The Washington times., 1911-05-10
CHAPTER TX.
Plans for the Future,

life, my Imagination became fired with
new plans. l saw no reason why 1 my
self should not become an employer.
As in The next few weeks l enlarged
my circle of acquaintance and pusheu
my inquiries in every possible direction. i
found this idea was in. the air down
here. The ambition of all these people
was toward complete independence.
Either they hoped to set up IN business
for themselves in this country or they
looked forward to saving enough TO
return to the land of their birth and
live there as small land owners.
i speak more especially of the Italians
because just now was thrown more in
contact with them than the others.
In my city they. with the Irish.
seemed peculiarly of real emigrant stuff.
The Jews were so clannish that they
were a problem in themselves; the Ger
mans assimilated a little better, and
yet they, too, were like one large
family. They did not get into the city
life very much, and even in their busi-
ness stuck pretty closely to one line.
For good many Years they remained
essentially Germans. But the Irish were
citizens from the time they landed, and
the Italians eventually became such If
by slower process.
The former went into everything.
They are tremendously adaptable
people. But whatever they tackled they
looked forward to independence, and
generally won it. Even a man of so
humble an ambition as Murphy had ac-
complished this.
The. Italians either went into the fruit
business. for which they seem TO have
knack, or saved as day laborers and
saved.
There was a man down here who was
always ready to stake them to a cart
and supply of fruit at an exorbitant
price to be sure. but they pushed their
carts patiently mile upon mile until
In the end they saved enough TO buy one
of their own.
The next step was a small fruit store
The laborers. once they had acquired a
working capital, took up many things
lot of them going into the country
and buying deserted farms.
il was wonderful what they did with
this land upon which the old stock
New Englander had not been able TO
live. But of course in part explana ton
of this, you must remember that these
New England villages have long been
drained of their best.
In many cases only the MAIN, the
halt. and the blind are left, and these
stand no more chance against the
modern pioneer than they would against
one of their own sturdy forefathers.
Another occupation which the Italians
seemed TO pre-empt was the boot-back-
ing business. 1t may seem odd to dig
nifty so menial an employment as a
business, but there is many a head of
such an establishment who could show
a fatter bank account than two-thirds
of bis clients.
The next time you go into a little
nook containing, say, fifteen chairs,
figure out for yourself how many
nlckels are 4eft there in a day. The rent
Is often hight is some proof of d
business worth though when you con-
slider that they are able TO pay for
positions on the leading business streets
but the labor is cheap, and the fur
nishings and cost of raw material
slight.
Pasquale had set me to thinking long
before, when l learned that he was
earning almost as much a week as /.
1t is no unusual thing for man. who
day in profits. and not show himself
until he empties the cash register at
night.
But the fact that impressed me in
these people-and this holds peculiarly
true of the Jews-was that they all
shied away from the salaried jobs. In
making such generalizations l may be
running risk because I'm. only giving
the results of my own limited obserya-
ton and experience
But ! want 1t understood that from
the beginning to the end of these recol-
lections I'm trying to do nothing more.
] m not a student. I'm not a sociologist.
The conditions which l observed may
HOt nOlO elSeNneE lot all KNOW.
From a different point of view, they
might not to another seem to hold even
in my->own city. l won't argue with
anyone about it. l set down what !
myself saw and let it 60 at that.
Going back to the small group among
whom / lived when I was with the
United Woollen, it seems to me, that
every man clung to a salary as though
It were his only possible hope.
know men among them who
of 70
mission basis although they were
practically sure of earning in this
way double what they were being paid
by the year. They considered sal
ary as a form of insurance and once
in the grip of this idea they had moth
ing to look forward to except an in
crease
was no better myself. 1 didn't
really expect to be. head of the firm.
Nor did the other men. We weren't
working and holding on with any no
ton of winning independence along
that line. The most We hoped for was
q bigger salary.
Some men didn't anticipate more
than twenty-five hundred like me, and
others-the younger men-talked
about five thousand and even ten
thousand.
I didn't hear them discuss what they
were going to do when they were
general managers or vice presidents
when they drew. the larger annuity.
And save those who saw in profess
sional work a way out, this was the
career they were choosing for their
sons.
They wanted to get them into banks
and the big companies where the as
surance of lazy routine advancement
up to a certain point was the reward
for industry, sobriety and honesty.
salary with an old, strongly es-
ia blished company seemed to them
about as big a stroke of luck for
young man as a legacy.
I myself had hoped to find a place
for Dick with one of the big trust
companies.
OF course down here these people
did not have the same opportunities.
Most of the old firms preferred the
bright young American" and l guess
they secured most of them.
/ pity the "bright young American"
but / can't help congratulating the
bright young Italians and the bright
They are forced as a result to make
business for themselves and they are
given every opportunity in the world
for doing it
And they are doing it. And 1, breath
ing In this atmosphere, made up my
mind that ] would do it, too.
with this in mind | outlined for my
eelf a systematic course of procedure.
1t was evident that in this as in any
other business / must master thor
oughly the details before taking up
the large problems.
The details of this as of any other
bushes lay at the bottom. and so for
these at least / was at present in the
best possible position.