The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-01-29

anu Sllll pIdyeu lO HIS II ettllGl' 4 o NAASA
 if Thou be willing. remove this cur
 from me-; but these words must moi
 be taken in a literal sense Christ was
 not unwilling to die, but He feared lest His physical strength might have
 given away before accomplishing His
 end. From this we see that either the
 man was an imaginary one, or, if he
 really exists and if he showed such a reluctancy to give away anything fol
 fear of his life, no man, under any as
 suranoe whatever of keeping his name
 secret, could ever have induced him te
 make any confession whatever. But
 no; the eloquence of the reporter was
 so persuasive and he knew how to dis
 gulse himsele so well as to induce the
 frightened man to a secret interview
 begging, however, that he should never
 under any circumstance be made ap-
 pear in the story. Granting this to be
 true, it presupposes the following facts
 CD That the reporter must not only
 have known of the existence of the sect
 in this city, but must have been ac-
 quainted with that particular member.
 But we have already seen that here
 there isn't any such an association and
 consequently there cannot be any mem
 Der. You cannot have a part without
 the existence of the whole some where.
 Still there may be here some isolated
 member; but this member would never
 be distinguished as such, consequently
 the reporter would have no access to
 him. Even if he did, the member would
 never, if the constitution of the so-
 ciety is as the article discusses it, con- sent to make any disclosures of its se-
 crets. The second fact is that to be
 able to receive so full an account either
 the reporter must not only be well &C.,
 quainted with the Italian language, but,
 what is more marvellous, must also
 know the very dialect of the city or
 village where the member was born, or else the member is fully instructed in the English language. We doubt the possibility of both these things No one can disregard the fact that the Italians
 who are able to express themselves
 here in fair English can be counted up- on the finger ends. None of these, how ever have held any interview with any reporters on the subject, nor do they claim to know anything about La Mafia. There is an Italian in New Haven who has appeared not a few times before the court for mischievous conduct, and
 who, being able to stammer a little, might have been approached by the reporter. This Italian is notorious for possessing most vivid imagination and cunning. Ignorant as ignorant can be, yet he is able to imagine and plan innumerable wiles to escape the punish ment of justice. He is a born delin- quent, and as such he could not fail to possess the qualities and endowments inherent to his nature Dreadful imag- nation and cunning are conspicuous in him. but if he really were a member of the detesta'bIe association there is no re- porter under the sun that could per suade him to state anything about his sect. That this noble. subject might have said something in the shape of a fairy tale is not wholly impossible. Still we have not sufficient ground even to place much faith in this supposition. All those who can remember the things that happened three years ago, know that many were the conjectures about the same association. The Utica Sat urday Globe published similar arti- cle at the time of the New Orleans affairs. There are legends circulating about the Mafia which our reporter has compiled into a whole. The color the shape and enlargement of the account is wholly due to his imagination. For 1t could not be otherwise; the alleged oath that binds the members takes away all the possibilities of any reHela- tion on the part of the same; and con- sequently whatever we hear about the association must be the creation of fancy. But further. The article tells us that even boys at the age of fifteen are admitted to the society. "spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici?" Can you call it a secret so- ciety when it lets in boys of only if teen years of age? Is it possible that boy att that age should be able to com prehend the meaning of the dreadful oath and keep it holy and unbroken? Shame on the man that by inventing these foolish, but horrible, most fatal stories, tries for mere purpose of gain. hideous gain, to drag into the mire a large class of citizens, who have heart noble as noble as can be, who have a mind equally lofty to the loftiest Far from reducing the controversy to a | base personality, I would like to chal- enge the author of that groundless article to come forth and | dispute my own responsibility. I, too | nm an Italian. These remarks my read l IF may deem wholly uncalled for, But le will sympathize with me, for they come from my consciousness of being lnable to wrong anybody. They are
 he utterance of a heart wounded in it's elf respect, in it's pride. Yes; the
 eader will symDathize with me all the nore when I tell him that no descrimin- Ltion was made by the author of the .rtcle in question. "All the Italians Ire members of the Mafia" Lawyers, physicians, bankers, and others promi- nent in life are secretly affiliated with he mysterious and crime-breeding or
 Ter How can a man resist, how can
 man restrain himself at such a whole
 ome defamation? I appeal myself to he fair judgment of the wise American ress and to the intelligent citizens at