Laughter, song, discussion, exchange of epithet, but no
disturbance. They mind their own business as no other nation, and carry
it to the point of crime when they protect the criminal."[73]
[Sidenote: Possibilities of Uplifting]
This is testimony directly from life and has especial value. It reveals
the difficulties, and at the same time the possibilities, of reaching
and Americanizing these immigrants, who are better than their
surroundings, and promising if properly cared for.
[Sidenote: Sources of Degradation]
The impression that steadily deepens with observation and study is that
of the evil and degrading surroundings. Not only are there the evil
moral influences of overcrowding, but also the contact with elements of
population already deteriorated by a generation of tenement house life.
The fresh arrivals are thrown into contact with the corrupt remnants of
Irish immigration which now make up the beggars, drunkards, thugs, and
thieves of those quarters. The results can easily be predicted. The
Italian laboring population is temperate when it comes to this country;
but under the evil conditions and influences of the tenement district
disorderly resorts have been opened, and drinking and other vices are
spreading.
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