ate; so are the Italians. The Irish came mainly from
agricultural sections and herded in the great cities; so do the
Italians. The handy weapon of the Irish was the shillalah, that of the
Italian is the stiletto. The Irish found ready employment by reason of
the demand for cheap unskilled labor created by the vast material
enterprises of a swiftly developing country, with cities and towns and
railroads to build; this work is done by the Italians now, and they are
commonly conceded to be in many respects better at the job. Here is a
sample of the kind of testimony frequently given concerning them as
workers:[53]

[Sidenote: Good Workers]

"I have learned to be cautious in comparing races. I find good, bad,
and indifferent people in all races. But I dissent from the current
notion that the southern Italian is so much inferior to the northern. As
a people there is more illiteracy among them; but when he goes to school
the southern Italian holds his own with the northern. Another fact of
promise is that Italians have not lost the spirit of service. They are
good workmen. Not long since, asking a contractor who was building a
sewer in the city why he had only Italians in his employ, he replied,
'Because they are the best workmen, and there are enough of them. If an
Italian down in that ditch has a shovelful of earth half way up when the
whistle blows for dinner, he will not drop it; he will throw it up; the
Irishman and the French-Canadian will drop it. And when the lunch hour
is over, when the clock strikes the Italian will be leaning on his
shovel ready to go to work, but the Irishman will be out under that tree
and he will be three minutes getting to his job, and three minutes each,
for 150 men, is not a small item. The Italian does not regard his
employer as his natural enemy. He has the spirit of kindly service."

[Sidenote: Cheerful and Responsive]

The writer can confirm this from personal observation. The Italians are
cheerful workers, and on hand ten to fifteen minutes before the hour to
begin work. They relish a kind word, and can give lessons in politeness
to many an American-born. Ask anyone brought in contact with them and
you will get the same testimony.

[Sidenote: Flower of the Peasantry]

According to Adolfo Rossi, Supervisor of the Italian Immigration
Department, who is deeply interested in the proper distribution and
welfare of his countrymen in America, these immigrants are the flower of
the labori