The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-12-09

Signor Crispi, the most brilliant of Ital-
ian statesmen since the days of Cavour,
is called upon to face, in his extreme old
age, not accusations of political crimes,
but ordinary felonies. He has already
been subjected to the humiliation of mag
sterial examination in connection with
charges of completely in the gigantic
frauds that wrecked the Bank of Naples,
the Bank of Rome, the Bank of Sicily,
and other kindred institutions. The
Crispi cabinet was driven from office as
the result of these scandals. In each
case the insolvency of the bank appeared
to have been brought about through the
Matchmaking extortions to which it was
subjected by leading politicians and gov
this dishonesty took place during the
administration of Crispi.S
Not even his most bitter enemy ever
accused him of plundering the banks to
add to his private resources. On the
contrary, his countrymen for the most
part accepted his assertion that the mon
cy eXtorted from these institutions was
used by him for the secret service of the
government and in electoral cXpendi-
lures.
Unfortunately for him. the judicial au-
thorities who inquired into The circum-
stances that led to the failure of the
banks discovered that among the most
voracious plunderers was Signora Crisp,
the veteran statesman's wife. 1t was
stated at the time that from one bank
alone something like 100000 francs
(about $2,00O,000) found its way into her
private banking account, and it was urg-
ed, and is still urged, that Signor Crispi,
not being a rich man. must have known
of his wife's demands, as in no other
way could she have accounted for the
large sums of money she expended upon
her establishment while he was in power.
Last spring when the matter was be-
fore the courts n friend of Signor Crispi
undertook to explain the transactions
which led up to the collapse of the Bank
of Naples. According to his story
1885 asked the Bank of Naples for Il
loan of 100000 lire for election purposes,
the money TO be repaid to the banking
secret service funds. Then came the
fall of the Crispi cabinet, with not more
than half the loan repaid. Crispi told
King Humbert of his predicament. and
his majesty gave 100000 lire toward the
| remainder of the indebtedness, and
Baron Blanc furnishing what was neces-
according to the story. Signor Crispi re-
paid the bank in full The accusations
| recently before the courts and now be-
fore the special commission of the cham
Der of deputies were again revived. and
with the talk of prosecution Signor Crispi
FASTENED from Naples to Rome, demand
ed an audience with the king. showed the
receipt Of the bank for full payment,
and demanded that his majesty put an
end to what Crispi characterized as "the
campaign Of injustice"
The ex-premier, according to the
story, declared that unless his perse-
| cutors were called off he would defend
| himself mp to the last, adding:
"In such case. sir, two persons will go
into exile-1 as a poor man and you
| with your millions"
The socialist press interpreted this
| audacous language to be threat of
| disclosures, recalling that King Hum
bert had severed his account with the
Bank of Naples just before the crash
| came.