Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/220

 204 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

These, then, are the principal reasons which account for the agglomeration of Italians in large cities. Suppressing them, the resulting evil will necssarily cease to exist.

The means best adapted to solving this problem would appear to be the formation of colonizing societies which should propose to found agricultural colonies composed of Italian peasants. It is well known that the greater part of the good arable land, once the property of the government, has been pre-empted, and has become the property of railroad companies and private indi- viduals ; but we are still far from the time in which all the good land will be under cultivation. Large areas await the hard and continued work of the laborer to be productive. As stated above, most of these lands belong to private corporations or individuals, and these should, in their own interests, favor the colonizing idea and aid in realizing it.

The work of the society would consist in locating the land, and in providing transportation, and other expenses incident to the placing of the laborer in working contact with the land. A fixed wage-rate might be advanced, or the peasant guaranteed the living of himself and family until such time as the land became productive. The ultimate aim of the colonizing society would be (a) to render the peasant proprietor of the land he has put under cultivation, or (b) to remain proprietor of the land and administer the agricultural plant it has established. In the second case, the society would pay the laborer wages, or rent the land, exacting a part of the harvest. The choice of either of these two plans should not prejudice the practicability of success. However, the first would appear to be better adapted to invoke the ready forma- tion of colonies. Should the second plan be preferred, and the obligation to provide for the needs of the laborers and the land remain for a time, the peasants could be treated as tenants, and tenants with long leases, rather than as wage-earners; for only in this way could they be permanently established and attached to the land.

It is certain that such a society, organized to place Italian immigrants to the best advantage, would be able to reap large profits upon the capital invested. The Italian peasant, if not the