Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-06-11

anCe OF "a law does not excuse III AOIO
eXteno" from the law. But wouldn't II
be fair to the foreigners to inquire
how many OF them were arrested
second time after they learned the
law? 1t happens. too, that some or
our cultured and educated native
born are arrested in foreign countries
because unwittingly they have trans
crossed a law. Suppose they took up
their domiciles In those countries and
1 wished to become citizens, would 1t
be just that the one unwilling viola
ton OF an ordinance should hold them
up to public reprobation as undesir-
| able citizens?
In speaking Of the Juvenile delin
quents the Republican editorial says:
1T might be interesting to know that
many Of them classed as American
We're of American-born parents" So
! 1t would. 1t would also be interesting
to know how many native-born Amer
lean children there would be II native
born American parents did not trans
gress the law of God and nature by
abortion, infanticide and onanism. And
these, ] Insist. are not the crimes OF
the italian and the Slav. LII the num-
Der of these crimes committed by the
native-born could be added to the Grim
inal list I'll venture TO say that the
foreign criminal list would sink into
comparative insignificance.
/ But the seventh annual report of
the United States commissioners of Ia
Dor shows that a large proportion goes
to the slums. IL they. foolishly. for
their own material good, desire to set
1 tie In New York, for example. where
would they 60? Would we have them
4 20 to Fifth avenue. for example? / am
/ inclined to think that tile native-born
who resides on Fifth avenue would Sc
i riously object. A good proportion so
logician, says, "Ouid under" What
deduction Is to be drawn from that
/ That they are not rich and have not
the means to live in better localities,
and they are sensible enough to live
within their means. Would to God
\ that the same cuold be said Of all the
native born! We would have fewer
absconding bank cashiers and tellers.
fewer of the thigh rollers" fewer of
those who go into bankruptcy to es-
cape paying the debts they have con-
tracted by living entirely beyond their
i means.
Whilst the Republican draws no
conclusions from these 'slum" statis-
tics, l conceive its argument to be as
! follows: A great percentage go to the
| slums, therefore they are bad they are
immoral, they are future criminals,
i they are undesirable subjects for cit
/ izenship. liz that Is not the conclusion
to be drawn. then the whole list of fig
ures is irrelevant. l might remark In
passing that the whole list of figures
is a 'non-sequitur" argument as to the
assimibility of the foreigner. With
the conclusion to be drawn from these
figures Of the slum districts / cannot
agree. A man. may necessarily have
to live in the slum district and yet be
a moral man and a good citizen. II
the editor Is sometime in New York
4 and will call upon some OF the priests
whose daily life brings them into the
slums. they can give him much en-
lightenment as to the standard of NOR
ality. And recent investigation shows
THAT by no means all the bad citizen
ship or immortality is confined to the
slums and that the disorderly houses
are not all kept by the Inhabitants. OF
sunny Italy or the moJe stolid Slav.
LIST me suppose that Abraham Lin
coin and Ulysses Grant were again OF
earth and came to New York to live
as poor as they were when they were
ahewers OF wood and drawers OF wa,
ter would they necessarily have beer
the markings of bad citizens because
they would have had to seek dwelling
places in the poorer districts? And
doubt very much If they could afford
a rent even in the so-called slums.
81 Any array of figures of those living
On the slums is not by itself conclusive
i, Some very good citizens have come
. from the slums, and, presume, some
very bad ones. Which is In the ex.
cess / have no means or knowing
And IL Sill per cent or the population
of the slums are from southern and
eastern Europe. Is 1t any larger per
centage than that of the people from
northern Europe who In days gone by
lived in these same slums, and vet
whom the Republican editor admits
we have assimilated. and like a recep.
ton committee of one welcomes still
to our shores? | have previously Civ.
en- the figures of the 1000 census
which shows that as to paupers and
\ crime these northerners do not show
up In so bright q light. In connection
with this | might refer to the editorial
In the American OF Wednesday even.
ing where 1t related the melancholy
facts given by Senator Hoar: Judges
of United States court fleeing from
office under threat of impeachment;
the Credit Mobilier scandal: the i'm.
i parchment of four corrupt judges in
New York; eight active republican
leaders In Massachusetts detected in
state prison offenses. and other such
facts. And these were the days be-
i fore the tide of Immigration from
southern Europe had set in. Verify,
the Italian and the Slav are not re-
| sponsible for all the corruption
the country has known. might also
| remark that the Platts and the Youngs
who consort with lewd negresses and
cheap actresses are not from southern
Europe. but are men whose names
smack of the native-born American. I
might also remark that when the cleo
ton campaign was being waged last
September and October the italian and
the Slav were not so much despised.
And 1T Is question in my mind IL the
L ~ e.. !.