Evening star., 1934-01-04
Italian.American
Answers MIR. Wilson

To the Editor Of The Star.
F. Wilson's letter in The Star which
took exception to many premises con-
tanned In Mr.. Russells recent discus
sion in your columns Of our immigra-
ton quota law vas highly interesting
and, in some ways, even entertaining.
Now I am fairly convinced that Mr..
Russell must have warmed a bit more
than was justifiable toward his subject.
1t is true that the Latin race is en-
doWed by nature with a certain measure
OF eStheticS not normally associated
with the Anglo-Saxon or Teutonic
strains; 1t is true also that the Latin,
with his naive, almost ingenious phi
losophy Of life, more often succeeds, in
an abstract way, in learning how to
live. Yet, as F. Wilson points out, it
is literally true that until the imnigra-
ton laws took effect our shores were
yearly swarming with hordes of aliens;
that these aliens had different stand
ards Of living and Of conduct, and that
if for none other than economic rea-
sons Congress had finally to do some
thing about 1t.
Now I happen to be one Of those Sec
ond generation Italians whom Mr.. Rus
sell embraces too enthusiastically and
whom F. Wilson, with conscious recti-
tude, agrees to tolerate for the moment.
The modest fruits Of my parents labors
won under the disgracefully exploita-
tive conditions that prevailed on these
sacred shores thirty some odd years
ago, supplemented by personal effort on
my part, succeeded in pushing me
through college. Today am proud
possessor of a college degree, a fine po-
sltlon, and q social status which takes
no account Of my Latin antecedents.
What If my parents did cross the At
1antic in steerage? It was all they
could afford. What if my parents
background was different, or their
standard of living lower than F. Will
sons? challenge him or any one
else to prove that either in the one or
in the other they are now less Ameri-
can or less worthy of the finest and
than he. And in so speaking present
the cases of thousands upon thou
sands of robust, industrious young Ital-
ian-Americans, many with more sub
stantial mental and material endow.
ments than I can ever claim for my
own.
What, then. have I proved? Simply
thiS-that those poor, beWildered,
abused, half-starved immigrants whom
F.. Wilson decries had never a thought
of upsetting American principles or
American institutions. All they craved
was an opportunity, by the sweat of
their brow, to bring forth fruit from
the matchless natural resources Of our
land to enrich at once themselves and
the country of their adoption; to in
feet the phlegmatic natures Of their
Anglo-Saxon brethren with the germ Of
the insuppressible exuberance and Joy
of living which has bred since time I'M
memorial under the blue skies of Italy.
That they have succeeded handsomely
Is apparent on every side for those who
care to see the obvious. Smugness and
self-complacency are the ready tools of
reaction, Of ignorance in its most abys-
NAL form. It has spelled the decadence
Of more than one civilization They
are the refuge of those who believe they
can stop the sands Of time or even cause
| them to flow backward at will. The
I resplendent glory Of our great COM
monwealth can be perpetuated only by
| recognizing the evolutionary nature Of
institutions and thought and not BY
pledging ourselves to literal interpreta-
tions Of past traditions. Our President
has grasped the essential point and his
| handfwork Is in fair way toward
dragging us out Of the slough Of eco
nomic and social disaster toward which
a too rigid adherence to outmoded ira
dition has for four years been drag
ging us.
c. H. VALFRANCA.