Evening star., 1901-05-28

subdivided into small holdings. The orange
and lemon groves necessitate a large nun
Der OF watchmen If fruit stealing and dam
age TO the trees are to be prevented R,It
ene ohiy way to protect ones property
| eIecllVely Is to come to terms with the
mana, accept its nominees as watchmen
| ana pay it toll. Otherwise every night
thousands of oranges and lemons will dis
appear trees be mutilated and the land
| iord, II he disregards these warnings, will
PROBABLY be shot from behind a garden
l. wall.
IN the provinces the Malta has a some
"nat similar character. but it devotes it.
SELF chiefly to vineyards and To cattIe
mere again the landlord or his middleman
mas the choice of having his property nro-
tected py mafiosi' or Of being robbed and
perhaps murdered. But in the country the
prlgands are responsible for most of the
crimes which are committed They are by
no means Identified with the Malta. and act
lnoependently of it. But often brigands
nelp each other out of difficulties
Although. as stated, the Malta is not
| regular, uniform association, within its pale
minor associations for criminal purposes
nave often been formed, generally for some
particular object. The history of these so-
cietles Is a record of treachery murder
apduction and extortion. Sometimes whole
families and clans have been wiped out,
put one or the peculiarities of these crimes
Is that the victims are usually themselves
members of the Malta or at least they have
mao dealings with it. Foreigners. among
whom Italians from the mainland are In.
cIuoed. may travel all over Sicily in per-
rect safety. In fact, should they happen
TO be robbed by common thieves, they will
PROBABLY find an application to a .'capo-
mana more profitable than the help of
the police. VI
The words Malta" and "manosi., b.ve
only acquired their present meaning witI,in
the last forty years. Originally ''mafiosi''
meant pretty, neat, tidy. when applied to
a girl; excellent and brave when said of a
man. In 1850 a popular play was acted az
Palermo called Il Maffosi della Vicaria !"
l. e.. the Bosses of the Vicaria (the great
PRISON at PaIermo), meaning those conytcts
"ho' oy their courage and audacity had
won the fear and respect of their fellow
captiYes. Hence the word came to be an
piled to the members of these lawless gangs
which constitute the Malta. Signor Cutrera
describes some OF the curious ceremonies
ana customs of the "mafiosi" When a
man wishes to enter one of these inner
brotherhoods of the Malta he is brought
into room where several chiefs are ga th-
ered. On table there are a lighted candle
and picture of a saint. The neophyte's
thumb Is pricked and the blood is made to
drop on the image. He places his hand on
the latter and swears fealty to the brot her
nooo- Inc image is then burned and he
adds: AS this saint and these drops of
blood are burned, do I swear to shed
all my blood for the brotherhood; and as
these ashes and this blood can never re-
III " lHeii state, SO can L never
quit the brotherhood" Possibly in this
burning of the image there may have been
originally some idea of desecrating it. The
formula of recognition among members of
these associations is usually as follows:
How my eyetooth aches" How long
has 1t been aching?" Since Candlemas"
the date of the initiation). Who was
there! A, B., C., etc, who received me
as a brother"
These associations have given rise to
many sensational trials. but the authorities
nave always found it very difficult to bring
the guilt home to the real culprits because
of the feeling of "onesta," which makes
evidence almost impossible to obtain and
because the whole machinery of the Malta
is set In motion to put pressure on judges
jury. counsel, police and witnesses in favor
of the accused. Moreover, the Malta OBJ
tanned a considerable influence with the
government by aiding 1t in the revolution
Of 1850. The only hope for its final sup
preston lies in better education, combined
with the Strictest penal laws.