The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-09-14
Continued from Page -
THE ITALIANS IN AMERICA.

ing, possible. Ii he asks them for help
he becomes unpopular. Yet they ex-
pect a great deal from him. To them
he is not only priest, he must also be
their counsellor and servant, and play
the physician, the lawyer, and what
not. They do not ask these things as
a favor; they demand them as a right.
Judging from indications, in the
course of time, this queer, old-world
attitude toward priest and Church will
change and there will be a greater
and lore willing cooperation on the.
part of the American-born Italians.
In the United States there are about
n hundred and fifty Italian churches
with over five hundred Italian priests
both secular and religious, working
together with the utmost zeal. Their
life is one of sacrifice and hardship,
without any earthly remuneration.
There are also a few hospitals and
asylums in charge of Italian Sisters.
Italian Parochial Schools.
In the matter of %parochial schools
the situation is less satisfactory. Ac-
cording to the latest statistics there
are 1,779,O59 Italians in the United
States, but only fourteen schools, hay
ing a total of 6,273 pupils. In Chicago
there are over n hundred thousand
Italians, but only two Catholic schools
for Italian children. Hence it is clear
that by far the vast majority of Ital-
ian children must attend the public
schools.
Under these conditions it is not diff
cult to foresee that the great danger
to the Faith of the coming generation
of Italians is found in the utter alb
sence of solid religious instruction,
which they do not receive in the
schools, nor in their homes. But the
children of today will be the men
and women of tomorrow. If we allow
them to grow up but poorly instructed,
or not at all, the result will be pre-
cisely what might be expected; they
will fall into absolute infidelity. The
strange part is that where this spirit
of infidelity, which not infrequently
expresses itself in an un~restrained
hatred of everything religious, has al
ready made inroads, the religious
sentiment, the heritage of centuries,
is still deeply imbedded in the char
acter and closely woven into the very
temperament of the Italian people. 1t
is this contradiction that is RESPONSE
BILE for the fact that the Italian is not
understood by the average American.
Prejudice against italians.
To this must be added that other
fact that the Italians, as a whole, are
made to suffer for the sins of a few
of their countrymen. For this the
yellow press, which loves to sensa-
tionalize every crime in which Ital-
ians are implicated into a "black-
hand mystery" is solely responsible.
Because some Italians are bad, the
public has been led to believe that all
Italians are bad. Because a few have
written Matchmaking letters the ON
clusion has been jumped at that all
Italians are allied with some "black-
hand" organization.
But it is not fair to judge a whole
people by the few criminals among
them. Is it not nearer the ideal of
justice to give the many credit for the
good points and qualities of the
majority? AS a whole, the Italians are
honest, sober and Industrious. They
pay their just debts promptly and
without question. 1t has been said by
landlords that Italians r among the
best of tenants to be found anywhere.
They are shrewd in business and
thrifty in the management of their
daily affairs.
They do not shrink from hard work,
as their presence in mines, on farms,
in Quarries, at construction work, and
wherever there is a demand for
rough, unskilled labor, sufficiently at
tests. Living often in humble quar-
tiers and amid squalid surroundings
they are, nevertheless, of clearly per-
sonal habits. In point of %politeness
they compare favorably with any
other class of people.
Social Life Lacks Unity.
What the Italians lack most in their
social life is unity. There are very
few Italians who do not belong to
some kind of society, of which they
have many. These are either for
mutual aid, or else religious in their
scope. Of the former, there are a
great number. The membership of
one society is frequently limited only
to those coming from a certain locality
in Italy, and these will not affiliate
with a society whose members come
from a different section. Hence unity
is almost entirely lacking. This ap-
plies also to their religious societies,
known by the name of some saint.
The membership of these is often
composed exclusively of persons COM
ing from the same village or town. 1t
conofSmoc honnopc fhot T%o1;onc ho.