108 the immigration problem 
countrymen’s funds. The responsibilities imposed 
upon those who act as bankers for the immigrants are 
so light as to make the assumption of that important 
office dependent upon no other qualification than the 
would-be banker’s ability to inspire the confidence of 
his compatriot, a matter which racial ties render com 
paratively easy. There are numerous instances where 
strangers have gone into communities and established 
themselves as steamship agents and foreign-exchange 
dealers. Their only qualification was that they were 
Italians among Italians, or Magyars among Magyars. 
The ease with which unscrupulous and dishonest 
individuals secure the savings of immigrants, often 
times the savings of a lifetime, has been recently 
shown in the case of Ponzi, of Boston, whose schemes 
for making millions in foreign exchange were ad 
vertised to thousands of Italians, as well as others. 
For a short time he was looked upon as an Italian 
hero, but when his record was discovered he was 
shown to be a crooked manipulator of high finance. 
Millions of dollars of immigrant savings were lost 
as a: result of his and others’ schemes. The present 
situation in foreign exchange gives opportunity for 
a great deal of fraudulent practise, which should 
come under the strict supervision of banking com 
missions in all States having a large foreign popu 
lation. In Massachusetts the enforcement of laws 
designed to regulate this kind of banking has been 
one series of legal battles to determine the status of 
each individual concern. 
The causes for the failure of the immigrant laborer 
to turn to the regular American institutions to satisfy 
his banking needs are threefold: (i) The ignorance 
and suspicion of the immigrant; (2) the fact that