The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-02
OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION.

The New York Evening Post has a sooi
, word for Italian erigrants. q rather rare
thing in America. It says:
Italian emigration TO America has be-
come important enough 70 have its own
review, Revista Itaio-Arnericana. the first
number OF which contains tabulated sta
i ustics Of emigration for the year 1891.
Nothing is more striking in this table
than the movement OF population which
is set down as temporary emigration.
Thus the total number CT e1n.grants for
the year was aS3 z45. OF these 81. SIS. ac-
co-ding 10 their own declaration. hal
sought temporary employment elsewhere
with the intention of returning 10 Italy.
y lille only 251.577 were planning 10 estab-
i iish new homes in other lands. OF these
temporary eHigrants IS go. in the year
1871. went 10 Austria. 52.563 TO france. 45, p
CO. 10 Germany. A.sS3 10 Switzerland and
2o,22 70 this country.
) Now this kind of emigration deserves
4 moments notice. We have seen it ex-
emplifec in this country in the French
Canadian invasion of the New England
mills and farms, and the Italians AZ home
are thoroughly used 10 these periodic
changes Of place and OF population. The
harvests and mineral industries OF the
unhealthy Maremma draw down annually
the entire populations of Apennine VII
lagos, whose peasants divide their time
: between painful culture III the hills ami
the comparatively profitable occupation
o. the harvest season. But this temper
airy emigration TO adjoining countries has
its grave draw backs The thousands OF
Italians in the mills and fields Of Ger
many, France, Austria, and Switzerland.
are freed from the social and religious
restraints TO which they have been accus-
toned; large bodies Of men live in a for
eisn land uncared for, and in conditions
or great discomfort and poverty. Thought
FIJI Italians have recognized here con-
siderable source OF decentralization. and
have organized a special society. the
Dante Alighierif TO safeguard the moral
and material interests Of Italians in for
eisn lands
The Americans. which know the Italian
chiefly as permanent settler. are able
70 give a more cheerful account of him.
This is well. for the Italian element is
sure TO be increasingly influential in both
continents. OF a total OF 27S.176 immi-
grants-42, 769 registered as temporary
this country received 121. 139. as compared
with 1901 35 for the year ending June 80.
1900; the Argentine Republic harbored of
both classes 59SSl. Brazil S2.l5e. The
Evening Post has already called atten-
ton 10 the extraordinary prosperity Of the
italian settlers in these South American
States-a success that is in part due to tho
ease with which these Latins find their
degree to the superior industry Of the
Italians as compared with the more indo-
lent Americans of Spanish or Portuguese
extraction.
What is much more remarkable Is the
extraordinary penetration of the life or
this northern nation by the Italian. and
the general prosperity OF a class of i'm
migrants which il has been the custom
TO regard as detrimental. IL you wish to
have your door yard tied UP within the
suburban radius OF any of our great cities
you must appeal to member Of this
backward race. Ride or drive among
the truck gardens TO the north of this
city and the language and costume Of
Italy are everywhere in evidence: not
only the smaller shops in this region.
but even the saloons bear Italian names.
and the mandolin is cOmmOner than the
concertaina or other indigenous instru-
ment. Meanwhile you may find your
friend building his summer home on 4
Massachusetts, hillside almost exclusively
with Italian labor: and the forest camp
in Maine, twenty miles from the nearest
railroad, is not forgotten by the banana
man.
1t is remarkable indeed that the Ital-
ians have shown but little disposition to
settle in resericted localities. Unlike the
Danes a nd Norwegians of the northwest.
the Firms. who usually go straight 70
western farms. and the Germans, who
very generally prefer the cities, the Ital-
fans inevitably find their way wherever
abundant work and living wage may
be had They are as peryasive today as
the irish were generation ago, and they
are certainly destined to have an equal
material success.
It is too early 10 see the assimilation OF
this largely new element far advanced,
but one can hardly forecast anything but
good both for the Italians and for our
selves from this contact They bring
great physical vigor. industrious habits.
and naturally alert intelligences-besides
a remarkable amiabiiity and adaptability
to their new conditions. In civilization
so far as that means the graceful and
kindly conduct Of all human relations
they are generally the superiors OF the
people among whom they find their
homes. In orderliness and civic sense
they have something 70 learn here. and
they are learning it. IN the composite
which the American of teh future Is sure
to be they viii have undoubtedly an i'm
pcrtant part.
One must expect Italian immigration TO
this country TO slacken almost as sudden
" as it has grown. Italy should be an
enormously rich and prosperous country.
and this she will be whenever her law
makers reform her tax system and tho
agrarian syndicates bring some kind Of
order out OF the abuses Of the general /
system OF farming on shares. When real
prosperity comes 10 the kingdom. emf
grafton 10 the United States Will become |
unimportant and the United States will
then have as much reason 70 thank the (
hard times in the Peninsula which con- /
tributed valuable element 70 It's nation /
atty as italy viii have to regret a dis /
pensation that cost her millions Of her /