PROPERTY OWNED.

About 80 per cent of the Italians own farms, 50 per cent of these places being free from incumbrances, while the other 50 per cent still have small mortgages. Bank officials consider these notes gilt-edged securities and take them without question. It is estimated that the foreigners own about 6,000 acres of land, having a total valuation of $150,000 to $180,000. Many of the Italians have bank accounts and use the banks both as a means of investment and also as a convenience in business. The Italians receive their pay for berries by check, and this has caused them to take more interest in banking than is usual with foreigners living in agricultural districts.

The following table shows in a comparative way the value of property brought to the locality by the heads of families, the net value of the property now owned, and the number of years since first lease. or purchase. Three came to the locality with less than $50; at present one has $500 and under $1,000, the second has property valued between $1,500 and $2,500, and the third has between $2,500 and $5,000. Two Italians came with property valued between $50 and $100 and now one has $500 and under $1,000 and the second has between $1,000 and $1,500. Of the entire number investigated only one is found to have lost money in this locality, and two have as yet not increased the property that they first brought.

Office furniture (including comptometer).
Chattanooga berry crates (quarts) not sold..

$397.00 4, 274. 03

$9,877.26

5, 692. 10

Which, deducted from the above, leaves in the treasury

Out of that amount must be reserved for expenses to be incurred and for running office this coming year, say

For salary of president to August, 1911, at $75...

$ 900.00

Which, deducted from the above, will leave in the treasury....

2, 842. 10

Which can be divided among the stockholders, proportionately to the amount of berries shipped by them, being in this case, about [one] cent per crate, or one share of stock for every hundred crates shipped.

48296°-VOL 21-11-19

TABLE 55.- Value of property brought to Independence by South Italians, net value of property now owned, and number of years since first lease or purchase.

As stated previously the Italian farmers at Independence keep but little live stock. Only 6 of the 17 investigated kept a cow, and none of these had more than 6. A total of 18 cows, 21 horses, and 7 mules were reported by these farmers. In most cases a farmer has either a horse or a mule, which he utilizes to haul the crops to town. The average value of the animals were reported to the Commission to be as follows: Cows $25, horses $87, mules $64.

When the Italians first came to Independence they used to send a large amount of their money back to Italy for investment, but of late years they seem to be satisfied with investments nearer home. From November, 1906, to September, 1907, 168 international orders were issued to Italy. During the year September, 1907, to September, 1908, 98 orders were issued, and from September, 1908, to June, 1909, only 18 orders were issued, showing a decrease of nearly 86 per cent in the number of international money orders from Hammond postoffice in three years. Many have increased their land holdings and all of them have invested some of their money in buildings and other improvements about their places.

The Italians are spoken of as being highly industrious, energetic, and thrifty. During the berry season men rise before daylight, take a mouthful to eat, and proceed to the strawberry patch, ready to begin as soon as the berries can be distinguished from the leaves. The women soon follow and then the children, and picking is continued as long as the daylight lasts. The Italian never seems to grow tired, and it is his characteristic capacity for hard, monotonous work that has enabled him to make such headway in this region.

STANDARD OF LIVING.

The houses of the Independence Italians are small, the majority being carelessly built, and the interiors roughly finished. They are generally frame buildings and contain two or three small rooms. They are loosely put together and form a shelter, but that is all. The sheds and barns are small and roughly constructed, for, as a rule, little money is spent by the Italians on their buildings. There is nothing about the place to suggest cleanliness, and speaking generally the Italians are not neat or tidy. Little furniture is seen in the homes; kitchen stoves are sometimes used, but much of the cooking is done out of doors. Three sticks

placed in a triangular position, from which is suspended a large iron kettle affords a means of boiling water for washing and for cooking meats, vegetables, and soups. This cooking arrangement as well as the Italian oven is found at the rear of nearly every Italian home. The oven, set up about 24 feet from the ground, is oval in shape and is built of cement, stones, and bricks. In these the Italians bake their round loaves of hard bread once a week. Iron beds are occasionally found in their homes, but anything is used to sleep on, even a pile of straw on the floor in the corner of a room.

Their gardens contain corn, cabbage, potatoes, peppers, onions, and several other varieties of vegetables. These, together with tomatoes, chickens, eggs, and goat's milk, all of which come from their own farms, constitute the regulation diet.

The women are a great help, and children of all ages work in the fields. It seems to be a rule that the larger the family the more acres to be found in berries. The women are as expert in the picking of berries as the men and it takes a child only a few days to become proficient in the work.

In dress the Italians have become very fully Americanized. Their hats, suits, and shoes are all American products, though the women still like to make their dresses of bright red or blue cloth.

They seem to give little thought to the health of their children, and yet the youngsters are comparatively healthy, according to statements made by the local physician. The locality in itself is very healthful, the air is pure and clear, and good artesian water is easily secured. Malaria yields readily to treatment in this region, but the Italians usually bring it upon themselves by working out of doors in all kinds of weather. Rheumatism is a rare ailment, and in respect to other diseases the immigrant colony seems to differ little from the natives.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT.

There is little chance for outside employment. The berry crop pays so well that little other produce is raised after this is harvested. There are no industries that could use extra hands, and as there are no new railroads under construction the residents have little opportunity for wage-earning in the immediate vicinity. Ten miles south is a sawmill where some of the Italians find employment. A few go to New Orleans after the strawberry crop is harvested and find work in various unskilled occupations. Perhaps there is no colony visited of the size of this one where fewer of the farmers or the members of their families earn so little by supplementary occupations. Of course many are engaged in clearing, breaking, and ditching new uncleared land, but on the whole this strict confinement to the purely agricultural operations on their own holdings argues well for the profitableness of specialized agriculture and the character of the Independence Italian farming.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS.

The Italians here seem to care but little for any amusement in town, preferring to congregate at the close of the day's work to smoke, talk, and listen to the playing of some stringed instrument by one of their fellow-workers. On Sunday the work garments are

put off and the men, women, and children all dress themselves in their best and start for church. It is at this time that one can see how little resemblance there is between the clothes they are now wearing and those worn by their countrymen in Europe. The church forms the social center. The congregation comes early and stays long after the benediction has been pronounced. Sunday afternoon is the time for visiting, and frequently six or seven different families meet at one house to listen to the violin and guitar and to have a frolic. One small benefit society of 40 members cailed the Societo Mutuo Beneficienzo Liberto has been organized by the Italians. Each member pays 50 cents a month, and at his death his family receives $25. Meetings of this society are held once a month.

In a business way the Italian associates with the American, but in no other. With rare exceptions the Italians patronize his own merchant in preference to an American. When the Italian has money he will always go to the store of his fellow-countrymen, but when he is short of cash he goes to the American. No reason seems to be advanced for this except that the Italian prefers to ask credit from an American rather than from an Italian.

Socially no chance is offered the Italian to mingle with the natives, and it is doubtful whether he would accept the opportunity were it offered. He seems to prefer the society of his own race, though in the locality in which the Italians live there are several American farms. However, it is only a question of time when the Americans will sell out and leave the Italians in undisputed possession.

At first there was considerable prejudice against the Italians, due largely to the fact that they were foreigners; any race would have met the same prejudice. Even now there is a slight prejudice. Few people advance any reason for this feeling except the one above mentioned that the Italians are foreigners. Of course the race riots and so-called Black Hand disturbances at New Orleans have been unfavorable to Italian immigration, and "welcome to the Italian" is rather a forced sentiment as yet. The merchants say that though the Italians have money, and some of them plenty of it, they are not as good spenders as the Americans, and leave nowhere nearly as much money with them as do the negroes.

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS.

The Italians are all Roman Catholics, and a Catholic Church was built about twelve years ago jointly by the Italians and the Americans of the Catholic belief. The present priest has been in the United States only a short time, having come direct from Rome. The priest delivers his sermons in Italian, though there are some Americans in his congregation. Two regular services are held on Sunday and the regular feast days and Italian holidays are celebrated.

EDUCATIONAL CONDITIONS.

Most of the children attend the public school in the village. Seven teachers are employed and ten or eleven grades are maintained. School opens about the 15th of August and closes in March, coincident with the opening of the berry season. During the past year

there was an average attendance of 270 pupils, and of this number nearly 200 were of Italian parentage. The Italian pupils are said to dress like the American children. They are bright, quick to learn, and prompt in their attendance after the crops are harvested at home. The majority of the Italian children never reach the higher grades, as they are required to work steadily on the farm as soon as they are strong enough. The farm comes first, and the Italian parents have their first interest in their crops and a secondary interest only in the school; consequently the children's attendance is not as regular as it would be if the parents had more interest in the school and less in the labor of their little ones.

The following table shows the literacy of the persons studied who were 10 years of age or over. Of the total number 25 per cent are native-born and more than 75 per cent of this number can read and write English. Only half of the 75 per cent foreign-born can read and write, and of this number the greatest illiteracy is found among the women, only one woman being able to read and write to every

two men.

TABLE 56.-Literacy of persons 10 years of age or over, by sex and general nativity and race of individual.

In this community, out of 350 males of the voting age, not more than 20 men have availed themselves of the privilege of naturalization; therefore they have little power in politics and they care but little for local self-government. None of the Italians have ever held public offices. The Americans control the town, and they do little in the way of encouraging or helping the Italians to become naturalized. Of 13 foreign-born males reported who have been in the United States five years or over and who were 21 years of age or over at time of arrival, only two have secured their second papers, and none of the remaining 11 had even taken the first step toward naturalization. This tends to substantiate the statement that only a very few of the Italians here care for politics or citizenship. The Italians seem to intend to live in this country permanently, yet they have no leader who encourages them to secure the rights and prerogatives of citizenship.