not difficult. Prac tically in every field of endeavor, whether in the social, educational, political or economic life of this city, some place of prominence has been achieved by Americans of Italian blood. And yet to be able to point out a strong class "consciousness-of-kind" among these leaders would be at the same time to point out how ineffectively is going on the process of our national synthetization among them. If "consciousness-of-kind" as measured by Dr. Jones is a steady and swift aggregation of like individuals, Americans of Italian extraction dp not possess this trait TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 115 in common with their earlier predecessors, for they do not flock together in any noticeable manner, as the tabulations offered on page 111 show. Dr. Jones' figures in the table below, gathered for a period of four years are indicative of the condition not affecting the American of Italian origin, but the adult immigrant who has but recently arrived. He says on this point : "The adult Italian not long in this country both by necessity of knowing but one language and of economic pressure is constrained to live in the Italian quarter, viz : ITALIAN ELEMENT IN EACH HOUSE EACH YEAR HOUSE NUMBERS Years 211 213 215 217 219 223 1895 — 12 — 16 — 10 1897-1898 1 5 — — — 10 1898-1899 3 12 13 11 9 14 1899-1900 8 13 15 13 14 2 His comment on these figures is "the mental attitude of the Italian in withdrawing to himself is not due to a perception of mental differences and resemblances. The other nationalities have been longer in America and are to some extent assimilated. They have often at tained to a relatively high prosperity. They do not like to receive into their own tenement houses groups whose families are so near the economic margin of subsistence that they are willing to resort to any kind of work, to live in any sort of way and to chop the stair banisters for fuel. On the other hand the Italian immigrants being unable to talk with English-speaking nationali ties or with Germans are compelled to speak their own language."* As the distribution of residences for the members of the three largest and most typical organizations of this class of Americans show, the very antithesis of the above is to be noted. Theirs is not a "consciousness-of-kind" that permits these individuals to flock together in a swift and steady aggregation" but rather their American spirit coupled with their training and better economic oppor tunities causes them to expand and move out and settle ?Jones, Thomas Jesse. Sociology of a New York City Block. 116 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION in communities widely different in their form from any thing to which their parents are accustomed. Whether or not there is a strong and well developed "consciousness-of-kind" can best be stated rather than measured by a description of the activities of the Italian- speaking colonies within this city and this we do in the next few chapters. One will readily see that to separate the activities of such individuals from the country of their adoption is impossible so that any reliable and quantitative index of a "consciousness-of-kind" is not possible. At the same time one can see that no complete separation of such individuals from the influences of the country of their ancestors either exists or is desir able. DISTRIBUTION OF "TYPES OF MIND" AMONG AMERICANS OF ITALIAN EXTRACTION NEW YORK CITY CLASS COMPOSITION OF MENTAL "MODES" SIZE OF INDIVIDUAL Type of MIND Type of DISPOSITION Type of REASONING Type of PLEASURES Type of CHARACTER Nature, Form and Extent Of CO-OPERATION Number Percent "tenement" ideo- emotional instigative conjectural imaginative motor- sensory convivial involuntary instinctive, narrow 340,000 85a "trade" or "business" dogmatic- emotional domineering deductive (speculative) emotional- ideation austere semi-involuntary imitative (belief) limited 50,000 12.56 "Y. M. C. A." or "college" critical- intellec tual aggressive analogical inductive inductive- ideation convivial forceful largely voluntary also imitative normal 6,000 1.5c "professional" critical- intellec tual creative inductive (critical of premises as well as of logic) inductive- ideation rationally conscious largely voluntary (judgment) broad 4,000 1.0c 1. The numbers given are approximate, and the classifications used follow those by Franklin H. Giddings, vide Inductive Soci ology passim. o. 29.2% the prevalence of this mental mode as found by Giddings for the entire population of the United States (vide Phsy- chological Review, Vol. 8, No. 4, July 1901, pp. 337-49). 6. 19.3% (ibid) c 1.6% (ibid) O W O > ow o nso > n 118 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION CHAPTER XV THE ITALIAN-SPEAKING COLONY IN NEW YORK CITY INTRODUCTION— The Italian-speaking colony in New York City divides itself sharply into two groups, roughly called in this connection the "older" and the "younger" generations. It would not be amiss to say that for the most part those individuals making up the "older" generation secured their training or schooling in Italy ; a scant fifth came to America while very young, possibly even in their teens. This is not to say that they are any less American. The "younger" generation on the other hand was born here and constitutes a thorough product of American life and American insti tutions. Unquestionably there are many prominent Americans of Italian blood that are not mentioned here in the fol lowing pages. In many cases some of these are even better known than are those whose names one will meet with in this writing. Those that are included here have come to the writer's personal attention and he can there fore present accurate facts with respect to their affilia tion to the life of the Italian colony in the city. OLD GENERATION— Some notable religious figures are noticeable both among the Catholic and Protestant sects within the ranks of the "older" generation today. Representing the Catholics there is the Very Reverend Mgr. Gherardi Ferranti, Vicar General of the Italian work in this diocese ; the Reverend Dr. Grivetti who has made an enviable reputation for himself through his efficient handling of the New York office of the Italica Gens ; Father Magliocco, whose wonderful singing and musical training mark him off as one apart from all others in his line ; the very pious Father Coppo, Provin cial of the Salesian Order, who recently celebrated his silver jubilee ; and lastly the silver-tongued orator, Father Silipigni is to be noted. The Protestants likewise have some men of marked ability. There is the Rev. Antonio Arrighi who has given TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY . 119 a life-time in the work of uplifting his people and whose reminiscences are contained in his happy little volume "Life of a Drummer Boy with Garibaldi"; the Rev. Fenili, trained not only in an Italian university, but also a graduate of Columbia and with an erudition that is exceptional ; Rev. Antonio Mangano whose wonderful little book "Sons of Italy" is the last word in regard to the religio-social situation as it exists in the Italian colonies in America, also an individual who has a foot not only in the older civilization, but also in the new ; the scholarly Dr. Perazzini who wrote a book for the Colum bia University "Studies in Comparative Literature" and is Director of the Italian work for the White Bible school in this city ; the Rev. Riggio, Grand Master of the Jerusalem Lodge of Masons ; and so the list could go on if we had space. In portrait painting quite some art sense is manifest — witness Bertieri, Moretti, Piccirilli. In education or teaching the names are far too numer ous to mention. Some are Prof. Racca, Prof. Costa, for merly Assistant Director of the Italian Bureau of Infor mation, Dr. Cosenza, Director of the Townsend Harris Hall School; Prof. Camera, Dr. Panarone, Dr. Ettari, all of City College ; Prof. Boselli of Vassar, formerly with the Italian Army; Prof. Bigongiari of Columbia, who likewise fought for Italy; and Prof. Enrico Cadorin, famous also as an artist. This list does not exhaust them. This section would be incomplete however, if we were to leave out the few school principals of Italian blood that New York City has. There is first of all Angelo Patri, author and social worker, principal of one of the largest Gary schools in New York City. Mr. Patri has just written two books on educational administration that are under advisement for possible use by the Fed eral authorities ; Mr. Pugliesi, principal of the largest representative public school of Italian-speaking children downtown, and also a product of Columbia University. Miss Cafferata and Mrs. Defarrari-Weygandt are names that speak for themselves. 120 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION To three men of Italian blood at least it has been given to wear the ermine. The best known of all is Justice John J. Freschi of the Court of Special Sessions, who has behind him an unmatched record of years of faithful service in Italian welfare work in New York City, hon ored with a decoration by the King of Italy and an honorary degree from New York University; Judge Louis Valenti, a product of New York City schools, was recently elected to the City Court ; and lastly F. X. Man- cuso whose work in connection with the Waite case earned for him a magistracy and who bids fair to climb higher. In law it is difficult to pick and make choices because whatever choices are made some are sure to be slighted. Perhaps the oldest practitioner of Italian blood in New York City is Astarite; Paul Yasselli, assistant to the District Attorney for the Southern District of New York (formerly captain in the United States Army) is a man of parts; and Stefano Miele, Grande Venerabile of the Order of the Sons of Italy is a name to conjure with. Other names that have secured public recognition are ex-Judge Palmieri and Michael Rofrano, ex-Deputy Street Cleaning Commissioner. In medicine it is possible to name some very notable figures. Of these one of the best known is un questionably Antonio Stella, President of the Roman Legion. Dr. Stella's well-known researches fn the socio economic conditions of Italian-speaking people in New York City, and particularly his work along the line of tuberculosis have secured for him a well-merited recogni tion that extends beyond local confines ; five thousand Saint Filesians swear by Dr. Tomasulo, who practises on the lower West Side ; Dr. Righi of Washington Place has a claim to our attention, likewise Drs. Scimeca, Previ- talis, Cassola, De Vecchi, D'Iserina, Collica, Legiardi- Laura, Menna, Osnato, Siragusa, Antonna. Dr. Rossano of East Harlem is exceedingly well known. Dr. Pisani, former member of the Board of Education is one of the best known doctors of Italian blood in New York City, and has a broad liberal viewpoint in socio-economic affairs extending beyond that of his own people. Dr. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 121 Savini is one of the most successful surgeons and has an enviable reputation secured in part thru his successful operation and management of the Washington Square Hospital. Doctors Soresi and Parodi combine skill and learning to an unusual degree, the one in the field of surgery and the other in the general field of medicine. Dr. J. W. Perrilli is exceedingly well liked. He is president of the Italian Hospital and a member of the Board of Trustees of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals. Dr. C. J. Imperatori, on the Bellevue staff, is one of the best surgeons here. Few are his peers in skill and learning. During the war he served as a lieutenant- colonel with the American Expeditionary Forces. As a laryngolist his articles in the medical journals are read with great attention and respect. Dr. Imperatori has set a mark in his profession which, for Italian students in particular, is worthy of emulation. Social work is best represented by Mrs. Deferrari- Weygandt, whose forty years as Principal of the Italian School have given her an unparalleled opportunity to see pass in review before her the remarkable changes in economic welfare and social uplift that have gone apace with the incoming of so many thousands of Italian- speaking children in the lower part of the city. Likewise Miss Cafferata, Head Probationer for New York City has been thru a life-time of work that brought her into intimate contact with Italian-speaking people. Mrs. Zunino, wife of the wealthy manufacturer, has given and today gives unstintingly of both time and money to phi lanthropic and welfare movements. Mr. Pizzarra, Super intendent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children of this city and Treasurer of the Circolo Na zionale Italiano is an extremely well-liked individual, old in the life of this city. Recently Mary A. Frasca was appointed by Mayor Hylan a member of the Board of Child Welfare. Miss Frasca is one of the best informed persons on social and economic conditions among Italians in this city and a splendid worker. In business choices again are difficult, the best known being Celestino Piva, whose munificent bequests make possible the Italian Hospital ; Gerli, Luigi Solari, Zunino, 122 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Personeni, Scaramelli, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Romeo, Paterno, Bosca, DeNobili, A. Fer- rara and Antonio Zucca. Cav. A. Portfolio, one of the youngest of the older generation came here as a young boy and speedily made a great reputation as a successful business man. But more important perhaps is another distinction that has attached itself to his name. Here is one of the older generation that has succeeded in grip ping completely the American viewpoint in all things and his contributions to social welfare and educational en terprises among both Americans and Italians alike bring him high esteem. A recent contribution by him to the Italian Intercollegiate Association has served to make possible a wide scope of usefulness for this organization. The Di Giorgio brothers are also very prominent in the Italian business life of this city. They are well liked and Italians are proud of their wonderful achievements. In banking, the two names Lionello Perera, 62 Wall Street, and Joseph Francolini,* President of the Italian Savings Bank stand out prominently. Large private banks are scattered everywhere and are numerous. Gian- nini, Sbarbaro, Bernardini, Verrilli and Liccione are names of repute attesting honesty and integrity and in spiring confidence wherever heard. In finance and economics Prof. Vittorio Racca easily is in the lead, having made special studies on the socio economic conditions in the Balkans for several European governments. Dr. Bonaschi, executive secretary of the Roman Legion, also is well equipped in this connection. Among the newspaper men the names of Barsotti and Frugone rank high ; the former because of II Progresso, the latter because of II Bollettino. Cantelmo of II Gior- nale Italiano and II Telegrafo is exceedingly well known. Roversi of La Follia, and Dr. Vincent Campora of Colum bus have also large followings. Dr. Campora publishes a very effective and interesting monthly magazine. Per soneni has put forth II Cittadino ; Di Biasi has scored a wonderful success with II Carroccio which is the leading periodical of its kind in the United States; Mr. Toledo ? Deceased. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 123 also publishes a very successful little paper; Captain Marinelli earned some recognition with L'ltalia and finally Mr. Calitri with his paper and Mr. Pasella with his paper La Sardegna are worthy of mention. Recently Pidala has put forth a monthly magazine called The Promptor which aims to cover a wide cultural field. To these names must be added that of Giordano, who has recently acquired control of II Bollettino. Mr. Giordano and his brothers are doing a great service in interpreting Italy to Americans. Great things are expected of them. Nor is Dr. Marcucci of II Progresso to be forgotten. In sociology and public affairs above all others stands Dr. Felice Ferrero, formerly Director of the Italian Bu reau of Public Information in New York City. Dr. Fer rero has a grip on the matters that come within his prov ince which makes it possible for him to speak both elo quently and convincingly. The late Carlo Speranza of Columbia was a figure which, now missing, represents an irreparable loss ; Dr. Alberto Pecorini of the Springfield International College is an author of repute ; Prof. Dino Bigongiari of Columbia is well-versed in the lore of Dante as is also his cousin Gino Bigongiari ; Enrico Cadorin has won prominence as an artist as well as teacher; Prof. Arbib-Costa is equalled by few and has written a text-book in Italian representing the last word in matters of its kind ; Prof. Sergio has made a name for himself in private teaching. The present Consul- General, Romolo Tritonj is a scholar as well as a dip lomat and he brings to his work a marked native ability that has earned for him the respect of all who have come in contact with him. It is not too much to say that he has been the most well liked and effective represen tative sent to us by the Italian government. Italy would do well to send others of his type to us in other cities. In music the names are so numerous that only a few may be mentioned here. Caruso, Galli-Curci, Bonci, Titto Ruffo and Amato are best known ; while in this field one can't forget Gatti-Casazza and the younger impresario Marinuzzi. In public life New York City has a few whose names 124 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION to-day are fairly well known. Besides Judge Freschi whom we have already mentioned there is former Con gressman Fiorello H. La Guardia, now President of the Board of Aldermen and recent representative of the United States Army in Italy; State Senator Salvatore Cotillo, member of the Economic Research Commission recently sent by the United States to Italy to report on after-war conditions and to interpret the Italian mind to Americans ; Caesar Barra, Charles Novello, Nicholas Pette and a few others have also held public office and gained many adherents. Formerly of New York City was Henry Suzzalo, now President of the University of Wash ington ; also outside of New York City are Antonio Cami- netti, Commissioner-General of Immigration and Dr. Palmieri of the Congressional Library. In army life a host of men have come here because of war conditions and have impressed Americans with their ability, viz., General Guglielmotti and General Tozzi, head of the Italian Military Mission. Lieutenant D'Annunzio, brother of the famous poet, helped in the manufacture of air machines ; the Caproni brothers, the late Resnati, Gino, Captain Guardabassi are among the best known. The latter is one of the most popular Italians who has ever come here. The architect Serracino, the engineer Cavagnaro, the engineer and well known professor Prelini, of Manhat tan College, whose text-books have been universally accepted as the last word in the specific fields of engineer ing they cover, Immediato and a host of other mis cellaneous indivxiduals whom for lack of space we omit, testify to the high place that these people of Italian blood representing the older generation have made for themselves in the life of our city. THE YOUNGER GENERATION— The younger gen eration today is richer in its possibilities than in its ac tualities. In talking about a people so much in the present as are these, the difficulty is encountered that exists when one is making statements that are con stantly being changed with the passing of each day. In religion the Catholics have the comparatively young TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 125 Mgr. Arcese of Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, who is of great promise; for the Protestants Emanuel Chiesa of Drew Seminary, winner of Phi Beta Kappa honors, prizes in the Greek language, etc., deserves mention. Rev. Sar- torio won immediate distinction with his book called "Social and Religious Life of Italians in America." In art this type is yet in its struggling stage, and while. a wide smattering of art talent is distinctly visible, real and adequate opportunity for what may be called full recognition has not been given. It is true that the recent response for artistic talent to contribute to the creation of the temporary arch for returning soldiers has brought forth an abundance of talent of Italian origin. Of fifteen or more artists engaged in the design ing of this arch fully eight or more than 50 per cent were of Italian-speaking parentage. For instance the Picirilli brothers were engaged on the quadriga or top of the arch, Raphael Memoni modelled its general architectural fea tures ; in various other features were engaged F. M. L. Tonelli, Ulysses Ricci, D. Tosti and Philip Martini. The lists become full again when we come to educa tion. In the universities are the La Guardia brothers, one at the University of Illinois, the other at the Naval Academy, both products of Columbia University and win ners of the Phi Beta Kappa key; Colletti, formerly at the University of South Carolina, also holder of the Phi Beta Kappa key at Columbia and winner of the chief oratorical prize there ; Tanzola, teaching in the Columbia Extension, secured the signal honor of winning both the arts and science keys in the same institution ; Lipari at Toronto ; Bigongari at Columbia ; Di Bartolo at Syracuse, later at the University of Buffalo ; Passarelli at Cincin nati ; D'Amato at Shorter College ; Salvatore of Stevens Institute of Technology and Furia at New York Uni versity, and Carravachiol at Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, are all Phi Beta Kappa men. In the high schools of this city a galaxy of stars are noticeable, many of Phi Beta Kappa ranking. A few are Lieut. Leonardo Covello, the Lapolla, brothers, de Bar- baris, Salzano, Menna, Viggiani, Porcella, Toglia, Tor- toro, Vessa — and so the list could be strung out. 126 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION In the public schools the list would be even larger. Those who have attained more than a local distinction are Grande, Lodato, Calitri, Negri, Penque. Marone, Vespa, Milano, Ansanelli, Mirabella, and Frabbito. In the legal profession we see some of the young Americans of Italian extraction who unquestionably are to be leaders. Easily before them all stands F. R. Serri, winner of all the debating prizes at Yale, formerly con tributing editor on the financial paper "Commerce and Finance" ; Leonard Sabbatino* the versatile president of the Italian Welfare League, is also of promising material, as is Nicholas Bucci, Phi Beta Kappa at Columbia, winner of several history and English prizes, formerly on the Columbia Law Review. Sidney Masone is one who is exceptionally equipped regarding compensation laws be cause of his connection as -assistant counsel for the In dustrial Commission ; La Corte of Elizabeth, New Jersey, bids fair to become a big factor in the legal life of his city ; Caruso of Newark, Pascarella of Emerson, New Jersey, have all made great strides forward and undoubt edly will be prominent and indispensable in all welfare movements among Italian-speaking people of their com munities. Barbieri, Cardone, Gamaldi, Di Carlo, Cerreta, Boccia, Bongiorno, Catinelli, Alacchi, Ricca, Mottola, Zerilli, Cuoco and Frank Verrilli are others. Ferdinand Pecora, Assistant District Attorney, has made an ex cellent reputation. Miss Grilli of the New York Bar is an enterprising worker among her people and a very ef fective leader. In medicine likewise some exceptionally high-calibered men are coming thru. Representative of the newer gen eration is Dr. W. T. M. Liccione, winner of both the Arts and Medical Fraternity honors and an ex-president of the Columbia College Circolo Italiano, who bids fair to eclipse the average; Dr. Vincent Giliberti, also from Columbia has an unusually good reputation and is now on the staff of the Metropolitan Life ; Prof. Croce of Fordham Medical College, Drs. Mistretta, Brancato, Mangione, Martoccio, Bonvicino, Orlando, John D. Ver rilli, and Salvatore are to be noted. ? Recently appointed an Assistant District Attorney. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 127 In social work the names are fewer. Ricciardi of Cornell has made some headway on the lower West. Side ; Marra's connection with the Richmond Hill settlement brings him some distinction ; Armore, President of the Italian Intercollegiate Association has always displayed a social-mindedness beyond the ordinary ; Cusimano for merly at Lenox Hill and Corsi at Harlem House are names which the future will bring to the fore again and again. In Queens, James Pasta has gained a large fol lowing and made a unique name for himself in the public as well as the social life of his community and is an individual from whom great things are expected. In business Marie Frugone daughter of the former owner of II Bolletino is tireless. In "advertising" the name Malisfini attracts great attention and is exceed ingly well known. The two Conti brothers from Colum bia are now in business. In banking few of the younger generation are worthy of mention because they have drawn so far apart from the immigrant class that they do not command the neces sary confidence to attract savings. Again those that could enter this profession are relatively few because of the necessity for an initial capital. Of the newer genera tion, however, most important is the fact that few could enter this business among their own people and not feel misplaced, because of the un-American agencies operat ing within the immigrant colonies to-day the immigrant bank is one of the most important. Two names however that might be mentioned for this class are Antonio Giovanazzi and Victor Salvatore who is manager of the Dykman Street branch of the Corn Exchange Bank. The first instances a case of "rapprochement" with the "old generation"; the second a complete break from it. Recently Cotellesse and Garibaldi La Guardia have gone into this field. The recent war has brought to the fore the aviators Lieut. Gaipa from Rutgers, Lieut. Zunino from Prince ton, Vaccaro from Harvard, and Aimee from Columbia. Major Laguardia and Captain Laguardia have both been mentioned before. In sculpture, Victor Salvatore has carved out a field 128 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION for himself which brings him an unusual social as well as professional distinction. He first began to win dis tinction at the age of fourteen, when at the St. Louis Exposition he was picked by St. Gaudens first in a field of many competitors and awarded first prize. In finance, both with respect to its theory and practice, Luigi Criscuolo has no peer among the younger Italian- speaking generation. His articles on the subject are taken as authoritative by Americans and Italians alike. He is the financial writer for the Independent. In public life no place of any moment has come to the younger generation that carries any distinction which extends beyond local confines. But a character sketch of one individual who was not only of the older generation but who up to the time of his recent death was essentially engaged in his life work as a political leader among the masses of his people, marking him distinctly as belong ing to the younger generation, was James E. March. A recent article in "The Sun" is quoted here at length because of the clear picture it gives of the opportunity for the rise and development of an individual that may any day be achieved by other Americans of Italian ex traction at present unknown : "James E. March, Republican leader of the Third As sembly district, who died recently, found in America the opportunity wherby he was transformed from Antonio Maggio, peasant immigrant, into an American possess ing property and political power. No one ever saw Jimmy March carrying a red flag or heard him sneer at the land into which he passed as a poor boy across the "Welcome" mat at Castle Garden. Thousands of other immigrants were stimulated by this career. "He landed in New York at the age of twelve with a harp and hopeful disposition. The city flustered him, so he struck into the country. For several years he worked for board and clothes in Lewis County, New York. His first wages he got for peddling milk in Lowville. He studied nights, passed the Regents' examination at the Lowville Academy, and in 1880, at the age of twenty, re turned to New York. He found employment with' the Erie Railroad, and in a short time was laying the founda- TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 129 tion for a fortune as the Erie's general contracting agent. "March employed and supervised thousands of laborers working on the railroad. In 1882, when he was superin tendent of immigrant trains he made such a hit by stop ping a disastrous longshoremen's strike that $7,657 was raised for him by subscription. "By this time Antonio Maggio had become James E. March. He got into East Side politics as a member of Tammany Hall, but after a break with the then Demo cratic rulers, caused by the refusal of the Irish to let Italians hold office, he went over to the Republicans and took his following along. He became Republican leader of the old Sixth Assembly district, now the Third, which on the Democratic side was ruled by the Sullivans. Gov. Roosevelt made him Port Warden in 1899, in which period March was credited with controlling the Italian- born vote on the entire East Side. He was charged with extortion in connection with the employment bureau he conducted, but was acquitted. He said his political en emies fabricated the accusation, altho License Commis sioner Keating called him "the Kingpin of Italian pa- drones." "The trouble did not affect his political popularity, for of the thirty-nine Presidential Electors for New York State chosen in the Roosevelt-Parker campaign of 1904 Jimmy March got the highest vote 859,533. "March had other stormy days' which he weathered. The county president of his own Republican party, Her bert Parsons, taxed him in 1908 with being too friendly with the Tammany Sullivans and refused to allow the men selected by March to act as inspectors on registra tion day. But presently Parsons vanished from the political stage and March continued to rule his district as of old. "Thru the James E. March Association and in other ways March spent a good deal of money on charity. He was a member of the Republican and Catholic clubs and the Elks. He had much to do with making Columbus Day a legal holiday." March came to know Roosevelt so well that the ini- 130 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION mitable Colonel was godfather to one of his children. If March had had behind him a systematic education he would unquestionably have risen to a position of national prominence eclipsed by no other individual of Italian blood in America either of the past or in the present. RELATION BETWEEN THE "OLD" AND "NEW" GENERATIONS— Frankly stated there is no coming to gether between the "older" and "newer" generations There are many reasons for this. The one big differenc: is that of the difference in culture. A little less importan perhaps is the element of language. A third reason tha may be mentioned, is the great disparity in ages. For tb most part the type indicated as belonging to the olde, generation does its business in the Italian language an^ with a type of peoples that was and has remaine- essentially Italian. The newer generation unfortunately has learned too hastily to scorn what is done or said ir the language of their ancestors. Many other contribut ory causes might be mentioned if one wished to explair the obvious gap that exists. The best evidence of this lack of co-operation is tb way different institutions are formed to cater to tb. respective tastes and social needs of the two groups. There is no Dante Alighieri Society among the new gen eration, and their respect and sympathy for an organiza tion of this sort is not great. Nevertheless that they have experienced the need for some such organization is seen in the Italian Intercollegiate Association — repre senting an attempt to bring together the best brains of the Italian element among the rising generation of Americans of Italian blood. Another instance of the "hiatus" is the Circolo Nazionale, now the Italian Metro politan Club, by the older generation. For this organiza tion to be a success it is necessary that they have come in with them, if not the entire rank and file of the "newer" generation, at least their leaders. For the Ita lian Metropolitan Club to enjoy a continued existence it is necessary that they recruit their membership from the best pick of the rising younger generation. In short it is not only expedient but necessary that the leaders of the "new" generation cooperate with the "older" so that the TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 131 membership of the younger groupings may be fed into the organizations of the older generation and thereby establish continuity in an organization that has estab lished its right to existence by virtue of its usefulness. Unfortunately no indication for this "rapprochement" is discernible. On the other hand what has occurred is this. The new generation feeling keenly the need for a club house that would make social intercourse possible have their plans completed for the securing of an entire building designed to fulfill their social, intellectual and recreational needs. As matters stand today these plans are fully matured and await the first favorable moment to actually materialize. The writer who is conversant with the situation as it exists does not believe that in this split or division of factors as it were, the best values that develop thru a sane and harmonious cooperation are being secured. by each group. It seems that the above condition is a pre ventive to any intelligent attempt to conduct any sus tained cooperative action such as is necessary for suc cess. It appears that the old generation needs the new, and that this is- the need that will continue to grow with time. Nevertheless it cannot be gainsaid that the new generation needs the old if they wish to be at all effect ive. There is no doubt that in this particular instance a great deal more might be done in the way of cooperation and that, measured by its fruits, the cooperative spirit among Americans of Italian extraction has netted but little that is today permanently and commendably visible. It appears that only by presenting a united front will such Americans ever be able to command respect and compel attention to the more crying needs of a social, economic, educational, recreational nature that are gap- ingly open in Italian districts. In doing this they would be but imitating what the older Americans of Irish, Jewish and other descents have done before them. 132 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION CHAPTER XVI RECAPITULATION In veiw of all the foregoing can there be said to exist an Italian psychology for these Americans of Italian line age in America, and can it be said to be objectionable? We hear much about Italian psychology and have been impressed with its difference from our own. Have we been over-impressed? We have seen that the mental traits described above are not a thing "sui generis" with these Americans of Italian blood, but are universal. What were represented were race lines it is true, but lines cut across by individual differences. No true psychology holds that racial qualities do not exist, but neither does it make a fetish of such differences. The important thing for us here is that psychological traits are primarily individual ; only when taken collectively do they become racial. Today psychologists agree that "intra-group" differences are greater than "inter-group" differences. The traits described run through the entire gamut of possible mental reactions from the very high and most commendable to the very low and most deprecatory of all the strains that enter into American life showing "high variability" to be one of the outstanding features of the mental life of the Italian. The contention made here though, and maintained throughout is that from the standpoint of race no significant differences exist between these and other individuals of other racial des cents. Races do differ. Mental and even moral dif ferences do exist, but whether we may conclude from this that these differences denote superiority or (inferior ity is not the same question. It has been said jthat the races making up our "new" immigration (and this in cludes the Italian) lack the innate capacity of self- government. If this is so, then the words of Sir Horace Plunkett are apropos namely "if any race is lacking in the powers of self-government than what that race needs most is self-government." The Irish, Italians, English and French differ in art, language, literature and science. As Giddings says, "the TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 133 Italian is notoriously a man relatively interested in the plastic arts by comparison with the Swedes or Nor wegians. On the stage the Neapolitan is different from a Finn or a Dane whether you saw or heard him. As good an approach to this analysis as anything else is to mention at the beginning certain commonly noticed reactions. The Italians have been notoriously successful in painting, sculpture and art in general. Northern people are not notoriously successful in these things. Northern peoples are notoriously dramatic, emotional and imaginative ; instance the great tales of Siegfried, the marvellous dramatic feelings of the Icelandic Tales, the dramatic qualities of German opera, of Wagner, Bach and of Niebelungen." "The central people, the Slavs are almost equally no torious in literature. Especially are the great Russian novelists noted for the feelings associated with the homely affairs of life in sentimental qualities tho not in the gushy sense and the entirely different reactions toward the tragedies of life in the novels of Dostoievsky Tolstoy and Turgeneff — all differing from the North western dramatists. Evidently there is no mixing of these two." "The Irish and Welsh Tales, the Arthurian legend in England and the legendary Tales of Scotland form an other different type. Nor can we easily confuse the deli cate play of fancy in the fairy tales of Ireland with the play of imagination in the Danish tales and the tales of the Rhine region." "Which is highest and which is lowest cannot be an swered directly, if answered at all. The outstanding fact is that these cultures are different. Are the causes in the blood or are they due to environment and training? Psychologists are still at loggerheads in their definition of instinct. No one will disagree if we say that by instinct we mean certain complexes of reactions that are innate, that are already there and don't have to be learned by trial and error processes, and represent the equipment with which the individual is born."* ?Giddings, F. H. Lectures in Inductive Sociology (Columbia University, 1915). 134 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION If the differences we observed between races like the Italians and the Anglo-Saxon are inherited instincts in the blood, then the only way to change the American of Italian extraction is by synthetization, thru marriage ; not by school systems, political parties or religious insti tutions. It is yet to be found whether these differences that we observed between the Italian race and other races with regard to literature, art, politics, etc., are instinctive or a result of habit. Meanwhile it would not be unwise to continue with these peoples on the assumption that their contribution is something desirable and to assist them in every way to make it possible for them to contribute their greatest possible portion in the great task of the evolution of a stable American type. Italy in the past has contributed mightily to the en lightenment of the world and the march of civilization. This contribution has been expressed by the editor of the National Geographic Magazine as follows : "Italy, the mother of civilization, of art and of science and the cradle of intellectual liberty began fighting the invaders from the North one thousand years before the discovery of America. She has given to the world Marcus Aure- lius, Dante, Columbus, John Cabot, Leonardo De Vinci, Galileo and in more recent times Volta, Galvani, Gari baldi, Verdi and Marconi. "Just as the new world was given to civilization by her great navigators Columbus and Cabot so were the infinite realms of space revealed to man thru the gift of the telescope from Galileo that monumental genius who also helped to perfect the compound microcospe which made modern medicine and modern chemistry possible. Likewise it was Marconi's gift of wireless telegraphy which makes the observation airplane a truly potent factor in battle." "One of the marvels of human history is this extra ordinary Italian race that for two thousand years has blessed the world with a succession of geniuses, musi cians, authors, creations of inspiration and advancement from which all other people have benefited."* ?The Italian Race, National Geographic Magazine, January, 1918, P. 47, ' TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 135 So much for civilization, art and science. In govern ment the same holds true. Prof. Giddings in dissipating the notions that the foundations of modern democratic society together with everything really great and worth while in our social system, political life and international influence, had their origins in the German forests and were carried over by Angles, Jutes and Saxons to Eng land supplanting all other civilizations including Roman — ¦ declaring this to be a stupendous myth said : "that there was nothing inherent in the Teutonic system or its origins that proved adequate to creating a nation polit ically unified, competent and coherent. As a matter of fact no such nation was ever created until created by the genius of a man who owed nothing to the tradition and habits of Teutonic thought; that the men with him who went to the British Isles helping to create a co herent and enduring system were largely in blood Celtic and Mediterranean and were trained in the traditions of Roman political organization and Roman law and took these traditions and ideas to Brittany and evolved the whole system of Federal political organization combin ing centralized control with local independence and self- government, in fact the whole structure and characteris tics of British Imperialism and the Federal system of the United States — all this was never dreamed of by the Teutonic mind. It was the invention of the Roman mind. If any original people were endowed with polit ical genius it is not the English or the Teuton. It is the Italian."* The Italian comes here and brings to our shores a strong hardihood of physique that is rarely excelled. His temperament is of that buoyant, joyful, optimistic kind that makes life at all times seem very interesting. As Dean Keppel of Columbia told the writer "the Italian is a boon companion, is always well-liked, because he is happy, optimistic, light-spirited and has that artistic intellectuality which we Americans of older generations lack and is always surprising us with his apparently in- ? Giddings, Franklin H., Columbia University Lectures — "His tory of Civilization," 1916. 136 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION exhaustible abundance of optimism, enthusiasm and joy of living.* They add also a strong sympathetic nature based perhaps upon the intense appreciation of family life and family ties, the spirit of which the child of Italian parentage has had early inculcated within him. But this is not all. There is also an innate effervescent sponta neity flowing as much perhaps from the "high variabil ity" inherent in the fundamental capacities of the race as from anything else. Italians are apt to be very good or very bad — the ratio of mediocrity is as low within this race as it is anywhere else in the world. This alone means an elevated ratio of "high variability." When we consider that human progress is measured largely by the achievements of the few at the top or upper levels — ¦ rather than by the mass compromising the average, we see the significance of the above. We can now understand how out of this fertile soil of brilliancy, genius and inventiveness of a nervous, varia ble, emotional and artistic type can crop out a Dante, a Da Vinci, a Raphael, a Michael Angelo, a Galileo or com ing down to more modern times a Columbus, a Cavour, and a Marconi. Undoubtedly the capacities for entertaining the same ideas, or experiencing like emotions, of feeling similar sentiments, of striving for desirable ends, are universal. But nevertheless we think, feel and act differently as races. For the kind of proportions and degrees of re lationships that obtain between combinations of different ideas and emotions "varies from individual to individual as it varies from race to race." A student of racial psy chology therefore will not find his attitude with respect to the uniformity of germinal potentialities irreconcil able or even offended by the numerous patent demon strations of individual differences existing alongside of racial characteristics. Differences intra-groups can be and perhaps are greater than differences inter-groups. One sees that the idealistic enthusiasms of the Italian- American is something "sui-generis" and he feels as if ?Keppel, F. P.— "The Italian at Columbia." The Italian In tercollegiate, Vol. 1, p. 8. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 137 there was more cheerfulness in it than is apparent in the usual American idealism. One reason is because it represents a freer attitude towards certain traditions of American life. Outwardly at least it contains a larger dose of healthy sentiment. It follows more closely lines of friendship and loyalty. It talks more of sympathy. Its greater passion seems more suited to general con cepts and inclusive principles. It has a gaiety all its own. With a cohesivity of sentiment and yet a flexibility of motive for all that, it combines into a paradox, which only the naive nonchalance of the light-hearted Latin has been able to systematically set aside while playing with it at the risk of being crushed. As Bagot puts this paradox, the American of Italian birth springs from a people for the most part forming a peasant class that is skeptical, suspicious, intensely shrewd and "while not infrequently egoistic yet extra ordinarily disinterested and generous." * Universal education, as we have it to-day in our American democracy, is the greatest of levellers, and the American of Italian extraction is showing by his re actions in our public school system how responsive he is to all that is really American. ?Bagot, Richard, Italians of Today, p. 36. 138 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION PART IV SOCIAL ORGANIZATION CHAPTER XVII INTRODUCTION DEFINITION OF TERMS— The term "social organ ization" is essentially sociological and it is in this sense that is used throughout in this study. The economical, educational, political, esthetic and religious interests of a group serve to unify themselves about some central pur pose or object. We speak of this object when crystal lized in institutions as denoting a form of "social organi zation" and use it to distinguish the degree of complexity effected with all of the above elements joined and also, though only incidentally, to include the grade or merit with which we regard the associational character of any such stratum of life. BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION— It is well to explain here the basis for the classification of the different types of organization described. In no sense is it to be under stood that because an organization is listed as an "ath letic club," is partakes of nothing that is of a "civic" or "religious" character. On the contrary the opposite may very well be the case. For instance the Ozanam Association is listed as a "religious club," yet to all out ward appearances this club does everything that it ath letic and social and nothing that is "religious." All of the organizations to be described exist then for a multiplicity of purposes and serve their members in many different ways. A constant overlapping of func tion exists in all. But in every case there is some one major activity or purpose that the group as an organiza tion is designated to promote or at least to which it owes its existence and it is this activity that serves as the basis for the classifications herein made. It is also understood that the list of names under any one type of organization scheduled, unless so stated, is TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 139 illustrative and not exhaustive. It has been manifestly impossible to make a list that would include all of these groupings of individuals, in some cases including as few as five or six individuals, nevertheless to whom the term league or association has been applied. Often in the groups selected no outward indication exists to show that all or even the majority of the members composing it are of Italian blood. It has been noticed that as a rule the type of organiza tion here listed reflects closely and corresponds to the type of minds described, i. e., we find that it is the "tenement" or "settlement" type that is forming what I have termed the "athletic" and the "social" club; the "Y. M. C. A." or "college" type that is forming the "edu cational circolo"; and the professional type that is en gaged in organizing the "welfare league" or "associa tion." It will also be noticed that organizations are described which in structure and function are in no way similar to institutions or organizations to be found among immigrants proper. The reason for this is two fold: (1) the types of organization described are products of Americans who are operating in an American envi ronment; (2) the aims of these organizations are dia metrically opposed to the aims of immigrant institutions because they reflect the different needs and tastes of a different people. 140 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION CHAPTER XVIII TYPES OF ORGANIZATION THE SOCIAL CLUB PARTICULAR GROUP— The most spontaneous and perhaps the most influential type of grouping that exists in the more thickly populated Italian colonies is the "social club." It is inevitable that individuals of the class composing the "tenement" or "settlement" type form little groups by themselves. It frequently happens that in a small area of two square blocks there may be four nuclei of groups or cliques that meet together and act for the most part independently of each other. Each such nucleus, while all the members composing it are known to each other by sight at least, acts for all cooperative purposes as a community within a com munity, invariably forming itself into a club for purposes that at first, at any rate, are largely social and recrea tional. It would be impossible to list or even to designate the actual number of such existing groups. A good many of them have a mushroom growth — ¦ springing up over night as it were — only to pass quickly away for some slight or insignificant reason. The writer strolled along Mulberry Street, which is the main artery of the large Italian colony downtown on the East Side and noticed placards proclaiming the existence of at least thirty such clubs as fall within this category, all within the short space of four blocks. The names of such clubs are extremely varied. Samples taken at random in the Italian colony include the Sixth Ward, Rose, Downtown, Emerson, Huskies, Caldwell, etc. Clubs forming in settlements adopt names of a softer tone such as the Violets, Mazzini Circle, Ken- mare, Jupiter, etc. For our purposes it will be illuminating to go into the origin of one of these clubs which practically is the history of a goodly average, and describe in detail its program and execution. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 141 The particular group studied in this connection is one of the worst of its kind and therefore for our purposes best and is located in the large Italian colony just off the Five Points section. The "Huskies Association" exerts a powerful influence upon the tenement element of Americans of Italian extraction in and about Mulberry Bend Park. It was organized in 1914 and the members having no rooms of their own, meet at the quarters of the Sixth Ward Social Club located at 16 Bowery. About eighteen members all of Italian extraction make up the group. A "Husky" in the vernacular of the street is a "bum" or as they themselves say "one who won't work." When they desire to be facetious they call themselves "the Sons of Rest." The strange thing about this club is that it has no organization or written constitution and holds no regular meetings. One individual is the recognized leader and bosses the "gang." Nor are any dues paid. The me chanics of organization are reduced to a skeleton. TYPES OF MEMBERS— The ages of the members of the Husky Association range from twenty to thirty years. One third are married. The majority are em ployed as truckmen, dock-helpers, chauffeurs, etc. They have had a smattering of education in the public schools and speak little Italian. To the last man the members are Americans, say they are, and are proud of it. Being self-governing the members require a certain amount of free spending money for organization and individual activities. In age the members of such groups are rarely less than eighteen. TYPES OF ACTIVITY— The pleasures that these clubs afford are exactly what this type of member seeks — pleasures of a sensory and motory kind. This is dis played in the most frequent diversions that the group as an organization conducts ; namely, dances and out ings. On such occasions the members invite their friends. For the most part the radius of the circle of friends is limited to those living in the immediate neighborhood or, as in other clubs those working in the same shop. The personal characteristics of this type reflect in a very large measure the limited degree of opportunity 142 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION in life from an educational and financial standpoint that these people enjoy. Of very limited schooling their type of organization and o,f pleasures shows instability and simplicity. Their enjoyments reflect pleasures of the moment and of the senses rather than of the mind. One writer says of them, "It is these children of the Italians who in their untoward enthusiasm for things American despise the ways of their fathers and lose their love for Italy and their pride in their Italian blood." RELATION AND EFFECT OF ORGANIZATION TO COMMUNITY — It is safe to say that the hiatus between the two generations i. e., the older and the younger, is nowhere so marked nor are the lines drawn anywhere so sharply as they are in this case. The interests of a club such as this street club in no way coincide with those belonging to the older half of the community. In many cases the money that is spent by the younger gen eration in the enjoyments of the organization's activities is far more than what is salutary. Usually it is obtained at the expense of not contributing to the home or main tenance of a proper standard of living in the home of which the older generation forms a part. As we have seen the intellectual character of such an organization is reduced to a minimum if it is not alto gether nil. The community suffers rather than gains because of its existence as no relation or coordination of any description exists with these bodies either among themselves or with other institutions excepting with bar-rooms and pool-parlors. Such groups exist apart with purely individual interests, are temporary in char acter and serve to generate a narrow individualism among the members. Organization is on a small scale and the ends such an organization serves, it is to be readily seen, are im mediate and sensory. Little opportunity is afforded to provoke intelligent discussion, stimulate foresight or ambition, afford practice in self-control and participa tion in the ends that lie outside of self. One important feature this kind of organization offers its members is practice in self-management and club- procedure. The Nameoka Club for instance conducts TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 143 meetings in regular parliamentary procedure. Members are made to respect law and order in meetings at least. Such meetings are a miniature or copy of what they meet with and encounter in the local ward political club. In fact, these social clubs afford excellent material to be used by the ward politicians for campaign purposes. To a very great extent this organization is a result of the conditions within which the American of Italian extraction lives. It is his effort to express himself. Too often of course are seen the effects of inadequate leader ship. The community exercises no influence on such a club because there is no community spirit or organiza tion nor has there ever been any. Neither has the club anything to offer the community except its perverted instincts. The club's sole reason for existence is to afford its members pleasure. Such organizations under different names can be du plicated in every one of the Italian colonies scattered thruout the Greater City, wherever there is a tenement population and where the prevailing type of adult worker is the immigrant. But the identity does not cease with the Italian. The duplication is possible also in the Jew ish, Irish, German and Bohemian quarters of the city, and was more true in the past than in the present. If it is permitted one to pass a judgment it is a condition that in the future will be duplicated in the Greek and Polish quarters of our city. It would seem therefore that there is nothing in this description of the Italian quarter and the social organization therein effected among Ameri cans of Italian extraction that is peculiar to this type or is a thing "sui generis." It is rather a reflection of the character or nature of the more general American social organization into which this type of American has to fit himself. This condition is American or un-American just as we may wish to look at it ; it is not related to or similar to anything European or foreign. THE ATHLETIC CLUB PARTICULAR GROUP— This type of organization that I have labelled "athletic club" resembles in many ways the larger and more well-known organizations of 144 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION a type similar to the New York Athletic Club, the Mo hawk Athletic Club, the Pastime Athletic Club, etc., excepting that the organization that we shall describe and those similar to it are conducted on a very much smaller scale. The fact is significant that despite the well-known place that athletes of Italian extraction have made for themselves in the fields of sport, no large athletic club exists catering exclusively to them, upon purely racial lines. This is so because first it shows a subordination of things Italian to those American, and argues for the fact that so thoro has been the absorption that a separate organization is not needed; second, in organization as well as in function we have a splendid instance of team play. At the same time there is a distinct resemblance be tween the "athletic" club we are describing here and the "social" club previously talked about. In its earlier stages the sole difference is the nature of the pleasure sought — a difference not over great — motor not sen sory pleasure being that which is chiefly sought. In numbers these clubs are not so numerous as the others. The main reason for this is that there are not so many individuals who have the time necessary to become proficient in any one sport, to feel repaid for following it intensively; secondly there is the fact that upon becoming proficient such member shifts his center of interest from the "local" athletic club (maintained along race lines) to one of the larger "athletic" clubs uptown mentioned above. We take for our particular grouping as being repre sentative of this type the Nameoka Athletic Club. Its meeting place is at 326 Canal Street. Located as it is in the vicinity of Chinatown its membership includes several Americans of Chinese extraction representing offspring of mixed parentage. The name Nameoka was chosen because of the admiration that the members have for the athletic prowess of the Indians. It was incorporated in 1904. The club's constitution says that the organiza tion is designed "to provide for the social, physical and TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 145 educational welfare of its members and to promote ath letics in general." The club started its existence at 80 Lafayette Street but eventually as "business" crept into the district they were forced to move and to locate in a more residential section. The club moved to Canal, corner of Hester Street where it occupies the entire two upper floors using these as meeting rooms and gymnasium. The war depleted the membership greatly, eighty- seven out of one hundred and two joining "the colors," leaving but a remnant to conduct its various activities. Dues are fifty cents a month and meetings are held regularly once a month. Members are employed chiefly as follows ; machinists, electricians, carpenters, linotype operators, plumbers, business men, policemen, firemen, municipal and government employees, post-office clerks and postal carriers. Most of the members have a com mon school education ; about twenty had completed high school, and a bare half dozen had entered college. All, with the exception of three were citizens. This particu lar group is composed of Americans of Italian extraction 85 per cent of whose parents are Genoese. The chief activity indulged in is basket-ball. The Nameoka Athletic Basket Ball Team is the best in the neighborhood. Other activities include the usual gymnasium games interspersed with picnics, balls, family outings, club parties for the members and their lady visitors, just as is true of most clubs on the East Side. One of the major items of interest is the Civil Service class that the Club organized and consistently supported. An instructor was engaged for several evenings a week who presented the essentials of American citizen ship to these Americans of the East Side. This served to stimulate the interest of the club members in local polit ics, and the members of the district election boards for the neighborhood are sure to have several Nameoka men on them. The writer served as an election official on the same Election Board in one of the worst districts of New York City just off the Bowery with the Presi dent of the Nameoka Club for two consecutive years and learned to admire the resolute and intelligently informed 146 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION way in which he and other Nameokians played their part in helping along good government in a district infested with much that is un-American. ^-TYPE OF MEMBER— The members of this group both with respect to age and degree of education are in no way very different from those described as making up the "social club." Some individuals are in fact mem bers of both. The main difference seems to be that mem bers of this latter club like physical exercise more. This is not to say that they do without the sensory pleasures of the former, but simply that in their individual scale of relative values some particular hobby such as basket ball or baseball or running has a larger place. ' TYPE OF ACTIVITY— Perhaps the most common form of athletics indulged in by such individuals is basketball in the winter and baseball in summer. Begin ning in the fall the athletic chairman announces the schedules of games to be played thruout the season. These games are distributed between the home court and that of their opponents if the latter have one. Such affairs are attended by the club's adherents and these matches are the occasion for a good deal of betting. Not infrequently a match will not be effected excepting that a purse be offered. According to the statement of C. Dondero, the champion semi-professional basketball player of New York State, "the chief interest that attaches to the game is the betting." When the athletic club has a strong following and is playing a winning game consistently it is able to com bine the"athletic" with the "social" so that the financial end shows a considerable surplus. An instance in point is the case of the well-known Cathedral Separates, a professional basketball team that was a member of the Tri-State League. The members of this team, composed of Americans of Italian extraction, were in the day-time engaged in such work as postal carriers, bookkeepers and pressfeeders. Their evenings on Saturdays and Sundays were spent in playing professional basketball. The Cathe dral Separates engaged Arlington Hall located on 8th Street a short distance from the Italian colony down town, for each Sunday afternoon thruout the entire TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 147 season. The forenoon .was spent in playing a match game of basketball for stakes and the remainder of the afternoon and evening was given up to dancing and drinking and feasting. For all this recreation the one entertained was charged the modest sum of twenty-five cents. In this way this team secured a support for their own athletic activity that otherwise would have been impossible. RELATION AND EFFECT TO COMMUNITY— The "athletic club" also is distinctly separated from the in terests of the community and of the older generation. It stimulates no civic interest or responsibility. It fosters an intense partisanry about a little nucleus — the team. The imminent aim of this organization is immediate and individual, namely pleasure. The older folks do not understand the modern American sports and recreation and frequently oppose them. Never having had any "play" themselves they believe that their children are growing up improperly and become lazy thru overplay. Much of this aversion to American games is due also to the strenuousness involved and the consequent fear that injury will follow. Membership in this type of club has a more broaden ing effect than is true of the previous case because of the wider contacts established. Opposing clubs coming from all parts of the city and without limitations of race are naturally more broadening in their contacts. It is very common for Americans of Italian extraction to play against Americans of Jewish extraction. This is so be cause they are so nearly alike in aims and type. The games scheduled by the Nameoka Club for one season showed six nationalities as opponents, viz : Irish, Jews, Germans, Chinese, Bohemian, English, and their games called for travelling to such scattered places as Rock- ville Centre, Patchogue, L. I., Troy, Rochester. In duration of time such clubs exist only as they make a successful showing in the forms of athletics followed. Otherwise the membership roll registers a fall. Often a club simply grows itself out of existence. The time passes all too soon when one can play basketball, and when sufficient new blood is not forthcoming the club 148 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION disbands of its own accord. The youngster of seventeen who is eligible to enter such a club would sooner form a separate organization of his own rather than enter one whose members average twenty-six years of age, and where his opinion is not valued very highly. The club therefore represents a transient stage in the development of the American of Italian extraction. This is the stage when he is most active physically. THE RELIGIOUS CLUB 1. THE CATHOLIC CLUB INTRODUCTION— In describing this type of organi zation as it is affected by Americans of Italian extrac tion, we will consider two kinds of clubs ; that organized under Catholic, and that under Protestant auspices. While their aims are similar, their methods are in some ways different. Most Americans of Italian extraction are Catholic. In Italy only three per cent of the people are Protestants. In America Protestants among Italians are more numer- ' ous, but the percentage is overwhelmingly in favor of the Catholics. Mangano may be said to fail perhaps to stress the actual conditions that exist when he says in this connection : "Out of 600,000 Italian people in greater New York, the Roman Church, by its own figures, lays claim to only 180,135 members of Roman Catholic Italian churches. This includes children and is less than one- third the total population."* Recently compiled statis tics showed what the different Protestant denominations have accomplished in their work among Italians in the United States, viz : Approximate Churches Number of Denomination and Missions Communicants Presbyterian 103 12,800 Congregational 39 1,000 Baptist 65 3,000 Episcopalian 15 1,600 Methodist 52 9,000 The numerical superiority of Catholic churches and * Mangano, Antonio. "Sons of Italy," p. 154. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 149 communicants is so patent as to need no showing. The Catholic Church recognizing the need for the extra- church activities among its people has organized different clubs with names that are similar thruout all their par ishes and that in no very great way are different from the social activities and religious societies that are started and kept up among Catholic parishes where the people are of different stock. In discussing the or ganization and activities of Ozanam Association No. 5 located in the dense Italian colony at Mulberry Bend we are not describing the form of an organization which is different from Ozanam Association No. 7 located in the heart of an Irish section. PARTICULAR GROUPS— Ozanam Association No. 5 is connected with the Italian church of the Transfigura tion of which the Rev. E. Coppo, Provincial of the Sale- sian Order, is the Pastor. Its athletic director is Denis J. Cronin. Ozanam Association No. 5 enjoys the use of a separate building on Park Street a few paces from Mulberry Bend Park. The equipment is substantial but of a past day and the well-worn character of the build ing, at least of some of it, attests to the rough usage to which it must have been subjected. The Ozanam Association is very similar to the Italian Catholic Club which is also described here. Both stand for the social improvement of the American of Italian extraction. The social uplift is concomitant with an attempt to keep up religious practises. The Italian ^atholic_CJub so-called because it repre sented an oTJThoot of a group that had for years met at the parish house of the Old Catholic Cathedral on Prince and Mulberry Streets, was organized in 1911 and incor porated a year later. The Italian Catholic Club now meets at its own club rooms not far from the Old Cathedral where they pay an annual rental of $300. The club membership totals 150 and the ages range from 16 to 35. Mem bership is largely made up of workers in the skilled trades. There is a predominance of electricians and skilled auto mechanics. The next most common em- 150 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION ployment is that of office workers such as law clerks and bookkeepers. Such members represent a scant fourth in the membership. There are four lawyers and also three doctors. Dues are fixed at fifty cents a month and meetings are held twice a month. About twenty-five of the men are married. The chief recreation of the members is secured thru socials, dances, checkers, pinochle and other card games. Basketball also is extremely popular and vies with card playing for first place. TYPE OF MEMBERS— The type of members joining these clubs is more subject to the influence of elders than are the members of the previous clubs. One reason for this is the fact that the ages are somewhat lower and they seem to be more amenable to guidance. There is also apt to be a difference in education favoring the members of the latter class. A distribution according to the school ing of the two religious organizations mentioned is : Public School High College Gradute School Graduates Italian Catholic Club 114 22 14 Ozanam Association No. 5 155 38 7 To a certain extent the educational influence of such club life is colored with a religious flavor. One of the prerequisites for membership in each group is that the prospective candidate be sympathetic with Catholicism. Not unimportant also is the fact that the individuals frequenting these clubs are more subject to parental influence. Paternalism goes farther with them. This is not to say that they are more Italian and less American than are the members of the social or the athletic clubs but simply that by virtue of temperament and constitu tion the members of the religious club are more strongly inclined to follow out the customs in vogue in Italian homes. TYPE OF ACTIVITY— The activities that such clubs undertake are numerous and varied and suited to the ages of the different individuals of the group. In a Catholic church there is almost sure to be something of a musical training, tied up to the actual work of the church per- TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 151 haps by their choir singing or church music. This is true also of the Protestant churches. Band training for the boys is common ; Catholic Brigades, Boy Scout Troops, Fife and Drum Corps and Cadets, etc., attest to the varied as well as practical turn of the recreational opportunities afforded. Other features common to all church-going people of whatever racial stock, are socials, church dances, raffles, outings, May parties, Halloween parties, Thanksgiving entertainments, etc. A description of these is not offered as they are in no way different from those of other races. II. THE PROTESTANT CLUB INTRODUCTION— The other kind of religious club that remains to be noted is that organized within the Protestant Church. There are in all about 76 Protestant churches in New York City divided among the different denominations as follows : Presbyterian 22 Baptist 18 Episcopalian 17 Methodist 19 Of the total number of Protestants in New York City, it is certain that a definite portion goes for the pecuniary rewards that the church gives. It is impossible to say of what proportion this holds true. TABERNACLE YOUNG MEN'S CLUB PARTICULAR GROUP— The Broome Street Taber nacle is one of the oldest Protestant Mission churches in the city, having been erected in 1865. At its begin ning, its members were chiefly of English, Scotch,, and German stocks, but with the rapid infiltrjii^rrTof the Italian population in the district, all^thrs^has been radi cally changed. The membership today is entirely Italian. This church is conducted under the auspices of the City Mission Society of which Dr. A. F. Schauffler is the head. TYPE OF MEMBERS— The Young Men's Tabernacle Club in its balmiest days totalled anywhere from forty 152 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION to sixty members, and was considered one of the most progressive Protestant Clubs in any Italian-speaking church thruout the city. This fact was largely due to the unusually exceptional leadership that the club en joyed. Roswell Arrighi, son of the well known pastor of the church, Antonio Arrighi, makes this club a special hobby of his. Furthermore, Miss Edith H. White for merly associated with Wm. R. George of the George Junior Republic and in this connection known as "Aunty" also spent considerable time there. Miss White has held the leadership of this group for nearly eight years. The average age of the members is twenty-four. Most of them are employed in the mechanical trades ; a few are clerical workers and a bare half-dozen are students in schools and universities. In disposition and personal characteristics the members of the Protestant Club present no great differences from the types of such as frequent similar clubs in the Catholic institutions. Neither can be said to be more American than the other ; the average amount of schooling obtained within the groups as a whole is practically the same; the pleasures followed are identical ; both feel that they are Americans and act so. TYPE OF ACTIVITY— Membership in this particular group is dependent upon attendance in some Bible Class. This religious activity has an important grip upon the lives of these individuals because the weekly meetings are interesting and instructive. Their more frequent and perhaps more gripping contacts are those secured in the social intercourse gained in their meetings and thruout their recreational and physical activities. The general rounds of socials, games, parties, picnics, stags, church festivals, entertainments and young people's meetings are all entered into with zest. Their effects are generally sensory. The all-around pleasures de scribed allow for a fair measure of ideational values which is something we note for the first time in our description of the "Social Organizations" of these people. The wholesome and beneficial contacts established in this club are such as to call forth the first note of com mendation so far to be noted in discussing the co- TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 153 operative features of Americans of Italian extraction. The religious club, both Catholic and Protestant, while conservative, is the first solidly rooted social institution of which real progress can be predicated. In no funda mental way so far as the American of Italian extraction is concerned can there be said to be any great difference in these clubs from those of similar clubs in the Catholic church and Protestant church conducted among other people. Activities are conducted with the same end in view — spiritual instruction and physical enjoyment of a clean and wholesome kind. RELATION AND EFFECT OF RELIGIOUS CLUBS TO COMMUNITY— The relation of these clubs to the community is intimate and important. First, because to a very large extent it is the first form of organized activity we have encountered that places one under the control and makes him subject to the supervision of others. Such overhead supervision serves to see to it that the membership is homogeneous in one important element at least — the religious ; that the activities are purposive and that as a unit the group and its activities are correlated with an institution. Its relation to the community is "set" and "adjusted" and is likely to continue after the time that individuals making up the present group pass away. The measure of license and free control that characterized the pre vious groups is absent here. But more important than the relation to the institution and its administration is the relation between the home and the younger genera tion making up these units. The adult immigrant is sympathetic with this kind of organization because (1) the religion behind it is similar to the one that he professes and that commands his con fidence ; (2) he knows definitely where his son is and in a general way is conversant with the activities for which the clubs stand. Neither of these is true in the cases previously considered. Often tho when the American of Italian extraction attends the Protestant club it is done surreptitiously and without the parent's knowledge. 154 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION THE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION PARTICULAR GROUPS— These organizations are not popular with the younger generation, tho among the adult Italian they have a wide vogue and exercise greater influence than any other form of organization. We shall not speak of benevolent associations that are branches of the well-known fraternal organizations like the Masons, Odd Fellows, Moose, etc., because of the identical similarity in organization, structure and func tion that exists among such branches of all stocks, ex cepting to mention a few of the very principal lodges by name such as the Alba, Roma, Garibaldi, Mazzini, Jeru salem, Italia, Cavour, etc. We pass on therefore to a type of organization developed by the American of Italian blood largely of the "trade" or business type previously described. The Bagolino Benefit Association is a club named after an old poet and musician who came from the same part of Italy as the members of this group, i.e., from Sicily. The club is located in the large Sicilian colony on Twenty-Sixth Street and was organized six years ago. According to the president of this club the "purpose of the organization is to keep together those individuals who have come from the same home town in Sicily ; to provide a suitable meeting place in order to avoid having members stand on street corners and about saloons ; to develop socially and to be prepared to mutually assist one another in every way." TYPE OF MEMBERS— There are forty-four mem bers in this group, which is representative of many such others thruout the same district and elsewhere. About twenty members are married. Dues are seventy-five cents a month and meetings are held once a month. The chief social feature common to this club as with most of the others are billiards, checkers, piano playing and other musical instruments, dancing and card playing. This last is a very popular pastime. Some gymnasium appa ratus is on hand but very little used. The basketball court is also very popular. A great deal is made of the periodic feasts or dinners where all the members gather TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 155 and have an amazing variety of Italian dishes served them. Of the forty-four members of this group, a distribu tion according to education showed the following: 2 Graduates of High School in Italy. 10 Graduates of Elementary Schools in United States. 30 Graduates of Elementary Schools in Italy. 2 No schooling. A distribution by ages is : Age Period Number Individuals 18-21 3 22-25 5 26-29 12 30-35 10 36-40 6 41-45 8 By vocations these same members are divided as follows : Vocation Number Tailors 6 Machine Operators 13 Clerks 6 Machinists 8 Linotypists 4 Printers 5 Stenographers 2 The Italian American Citizens Benevolent Association is an organization that is essentially similar in composi tion and purposes to the Bagolino Benevolent Associa tion. The club is located in the heart of the dense Italian Colony in East New York. It was organized in 1911 by P. B. Buonora and according to the statement of its president was designed to: (a) Promote a desire among Italians to become American citizens. (b) Instruct the members in good and efficient government regardless of party politics. (c) To especially urge men and women of Italian descent to take interest in public affairs. (d) Provide for the economic and social welfare of the mem bers and their families by means of sick and death benefits. TYPE OF ACTIVITY— This association is one of the largest and most influential of its kind in Brooklyn. Two meetings are held monthly, excluding special gatherings for lectures, political rallies and conferences. 156 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION The membership* is almost 400 and the ages average from 21 to 45. Special features that this organization has sup ported are English and citizenship classes. Fully one- half of the membership is made up of adult Italians and so parallels a condition found in the Bagolino Club where more than half of the group were over thirty years of age. This fact shows no doubt why the "ben efit" idea is included in the organization. Fully as much Italian as English is spoken in the rooms and at the gatherings. A goodly majority of the members of this group are individuals who have Italian interests very deeply rooted, as their ages and their place of education might well indicate. The degree of parental influence with this type of American of Italian extraction therefore is most marked. This is reflected in the fact that only ten mem bers of the Bagolino or one-fourth of the entire mem bership are citizens. The feeling of "camaraderie" in this and other clubs is so strong that whereas no definite stipulation is made with respect to "benefits" each and every one knows that if he should be incapacitated, he need not fear any want. Always one of the largest expenditures of these clubs goes for flags, in this case amounting to $600. This is considered a very small sum. Usually the amount of money spent on flags and such decorations runs into thousands of dollars. Pianos and musical instruments reflect the artistic sense of the Italian and also come in for an abnormal share of the club's fund. RELATION AND EFFECT OF BENEFIT CLUB TO COMMUNITY— In so far as these clubs draw upon Americans of Italian extractions for support they are an anti-Americanization agency. Allegiance is divided be tween the shop and this organization which in every sense of the word is bent on prolonging the influence of traditional ideas, family hopes, Italian ambitions, Italian ways of living and Italian customs. This is rendered possible thru the reading of the Italian newspapers lying about in these club-rooms, the fraternal badges or other club insignia, Italian bands, the periodic feasts, Italian TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 157 games and finally the inevitable penalty of social os tracism should any one not marry an Italian girl. Economically these clubs make possible a greater saving of money for they tend to keep their members true to a standard of living different from that known to the American; educationally they act as great deter rents to the wholesome Americanization of the children of Italian immigrants ; socially they keep alive Italian customs, traditions, ways of thinking and of doing things, and are the most effective nourishers of the Italian immigrant colonies in New York City ; politically such a club draws heavily from the potential citizenry due America thru her fearlessness and trustfulness in taking to her bosom the heterogeneous masses of Europe ; morally they create a social discord between two civiliza tions that makes for a great deal of friction. This fric tion results from the maladjustment inevitable when two generations such as the immigrant and his offspring are forced to live together. A clash in ideals inevitably ensues. THE Y. M. C. A. ASSOCIATION PARTICULAR GROUPS— The Y. M. C. A. does not conduct a branch association exclusively for Americans of Italian extraction, but by virtue of the location of a building in a district that is predominately Italian, the complexion of the membership corresponds accordingly. Normally the settlement with its boy's clubs, dramatic societies and literary circles is supposed to be a feeder to the Y. M. C. A. branch that is not catering exclusively to transients. As the case proved, at least with Ameri cans of Italian extraction, this condition does not obtain, and accounts in large measure for the failure of the Y. M. C. A. branch association in East Harlem that was started as a branch to be devoted exclusively to Americans of Italian origin. There are but two instances in the history of the Y. M. C. A. movement in the Greater City where this consideration of race existed sufficiently to be looked upon as a factor to be considered in aiming for success. These two instances are the Young Men's Institute 158 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION Branch of the Y. M. C. A. and the East Harlem Italian Y. M. C. A. located on East 116th Street. The former has an existence of some sixty years ; the latter existed but three years and is now no more. The East Har lem Italian Y. M. C. A. was located on East 116th Street below Second and Third Avenues in a three- story brown building just on the edge of a Little Italy section of Harlem. It might be said here that a serious mistake was made at the start in not choosing a site in the very heart of the colony. This branch was opened in 1911 and closed its doors in 1914. In no way was the purpose of this branch or that of the Y. M. I. different from that obtaining with the branch associa tions located in other parts of the city. A very capable secretary, Mr. Lawson H. Brown, had charge of the work for the three years that it ran. This branch, tho supposed to tap the great numbers of Americans of Italian extraction in the area of the "Little Italy" sec tion of Harlem, never had more than one hundred and fifty members and thruout its existence showed a very remarkably high degree of membership turnover by having approximately three hundred and fifty different members in three years ; that is each year showed an entirely different set of fellows. TYPE OF MEMBERS— Perhaps one of the reasons for the failure of this branch was the remarkably wide discrepancy in types of members. The average age of the membership was twenty-five, membership was com posed on the one hand of a clique of Columbia College men who had won Phi Beta Kappa honors, and who are now instructing in universities and secondary schools ; and on the other hand of the lowest type to be found in the Italian colnoy. "Social mixing" here was never with out friction. The pleasures indulged in were largely physical, in cluding hand-ball, gymnastic work, basketball, indoor baseball, etc. Other activities were Engiish classes, reading rooms, religious meetings and entertainments. There was nothing to distinguish these activities in any way from those ordinarily carried on to-day among other association branches. Mr. Brown, the secretary, thought TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 159 that an unusual appreciation of musical and literary art obtained. The reason for discontinuing the work fol lowed from the fact that the Board of Directors would not lease the building anew unless the Italian consti tuency would do a larger share toward covering the current expenses each year. The Young Men's Institute is one of the oldest Y. M. C. A. branches in the city. Tho at its inception there were no members of Italian parentage within the mem bership, to-day one is on its Board of Directors.* When the Young Men's Institute opened its doors, almost sixty years ago, its membership was almost entirely made up of members of Americans of Irish and German blood ; to-day fully fifty per cent are of Italian extraction. Two years ago thru the efforts of Mr. E. C. Baldwin, for twenty-five years its secretary, $60,000 was raised for re modeling the old structure, and it represents to-day as well equipped a Y. M. C. A. branch as any to be found in the city. In this building is the only indoor swimming pool located downtown below 23rd Stree't. While the dues in the East Harlem Italian Y. M. C. A. were $3.00 per annum, membership in the Young Men's Institute is $15.00. Naturally members joining this branch are residents of the immediate vicinity. It is to be deprecated that but 225 individuals out of the thousands of young men of Italian parentage living in the great Mulberry Bend Italian colony take advantage of this building and its equipment. The average age of the Italian portion of the membership is between twenty-five and twenty-six. A distribution of workers shows seventy-four different fields of activity, the six most frequently found being clerks, operators, salesmen, plumbers, tailors and elec tricians. Fully 50 per cent profess Protestantism as their religious faith. In passing it may be said that the Protestant character of the Y. M. C. A. has much to dc with keeping down the membership. The pleasures of the group are largely physical and social. The excellent gymnasium, showers, handball courts, basketball courts and indoor baseball courts, * Mr. Danzilio. 160 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION lockers, reading rooms, libraries and evening classes, afford a wealth of opportunity for right and proper devel opment if they were but used. Religious meetings are held regularly, and according to the reports of the sec retary are satisfactory with respect to attendance. One of the most important activities which this branch con ducted before the war was its training school for civil service. Annually a goodly number of policemen, fire men, postal and customs and railway mail clerks are sent out from this school having successfully passed their examinations and are placed in government positions. The study and stressing of citizenship may be said to be the most marked activity of the Young Men's In stitute. This it has done and is doing effectively and well. This branch is also able to maintain a flourishing literary society where weekly debates and discussions on various topics are entered into with avidity. Dr. L. C. Schroeder had much to do towards making this latter activity a success. RELATION AND EFFECT TO COMMUNITY — There is no relation at all between this Institute — the best high grade Americanizing agency of its kind in the neighborhood — and the Italian colony on the Lower East Side. Whether this is due to the apathy of the people themselves or of the failure of the institution "to get across," it is impossible to say. It may be that both share in the blame. Some of the fellows who are "on the outside" say it is too "high brow"; others that it is Protestant and forbidden ; others, that it costs too much money. In all probability all three factors are operative. It is certain that the extensive activities carried on when the membership was largely of Irish and German origin do not obtain among the present membership with its Italian coloring. Z"1 THE CIVIC ASSOCIATION If it were possible to describe here the organization and/functions of a large and multifariously active civic association for Americans of Italian extraction, it would be both good and bad. It would be good because a flourishing civic organization on the one hand, would TO AMERICA NDEMOCRACY 161 show that our Italian stock is greatly interested in gov ernment ; on the other hand, it would be bad, because of the carrying over of the "race" question in matters of civics and politics. To a superficial observer, therefore, the absence of some such flourishing civic organization, directly inter ested in making better citizens, is often construed to mean that Italians do not become citizens. Few organizations of any consequence with a distinctly civic or political purpose exist among the younger gen eration of these Americans in New York City. Some years ago the older generation organized the Italian- American Democratic Union. This Union, which still exists, aimed to unite Italian-speaking Ameri cans of the first generation about the standards of one of the two leading political parties of this state. PARTICULAR GROUPS— The Fugazzi Association is a large and powerful civic organization named after its founder, Humboldt Fugazzi, who was intensely inter ested in having his people adopt America as their per manent home. This Association has its clubrooms in the Italian colony on the lower West Side on Thompson Street near Bleecker. Humboldt Fugazzi is a local politician who has given years to the work of develop ing a civic consciousness among Italians on the West Side. From a few dozen, this club has steadily increased until it now counts almost one thousand names on its rolls making it unquestionably the most powerful group of its kind among the younger generation on the West Side. According to the founder of this club the purpose of the organization is to "work for the betterment of the Italian elements on the West Side socially and polit ically." Dues are fifty cents a month, and meetings are held fortnightly. TYPE OF ACTIVITY— Activities of the members are of a social, physical, and mental nature. The club rooms are splendidly furnished with an equipment which costs thousands of dollars. Pool and card games are the most popular diversions of the members. Music is next in popularity. Members of this organization take a very 162 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION active part in athletics, of which running and cycling probably feature most prominently. A citizenship school is conducted by this club and has done its work so effectually that of a membership of over 900 scarcely 35 are aliens. At each election in creased activity in politics results because of the keen interest that these individuals take in government. Where an organization of this kind is too much under the thumb of one man or clique not unfrequently it is used to further personal ends. A fair judgment of the situation with reference to the Fugazzi Association from this standpoint must relieve this organization from this suspicion. The best refutation of this charge is that the club has vacillated in its support of parties, voting as individuals instead of a group. Other clubs of a like kind are the Italian American Democratic Union, and the Italian-American Citizens ^ RELATION AND EFFECT OF CIVIC CLUB TO COMMUNITY — The influence of a civic organization of a type such as the above has a salutary effect upon the community. The reasons for this are various. The one who frequents the Civic Club is apt to know intimately both individuals and sources that are more truly Ameri can than any other person or things he might meet in his work-a-day world. To begin with, the entire em phasis of club-life is placed upon American citizenship. Politically these clubs, while plausibly charged with a pseudo-Americanism because of the appeal they make to racial backgrounds, are in reality indispensible chan nels necessary for the infiltration of an unbroken stream of American influences into the lives of those individuals that frequent them. This is so because of the relations that exist between such civic clubs and the political party. This connection allows for frequent visits to these clubs by the leading candidates for political office, the stressing of parliamentary rules and procedure, the emphasizing of group loyalty and even individual fealty — all of which show a new set of values that heretofore were unknown. Educationally the practice in reading the numerous TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 163 pamphlets, articles, posters and cards that are being constantly put out by the energetic leaders of the Civic Club, calls forth reactions that prove stimulating. Social contacts become more numerous, intercommunication more frequent and the whole sphere of the individual's mental horizon is widened to include a world larger than he knew before he joined such a club. The civic club usually takes it upon itself to look after the hygiene, health, recreation and functions of a municipal nature as they affect the district in which the workers live. In this way they are brought face to face with American government in a very practical way. This club is a social and civic laboratory that this type of American needs in order to become a more useful citizen. SOCIAL WELFARE CLUB INTRODUCTION— It is within this type of organiza tion that we find the best instances of cooperative and concerted group action. Organization here is both voli tional and purposive. A definite program is held forth and serves to attract individuals of a comparatively homogeneous nature. The basis for membership within these groups is Italian ancestry. Sometimes though Americans of other descents are admitted because they are interested in Italian culture and Italian people. The purpose of such clubs is to uplift the Italian masses of the slums. In order to be helpful one must have some training and experience in things cultural and a certain amount of free time. It is not surprising therefore that we find the bulk of such members to be either profes sionally employed Italians or college students. THE ITALIAN LEAGUE FOR SOCIAL SERVICE This league was organized in the Richmond Hill set tlement five years ago to help the young generation of Americans of Italian extraction acquire a thoro knowl edge of the problem of Americanizing the Italian immi grant, and to furnish them with the training necessary to become the leaders among their own people. 164 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION This organization was started by Prof. Racca and th : workers of the Richmond Hill settlement. This house had for years been training a group of Americans of Italian extraction to go forth among their own peoples and disseminate a knowledge of the good which they had themselves secured through the more enlightened methods of living following directly from their more rapid Americanization. The basis for this organization was the realization that the most effective way of getting at the problem of welfare and uplift of the American immigrant was to instruct the young generation and train them as leaders, and send them out to preach the gospel of Americaniza tion as reflected in a higher standard of living, American citizenship, and a speaking and reading knowledge of the English language. This organization has done some very effective work, sending out twenty-five teachers to various institutions in the neighborhood where by means of their leadership classes in English and citizenship were started and are maintained even to-day. THE ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE— The Italian Educational League is one of the oldest and most influential social welfare organizations in the City of New York. It is called the Italian Educational League because the major part of its work is an attempt to prolong the period of time that Americans of Italian extraction attend the public schools of this city. Its organization was due largely to the efforts of Dr. Antonio Pisani, former member of the Board of Education who served as its president for nine years ; and also Joseph Francolini, President of the Italian Savings Bank. During the ten years of its existence the League has accom plished some very useful work. It has solicited and collected funds by which it has been possible to award at least thirty-five scholarships. These scholarships are given in the form of weekly stipends to parents, thereby relieving them of the necessity for relying upon the child's financial support. This permits the child to remain in school. Its methods of work, according to Dr. Pisani, its president, are as follows : 1. The Italian League studies the natural, healthy TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 165 interests of the Italian pupils, and provides for their encouragement and development. 2. Brings to attention of the Italian parents, thru parents' meetings, personal conferences and pamphlets, the need of keeping their children at school as long as possible. 3. Aids worthy pupils who are in need so that pro gress in their school work may go on without inter ruption. 4. Aids graduates and those that are forced to leave school to find positions where they have an opportunity to make progress. 5. Brings to the attention of the proper authorities the needs of the Italian pupils. 6. Prepares pamphlets for pupils who contemplate choosing a career. 7. Distributes to parents leaflets, papers and notices relative to the business opportunities for profitable em ployment open to their children. 8. Collects information regarding opportunities for profitable employment for graduates. 9. Prepares for the use of employers lists of suitable persons by the aid of which they may select help. 10. Works in co-operation with Americans for the welfare of the Italian pupils. 11. Looks into complaints of Italian parents for lack of school accommodations or tuition for their children. 12. Has qualified persons addressing groups of chil dren regarding the opportunities in different trades and professions. 13. Promotes the study of the Italian language in the public school. 14. Represents the Italian pupils in educational meet- 15. Aids parents in securing such modifications in the school curriculum as will suit local conditions and tend to bring out the best in the child. 16. Works to obtain a better observance of the provi sions of the compulsory educational law by the parents, relations or employers of Italian children. Thruout its existence the League has conducted over 1Q0 meetings where the advantages of a public school 166 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION education, of knowing the English language and of be coming American citizens from an economic, social and educational standpoint were definitely and intelligently presented to their people by the educational leaders of Italian blood in New York City. For over two years the league has employed a visiting teacher who went into the homes of the Italian parents in which there were mental defectives or otherwise deficient children, and in structed the parents as to the proper procedure to follow in order to secure relief. Over two hundred and fifty such visits were recorded that later were made the sub ject of the attention of proper public officials. By this means many unfortunates received the benefits of pre ventive measures from clinics, hospitals, asylums and schools. This person worked under the direction of the inspector of undergraded classes and looked after Italian cases only. RELATION AND EFFECT TO COMMUNITY— This League is interested not only in educational matters, but in all questions of a public nature as relative to and affecting Italian-speaking people of this city. Regular educational meetings are held under its auspices thruout the five boroughs. The connection with all Italian-speak ing communities so far as this organization is concerned is helpful and intimate. THE ITALIAN WELFARE LEAGUE— The Italian Welfare League was organized in September 1913 by such interested men as Chevalier John Foster Carr, Countess Frabasilis, Judge Freschi, Dr. Pisani, Rev. Tor- natore, etc. The younger generation took hold of this movement very readily and actively, so that to-day the League numbers over 200 members. According t8 the inscription underneath the figure of Dante on the letterhead of this organization, the purpose of this club is to "organize young men and women of Italian parentage and help them to preserve among themselves and to disseminate among others the best that the genius of Italy has contributed to civilization." The very active and enterprising president of this organization, Peter F. Sabbatino, states that : "The chief activities are centered at Christodora House, 147 TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 167 Avenue B. The main work of the organization consists in having men and women prominent in the social and public life of the city come down to our meetings and discuss the problems of the city as they affect Ameri cans of Italian descent ; also to organize young men and women of Italian parentage into mutually helpful con tacts socially, educationally and politically." The league has done very effective work as is testified by clubs organized under its patronage at the Christo- dora House, the Labor Temple, the Second Avenue Re creational rooms and the Chrystie Street Settlement. The League has also pushed all efforts to bring about a fuller co-operation among clubs scattered thruout the city in terested in bettering the social conditions of people of Italian lineage. The members of this group vary in age from twenty- one to forty, and are scattered thru a variety of fields of employment from the modest post-office clerk to those practising in the different professions, such as law and medicine. Classes are held in civic and educational work ; language classes are held as the occasion warrants. Dues average $3.00 per annum, and meetings are held twice a month. RELATION AND EFFECT TO COMMUNITY— The Italian Welfare League affords one of the very best instances of the push-upward that an enlightened, so cially spirited and public-minded group of individuals can contribute towards helping the peoples of the race to which they belong and those who perhaps have not had the similar advantages which these leaders enjoy. In a word, their mission to such people, is to intelligently interpret Americanism. There is no doubt that upon this younger generation of Americans is entrusted the task of intelligent interpretation of the Italian stock in our midst. THE YOUNG MEN'S ITALIAN EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE — The Young Men's Italian Educational League is composed of the younger generation of educated Americans of Italian extraction residing thruout the different boroughs. Its meetings were held at the time of its inception at Earl Hall, Columbia University ; from 168 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION this they moved to Government House, New York Uni versity, and now regularly meet at the Italian School on Hester and Elizabeth Streets. This league does a work that resembles closely that done by the Italian Welfare League and the Italian Educational League. It is under the able leadership of F. R. Serri, formerly Associate Editor of Commerce and Finance and recently a candi date for the office of Attorney-General on the New York State Farmer-Labor Party ticket. The League has at present forty-five members, three- fourths of whom are college graduates representing Co lumbia, New York University, Syracuse, Yale, Colgate, City College of New York, and Fordham. A distribution of the membership according to vocation is : P. S. Teachers 4 H. S. Teachers 8 Graduate (Univ.) Students 3 College 10 Lawyers 5 Doctors 4 Micellaneous 11 Total 45 PURPOSE — The purpose of this club according to a set of printed aims that it distributes is : "To unite all intelligent young Italians in the promo tion of a greater educational interest and a finer social and civic loyalty among the Italians of America." METHOD— 1. To conduct a training course for leaders of citizen ship classes for Italian students every Monday night at 8:45 P.M. 2. To publish a citizenship book that will be adequate, scientific in spirit and thoroly up-to-date. 3. To write articles and book reviews, and to trans late articles and books of distinct value in producing a more sympathetic understanding between Italians and Americans. 4. To organize and furnish leaders for citizenship and English classes for Italian men and women thruout the city. 5. To organize a monthly conference of all Italian educational, civic and social clubs or leagues, in order to TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 169 obtain more effective co-operation and unity of action. 6. To organize or co-operate with Italian social or civic clubs already organized in all the high schools and colleges in New York. 7. To conduct literary meetings in order to develop greater facility in speaking, appreciation of things intel lectual and a keener understanding of the important social and civic issues of the day. The League has organized citizenship classes in half a dozen schools and settlements where Italians are lo cated in noticeable numbers. It has donated for this use the services of four or five instructors in civics and cit izenship. This League particularly has been very active in fostering a spirit of harmony and co-operation be tween the various welfare organizations and Italian clubs located in different sections of the city. It is responsible also for the opening of many additional English classes for foreigners and has also conducted under its auspices numerous debates, socials, family gatherings, educational conferences and public meetings. Its program calls for periodical public meetings on current questions in politics, government and other social questions. It has created a keener appreciation for books and reading by maintaining an open shelf library easily accessible to all members. As an organi zation it has contributed frequently and generously to the financial support of many and various welfare move ments aiming at the betterment of Italians in New York. RELATION AND EFFECT TO COMMUNITY— As was said of the club described before the nature of the adjustment that this organization makes to the Italian communities at large is an intelligent and socially helpful one. Not only are there being developed by the means of the valuable lessons that are being taught, qualities that augur well for America, but individually the mem bers are preparing themselves for a life of wider use fulness and looking forward to a time when the radius of their services as interpreters of the American spirit will not be circumscribed by the narrow confines of a mere local community. 170 THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION THE COLLEGE CIRCOLO Almost every college where Italians attend in sufficient numbers has its Italian Circolo.* When organized within the walls of an educational institution the osten sible purpose of such a club is to stimulate the use of and interest in Italian language, Italian culture, Italian art, etc. Usually tho this latter aim degenerates so that the chief aim becomes "social." Almost every high school has a Circolo too, usually very close under the chaperon ing wing of one of the instructors in the school, and not unlikely a teacher of Italian extraction. PARTICULAR GROUPS— Because probably more Americans of Italian extraction living in the Greater City have secured their collegiate training at Columbia the Circolo attached to this institution is the one chosen for a detailed analysis here. The Columbia University Italian Circolo is perhaps the most highly developed Ita lian Circolo connected with any University in the East or thruout the United States for that matter. Its recent growth has been phenomenal in expanding membership from a bare half dozen to almost sixty members within a period of a few years. Eight years ago when the writer entered Columbia College as a freshman there was no Circolo in existence. A few students on the basis of their common Italian ancestry gathered once a month or so and discussed their own individual matters rather than questions of Italian art, Tangauge or Culture. Usually this "talk-fest" con cluded a few hours later at some Italian restaurant where dinner! _was had. A few hours of heated and random discussion was the extent of organized activity among Americans of Italian extraction at Columbia Col lege. The writer recalls being introduced to but four or five such individuals which was the maximum of those who evidenced any interest whatever in a Circolo. Pos sibly a few others were scattered thruout various other schools of the university, but none showed sufficient interest to attend even these informal gatherings. ? Italian word for club. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 171 The year 1913 saw the organization of a real Italian Circolo and it was helped a great deal by the sympathetic co-operation of former Dean F. P. Keppel. Quite a few freshmen having entered, the year was started with a regular constitution and meetings were held at regular stated intervals. The first president of the Circolo was Garibaldi La Guardia, formerly instructor at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. The membership numbered about twenty-five at that time, but a bare dozen or so attended these first meetings and showed what could be called "sustained interest." The club since 1913 has grown considerably in size and strength until to-day there are fully 75 members on the rolls. Not a litttle of the recent growth of the Columbia Circolo is due to the efforts and interest of Professor John L. Gerig of the Romance language department. TYPE OF MEMBERS— The average age of these col legiate Americans of Italian extraction is twenty-one. This type enters college as a rule a year or so later than the average American of other descents. This is so because every now and then there enters an individual who has had a break in his education, most likely one due to financial reasons. If Americans of Italian extraction go to Columbia the chances are strong that they have had also their second ary schooling in the greater city's high schools, and each year sees a wide distribution of members coming from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island and many from downtown Italian colonies located on the West and Ea.st Sides. The reason that a goodly representation" is always had^from residents of outlying suburbs is that usually ^Ehey represent families who are in better financial cir cumstances than the average and able therefore to effect a change of residence. Fully seventy-five per cent are residents of New York City. Scatterings are always to be expected from such suburbs as Bayonne, Long Island City, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle and the nearby towns of New Jersey. Elizabeth, New Jersey, has sent several representatives as well as Danbury, Connecticut, and Mamaroneck, New York. The pleasures of this type are of the usual college 172 vV THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION »*" type varying in no noticeable degree. The usual number pf dances, socials, entertainments, etc., are given and supported. To make any distinction in this sort of thing is almost impossible, as none is discernible. It has been found that about thirty per cent of these Ameri cans of Italian extraction work after school hours to make possible their continuing in school. Not a few help their fathers in their business or teach at night subjects like Spanish or Italian. Dean Keppel likes to quote the case of one of these individuals who spent his time Saturdays and Sundays working in his brother's barber shop, as representative of the way this type has to struggle to get ahead. He is now a professor in one of our Southern colleges. TYPE OF ACTIVITY— The activity of these individ uals in so far as it is concerned with their Circolo life is largely recreational in character. As was said before the main purpose of the club which was to stimulate the use and interest in the Italian language has lapsed; to-day the main effort is to afford social contacts. The club does nothing in athletics as an organization tho several have starred for Columbia as individuals. Some of the prizes which went to members of the Cir colo were the Junior Wrestling Championship, Varsity places in the football, basketball, baseball and soccer football teams. Modarelli, Ruffolo and De Fronzo are to be noted in this connection. In scholarship the club has established a unique record, so much so that Dean Keppel, in a recent article has said of them : "Some of these foreign strains are very interesting. I think the keenest among them at present is the Italian. In earnestness and accomplishment the Italian boys are surpassing even the Russian- Jewish boys and that not only means that they are of high intelligence but that they are hard workers. They get along very well with their fellows of all races too. We never have a Phi Beta Kappa election which does not result in the choice of from three to five Italians." * ? Keppel, F. P., "The College Student of Today." N. Y. Times, December 19, 1918. TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 173 A summary of the scholastic achievements of these members is contained in the following statistics gathered by the ex-president of the Circolo :* ¦ hO bt>U~ "o J3 c o O a o '5 a •a cU •o •a w u 0) radua) lass i: mbia It, m 3 rt 1>