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Show ITALIAN IMMIGRATION. A writer in the New York Journal makes a plea for a larger Italian emigration em-igration to the United States. His article ar-ticle is a protest against the obvious tendency to restrict foreign immigration, immigra-tion, that of Italians in particular. j Some of the reasons of the Journal writer are of high order, such, for instance, in-stance, as the following: "Instead of barring out Italian immigration im-migration a wise government would use every effort to encourage it; we need it all, all of it, for this is the greatest blood in the world. Consider what it has been in history. Of this blood was the race that on the point of a javelin thrust civilization into the barbarian brain of Europe. From this blood came our first idea of order, of justice, of organized society and of art. When our ancestors were benighted savages in the wilderness of northern Europe, people of this blood were building the Pantheon and establishing establish-ing codes of justice. When the Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon ideal of life was a pirate ship and an undefended town to burn, scholars of this blood were discovering and preserving priceless manuscripts, and Dante was uttering his immortal song. "For 1,700 years after the birth of Christ the measure of the civilization of any tribe in Europe was the measure meas-ure of the Latin blood in it, the extent ex-tent that it had imbibed wisdom from the Italian fountainhead. From the mixture of this blood and the influence of these institutions came the Pi Q j that filled the world with ideals of modern art, and the Holland that gave us the faith and hope and earliest creed of liberty." The above paragraph is undeniably true, but many Americans will not readily grasp the connection between the ideas therein contained and the average Italian with whom he comes in contact in the United States. Whether or not the Italian laborer possesses ability to recommend him to American citizenship is a question with which it is not necessary to deal in this article. He is here, and will continue con-tinue to come in increased numbers notwithstanding the agitation against his admission. That the great bulk of the Italians in the United States do not fairly reflect the character and intelligence in-telligence of their fellow citizens. Is perhaps a self-evident proposition; that their environment in America will make for their betterment Is an absolute abso-lute certainty. In many parts of the country this is noticeably true; the Italian adapting himself to his environments envi-ronments has entered into the political life of the country and is making Tiim-self Tiim-self a factor to be considered. Nor is it alone in the political life that he has manifested his development, but he has turned, in some places, to agriculture, agri-culture, in other places to commerce so ihat considered from whatever point of view one will, the Italian immigrant generally speaking, has bettered his condition la America. So far as ma terial affairs are concerned, these observations ob-servations hold good, but when his spiritual condition is considered, it is deplorably true that he has made no progress.. We do not say that he has degenerated, for observation leads to the conclusion, that the average Italian immigrant comes to America with his spiritual bump but slightly developed. I If, therefore, the great mass of Ital- I iana and their descendants are to be I saved to the Church, immediate and strong endeavor is necessary to produce pro-duce any lasting results. It is all very well to talk of the glories of the ancient an-cient Latin, but the average modern Latin in the United States has got to be built up from the foundation. He comes to America, neither -ontrolled, dominated or influenced by high civilization civil-ization or the ideals of Christianity; he is a fit subject for civilization and Christianizing. Our government is doing do-ing one; will the Church do the other? |