The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1891-04-02
HENDERSON, N c., THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1891.

little capital-his own or borrowed, it
matters not which-possesses himself
of schooner which, having once set
forth on its first voyage, rarely comes
into port again. This vessel he mans
with Italians less prosperous than him
self and quite as unscrupulous, and
spends years cruising in the Caribbean.
He keeps out on the high seas when
ever there Isl a chance ofbeing watched;
but at a leagues distance from the
shore he puts out his little boats and
RATS, with which he is literally sup
piled, and his men, under cover of
night, go ashore on the islands, or by
signals call off their eonfederates in
small boats from the shore. Before
long the schooner is laden with tropical
fruits and delicacies for the New Or
leans market Then she heads about
and puts back into the Gulf. While
still at distance out, her small boats
are sent off again, and transfer her
cargo to terra hrma in shorter time
than you would think possible. Once
in great while she puts into port
somewhere under stress of weather,
and takes advantage of the excuse this
offers her to make necessary repairs
made without being held to too strict
an account for the regularity of her
papers" :"
Does not this sort of trade require a
good deal of capital?"
"Not much. The profits are so
enormous that it almost runs itself
Money is little used by the smugglers
on the caribbean Islands. The class
of negroes with whom their underhand
trading is mostly done, prefer goods
to cash. The schooner therefore loads
up with various kinds of small mer-
chandise, purchased at wholesale prices
| in New Orleans, and uses it in direct
| barter for the fruits and delicacies she
brings home. The effect of this is to
to make the transaction profitable at
both ends of the line. To give you an
illustration, bunch of bananas which
the Dagoes in the streets of New Or
leans sell for ninety cents costs them
about six and a quarter cents in
barter, exclusive, of course, of the cost
of transportation. The facts 1 am
stating to you l have learned at con-
siderable cost. My brother was for a
time engaged in caribbean commerce,
and he found that, when he came to
pay duties at both ends, he could be
undersold every time by the smugglers.
They drove him finally out of business,
but he was a determined fellow, and
wouldn't give up till he had found out
for himself the secret of his inability to
compete"
"Why did he not bring his discov-
cries to the attention of the author
ities?'
"He did-some of them; but, as he
got no ragement-thanks to the
terror in which the Malta was held
and as he had an income to earn and
a family to support, he could not de-
vote his entire life to the task OF
bringing the offenders to justice. Now,
what are you going to do when you
have a secret society in the midst OF
your community, corrupting its trade,
its morals, even its administration OF
justice, and not stopping at the most
heinous of all crimes? Once in a
while, the best people of New Orleans
find their patience strained beyond the
tension it will bear, and then they
take the law into their own hands.
Look at the character of the men who
headed that mob on Saturday; they
were not rufhans, but good citizens.
Look at the time they took for doing
their work; they did not skulk about
under cover OF night; they were not
even disguised. What they had to do
they believed to be right, and they
struck the blow openly, in the broad
daylight. l don't defend the act,
considered by itself, and out of rela-
ton with everything else but do
think that justice demands consider
alton of the provocation before any
critic in the North goes SO far as to
say that he would not have joined in
the outbreak if he had been on the
ground"
"What will happen if the Maha at.
tempts any retaliation upon the mem
bers of the prison-storming party?'
"There will be another and larger
mob. 1t will go down to the Italian
quarter and warn the dagoes to come
out of their rookeries, march to ,,the
wharves, and embark on the first ship:
that set sail, never to return under
pain of DEATH Then it will set fire to
the buildings, and in twelve hour:
there will not be dago in New Or
leans, or dago's house left standing
l am personally acquainted with many
Of the leading men Of Saturdays affair
and l have heard them express thell
feeling about the situation SO often thai
l think l can safely prophesy thell
course
The best element among the
Italians in Washington, while deplorine
on general grounds what has occurred
express no pity for the Maha, but de
clare that they hope that its power ha
been broken forever.