The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-16
CRIMES PLAGUE SPOT.
BLACK RECORD FOR CENTURIES OF
A ROMAN VILLAGE.
Wickedness That Is Inherited-Ap-
paIIing Statistics of Assassination.
Justice POwerless to Remedy the


Justice POwerIess to Remedy the
EVIL.
From the San Francisco Chronicle.
"A Country of Born Criminals" is wha.
Prof Sichele of the University of Pisa
entities his article on Artena, an Italian
village. in recent issue of Archives
d. Anthropoogie." The province of Rome
has long been famous for crime. and
Artena, a Roman village, of about 1850
inhabitants. is the most strongly Grim
inal community in the province. That
has been it's reputation since the middle
of the twelfth century.
Artena, or Montefortino, as it was an
GENTLY called. stands on a hill 400 feet
above sea level. and is on the edge of a
mountain range. The inhabitants are
mostly farmers. and they till a rich soil,
so that there is no deep poverty in the
region. The conditions and surroundings
are such as TO encourage the rugged vir-
tues. The place has, from military
point of view, an almost impregnable site,
and its earlier name COMMUNICATED this
fact. Perhaps the earliest mention of the
place in Italian history OCCURS in 1155,
when the frequency of crime is noted,
Pope Paul " issued an edict against the
I
as of VIGOROUSLY evil life. He ordered
that the castle. "a nest OF robbers" be
destroyed, and that all the male inhab-
itants be banished and decreed that any
man who met them might kill them. The
edict was, in fact one of outlawry against
! the male population. His holiness named
! among the crimes OF Montetortino not
| only robbery, but also murder and assault
| upon the papal soldiery.
The pope's tremendous edict did not de-
4 70 bn
| character of its inhabitants for any lag
| period, for the crimes of Montefortino ap
pear and reappear in italian history from
/ that day to this. Prof. Sichele sketches
| the criminal history of Montefortino for
| the last half century. During that nzfiod
! the vendetta has reigned there unchecked.
| From 1851 to 1868 the courts were power
| less to deal with the accused because it
! was Impossible to obtain evidence 10
convict. An official report in 1872 describ-
| ed the place as stronghold OF murder
| ers, assassins, extortioners and incendi-
| aries, active night and day. 1t was Ut--
clared that the criminals of that day
were the children of criminals who had
| persisted in the galleys or on the scaifold.
| and that they had organized a monopoly
| of the profitable industry of crime. Il
| was about this time that the village, as
| is anxious to forget its past, changed its
] name to Artena. But crime has since
| increased rather than diminished and
| the criminals of to-day bear the Same
| names as the hereditary criminals of moro
/ than twenty years ago. The asszes of
| 1879, 1881 and 1888 We're fruitless, as no
/ one was convicted of a serious crime,
| though there were many indictments.
! Between 1879 and 1886 Artena had four
mayors, and the life of each>was attempt
ed. One was actually assassinated, and
| the other three were wounded. One was
| shot in broad daylight in the mark {
! place but the would-be assassin was not
Between 1858 and 1872 there were forty
| two murders and assassinations in Arte-
ma. This would be at a mean annual rate
1f 10 raj 70 r1afFf
! Italy has varied in recent years from 773
| to $3.50 per 100000, and the mean annual
rate throughout Italy is 9.SS per 100000.
| The number of murders and assassina-
| tions at Artena between 1873 and 1888
was thirty-seven, or at the rate of 6l.50
per 10000. The mean annual number of
| such crimes per 100000 throughout the
whole province of Rome is 25.40. In other
words, the rate of Artena during the pc
riod named is more than double that of
the province. The rate for various Euro
! pean countries is 094 to 1857
| Artena is equally notorious for lighter
crimes Between 1853 and 1872 there were
1874 assaults with attendant wounds. This
would be at the rate of POS per 100000. In
the same period there were &C highway
robberies, or at the annual rate of So per
I 100000 The annual rate for assault
] throughout all Italy is 34.17 per 100, 900, and
! for highway robbery 3.67 per 100000. Arte-
ma had between 1853 and 1872 l16 thefts, or
at the rate of 1853 annually per 100000,
and between 1873 and 1888 1H at the rate of
j 2115 per 100000. The rate for all Italy
+ between 1879 ana 1881 was Al.5b per 10000.
| At the recent assizes at Artena thirty
/ two persons were accused of crime. There
| were eight charges of highway robbery,
/ three of murder and one of assassination.
| There were more than forty persons
I strongly suspected of crime, but the num-
7 Der of accusations was reduced in order
( that fewer persons in the community
/ might be interested against the admins
/ tration of justice. The old names again
/ appeared among the accused. 1t seems
/ that crime is hereditary in comparatively
Ono Of for ig
1 the Pomponi. They have been famous
| for generations. The father has served
a long term in jail, the mother was i'm
prisoned for thirty years; three of the
| sons have been sentenced to long terms,
and the fourth. a lad of ID, escaped con-
/. viction because OF his youth. Pasquale
| Villani a famous rogue, called himself
/ the mirror of the country" meaning
| that he was a model of virtue. Francisco
! Rucci on being reminded from the bench
/ by the presiding judge that he had sought
| to draw an acquaintance into a Grim
inal affair, proudly replied:
| what need have to ask aid in commit
! ing a crime? l am equal to pillaging a
! whole village single-handed."
The prisoners had no shame In their ca
reer. and there was great competition as
| TO which of them should have his picture
made for an illustrated paper of Rome.
/ The characteristic of these people under
accusation Is usually an absolute silence.
/ witnesses are reticent and timid. One UNI
willing witness, however, let drop the in
/ eliminating word 'paranZa." The usual
meaning OF pafan1d - Hub-BIOup OF the
| italian criminal society called "Camorra."
/ This last has great chief, while the pa
/ rama Is a group under a small chief with
/ treasurer secretary and other officers. II
I "a supposed that the Camorra does not ex.
/ ist as such at Artema. but that the pa
/ rama Is a small Independent organlzn-
/ ton OF local criminals. The law Of the
/ paranza at Artena, as of the Camorra
/ elsewhere. IS silence, reciprocal false tes-
I umony IN court, defense OF the accused
I with the aid Of common fund, and death
I 10 informors. Pusquafe VILLAIN was at
( once chief and treasurer OF the AFtena pa
/ rama lie furnished false Witnesses. paie
/ the attorneys and watched the trial with
/ the utmost care.