Rock Island Argus., 1911-03-25

was occupied by the Christian church
people and 10 now q rooming house
for a gang OF Italians working for the
Union Malleable Iron company. There
are about fifteen men in the one room.
Each one has his cot, mattress and
quilt and some do not care even for
this luxury of sleeping on a cot and
are very comfortable on the mattress
on the floor. They board themselves.
Some times there Is a common cook
who prepares the meal for all, but
most of the time they prepare their
own meals, using canned goods and
vegetables and fruits. Beer 10 the
main and only drink-at meals, after
meals and between meals.
Socially this class cannot be con-
sidered as a great contributing ele-
ment to the sum total OF organized
society. They lead a life Of their
own; entirely outlandish. They have
their own kaffenions, which is anoth-
er term for our saloon; groceries,
barber shops, bakeries and even plac-
es of amusements. Walk along Sec
ond street between the government
bridge and Perry street, Davenport
and you will see many signs that tell
you in classic Creek that here may
be had the genuine, imported from
Greece or Italy black, salted olives
and macaroni. just as in the old coun-
try. Their evenings. Sundays and hol-
idays, are spent in the saloons over
a glass OF bear and q deck of cards,
and sometimes there are doings that
have TO be adjusted the next morning
before the judges desk. Religiously,
all that can be said about these two
classes is, that one comes from a
Greek and the other from a Roman
Catholic country. Very few Of them
care much to go to church. They
care much less for spiritual upIift or
divine services.
Politically. they amount to zero.
Very few seek to Americanize them
selves and still less to become citi-
zens. They concern themselves little
with our government. There is very
little appreciation of our free institri-
tions. and very little knowledge about
our constitution. In short, they come
here for self preservation and they do
II from an animal standpoint
Morally, they are on the same level
with all who, due to ignorance. are
naturally. fguratively speaking, be-
low par. The same characteristics
may also be ascribed to the Belgian
element: The Belgian is not very far
removed from his Italian and Greek
brother socially. religiously. political
ly or morally. The only difference is
that he possesses a love to be with his
family; which is evidenced by the
fact that If he cannot come here with
his family he will send for them as
soon as he can get the necessary
amount for the expense.
In the Swede we meet with a much
higher kind OF immigrant. AS they all
make Moline their home they. at once,
find themselves at home He finds a
Swedish church for himself; he finds
a school with teachers who speak his
language for his children. Some have
relatives. some friends, some acquain- /
tances already settled there, and he,
from the very first day, begins to get
acquainted with our form OF govern |
ment and begins TO take an interest in |
local and national politics, and tries, /
as soon as practicable, to American |
ize himself.
And now ] come to the last class I
and that is the Russian Jew In him 4
We find a raw material which with |
the least assistance on the part Of the /
will turn out a perfect man
politically. religiously, moral
" and ethically. In fact the last !
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