Evening star., 1924-08-24


italy so completely immersed in her
critical domestic affairs, incidental to
the dictatorship of Mussolini. that
she has little time for or interest in
foreign affairs. Whenever Italians dis
.cuss America nowadays 1t is exclusive
. 1y IN terms Of our new Immigration law,
which they bitterly resent. They re-
gard it as piece of discrimination
!aKainst the land which gave Christie
pher Columbus birth and declare that
| IL imposes consequences of grave
economic character upon ltaly)
In 1913, the year before the war.
So5,250 italians emigrated to the
United States. Under the new i'm
niigra ton laws only 3.S45 Italians per
ahnum are admissible to our shores,
or fewer than u per cent of the peak
total of IL years ago. During the
first 10 years of the present century
italians poured into America regu-
slRrly at the average rate of 100000 a
itwelvemonth. The United States was
the land of promise for the country's
surplus population. Suddenly to be
barred therefrom by the quota sys-
tenn has not only been a blow to Ital-
ian pride, but confronted Italy with
politico- economic problem of i'm
measurable consequences Her peo-
pie are filled with corresponding
They feel they have been discrimi-
mated against almost as unjustly as
we Disseminated against the Japai
nese, though, of course, in an entirely
different way. If the Italians had
any more streets or squares left.
which once were named after Wood
row Wilson, their Indignation over
the immigration laws would probably
result in some fresh rechristenings
OF Was and piazZas. Rome changed
the name of Via Woodrow Wilson
after the Versailles treaty failed to
transfer Fiume to Italy, and when
.Fiume last winter finally passed un-
der Italian sovereignty Genoa changed
the Via Wilson into the Via Fiume.
iFiume and immigration are topics
seldom mentioned by Italians without
more or less temperamental explo-
sions, from which the fair name and
fame Of the United States emerge a
bit bespattered. They had forgotten
Ffume. they say, particularly since
the ideals Of d'Annunzio permanently
triumphed over the big four of Ver-
sailles. Then the johnson bill came
along this year, with its fateful quota
of s,s45 Italians, and the fat was
once again in the fire. 1t can be
seen and heard sizzling by any Amerf-
can who divertS his attention in Italy
S<o1n the museums, the galleries and
the ruins. The average Italian thinks
the immigration laws are pretty
rough on the land that gave birth to
the man except for whom, they plain
lively argue. Americans might never
have been discovered. In a sort of
way the La Fayette spirit" in France
is duplicated by the christopher CO.
lumbus spirit in Italy. In both coun-
tries there's an inclination to charge
us with ingratitude.
The emigration situation in Italy
Is a condition and not a theory, and
serious condition. The country and
the government have had to grapple
with 1t for many years. An entire
executive department of the govern
ment-the Commissariato Generate
doll Administrations, a branch of the For
eign Of1ce-deals with it exclusively.
OF the most imposing public build
fngs in Rome is devoted to it. Italy's
emigration problem is briefly EXPLAIN
"a. She has population of 10000
O00. 1t is increasing annually at the
rate of 100000. or 1 per cent. Few
countries in the world reveal so
steady a growth or so high an~aver-
gates were wide open Italy's surplus
population problem was relativ
simple. 1t was solved by sending
Italians to the United States in
patches of 10000 or 10000 a month.
When we applied restriction two
years ago, cutting down Italian ad-
missibles to $4,000 a year, and in
1924 whitfield down the total to less
than tenth of that number, Italy's
problem overnight was translated
from simplicity into battling gravity.
Hence these tears and fears Of today.
Although 1talv is prosperous and
her people well employed; neither
her Industry nor her agriculture is
developed to point where it can
absorb the relentlessly growing num-
befs or persons clamoring for gainful
occupation. as the labor statisticians
term it. The World War cost Italy
100000 able-bodied young men, but
emigration between 1914 and 1919
came to dead standstill-only 43
Italians went to the United States
In 1s1S-and in that same Pc
rtod large numbers of Italians re-
turned to their native country.
From the United States, Brazil and.
Argentina in 1915. when Italy entered
the war, more than 100000 came
home. mostly from North America
The virtual exclusion of Italians from
our country by the new laws. rela-
lively speaking, when considered
alongside the conditions above mar
rated. presents a peculiarly grave
situation. Mussolini is just now the
issue that bears most heavily upon,
the Italian soul. But what to do
with the surplus 400, 900 Italian babies
is some day likely to become an is
sue of even greater magnitude Sew
erAl Of the wars Of contemporary
times were fought, some authorities
think. to find more place in the sun
for surplus babies. Germany. prior
to- 1914, faced that issue. Japan has
been facing it for a long time. 1t
was the handspring Of her wars with
r.;