The record-union., 1891-04-05

1
street lt spread, aSsasSinations marking
every step OF Its progress. The man who
refused TO contribute was doomed, and
the knife OF the midnight murderer car
| req out the sentence of the unknown
tribunal. In two years, or by the spring
OF 1880, every shopkeeper in Naples was
| paying monthly tax levied by the Ca
mora.
EXACTIoNs OF THE CAMoRRA.
But the business of the secret brother
| hood was by no means confined to the
| storekeepers. As the numbers of the So
clety increased its eXactions gradually
| spread TO all classes of people, and the
amount of tax became greater, until at
last tenth was demanded by its agents
and paid by terror-ridden public. The
| cab driver handed over portion of every
fare, the boatnan a tenth of what he re-
ceived from the passengers he conveyed
tol and from the steamers in the bay
Every laborer in every line of life had to
pay the Camorra or suffer the conSe-
| quenceS, and the consequences were too
well known for many persons to take the
risk. In the gambling parlors waited a
| silent man who never played, but at the
end OF every game drew a sum of money
from the bank and held out his hand to
the winners. 1t never returned empty,
for every one knew that refusal meant
the wrath Of the Camorra, and this signi-
| fed a stab in the back.
From Naples the society spread over
the whole OF South Italy, and everywhere
Its exactlonS were mercileSS. The Gov
ernment taxes might 90 unpaid. but the
demands of the agent who held out his
hand with the words, For the Camorra, !"
must be satisfied. In many country dis
| trlctS the taxes were ten, fifteen and
| twenty years in arrears, but no court
! dared issue decree OF sale to enforce
| payment, and should such thing occur
/ Xrnf1 to -,
this would involve difficulty with the
delinquent proprietor who would COM
plain to the agents of the secret society
and secure the murder of the purchaser,
for 1T was perfectly understood that while
the Camorra plundered the people it pro-
tected them from other plunderers, not
even suffering the Government to inter-
fere with them. Thus the taxes levied by
the secret society were more cheerflIlly
paid than those assessed by the Govern
ment, the people having learned to detest
their Government as 4 stupid despotism
in comparison with which the rule of the
Camorfa was yoke easy to be borne.
THE soCIETY'S MEMBERS.
Who composed the Comorra and what
became of the vast sums it collected all
over south Italy were ques tons which
the objects of this gigantic scheme of
! blackmail no doubt often asked them
selves, but no information was ever
vouchsafed by the members themselves.
and not until the Government of United
Italy undertook the suppression of the
society was the formidable character of
the organization and the standing of some
OF It's members made known, Even
then, so astounding We're the revelations,
that the subject was as much as possible
Kept from public view. Enough was di-
Yulged, however, to make certain the feat
that III the membership of this murder
Gus league were found men of every rank,
station and occupation. There were no.
biemen and gentlemen, officers in the
army and navy, judges and other magis-
trates, town councillors and officials:
there were merchants and lawyers and
doctors and clergymen; there were men
holding high official position at court.
and it was more than hinted that the last
Bourbon King of Naples had been a
member Of the order, if not its head.
The mass OF membership was COM
posed OF men in laboriouS occupations
farmers, vine-growers, mechanics, la
borers, in the shops, in the streets, on the
wharves, soldiers in the army, sailors in
the navy, domestic servants. So extern
sive were the ramifications of the broth
erhood that its power was felt in every
quarter, and the priest could no more
escape the payment Of his tax than the
Government official could avoid handing
over his tenth, and both We're as certain
to be called on as the poorest shopkeeper
in Naples or the humblest laborer in the
suburbs. Naples was divided into dis
trlcts, a certain number of the Camor-
risti being assigned to each. and the CITY
was more thoroughly patrolled by these
Sei-appolnted supervisors than it had
ever been by its own police. The money,
enormous sums Of which were collected
every month, was divided among the
membership in proportion to their Off
clal position and the difficulty of the tasks
undertaken by them. All work was paid
Tor on q graduated scale, and a curious
sensation is excited by the information
that at one time, so numerous were those
ready to do the society's bidding, that
competition reduced the price of their
services and murder could be done for
Sl5.
BRIGAND CoSFEDERATES.
Although rivateintimidation and mid
night assassination were the recognized
methods of the Camorra, it did not hesi-
tate to resort to open violence when that
! answered tho purpose better, though for
this branch Of business the services of the
brlgands were usually called in. The
brlgand OF Southern Europe is peculiar
character which fortunately has not been,
to any great extent, developed elsewhere.
He is an outgrowth of despotism, and his
| existence is possible only among an ig-
| norant, degraded and vicious people
The brigands of Italy, if not actually
numbered among the Camorristi, were at
least their coniederates, and the Camorra
never hesitated to call to its assistance u
company Of banditti whenever peculiarly
desperate work was to be done. The
bandits were perfectly at home in every
part of the country !; the country people
were all in sympathy with them in every
hut they found hiding-p place, in every
ne.ghborhood a welcome, food and any
other supplies of which they stood in
need. They had been members of
the farming and laboring classes; the
stout young robber with belt full of
pistols was, perhaps, known to hall
the girls and boys in Calabria; the
had, perhaps, killed q tax collector
twenty years before, had been forced to
take to the mountains. People had for
gotten his crime and remembered only
that he was being hunted by a Govern
ment they hated, and that the soldiers
who, from time to time, were quartered
On themselves, and at single meal ate
the provisions which would have sup
piled the family for week, were in quest
OF his head. Even the soldiers were far
from earnest in their pursuit of the out
laws, for had they not been drafted into
the army they might themselves have
been brigands. The entire population of
South Italy was not only in sympathy
with the robbers, but ready on short
notice to join them in foray. Twenty
years ago q railroad was in process of con-
struction in the peninsula, when sud-
denly all the laborers disappeared For
two days they were gone, and when they
returned frankly admitted that they had
been helping band of brigands to rob a
seaside village. An army of $4,000 men
was inadequate to rid South Italy Of it's
robbers, although for weeks it was, in
1876, engaged in the effort. With the Ca
mora in city and village and the bri-
gands in the country, South Italy was