The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1891-03-26
VERY INTERESTING ACCOUNT BY
a RESIDENT.
Story of the Malta and Its Doings, Which
Led to the kiIIng-Orderly Conduct
ofthe Populace-Patience Ceases
to Be Vrtue-ItaIian sin
dignation."
fRichmOud limos. ]

resulted IN the New Orleans Iyncnlng.
The letter is a calm and dispassion-
ate review of the whole matter, and
d, will be read with interest by our
people:
New ORLEANS, March 10, 81.
My DEAR ii know that you
will be glad to hear from me on &C
count of what occurred here on Satur-
day, March IA. Five days having
passed, a dispassionatc account can, l
believe, now be given. You know
that near midnight on the 18th of Oc-
tober last the Chief of Police Of this
city was shot down in front of MS
home. He was not instantly killed,
and when asked who had shot him he
answered, "Dagoes. From this,
from evidence which rapidly began to
come in, and from the following facts,
it was soon understood that he had
fallen a victim to the Malta, an oath
bound society of low Sicilians, formed
for the purpose of secretly numbering
any one who stood in a member s. way.
FACTS OF THE CASE.
The facts which / referred to above
are these: During last summer fac
ton of these Sicilians, known as the
Matrangas, were waylaid and desper-
ately wounded by another faction
known as the Provenzanos. When the
Provenzanos were brought up for trial,
the Matrangas, contrary to the "Dago"
custom, for they have always refused
to testify against one another, came
into court and freely testified against
the Provenzanos. During the course
of the trial Chief of Police
Hennessy becmae convinced that
the Malta society was supplying per-
jured testimony. Mr.. Hennessy be-
ing perfectly brave man, the best
chief of police New Orleans ever had,
conceived, l believe, that by securing
damning evidence against the perjurers
he could land great number of Malta
members in the penitentiary and so
break up an organization which had.
Union, the State and the municipality
That the people of each republic is abb
solute sovereign of all matters relating
to its province, and that when the
agents of the people are unable to
carry out its mandates according to
the usual and prescribed forms the
power to declare and execute the law
rebuts to its primal source.
OUTSIDE CRITICISM.
A criticism upon the wisdom or un-
wisdom of this act is, it seems to me,
all that can legitimately come from
outside powers. But in case of neces-
sity we do not discuss questions of ex-
pediency or wisdom. When driven
through fire by fire we do not consider
the wisdom of the act, and clearly here
was necessity of the most uncompro-
missing kind.
No people on earth could, no peo-
pie ever has consented to the unCheck-
ed triumph Of such 4 society as the
Malta. 1t is easy in the light of ex-
pcrience to criticise the lack of fore
sight which has led man to stumble
unawares upon viper's nest; but it Is
more usual to commend the resolution
and courage that leads him promptly
to exterminate the reptiles, that his
children coming after him may pass in
safety.
THE ITALIAN UPRISINGS.
As to the mass meetings of Italian
citizens elsewhere and the threatened
interference of the Italian Government
they only fill me with amazement.
Any sensible Italian must realize that
it is impossible whole people should
rise up and put men to death in this
manner unless the clearest evidence
of their guilt existed, and this being
SO am at loss to understand how
any good Italian citizen can regret,
much less by incorporate and threat
ening speech, hint at satisfaction for
the death of these desperadoes.
The men who are organizing mass
meetings and delegations have not
paused to reflect that by SO doing, they
are proclaiming themselves to the
world as sympathizers of the Malta and
its methods. This was no attack upon
class or a race. We have MANY ex-
cellent Italian citizens who are pursu
ing, and, on the day and at the hour
when the killing took place, were pur.
suing, safely, quietly and openly theil
various callings.
NO RACE PREJUDICE SHOWN
Not so much as stone was thrown
at a single Sicilian, not word boot
ed, not a banana taken from theil
stands or baskets. They were at theil
stalls in our markets on both Saturda,
and Tuesday mornings, and there il
not a man in New Orleans who woulG
either venture or rush to harm a hail
of their heads. The Sicilians (moral
ly) convicted of the crime, were {
small minority of those slain, and nc
distinction was made between then
and the American four, or naturalized
murderers.
The outside world must learn tina,
it was people, not mob, who die
this deed, and that the executors o
that peoples decree would have turn
ed their guns upon any man or set o
men who should have ventured upor
any atrocity with the same stern reso
luton with which they used them tt
destroy the public enemy.