For one to realize and appreciate the difference between those of the Iberic and those of the Aryan stock. let him go just one daystravel from southern into northern Italy. I spent nearly a week In Sicily. circling the entire island. and stopping at several of the important cities. Moie than 55 per cent of the immigrants from southern Italy. including Sicily. over 14 years of age. can not read even their own language. We saw a ship in which a large number of those south Italians were embarking for this country. and on one of the decks was a basket full of knives. On asking what it meant. we were told by one of the officers of the ship that they had to take the knives away from the emigrants for fear they would carve each other up on their voyage. . Gentlemen. do you believe that that kind of people will build up our country or advance its civilization? In northern Italy we found intelligence. progress. and comparative prosperity. Italy has a compulsory system of education. but in the southern portion it is entirely ignored. while in the northern portion it. is enforced. and as a result only about 10 per cent of the immigrants that come from that section of the Kingdom are illiterate. It can not be said that oppressive laws make this difference. for here are people living under the same king. governed by the same laws. and enjoying the same civil and religious rights. and yet mark the difference. It can be explained on no other theory than that of racial difference.
Identified stereotypes
South Italians are prone to violence and are uneducated.