The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-03-28
The MAFIA.
What the Organization 10, and OF What 1t
IL Composed-Its Power in Sicily, and
Its influence In This Country.

The "Mafia," says the Chicago Into.
Ocean, is a Sicilian organization, and in
that country is an aggregation of all
the criminal classes on the island. 1t
corresponds with the Camorra Of Ma
pies.
The name "Mafa" has its origin in
LA Mafa," comedy of prison life
written in 1850 by Sicilian dramatist,
Signor Rizzoti. The name itself is
meaningless, a sort of prison slang ussd
in the Sicilian prisons expressive of a
covenant made between warders and
prisoners whereby the prisoners were
to keep order and levy blaclsmail on
the weaker inmates, the jailers sharing
in the profits.
To the Sicilians manliness and brav-
cry recognize no law to atone for
wrongs done them by their neighbors.
To appeal to the law for protection
would be dishonorable, and the strong
est naturally rule the weaker ones.
Whoever can provide for his own pro-
lection and the protection of his prop
erty, he is ''mafoso."
The Sicilian belief Is that might
makes right, and L 2, man has been
done wrong his own hand will protect
him. 1t may take years to be avenged,
and treachery and cowardico may be
the weapons employed but if he finally
revenges himself it will be looked upon
by the Malta as honorable and just If
the injured Sicilian be not strong
enough to resent the injuries received
he must suffer in silence and bide his
time. This hatred of an appeal to the
law and the resort to self-vengeance is
innate in every Sicilian.
1t follows, then, that in Sicily, where
no law but strength is recognized, it
is necessary for the proprietors of the
great estates to hire protectors for
their persons and possessions. This is
done by bodies of ex-brigands, the
Malta, who have such great influence
that it is absolutely necessary for a
landed propr ietor to court their friend
ship. He is then secure. But if he is
not friendly to the Malta he cannot
venture out of his house without great
danger of being shot,
From these conditions arise innumer-
able associations which are subdivided
into many more as they go down the
scale.
There is that of the outlaws,
whose chiefs are the clients of some
great landowner; these clients of the
landowner are in turn the patrons of
other lesser powers in the robber
world, and so on. In this way all the
vast unions of persons, of every pro-
fession ard grade of life, are intimately
united, from the member of parlia-
ment and lawyer in the capital to the
professional bandit or petty thief of the
interior. Every man that tills the land,
and is not day laborer, must, in one
way or another, be carried by the tide
into the vortex of these associations,
whose great object is to promote their
mutual interest, irrespective of the
laws of justice or public order. The
poor man is left alone unless he hap
pens to thwart the interests of the NAL
efactors, in which case he is summar-
ly disposed Of
All this makes the Malta very power
full and they are respected by the peo-
pie accordingly. In the interior of the
island a brigand riding up to farm or
villa has everything at his disposal, and
should the authorities enter the house
the proprietor suddenly loses all
knowledge of the whereabouts of the
brigand, his guest. Even if the cara
1,i,na,.c e1, 1, Il,
are that he would be dealt with very
leniently, as they, themselves, or a
large portion of them, are ex- bandits
and they are in sympathy with their old
friends.
The Malta made great pretense of be.
friending the poor, and say they are op-
posed only to the rich people. In fact,
they occasionally dover some poor girl
or enrich some unjustly treated peas.
ant to keep up such prestige.
Therefore it is not only fear which
aids the Malta and gives it the great
moral authority it wields. 1t is the
custom of taking the law into ones
own hands and making it dishonorable
to do otherwise. A nobleman of the in.
terror who is wronged by another,
whether he be noble or bandit, does
not appeal to the law; he would be
laughed at in his district, and entirely
| abandoned by the only efficient protec.
tors he has. But he appeals to the
Malta, and repels force with force.
There are parts of Sicily where whole
| communes are under the protection OF
this potent association.
In this country there are probably nc
organized Malta societies, but the
Malta spirit is retained by the Sicilians,
and any crime committed in this spirit
either to right a wrong or to seek re-
venge, is acquiesced in by nearly all
the other Italians. There seems to be a
tacit understanding between them, and
on any such subject they are as silent
as the grave. They are by nature an
uncommunicative people, but on occa
sions where the Malta spirit manifests
itself they are more quiet than ever
Thus it has always been impossible tc
trace the Malta members whenever iu
dicial Investigations have been insti
tuted.
New Orleans contains more Sicilians
than any other place in this country
hence more Malta crimes are heard OF
there than elsewhere. New York has
the second greatest number and Chica-
! go comes third. The italian residents
of this city deny the existence of any
such society as the Malta, saying it is
the creation of the newspapers. They
say the last remnants of the Malta sys-
tenn disappeared under the regime OF
Baron Nicotera, minister of home af