The Foreigners Care of His Countryman
F
ifOopyrfgM, iXi, by T. C. McClure.
1ROM whatever part of the world' '
a poor man may come he is prac
tically mire of obtaining: advice
and assistance from his country
men the moment he lands la
Jfow York or any other bis American
port.
The Immigrants who have come here and
"made good" do not leave their country
men who follow after them to be succored
ty charitable Americans. Whatever their
nationality may bo they support Bocleties
of their own whose objects are to look
out for the Immigrants as -they arrive,
rescue them from the grafters and crooks
who hang around the Immigration offices,
help them to seek out relatives or to find
employment, relieve them when they are
sick and destitute, and generally loo Is
after them until they have learned the
ways of the country and become able
to shift for themselves. '
If the Immigrant Is a poor Frenchman,
the Bociete Francalse de BlenfaJsanc
takes hold of him. This society runs sj ,
bureau of Immigration which directs
French Immigrants upon arrival and ro
turns to France those remaining a charge:
upon the society. There is a similar 1
Belgian organization the Societe Beige da
Bicnfalsance. Needy Spaniards are as-,
sisted by tho Eocledad Espanole de Benefl- I
cencla; poor Germans by the Deutsche
Gosallschaft, the Deutsche Fraucn Verelni
and other societies; while the necessities
of Hungarian immigrants aro relieved by, '
the Magyar Tarsulat (Hungarian associa
tion). The St Andrew's. St. David's and;
St. George's societies look after distressed
Scotsmen, "Welshmen and Englishmen, re
spectively, the first named society, founded
fn 1756, being the oldest of its kind in
the United States. Tho Swiss Benevolent
society Is tho only Immigrant helping
institution In the United States whioh 13
officially supported by its native govern-
ment Besides voluntary contributions '
from the charitably inclined, it receives
large donations from the Swiss Confed
eration. In addrtlon to the soclties already men
tioned, there are others maintained for
Austrlans, Russians, Roumanians, Gall
eJans, Canadians, Danes, Swedes, Nor
wegians, Irishmen, German Catholics, Ger
man Lutherans, Cubans, Japanese, Chinese:
and even Syrians and Armenians. All
these societies are essentially national la
their character and are conducted and
supported by men who were immigrants
themselves not so long ago.
The idea underlying the working of most
ef the societies is to make good Americans
out of the Immigrants of their own race.
They usually announce this object without
the slightest hesitation and do not lose
support among the people of theJr nan
tlonaJity by so doing.
The Armenian Union of America, for
example, exists to unite tho Armenians
scattered throughout the United States
and to Inculcate principles of patriotism
and loyalty to their adopted country, be
sides providing for the Bfck and needy. !
The Syrian society provides educational .
and Industrial Institutions for all Syrian
and Arabic-speaking Immigrants, teaches '
them English and prepares their chil
dren to enter the public schools. The
St. Raphael's Italian Benevolent society,
over which Archbishop Farley presides,
exhorts Italian immigrants "to love and
honor this hospitable land by faithful and
honest work and to respect its laws."
The Baron de HIrsch fund, which exists
for the benefit of Russian, Roumanian
and Gallclan Hebrew immigrants, alms, ac
cording to Its own declaration "to Amer
canizs and assimilate the immigrants
with the masses by teaching them to be
come good citizens and to prevent by
all proper means their congregating in
large cities." The elementary lessons in
Kngllsh given in Its day and night schools
explain the constitution of the United
States and cultivate patriotism and loyalty
to the Stars and Stripes.
The tremendous immigration of Italians
Into America in recent years, especially
through the port of New York, has placed
an exceptionally heavy burden upon the
Italians and Italian-Americana already
resident In this country. They are bearing
It nobly. Rich and poor alike contribute
to the support of many societies which
look after the immigrants when they land,
supply their needs, find them work nnd
protect them from imposition. Chief amonj?
these worthy organizations are the Society
for the Protection of Italia l Immigrants
and the Italian Benevolent Institute, both
of which, unlike most other Italian te
cletles, are national in their character and
the scope of their work. Their efforts for
the benefit of the immigrants have been
gratefully acknowledged by the Italian
government, and ihe Benevolent institute
has received a personal ' of 2l),000 liie
04,000) from the king of Italy. Unlike
Russia and some other countries, Italy
takes a kindly interest in the welfaro of
Its sons who come to America.
"Almost all of the Italian Immfipants
are very Ignorant, very childlike nnd
wholly unfamiliar with the ways, customs
and languages of this country," said I;Jlot
Norton, president of tho FoclWy for the
Protection of Italian Immlgrauts. "They
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ZOKXNG ASTXR IMMIGRANTS ON THK WHABJV
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PINNINO AN ADDRESS TAG ON A
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friendly asaistance from the moment
of debarkation. Those who go Into the
Interior of the country aiel to be helped
In getting on the right train, without losing
their way or money; while thoso coming
to New York need guidance to their des
tination and, while going there, protection
from sharps, crooks and dlshoneo-t runners,
and thereafter to have advice and employ
ment" The society over which Mr. Norton pre
sides is one of the most cnergjtlo of Its
kind. It needs to be, for Italy contributes
the largest total of immigrants to Amer
ica nowadays, and the number Is in
creasing every year. A description of the
working of this powerful Italian society
will give an insight into that of the other
national organizations, which operate along
much the same lines.
The society's agents wait at the Immigra
tion stations for steamers carrying immi
grants, for whom they immediately act ns
Interpreters and friendly advisers in their
troubles with the Immigration officials.
With immigrants who have friends waiting
for them the society's agents do not con
cern themselves, for they have enough to
do for the others, who have not the slight
est Idea whither they are going.
They tell such helpless creatures how to
communicate with their relatives in the
country, how to get food, how to buy their
railroad tickets, how best to get to their
destinations without losing time or money.
In short, they do for them, In President
Norton's words, "what ' travelers in a
strange country have always wanted done
for them since the beginning of the world"
and Italian immigrants, It miuit be re-
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,'1 IMMIGHANT BEFRIENDED BT AN AGENT OF THE ITALIAN SO-
membered, ore tho most Ignorant and timid
kind of travelers.
"Great abuses were formerly practiced
upon immigrants In New York City by
boarding house runnors," euld President
Norton. "These runners would take an Im
migrant to a destination to which ho did
not want to go, whtre, on one pretext or
another, he would be made to pay vurlous
sums of money.
"As a preliminary fee for taking him to
his destination they would extort $2 or J3,
and sometimes even go so far us to force
Mm by compulsion of one kind or another
to pay a so-called immigration tax of $1.
Then they would force a further payment
of from 60 cents to $1 for finally taking tho
Immigrant where he wanted to go.
"These frauds used to be of daily occur
rence and they were not confined to the
Immigrants who landed In New York.
Italians were landed at Boston by the
Dominion line every week or so, and sent
on to New York by rail, arriving at the
Grand Central station unually early in the
morning. Thore they were pounced upon
by the same body of runners who infested
the New York Largo ofllce and were robbed
of their money in the manner already do
scribed." Tho society has changed all this by es
tablishing an "escort service," which takes
the immigrants in hand and guides them
to their proper destination for a nomlmii
fee. During tho first two years and a half
of the working of this escert service nearly,
8,000 friendless Immigrants have been pro
vided for at an average coat of 32 cents
apiece, as against at least 11 which lmnd
grants were formerly forced to pay by,
sharpers.
Immigrants bound for places in remote
sections of tho country frequently land In
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