Protecting Italian Immigrants
The Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants, which has its office at 17 Pears St., is doing a very important work in the way of defending the newly arrived Italians, almost all of whom are very ignorant, very childlike, and wholly unfamiliar with the customs and language of this country, from the “sharps” and “crooks” and dishonest “runners” who are ready to take advantage of their helplessness as soon as they land. The Society guides the immigrants to their destination and provides them with employment as well as advice. The Italian immigrants arriving in the port of New York alone numbered 140,000 in 1901, 165,631 in 1902, and 207,476 in 1903. The Society was founded in March, 1901, and it now has 375 members. The balance in its treasury on March 1, 1093, was $3,884.82. Since then it has received up to March 1, 1904, $5,578.65 from the Italian Government, $2,767.30 from contributions and dues, and $182.51 from its Labor Bureau, making the total receipts during the year of $12,613.28.
Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants, a group whose main goal was to aid Italian immigrants in their settlement to New York City, is highlighted. It is founded upon the knowledge that newly arrived immigrants do not know the customs of America nor the dangers of being unaccustomed to society. Similar to “Societies Helpful to the New Arrival,” this group meets immigrants at their port of entry and guides them to their destination in New York. They help immigrants find acceptable work and are a source of information about America for the uninformed immigrants. New immigrants are vulnerable to people looking to take advantage of them, provide them with inadequate work, and generally wring them of all their money before they know what is happening. The society is wary of this and works to prevent the inevitable. Interesting to note is that this society was funded by the Italian government in an attempt to make the lives of their countrymen easier.
The Society for Italian Immigrants at 129 Broad Street, New York City, maintains a free office of information and assistance which is open from nine o’clock in the morning to half-past five in the evening. Here the Italian immigrant may obtain all the advice and assistance of which he is in need to help the arriving relative or friend to land or to communicate with him if he has already arrived. Immigrants should have every confidence in the agents of this Society. They should go exclusively to them for information, for guidance to their destination, for buying railroad tickets, hunting out baggage; otherwise they are likely to be swindled.
When coming to New York from abroad or arriving from the interior, always send word in advance to this Society; they will send an agent to meet you and take you to the Albergo per gil Immigrati Italiani, where a bed and very good meals can be had for $.50 a day, everything included.
The Society of San Rafacle — This Society gives special assistance to Italian women and children. For this purpose it maintains a retreat at 10 Charlton Street, New York City. Father Moretto of the Missionaries of San Carlo Borromeo, at Ellis Island, meets every steamer, and to him Italian women and children can turn for assistance and advice.
This exerpt from John Carr’s Guide to the United States for the Italian Immigrant displays the kinds of support societies that were available for un-assimilated Italians. It gives the location to the reader, as well as the services available; these range from buying tickets to contacting family and friends. The article advises that immigrants notify the society in advance of arrival, so they can help as soon as the immigrant arrives and have someone to meet them at Ellis Island. This is done so that Italian immigrants can avoid being taken advantage of, stolen from, or given high prices for a low-cost service because they are newly-arrived. The line “likely to be swindled” accents the lack of respect Americans had for immigrants, displaying that they were going to be taken advantage of if they were not careful, something that immigrants may have no planned to face in the land of opportunity.
THE SOCIETY FOR ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS.
Editor Southern Planter:
Dear Sir: The need of the Southern States for laborers, mill workers and settlers is leading to many inquiries why out of the large number of immigrants coming from Europe more cannot be diverted Southward than at present go They can be; but only when the conditions under which they come are studied and understood, and the requirements for their Southern settlement met with.
A primary requisite is that they should be familiarized with the conditions of the Southern States and the advantages they offer. Landing as they do chiefly in Northern ports it is absurd to suppose they will travel farther if they know nothing about the country they are going to. Some immigrants can be informed… but to be really effective such instruction must be given to them before they sail.
Accordingly, The Society for Italian Immigrants will be glad to receive printed matter relating to the advantages… and will distribute [them] both in this country and in Europe…
The Society will also cause any manufacturing plant, mine or plantation, the owners of which desire workmen or settlers, to be examined by a competent person who will report fully thereon. These reports will cover all the conditions which concern the prospective settler, such as climate, house rent, cost of living, rate of wages, hours of work, etc….
As the Society is an entirely charitable Society, all it will do will be done simply for the cause of benefitting the immigrant by inducing him to settle where he will live most healthily and happily.
This source is a letter from, presumably, a contractor of some sort from the southern US. They wrote to inquire about the possibility of immigrants being directed to the southern states for work as they mostly stay in the north. The writer says that moving would be beneficial to both the immigrants and the inhabitants of the southern US, but only once the immigrants are familiarized with the southern way of life. He believes that there is not enough information given to the immigrants for them to make an informed decision about moving south, and that if societies, like The Society for Italian Immigrants, helps to give them a more wholistic view of work in the country then they will be able to move south and have good work. This writer shows through the article that he acknowledges the wide-spread mistreatment of immigrants and assures the editor that The Society for Italian Immigrants will be in charge of inspecting the working conditions of their recommended destinations, so the immigrants will be able to acquire good, well-paying work. Omitted, however, is the apparent racism face by Italians moving to the southern United States.
Italian Immigrants and their enslavement
This article describes the challenges faced by working Italian immigrants in America through the first-person accounts of the author in relation to two different immigrants he had observed. He outlines the tendency for certain trades, like professional tailors and hat-makers, to settle in one spot and move their family to the location after they are established while a non-specialized worker tended to move to where they could find work, lacking the ability to settle in one spot. He next discusses the laws which inhibit Italian workers from making substantial pay and instead the cheap labor that is produced by these laws helps the contractors by not requiring higher pay. He then tells the reality of these immigrants being forced to do work they do not want to take part in but must for the security of their futures, even if it means blindly accepting shady jobs. The employers know this fact and it creates a cycle of poverty and workplace malpractice as the laborers have no other option.