The record-union., 1891-04-05
The Two Societies Which Ruled
South Italy for Fifty Years.
Blackmail and Assassination Reduced
Extended by the Bourbons-Associ-
alton of the Societies With the Bri-
gands-Suppression by the Present
Government.

4
for hundred years are singularly favor
able to the originator of secret organiza-
tions. The Government of the Bourbons
was, in itself. great secret society, work.
ing by secret and often exceedingly rep
rehensible methods; spies employed by
the court were everywhere, and the most
/ innocent word, the most inoffensive act,
was often, by these agents of an unscru-
| pulous despotism, construed into evil
dence of a plot against the throne. The
poverty of the population has always
been deplorable, their ignorance pro-
found, and the study of the rulers was to
prevent any ray of light from entering
the intellectual or moral horizon of those
under their care. So tar from endeavor-
ing to improve the condition of the peo-
pie, the Bourbon Kings of Naples and
Sicily made most strenuous efforts
to prevent their advancement. Merci-
less taxation took away the ac-
cumulated surplus of the years toll,
while, on the faintest appearance
Of any desire to interfere in matters
political, the offender was hurried off to
prison, it being well established Bour-
| bon maxim that q politician in the oppo-
sition is worse thar a thief. The prisoner
rarely knew who was his accuser or with
what he was charged; his friends seldom
| learned his whereabouts if he had trial,
1t was III secret, before tribunal which
had its own rules of procedure, its own
| standards for the consideration Of evil
dence. No witnesses were introduced in
his behalf, for he was not permitted to
send for them no lawyer pleaded his
cause, for eloquence found no place before
u court established for the purpose Of con-
victing. Often when the death sentence
was pronounced on the unhappy man, its
execution was carried out in private, and
as no records We're kept, all that the
friends of the accused knew was that he
was arrested, taken away by the officers
| of the law and never heard of afterWard
THE PRISON SOCIETIES.
How many Of these legalized and secret
murders took place under Bourbon rule
will never be known. So great was the
number of arrests, however, for petty
political offenses, that after Italy was
freed from the rule of the French by the
downfall of Napoleon's empire the
prisons Of Naples, Palermo and Messina
were crowded with unhappy wretches,
some accused Of political meddIing, others
charged with minor crimes, while others
again knew neither the charge against
them, nor the length Of time they would
probably remain incarcerated. All We're
/ ragged, many were half-Starvcd, for the
jailers, like other officials of the Neapol-
trained TO make their living by exactions
from the wretched persons committed to
their care. No distinction was made Of
the inmates by classes; all were huddled
together without regard to the character
of the offense, and the countryman who
had tried to smuggle few oranges into
the city was placed in the same large cell
which contained dozens OF the worst
criminals. Whatever his character on
entering he came out a criminal, ready
for the commission of any deed which
might result to his own profit. AS no
control was exercised over the prisoners
save what was necessary to keep them
within the walls OF the inclosure, the in
mates were left TO themselves, and busy
brains and idle hands form a bad combin-
alton. AS early as the year 1925 it was
discovered that the prisoners in the Cas-
tie of Naples had formed an association
Of mutual benefit. 1t had its officers. its
passwords and other signs of recognition,
and its oath-bound members We're sworn
to do the bidding of its chief The dis
covery of the society was made by pris-
oner who was not member, but his
statement Of the existence of such an or
ganiZation caused no uneasiness and
scarcely any remark among the prison
officials, who, it appears, gave the matter
no attention.
OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY.
| uc SOclely nlCI lluS Il1O origin III
the principal prison Of Naples was organ
lied for the purpose Of exacting money
from prisoners who were not included
among its members. By threats of ill
usage small sums were in many cases
easily obtained but as most of the pris-
oners were what may be called perma-
nent boarders, this source of supply was
soon exhausted. But as arrivals were
frequent, the prison society took time by
tbs forelock by approaching them as soon
as they entered. and, on various pretenses,
demanding fees. The newcomer must
pay down in cash fee to keep the lamp
burning before the Madonna's picture; he
must pay fee to so into the chapel, fec
to aid in providing Sunday dinner for
the poorer prisoners, fee for the COM
mon stock Of tobacco and so on, none oi
the money, of course, ever by any acci-
dent being expended for the purpose
stated. After the new arrival had been
robbed of most of his portables, for if he
had no money any description of personal
property was accepted, he became reg
ular," and for the first six months of his
stay made only a monthly payment.
During the next half year his pay
ments were bi-montbly, and at the end
of that time he could if he chose, become
a member and was allowed to share in the
plumber obtained by plucking the new
comers. An organization for the purpose
of robbery and blackmail could be kept
up only by system of terrifying its vic
Tins, and accordingly terror was the
means employed. NewIy-imprlSoned
persons who refused to make the required
payments were threatened; if they still
refused, they We're assaulted, often Sc
verely beaten, and in several cases pris-
oners who continued stubborn were muir
dered. Il body in the prison court with
two or three stiletto wounds was occasion
ally found by the jailors, but no one
knew or cared who Killed the man. In
quiry proved fruitless, the body was
buried and the keepers forgot the occur
renee, but among the prisoners the "busy
whisper circiing round'' conveyed the
tidings that the man had refused to pay
the prison society the dues claimed from
him. and that their agents had taken his
life.
THE cAMoRRA.
One day in the summer of 1923 the
keepers of the little shops in side street
in one of the most crowded quarters OF
Naples received visit from man who
represented to them that he was the agent
OF the Camorra, q secret society, to whose
cofIers they were invited to contribute,
! regularly and promptly, small monthly
sum. The mans reception was far from
cordial. Nobody gave him anything,
and some went SO far as to order him out
of their house. He said nothing, went
away, and the next morning one of the
petty merchants who had been most en-
ergetic in refusing the demands of the
blackmailer was found dead in his bed
with dozen stiletto wounds in va
rious parts of his body. The rest
of the store-keepers received each mis-
sive calling their attention to the murder
and stating that their fate would be SINH
lar il they did not comply with the de-
mands of the Camorra.
A few days later they were all visited
by another man who whispered in their
ears request for money ''for the Ca