The San Francisco call., 1897-06-06


than ais vile. who is bound to him not only
! by ties of affection and habit bnt alec NV
! community of interests which constitutes
her In every sense of the word his most
| sympathetic partner, yet there are cases
fortunately rare, where the wife IA the
| evil genius of her husband. the cause oF bis
| downfall, and the origin OF his ruin. One of
the most pitiful examples of this kind is
that OF francesca Cr spi, far and swav the
most brilliant statesman of Italv xinca
the days OF Cavour. the man who NAV he
| said TO have elevated the kingdom of
Italy to the rank of great power. whom,
] Bismarck in all the plenitude of his ar.
rogance and grandeur considered it neces-
sary to treat on footing OF perfect equal
| ity, and yet who now in the eightieth
year of his age stands accused, not of
| political crimes but of ordinary felonies
and is subjected to the ignominy of magis-
| terial examination in connection with
| charges of completely in the colossal
| frauds that have brought about the ship
wreck of the Bank OF Naples, the Bank of
| Sicily, the Bank of Rome and other
kindred institutions. In each case the in
| solvency of the bank seems to have been
brought about through the blackmailing
extortions to which it was subjected by
| the leading politicians and Governm ent
officials OF the day, biackmail, which
naturally ended by causing the directors
! OF the institution to do some plundering
| on their own account, since they had to
all ntents and purposes purchased acqui-
escence therein on the part of the authori-
| ties by submitting and yielding to the
| shameful demands made by the latter
upon the Golfers of the banks
1t was during the administration of
Crispi that most if not all of this whole
sale dishonesty took place, dishonesty
which has tended to thoroughly warp the
moral sense of q nation that from time
| immemorial has been renowned for its
financial integrity and thrift, and to
which the civilized world is indebted for
the origin of its credit system and bank
ing Institutions. No one, not even the
most bitter enemy of Signor Crispi,
dreams of accusing him of having plum
dered the banks in order to add to his own
private resources, and his assertions that
the money extorted from these institu-
| tions was used by him for the Secret Ser
vice fund of the Government and for the
electoral expenditure and newspaper
propaganda of the political party to
which he owed his parliamentary majority
find universal credence on the part of his
countrymen. Indeed were there nothing
else than this he would probably never
have been molested, even by those of his
political adversaries who are now in
power. But unfortunately the investiga-
tions to which the affairs of the ship
| wrecked banks have been submitted by
parliamentary com missions, and by the
ordinary judicial and magisterial authori-
ties, have brought 10 light the fact that
among the most insatla BILE and relentless
of the plund erers has been Donna Lima,
the once beautiful, but now universally
/ unpopular, wife of the veteran statesman.
According to the recent cable dispatches
from Rome about the matter it appears
| that from one bank alone something like
$1,000, 900 francs, or about 81 600, 000 has
found it's way into the private banking
account of Donna Lima, and any one who
| knows the popular aversion in which she
| is held in the Eternal City will have no
difficulty in believing that portion of the
dispatches which describes the lack of
consideration with which she is treated
by the judges and magistrates, who
"scoff at her explanations, sneer at her
protestations of innocence and manifest
an altogether indecent interest in her
numerous private ban king accounts"
Donna Lima Crispi is a Sicilian. and is
popularity credited with belonging TO the
Mafia. If she does not, she at any rate
finds her most intimate friends and asso-
ciates among individuals who do. Every
thing, however, leads to the conviction
that she is . member of the NJ afia, which
she has undoubtedly utilized to obtain
money from the Bank OF Sicily. Aim ost
every body in Sicily, save men of un BILE m
ished honor, such as the Marquis Rudini
and the Marquis Notarbartolo. who was
assassinated four years ago. is affiliated
with the society, and when a few years ago
the two Dukes OF ViIlarosa, cousins of the
murdered Marquis. were placed on trial at
Palermo for the cowardly assassination in
tn cir own palace of a young officer who
was betrothed to their only sister. it was
found Impossible to obtain a conviction
in Sicily owing to the fact that they be-
longed to the Malta, and that no one
dared to give evidence against them.
| Eventually the venue of the trial was
transferred TO Naples, where they were
found guilty, and are now undergoing a
] long term of penal servitude for their
crime.
That Donna Lima should be affiliated to
the Malta is in no wise surprising. For
her antecedents are of so questionable a
character that Queen Marguerite declined
resolutely to recognize her until long
after Crispi had become Prime Minister.
when the Premier placed Hum bert face to
face with the alternative of either secur-
ing her Majesty's consent TO the presenta.
tion at court of Donna Lima, or subiectinp
the country to Cabinet crisis. Queen
Marguerite's objections are based on the
character of the people among whom
Donna Lima was reared, on the unsayory
history of the lady prior to her associa
ton with Crispi, which is matter of no.
lice record in her native city of Syracuse
| and lastly on the fact that she had in.
duced Crispi to abandon for her sake ds-
voted wife, OF whom her Majesty was yerv
fond.
Crisprs matrimonial affairs have alwavs
been OF somewhat complicated nature.
In his youthful davs, when he was as.o-
ciated with Garibaldi and Mazzini. win
ming celebrity for the skill and ingenuity
with which he designed the explosive
bombs and internal machines used for
revolutionary purposes, he married a
young girl. whom, when driven into ex-
| lie he fO0E with bi,,, q.