The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-03

the careIessness OF the police In their in.
vestigations. Az tho Sicilians did not
bother other people, or carry their VEN
detta against Americans or Creoles, Il waA
thought scarcely worth while to investigate
What caused the anti-Italian outbreak
fferward was the growth Of bitter senti-
nent among the police on the matter Of
supprt ssing crime that prevailed in Recon-
struction days. and the fact that the Scli-
TO one another. attacked an American,
| and the head OF the police department,
iienncssy: II should be stated that tho
friends Of the lynclled men insisted that
Chiel Hennessy. by becoming mixed up In
q vendetta between the Provenzano and
Matrangas and taking the side of one fac
ton, made himself amenable to Sicilian
Gust
Tho vendetta and the bravo flourished
Tor several years In New Orleans. There
and Palermo, dating. back centuries, which
made the citizens OF the two towns eager
for one another's blood. Whenever they
met, the. introduction Of the Malta came
later and was probably brought in by some
OF the many convicts and brigands who
found refuge here.
Very little is known Of the society In New
Orleans, even TO this day There were
meetings In Italian saloons, of which the
Red Light was one, and formalities like
those those Of tn the vs., secret orders Under the
accompanied by threats Of assassination,
prevailed and kept the italian colony in
constant state Of agitation and excitement
There were few who resented these
exactions; there was none who spoke to the
police OF them. Whether any OF the many
aseassinations committed were due to
refusals to pay money TO the Mafiosi can
never be known. Finally, the society sup
ported its friends with stiletto and sawed-off
shotgun whenever their lives were in
danger
1t was this that led to the lynchings and
the collapse Of the Malta. Hennessy testi-
fed in the Provenzano- Matranga vendetta,
taking, It ia asserted, one side Of this feud,
as he had many friends among the Italians.
difficulty in securing the necessary braves
to assassinate him. He was shot to pieces
by dozen men on his way home from the
police station.
The extension OF the Malta and vendetta
to Of 6rssns o Ssfa
were roughly handled and many hundreds
arrested for completely In the murder.
Their trial brought out enough facts to
increase the prejudice. for 1t showed that
ex-conyicts made America their home,
that brigands. when the constabulary be-
came too hot for them in Sicily. fed to New
Orleans, and that assassination and black
mail hourished there under the patronage
OF secret societies.
When the trial resulted in an acquittal
1t was followed by tho mob outbreak which
so nearly plunged the United States into
war with Italy. Eleven. Italians were
lynched, and New Orleans became so hot a
place for Italians that more than one-third
OF the Ital Han population left. going mainly
to st. Louis and Chicago.
There is, OF course. no excuse for lynch
law; but the parish prison affair undoubt-
eddy proved Of great benefit to the Italian
colony in New Orleans. There has been
little talk Of Malta since the bravo has
italian colony has increased threefold
and its prosperity has grown even more,
for the Industrious Italians have been
freed from the extortion and blackmail
Of the criminal element .
II would seem that the number Of
their fellow citizens. y comparatively
norance Of tbs fellow citizen and their
: g SssPne Te Ps S4s PsPoH S
lynohing evidently got nd Of some OF the
leaders In this business and frightened the
others away.
The system Of inspection Of immigrants
nals from coming here. and the new arrivals
are mainly peasants from Sicily, ignorant
but well-neaning people. And the latter
element among the Italians are 30 much
in control here, and are 30 we'll organised
in their mutual and benevolent societies.
that there Is no longer any chance Of a
revival Of old conditions.
The Italian colony appears to welcome
the change and the greater consideration
II enjoys, and better treatment it receives.
The colony is q much older one than in
New York. for the Italian immigration
here was large even in ante-bellum days.
so that two and three generations have
grown up here under American influences
and ideas that have naturally influenced
old customs and improved their mode OF
life