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foreign residential Jews have left the district Another gentleman,
a German Jew, in a large way of business gave me the same information.
There are some dozen or more Jewish firms who have
courteously given me information which shows that in some cases
Jewish firms are employing practically no Jews, and in other cases
many Jews. Taking ten such firms haphazard I find 200 Jews and
Jewesses employed out of 1,100 employes. The chief trades in these
ten are feather cleaning, tobacconists, furriers, skin dyers, mantle
and blouse makers, and stick manufacturers. Many of these Jewish
firms are among the most prosperous in the Borough, and maintain
a very high sanitary standard in every way. If anything, I should
say that they were in advance of some neighbouring English firms.
This remark does not apply to small Jewish workshops, which are
not exceptional in this respect, and are more liable in some degree
to overcrowding. It should be added that the larger firms in
Finsbury, whether managed by "Christians" or "Jews," are
maintained at rather a particularly high standard of sanitation.
This is partly due to the fact that they deal in clothing, fine articles
and food preparations, which necessitates great cleanliness for
success of the trade.
Social Characters of Aliens.—In respect of the Italians,
it may be said generally they are in some ways superior to a similar
class of English persons in the same district. They take, for
example, more care of their children as regards cleanliness, feeding,
training, clothing, etc. The Italian children are healthier than
their English neighbours, and suffer less from rickets and zymotic
disease. It is difficult to produce figures, but there is no doubt at
all that, per thousand births, the infant mortality amongst Italians
in London is much less than amongst a similar class of English in
the same district. This may be attributed partly to the personal
care of the children themselves, and partly to the habits of the
parents. For example, the Italians are more sober and abstemious.
There is less alcoholism and less grinding poverty, and so there is
less child sickness, for the children are the first to suffer from such
conditions. Again, the home conditions, with the exception of
overcrowding, are more favourable. The interiors of the rooms
and houses inhabited by Italians are fairly clean, sometimes