The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-12
ITALIANS IDEA
 OF OUR COUNTRY Mr. Ferrero'S impressions of
 America CONFIDENT OF THE FUTURE Finds Us Optimistic and Free From All JeaIcusy-some interesting Comparisons With Experl-
 ences of Rome.
CONFIDENT OF THE FUTURE


 GuglieImo Ferrero, the celebrated Ital- Ian historian, who made a visit to this country short time ago, brings to close his series of articles entitled I'm pressions of North America" which he has been contributing for some time past to the Paris Figaro. with an article, the eighth of the series. in which he again takes up the anti-plutocratio struggle now going on in the United States.
 In this latest article Signor Ferrero seeks to show that the anti-plutocratic movement in spite of it's widespread and formidable character, is not destined to produce any immediate catastrophe in the United States, owing to the under lying similarity between the interests of the wealthy and the middle classes.
 "The movement against plutocracy," he says, lis, at bottom, a struggle be- tween the old tradition of a Puritanical democracy and the civilization of mon ey, luxury and pleasure; a repetition, in a more modern and complicated form, of the struggle which distracted Rome during three centuries, after she became acquainted with the civilization of the Helenized Orient. Even if I had lacked other evidences of it. my trip to the United States would have suf- feed to convince me of this. It may appear at first sight that taking lessons in Roman history and studying North America are two forms of activity hav- ing no point of contact, that neither ot them can derive any help from the other.
 America and Rome.
 ''On the contrary, throughout my jour- ney the history of Rome and present day reality mingled at every instant without any effort on the part of my mind Each elucidated the other. Every body spoke to me of America apropos of my book on Roman history, and of Roman history apropos of America. And the point of resemblance between them was the struggle between the two con- captions of morals and life.
 T might cite number of anecdotes that are both curious and significant. At Chicago, for example, a rich banker gave a banquet in my honor at the Chicago club, to which he invited the most impor- tant manufacturers and business men in the city. At the end of the banquet my host made long and fine speech, the purpose of which was to demonstrate that the history of Rome threw bright light on the situation regarding Puritanism in the America of today. On another occa- sion, In Boston, at a banquet given in my honor at the Union club by MT Fish, great lawyer of that city, I had on my right at table the president of one of the most important railroads of Massachu- setts.
 He is a very interesting old man. MT. Fish had informed me on our way to the club. You will find pleasure in talk ing with him. I must warn you, however, that he does not trouble himself about literature; therefore, you must not feel surprised If he has not read your book
 And, In fact, conversed great deal with this old man, who was indeed very interesting. After while the conversa- tion turned to the subject of his. employees.
 An Old Mans Story.
 They do not mean badly the old railroad official told me, but they have so many needs! And letting himself get caught in the current of his recollections, he made for me a short historical picture of American life; he described the simple and austere America, which he had seen during his youth, the increasing luxury, the multiplication of the peoples needs. the families of the following generations sub-divided among themselves This pic ture was so similar to that which had made in my book on Rome that, two or three times during the course Of his re- marks, I seemed to be listening, almost literally to phrases from that book. com ing from the lips of the old man--who had not read itl
 That old railroad man had read more profound and more instructive book than any Roman history ever written-the 1iv, ing reality of a society whose customs have been rapidly transformed by a colos- sal accretion of wealth. In one of my previous articles I wrote that. in Europe, people have formed an exaggerated idea of American luxury. Accustomed to sec ing their wealthy classes live on scale of too great splendor, often beyond their means. Europe came to believe that in America, where there are so many colos- sal fortunes. greater than the greatest fortunes of the old continent. there must exist luxury that is fabulous unheard of, unique. The rich Americans who travel through Europe seemed to confirm this suppostion. People thinking in this way did not consider the fact that the Ameri- can, when he finds himself in the midst of a society where a tradition of many centuries standing encourages luxury, where luxury costs much less than it does in his own country, adopted different line of conduct than that to which his conforms in his own country, where so many puritanical and religious traditions are brought to bear on him.
 The Middle Class.
 "But if one be not allowed to speak of a luxury that is American in comparing the wealthy classes of the two continents, one may speak thereof in making a com parison of the life of the middle classes- at least of those who live in the cities. The middle classes in North America spend much more freely than the sHme classes In Europe, be 1t because they are compelled to pay higher prices for many things or because they consume a greater quantity thereof. The enormous com merce of North America is not fed by the very rich families. who, there, as every where. form only a small part of the pop ulation, but by the middle classes repre- scented by millions of families.
 "Education, books, newspapers, sports, travels. the very complicated duties of social life-clubs, politics, charities-the minute regulations of tyrannical and costly hygiene the general tendency to increase needs and to complicate by in- genious inventions the means of satisfy