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IESi'rtyit aw»»rgethatsingMice rent ling wan :»ih-om-■ 1)0 let-. Bled the ee,‘rt I ili.it iwu iem prl-. lt;).• re-naunaylavett ho .! OfhadI il.ilthe:or.hadnotuldlure• do i II pre-thati topaidoutron-lakehoseing-ireh, d to ago. card eady sip-iger. days 111(15,withaily I, at and are dieirten-orge feet | lt;’ w t. 8 Of p lu• his 0(1111 i. anuu-idun, ill I ip luti-• ea-h onlittle htt-s lie u beBald.auksJointirdlyorn-tiueh ring uday It It ! the _s ars a and the a red man. of a de-' re-rare k-pie train face larm catty Is a Ineas their mess face, out. )und. slim ilom-rried le ofMan-eightWestod tothe niple (Btera f the withPREFERRED BY FARMER.ITALIANS IN THE SOUTH. !i:(By Kevin Hanley Kelley. Ph. B.. D.I., lu Melbourne • Dally Mall.') HiThe writer of this article. Rev. Dr. |„ K. II. Kelley. Is living In Ingham, and for seven years has been in close j touch with the Italian population of tt the North. He la therefore In a post-tlon to speak with unusual uuihority on the question, and in the following article takes an impartial view of, the situation, arriving at iho eonclu-slon that the Australian workman Is opposed to the Italian solely because the latter la bo numerous In particular districts.Those who really know North Queensland are quite convinced of the two facts which, paradoxical as It may seem, are both correct und at the same time contradictory, due Is that the Influx of Italian ngricul turul laborers Is a good thing for Queensland, und the other is that there Is a great deal of feeling against the •‘Dago” und ull his works. Why?Right in tin* beginning another fact Is worth mentioning, more espe-lt; tally because tt is usually overlooked. And It is tills: Anyone who is preferred to ourselves, who gets employment we would like ti» have, raises our Jealousy and consequently our resentment.It is only the unthinking who do not. look upon the Italian residents of North Queensland with favor. Allthose who have tlui true Interest of our country at heart see not king but good In their coming and in their crowding i«» the open spacer of the North. To si lt;• that attitude Is the result of only ordinary •ommonHouso, does not require mon. than a moment's reflection. What North Queensland wants- In common with the whole of Australia for that matter -is a rapid increase ol population. Our industries are barely struggling along, ami the secondary Industries, especially, will never increase very much until they have the support of about ten times the number of customers they at present command.Now. whatever may be one’s personal opinion of Italians, there is no question or the fact that they do come iu considerable numbers, they do populate and fill up the empty spaces, and they do become very large consumers us well as producers. And from that point of view they are u distinct asset to the country. And because one does usually discourage. and certainly never Insult. those whom one wishes tn have about the place, any sensible Queens-lander encourages und extends a decent courtesy to our Italian immigrants. A crowded, or at least a comfortably settled. North Queensland inukes u good market for Australian-made flannel shirts, olive oil. and beer, to say nothing of the hundred-and-one other young industries which will find Customers amongst the despised residents of tiio North.It is only natural. If any of us sees an influx of hundreds of men who are eager and ready to take our jobs we can hardly be expected to bo on a committee of welcome when the Influx comes. Less still will wo be pleased if we know the newcomers aro looked on with favor by those who give uh our Jobs.The Italian is not hated on account of his nationality, because Cier-mans and Swedes urc peacefully signed on In the gangs at Tully. He Ih not opposed on account of his class, or creed, or his liberality or lack of it. or anything else, because the Australian workman does not interfere with those things in any man. He is opposed simply and solely because he Is so many. and. perhaps, because the unions have not been able to organise him sufficiently to give themselves confidence in him in lime of need.The Italian, nevertheless. Is not liked by muny of those whom he comes in contact with, ami for that there must be a reason. Further south one gotH the impression that : the feeling against the Italian is unanimous. That is not so. The feeling Is quite restricted to those whom the Italian comes into competition with In tin* labor market.Racial distrust, I should say, ac- I counts for some of the feeding against all the Immigrants from Southern Europe, Racial distrust Is something which has been grafted on to our characters for various reasons, some of which are not quite credible either to us or to those who did the grafting.It must be a very comforting feeling to those who are satisfied with Professor Stoddurt's «lu-sslfication of the human race, and who can believe In the superiority of the Nordic specimen. Personally, 1 have met Just as many Nordic scoundrels as any other variety, so I am not easily comforted.Apart from racial distrust, which is a blind sort of thing at best, them Ih the question of racial differences and outlooks. This Is a very definite thing. Wo and our forebeun Iiuve looked at life from one angle, and the Italians for centuries have had quite u different outlook. There is no question of one being right and the other wrong; they are simply different. Still these differences are very real, and must not be lost sight of. if one wishes tn form a correct view of things as they are up here. Take the cxumplo of the ’‘Influx'* to Innis-fail. There our men were too deeply occupied, about 20 years ago. In lighting for higher wages to bother about saving them up. The Italiun. who was not concerned with the struggle for better conditions, was benefiting all the time and Investing his savings In the beautiful rich lands of that district.Now. antipathy arising from these sources can be understood. It Is more difficult to understand the attitude or various Southern papers which occasionally spread themselves in some form of anti-Italian propaganda. Personal feolings of national exclusiveness are more easy to under-stuud. It seems that the only explanations must bo found in the fact that these papers are most concerned in catering for a depraved race hatred, i
Newspaper Details
Mackay Daily Mercury
Mackay, Queensland, AU
Mon, Jul 04, 1927
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Philomena H.
CA 04 Oct 2021
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