much less a bank book, but a slip of paper on which only the sum deposited is written. After several deposits and withdrawals have been made it commonly happens that the figuring of the banker does not agree with that of the customer. Since the latter is generally unable to read, it is easy for the banker to persuade him that he is mistaken. In any case a mistake can not be rectified after the customer leaves the bank. The profit remains with the banker, and the other, childlike as he is, soon forgets all about the possible injury done him. In exchanging money, both for immigrants and emigrants, dishonesty on the part of the banker is very common, but not easily detected on account of the ignorance of the average Italian. A third transaction which must be described is that of remitting money to Italy. No complaint is made because bankers allow themselves a liberal fee for this service. But it sometimes happens that the money never reaches its destination. Yet the banker retains a reputation for honesty, for did he not give the customer back 50 cents or a dollar, saying that it represented the exchange (cambio), and that he would not be guilty of taking more than his dues? Or, if this excuse is too threadbare, the banker may say that the steamer carrying the mails has foundered, or, better, he blames the American post-office, against which he will at once bring suit for the recovery of the loss. It is, in fact, a part of the policy of the Italian banker to instill suspicion of American officials into the minds of his countrymen for the purpose of retaining their trade. Few of the bankers are licensed to conduct an employment office, still this is generally one of their most important occupations. As notaries they find opportunity for charging all sorts of imaginary fees under the pretense that so much must be paid for registro, protocollo, and the bollo scrittura. Their legal advice is either of a selfish nature or else plain humbug. They are, of course, not members of the bar. The services of the banker as a peacemaker are sometimes sought, or he may be said to sit as a kind of justice of the peace. Finally, the banker is the one man who can furnish bail when one of his countrymen is arrested. Some establisments have a fixed tariff for giving bail or going on bonds. An instance was discovered in which $100 had been charged for furnishing bail to the amount of $200. It is an old story that several Italian bankers have no other purpose than that of waiting until they have accumulated large deposits, when they abscond, leaving no trace behind them. In order to draw customers, they promise an unusual rate of interest (in a recent instance 12 per cent), while they stipulate that no deposits shall be withdrawn within a specified time. During the progress of this investigation two bankers in New York left for parts unknown, taking with them, so it was reported, over $50,000 in workmen's wages. The affair created hardly a stir. No effort was made to find the defaulters, and they left no bondsmen who could make good the losses. The apprehension and conviction of a defaulting Italian banker is an exceedingly rare occur

rence.

There is a class of bankers in New York occupying a still lower level than the one described. Their places are the haunts of the most degraded of their countrymen. The laborer is always made welcome there. A back room is reserved where he may drink and gamble by day and sleep at night. To this chamber he may bring women. The banker gets rent from one and a share of the profits of the other. It is notorious that liquor is sold in these places seven days in the week. It is interesting to note that an Italian savings bank is about to be opened in New York under the auspices of certain bosses.

Statements relative to the vast sums sent out of this country through the medium of Italian banks should be taken with a grain of allowance for imaginative facts. The Senate Committee on Immigration, sitting in 1893, is said to have "developed" the fact that in an average year the Italian banks of New York send abroad from $25,000,000 to $30,000,000. It is known that other cities, even those in the immediate vicinity of New York, have their own Italian banks; furthermore, that the prominent Italian business man does not patronize the institutions on Mott and Mulberry streets. The vast sums mentioned must thus be taken to represent the earnings of laborers and small tradespeople. Assuming, therefore, that New York in 1892 contained 50,000 Italian wage earners, which would very nearly equal the total Italian population of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Newark together, according to the census of 1890, with no allowance for women and children, the average savings of these 50,000 would have to reach the sum of $500 per head annually in order to foot up the lesser of the two sums referred to. It is needless to say that the average gross earnings of the Italian in this country is much less than $500 per annum, let alone his possible savings.

Philadelphia has about twenty-five Italian banks. Most of them are to be sought in the so-called slum districts, on South Seventh street and near-by thoroughfares. In general character they are on a par with the better of the New York banks. One of them, a very uninviting place, advertises itself as representing two well-known strong banks under the control of the Italian Government (rappresentanti del Banco di Napoli e del Banco di Sicilia). A few years ago eight or nine of the bankers in Philadelphia defaulted at brief intervals. This gave a setback to the others and induced many Italians to trust their savings to American institutions. About 4,000 members of the colony are now stated to be regular depositors in ordinary savings banks.

The banking business carried on in the Italian colony of Boston has gained a good deal of notoriety through the attempts made at exposing its abuses. It, as well as conditions generally, is pictured as follows in a recent public appeal of the Italian Workmen's Aid Association of Boston, a society under the supervision of prominent Americans:

"There are more than 15,000 Italian residents of Boston. Of these the greater part consists of peasants from the country districts of

Italy, who are almost entirely unacquainted with the language and laws of our land. They are thus in a condition of such helplessness as makes them ready victims to the extortion and abuse of a small fraction of their number, who, under the pretense of finding them employment or of investing their savings and making transmittances of money to Italy, are simply robbing them and keeping them in squalor and misery. The former, as padrones or bosses, charge extortionate commissions whenever employment is provided, and sometimes even exact it without furnishing the work. The latter, under the name of bankers, demand extravagant rates for the transmission of money, and even then, in many cases, neglect to forward the sums that have been intrusted to them."

To meet the situation, the association just referred to opened a bank of its own. Thus far it has not been able to compete with the Italian banks on an equal footing, partly for lack of funds, which allow it to keep open at intervals, while the others are accessible at all times, especially on Sundays, the banking day par excellence, and partly because it has not yet won the necessary confidence of the Italians.

Of the majority of the Italian banks in Boston it is enough to say that they are neither better nor worse than those of the other cities. There are about twenty of them all told. Notwithstanding the many lessons had, the forgetful Italian continues to trust them with his all. Owing to the movement of the population and the fresh immigration, the least scrupulous of the bankers experience no difficulty in finding customers who have not yet learned their ways.

THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.

BY J. HOWARD GORE, PH. D., COLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY.

The conditions of existence in the Netherlands are such as to develop charitable impulses and the spirit of cooperation. Since the greater part of the land is below the level of the sea, the liability to loss of life and property from overflows engenders sympathy, for the fortunate who escaped this year may be the ones who next year will be compelled to ask for assistance. One person alone can not build a dike, neither can he check in time a threatened break. Labor, therefore, can never be selfish and individual. The lesson learned in the war with the sea becomes a guide in organizing the battle with competition, and guilds and corporations are the result.

It is, therefore, not surprising to find, with its headquarters in Amsterdam, a society for general welfare, whose members are taken from all classes, and whose purpose is "to advance general prosperity and to strive for the promotion of the intellectual, moral, and social condition of the people, especially by fostering education, by ennobling their concept of life, by increasing the earning capacity of the wage earner, and by enabling him to better enjoy the fruits of his labor."

The originator of the society was Jan Nieuwenhuizen, a pious exhorter (pastor) of Monnikendam. He set before himself the task of raising the moral, educational, and material standard of his fellow-citizens; to prepare them, as far as possible, for the enlarged citizenship, which he thought would soon be their portion. Together with his son Martinus, a physician, he founded in 1784 the society bearing the simple but comprehensive name, "Tot Nut van 't Algemeen" (for the welfare of all), having in view "the increase of knowledge, justice, and morality among the common people." He considered that equality had its basis in equal attainments; that without a clear conception of justice liberty would be a menace, and that universal brotherhood could not be recognized unless the claimant was morally beyond reproach. The economic and social conditions of Europe in general, rather than of the Netherlands in particular, formed the background against which this society stands out. Constitutional and social freedom dawned with the close of the eighteenth century; hence it was necessary to aid the people by precept and example in becoming qualified to enjoy this freedom. Freedom had been a precious word to the Dutch. They had inherited it from William the Silent, and their loss of all that the word meant during the reign of

some of his successors insured for the founders of this society a reverential hearing when they declared freedom to be an inalienable right of man; nor was there any open dissent when they added that "in the enjoyment of that freedom the immediate welfare of the people must be considered, and such instruction given to them as to make them capable of self-government." There was an intimation of the farreaching hopes of the society in the first article of the constitution, adopted in 1786, which read: "Anyone of whatsoever religious faith, wherever residing, and of whatever age, shall be eligible for membership in this society." In 1788 the words "religious faith" were changed into "Christian belief," with the intention to exclude thereby those of the Jewish faith. This restriction was ignored in 1864, and in 1888 the original article was reenacted.

The first society was organized at Edam in 1784, and in 1789 it removed to Amsterdam, when it announced as its purpose "to spread abroad good, popular, and cheap books, to improve the schools, and to reward deeds of valor and virtue." In the beginning it was difficult to outline clearly and definitely the way in which such purposes were to be carried out. Good books were not easily obtainable at this time. The scientific works were too technical to be understood by the "common man," and were also too expensive. Hence one of the first things to be done was to encourage the writing of such books as were wanted. To this end topics were proposed and a prize offered to the writer of the best essay or treatise submitted. The first subject proposed was "The existence of God." The essay to which was adjudged the first prize was of such merit that it was translated into other languages, and people outside of the Netherlands learned of the existence of this ambitious society. During the early years the subjects thus discussed included religion, morality, philosophy, oratory, natural science, history, manual training, agriculture, botany, medicine, chemistry, architecture, commerce, navigation, jurisprudence, vocal music, gymnastics, drawing, and music. These were followed by a variety of publications which bore directly upon the moral and social life of the people, written in a style comprehensible to all, and circulated by the society as widely as possible. This work was very important, coming as it did at a time. when the interest in such subjects was at a low ebb and the purchase and reading of books were restricted to the rich. The writings not only assisted in the development of the intellectual and moral character of the people, but in carrying the thoughts of the wisest and best thinkers into the homes of the less fortunate these little books helped to unify the people by making them better acquainted with the nation's language.

The founders fully realized that the greatest power of the society lay in its avowed purpose to extend education, and they asserted more than once that the education of the youth would give to the country men and women of culture. Just what the schools were at this period