The record-union., 1893-08-18

ing the sum of money to be demanded
lor the release of the cartured traveller:
the Mana that provides the means for
convenient payment. The whole system
Is SO peculiarly local that any foreigner.
or indeed any mainland Italian, NAV
walk uhdlsturbed throu Oh the length and
bfeadth of Sicily without meeting the
least accident; because being foreigners
the Mana Ignores them, as it has not the
neeuIuI information regarding their
nhahciaI means, and accordingly cannot
hX upon the needful sum for ransom.
from what has been said above con-
cetnlng brlgandags in Italy, the reader
may draw the following conclusion. That
II brlgandage is strong. it is so because it
is aided and abetusd by a section of the
people.
In Maremma and Sardinia banditism
does not at all endanger social life; it does
% on the contrary in Sicily. where the
state must act boldly against the all-pow-
eIIuI Mana. This is really q difficult
TASK, Ior the f1atia has its hand in every
thlhg, comprising the elections, political
as WelI as administrative. OF late there
mas @ oeeh an increase in brigandage, and
just outside the city of Rome peaceful cit
lZens nave been stopped and stripped of
lhelr money ana clothes. FhiS is the re-
suit OF the recent financial crisis which
mas overwhelmed the city. A vast num-
per OF the rural population were attracted
10 the towns by the lure OF work then
the failure Of the building contractors
Iu4heu IheIr prospects. They went home
anu iotlnd no work OF any kind: as u mat
ter OF course they resorted to highway
Ioppery. ms petty nalandrinaggio is
ohIy one that can be cured with patrols of
cafaOlneri. Its reason for existence is
transltory, and will cease as soon as Italy
Will set to work hard and in earnest in
arranging her finances or d stable basis
ha hv
military footing to its true proportion.
BrIgandage i'll Sicily is socially and
morally great evil. 10 cure it consist
ent work is required. Does the Govern
ment thus work? We regret to say that
we must answer no. The Mafia's in
( huence extends over Senators, members
or Parliament, and the press The real
brlgands should not be sought in the
mountain Businesses, but in towns g;lmb-
ing gaIly at the clubs and courting Gov
ernment favor.
Almost everyone at Palermo is aware of
TINS. II yo,- peak of it they reply Nah
with shrug OF the shoulders, this supine
Italian lnterjection which is compound
OF puts ana ifs. This inertia prevents
many good measures from being put on
loot. And the best would be the multi
pllcatlon OF rural schools. Ignorance has
too much sway among the Sicilian plebs,
tlat Is destitute OF any ethical principle
although stepped in all the superstitious
practices Of Romauism. In the un-
cultured brain of Palermo plebian Santa
RosaIla Is far superior to Almighty God.
santa hosalla and the Madonna. C'Maria
oedda matre" angiice, Mary, beautiful
motherl have merely taken the place of
the Hellenic Aphrodite Eryx and of the
Carthaginian Mylitra. Only radical re-
form III public education and justice ad-
mlnIstered with no special regard TO class.
viii, with the help of time, cancel the
bloody stain Of brigandage from that
great and fertile island. Violent meas
ures will not produce any beneficial effect.
Meantime, however, the tourist who
would visit Sicily need not be debarred
from so doing by fear of brigands. They
will not touch him. He does not fail
under the category of the bandits vic
tims.-N Zirmern, in Cleveland
Leader.