The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-26
How He Has Enjoyed 1t. His Method IF Ob+a;,;no
Information. Genoa, the Hill-Skirted Seaport
Will Continue His Series of Letters
Uopvright, 1909, by P. S. Ridsdale.
for Samuel Gompers.)
Home Coming. at Sea,
oct O dnnN

september 1929. The time was dis
tributed in this order: Milan, two
DAYS; Florence, a half day; Rome,
9our and a half days; Naples, three
and a half; Genoa, n and a half;
Turin. a half. Three full nights were
spent on fast express trains, besides
several parts of nights. During this
busy journey ] caught an aViator's
glimpse of the rich and sunny land of
Jtaly, saw the leading men in the va
ri0us working class social movements,
whether radical or moderate, inter-
viewed government officials whose du-
ties bring them into contact with the
wage earners, and collected enough
books, pamphlets, circulars, ETC., on
social questions to keep a good reader
occupied for many a day.
Some of my American correspond
tnts have asked me in what ann
| was enjoying my vacation. Others,
readers Of these letters, have wished
TO know my methods of collecting in
formation. May /, in reply to both
queries, speak somewhat in detail of
day and a half in Genoa? My Ameri-
can friend, J. w. Sullivan. of New
York. arrived in that beautiful hill
skirted seaport at $50 o'clock in the
m0rning, having left Naples at two the
previous afternoon. After breakfast
and Il WaSh-up at the hotel, we made
our way about GOO to the hall and
headquarters of the Central Labor
GniOn (CamaIa del laVorO). "A half
hOur there was taken up by the as
sistant secretaries in gathering to-
1ether some Of the local Ieaders-the
4 10, Arrn1 ayInr nf tho iNay ~ % n ~ - nr6
Typographical Unions, secretaries Of
other bodies, the editor Of the local
workers daily newspaper. Meantime
! had been shown the meeting hall Of
The unions, some of the secretaries
rtticeS, and the display OF two or three
score letter boxes boxes in the hall
way, one for each union-testimOny as
to the much-minglcd character of the
local movement, made up. as 1t IS,
longshOremen'S cOmpanlonShlp groups
municipal employees associations, dis
tributiVe cooperative societies, semi
political organizations, and both skill
I'd and unskilled labor unions.
Then interviews. A member of the
Italian Chamber Of Deputies, a law
ger representing a working class con-
Stituency, was my chief interrogation.
Thc responses to the inquiries put by
him and the other representative Ital-
Jams made. as written up by its editor,
t"D COlul1nS IN next morning > issue
Of the WOrkinSmen's paper, II LaNo-
ro.' The questioning from my side
took up nearly the rest of tine day.
None Of GenOeSe we met spoke Eng
ish. Several of them talked in French
IT, me, and my colleague rapidly trans
lated to me their statements, at tunes
sentence by sentence, besides inform
]nG me as to the substance OF the mat
ter in point which my Italian friends
from time to time handed over to us.
\ visit then to the Department OF
locks, which in GenOe stands separate
from both the municipal and general
hOVerninentS-a unique feature of adj
1nInistration in Italy, / was told. A
short visit to the steamship Moltke.
which lay in the harbor, taking off
rTnlSrants and other passenger to
America. A look at q cooperative
store. I declined making d visit of in
Sp"ction to the cooperative printing
once; | had already seen several IN
Italy-all alike An explanation by our
GUIDES Of Inc cooperative methods OF
we I0ngshOremen, somewhat resem-
bling those Of our lake port workers..
\ funnlnS conversation during the
hours n going from point to point on
the trade union and political organ1-
"|tlon, and methods of the working
'IASses of the city. In the evening, on
getting back to oar hotel, additional
packages of printed reports, etc, were
"fought. AS | was already acquaint-
81 With the italian methods in my Ia
Dor and political movements, my in
uulrles were quite of q schedule form,
ana replies embodied but little that
Was new.
me places of evening amusement
~ Il city having their revelations as TO
''e tastes and ideas of the classes pat
IofllzIng them, it is q question Wheth-
- my visit to one of them was play
or work. Genoa at the time Of my Wis
~ mad a very slim list OF theatres
open, and these only for variety per-
'~oF!nances. My guides objected to one
"1ich seemed to be possibly q resort
I'F the plain people, saying it gave so