council meetings to protest against the noise made by the gas works, to complain of the condition of some road, or to ask damages, as in one case for a strawberry patch which had been walked over when the road was blocked with snow. Few Italians have held official positions, which is due to the youth of educated Italians. On one occasion (in 1896) the nominating caucus mentioned Italians for councilmen, overseer of highways, and overseer of the poor, but they were not elected. One prominent Italian of the second generation has been a constable for several years; another has been assessor. Three have been called on county juries. An Italian was placed on a recent coroner's jury, in a case where two Italians were killed by the railroad; Italians have also acted as jurors in civil cases. One of the freeholders of Atlantic County is an Italian, and he serves on the standing committees for country roads and release of prisoners-he is not a resident of Hammonton, however. An Italian of the second generation serves as one of the election clerks and also as commissioner of appeals for taxes.

The Italians of Hammonton show themselves to be a social people, with simple and natural tastes; their love of home and children is healthful. They are ignorant, primitive, and childlike, but their faults will largely be mended by education and contact with good American customs. Their courtesy, gentleness, and love of outdoor life and simple pleasures are actual contributions to American life. The country environment seems to develop their better qualities and they take a normal part in the life of the community.

THE SECOND GENERATION.

Throughout the foregoing pages frequent mention has been made of the rapid improvement in efficiency, manners, and customs which the second generation of Italians of Hammonton is making. Comprehensive information upon this point is, however, difficult to obtain, but the facts of improvement can be generally observed, without the possibility of quantitative statement. In one field, however, and that the most important, conclusive evidence of improvement is available. Facts regarding school children are valuable and easily comparable with other statistics, and this study of the second generation of Italians will, therefore, be confined to children of school age. A summary of urban surroundings of Italian immigrants will emphasize the contrast between city and country environments.

The conditions resulting from the massing of immigrants in large cities have brought us face to face with all the serious problems of

immigration, and no race has been more affected than the Italians, the physical degeneration among them being so great that the Italian Government has been considering some remedy for the evil. To whatever city they go Italians are housed in the most insanitary and ill-built quarters, and in New York City they live on the top floors of old tenements, reached by dark, dirty halls and rickety stairways, with often no water except from a hydrant in the yard; with large families and even lodgers crowded into two or three small rooms, some of which, if not windowless, have no outlet except into an airshaft or into rooms which have in some cases been occupied by tenants suffering from tuberculosis, or which are used as workshops as well as living rooms. In cities where tenements do not exist the Italians, always seeking the cheapest houses, are found in the neglected buildings deserted by former tenants. In New Orleans they are found in the old French quarter; in Chicago, in the frame cottages of the frontier city, with the rear and side tenements that fill the original open spaces; in Philadelphia, in the ill-lighted houses along small courts. and narrow streets. Overcrowding is prevalent everywhere, the small houses intended for one family being often sublet to several families, while only the most primitive bathing and washing facilities are provided. Surface drainage, scattered garbage, bad smells, and insanitary and filthy conditions are present in the Italian quarters in 'every city. The food consists of fruits and vegetables rejected from better markets, flour paste, pork (too much of which is consumed), wine, beer, and cordials. Little children are seldom fed milk, but share the food of the adults.

The effect of bad housing and overcrowding is first apparent in the health of the women and children. The women, who have been accustomed to an outdoor life, fall easy victims to tuberculosis, bronchial troubles, indigestion, and other disorders, which also affect the health of their infants; rickets is a common disease. There is no

opportunity for fresh air to counteract the dirt and lack of proper care for little children, and many children die. The agents of a life insurance company advise against insuring without medical examination children under four years of age. Bad food, accidents, sweat shops, and bronchial diseases impair the health and undermine the constitutions of the second generation.

The moral effects resulting from city conditions are still more serious. Children have no playgrounds but the street, and the street associations, as well as their own overcrowded quarters and contact with other tenement-house inmates, too often make them familiar with many forms of vice; the boys grow beyond the control of their parents, who are unable to impart the sterling virtues they have brought with them; child labor in its worst forms is made possible.

Newsboys are Italians in many cases, and little children are found in sweat shops and factories. Nowhere do the children come in contact with Americans. In the schools, as the result of the segregation of nationalities, they are apt to be massed with their own people or other foreigners, and their English is a patois of the slums, a mixture of slang and broken English. The pressure of city life causes the children to leave school at an early age to go to work, consequently they do not have an opportunity to develop physically or mentally, or to measure themselves with Americans and try to emulate them. They are inhabitants of a "little Italy," which, as an environment for children, lacks some of the best features of the fatherland. In such an environment the benefit to be derived from American institutions is minimized by the evil accompaniments of the slums.

In contrast with this the influences molding the Italian children of Hammonton are: (1) The country environment; (2) the contact with Americans, and (3) the public schools. In Hammonton the Italians lead an outdoor life, and the women not only work in the fields, but wash, cook, and serve the meals out of doors. There is no abrupt transition from country to city life; their health is, therefore, generally good, and their children are robust. While the little children sometimes die from lack of proper care, the fresh air and cleanly surroundings increase a child's chances of life. The larger children are constantly out of doors, and the tasks that are imposed upon them are of a healthy nature and teach them to be useful. There are few shanties that can be converted into homes in Hammonton, and therefore, as already stated, new houses are built which are fresh, clean, and warm, with an adequate water supply, and there is consequently a constantly rising standard in regard to overcrowding. The food is largely obtained from the gardens; there is no opportunity to buy secondhand clothing from push carts, and, in fact, an Italian in a place like Hammonton makes a new start in life, with new possessions instead of being forced to use the leavings of his betters. While the children are kept busy, child labor in evil forms is impossible; the isolation of the homes prolongs the parents' control over the children, and with no vicious influences to intervene, the simple virtues of the Italian family life can take deeper root. Above all, the Italian child in Hammonton is an organic part of an American community. The Italian immigrant and his children work for Americans, they buy at the same stores, they meet them on the street, they have them for neighbors, and, most important of all, Italian and American children sit side by side in the schoolroom. The public school is one hopeful feature in city life, but it has an added value in Hammonton, because in a country place all American children attend the public school, and as a result the schools are as good as the community can afford.

The location of Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, with its high assessment values, gives the county a generous school fund, and within the past ten years the increasing number of Italian children in Hammonton has required new buildings and more teachers. The school law of New Jersey provides a State appropriation for every additional child or teacher, and accordingly the large number of Italian children is not considered a burden but rather a help to the town in obtaining better school facilities. The Italians, moreover, pay a fair share of the taxes. Hammonton has a large central school, consisting of three well-equipped buildings, containing all the grades from the kindergarten through the four years of high school, and in addition, there are seven suburban schools. The country children who attend the suburban schools have no opportunity to go to the kindergarten, but when they reach the fifth grade they are transferred to the central school. The board of education is composed of some of the leading men in the town, the president of the board being the leading manufacturer in the locality, and the superintendent, who has been in charge since 1898, is a progressive educator. The teachers, as a rule, have had experience and training. Commercial courses have recently been introduced into the high school.

In 1903 the superintendent took a school census of the town, with a view to enforcing the compulsory feature of the school law, and while the figures are necessarily not complete(") the results as they stand are of interest. Of the 400 families visited (') 242 were Italian. Of the total of 1,340 children 1,294 were of school age, and of these 645 were boys and 649 girls. Two hundred and ninety-nine boys and 318 girls were non-Italians and 346 boys and 331 girls were Italians. The preponderance of boys among the Italians is noticeable.

The present school enrollment (1906-7) shows how the Italian children are distributed through the grades. There are 1,155 children enrolled, 712 in the central schools and 443 in the suburban schools. The table following shows the total enrollment and the number and per cent of Italian children in the various grades of the central schools and in the district schools of Hammonton.

a A large number of children under 4 years were included, and a few above 16 years. As usual the Italians are enumerated from names, which method occasionally causes

error.

b The average number of children to a family was 2.29 for non-Italians and 2.71 for the Italians. The largest Italian family contained 10 children, the largest non-Italian 8. Of families of 6 children or over there were 13 non-Italian and 28 Italian; of 5 children, 15 non-Italian and 25 Italian; of 4 children, 20 non-Italian and 36 Italian; of 3 children, 62 non-Italian and 51 Italian, and of 2 children, 60 non-Italian and 54 Italian.

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF ITALIAN CHILDREN ENROLLED IN THE HAMMONTON

a The large proportion of girls is due to the fact that in several families of mixed parentage the children are all girls who are just of high-school age.

According to the above table the proportion of Italian children in the central schools in the grades below the high school ranged from 50 per cent in the senior primary grade to only 5.3 per cent in the seventh grade. Few Italians are found in the upper grades, the children usually leaving at the end of the fifth grade. So far only one boy and one girl have been graduated from the high school. The enrollment of Italians in the district schools ranged from 62.5 to 100 per cent of all the children and averaged 85.3 per cent for the seven schools. This shows a marked tendency for the suburban schools to become almost entirely Italian, due not only to the increase in the number of Italian children, but to the removal of Americans to the town and to the growing up of the children of the early American settlers. One new schoolhouse was built in 1902 to accommodate a district recently built up by Italians, and as their children go later to the central school this segregation of these children in the suburban schools is not disadvantageous.

The longer the Italians remain in the community the more they learn to value education, especially for boys. One Italian expressed