Italians? The Americanized Italian who has found America quite to his taste and consequently has learned to live according to American standards knows well enough what to do with his money and where to put it. Though the Italian has become thoroughly Americanized, traces of the old soil still cling to him. The Americanized Italian may have American-born children, but even these children develop an unconscious love for Italy which is easy to perceive. Living in America and earning American wages have made the Italian and descendants loyal to their adopted country. Yet try as they will, they cannot eradicate the instincts that have been carried down through the ages and incorporated in their very heart-beats. They are forced to sympathize with their fellow-countrymen by the intense feelings of their ardent natures which, once aroused, are hard to quench. This indomitable love for their own kind causes them to trade in stores, of which Italians are the proprietors.

The same tendency is even more apparent in their habit of banking. The country is dotted with countless Italian banks. One of these small foundations has developed into a large chain of banks operated by a kind and understanding Italian-American.

Many of the smaller Italian banks receive money from their depositors only to turn it over to this larger institution for safe-keeping. There are also a few ambitious Italians whose aim is to found more chain banks and thereby increase banking facilities for their depositors. In spite of the fact that they deposit their money in banks, poor Italians hope some day to own their own homes. This is another instinct born of their original soil. Home to the Italian is his altar of rest as the church is his altar of hope.

Every young, old, or middle-aged Italian desires above everything else a home of his own. Italians save money with this end in view. Since they do not believe in installments, they prefer to save a large sum first and then buy land or a house outright. In many cases they prefer to buy land, knowing well that Mother Earth is their safest bet, and that she will give them food besides a home. The farming instinct, too, is pre-eminently characteristic of the Italian. To save a certain sum and then buy land with it is what nine hundred and ninety-nine Italians out of a thousand do or hope to do some day. Mother Earth can never fail them. If they cannot build a house right away, they can get potatoes, corn, and cabbages out of the soil and thereby subsist. Thrift is second nature to the Italian; he can very often afford to buy real estate outright, but if he cannot, he pays off his mortgage scrupulously and exactly. To him a home is safer than a bank account. It means 3more. Land doubles the value of a bank-book. So the Italian chooses a home first and then looks around for a convenient friendly bank in which to deposit his savings. But, although he has been in the United States for twenty years, he will always choose a place where he can tread on familiar ground, one with Italian characteristics.

It is not his own doing but his innate subconscious love for the land of his ancestors, which can never die.