The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-14

Sentences are Juet because tno Shmorra
does not Judge with the pen, but with the
heart and mind"
Among the punishments decreed by these
tribunals are the following: Suspension, per-
manent or temporary. from enjoying the
profits Of Camorra operations OF work,
expulsion, permanent or temporary. from
! the Honorable Society; sfregio, or permanent
visible disbursement by means OF a broken
glass or a razor.
Capital punishments or rather murders
are executed by means OF tdoiienti (~cutters)
or knives. and the mode Of killing differs
! according 70 the gravity OF the crime COM
mitted. The worst Is by stabbing in the
stomach which prolongs death. Next
! comes stabbing in the chest or heart. and
finally stabbing in the head.
The secret tribunal Of the Camorra sits
| generally in a cellar. and il the crime under
! consideration is a capital one il 10 COM
posed Of the head and the twelve district
chiefs. No defence is admitted, but a
camorrista acts as prosecuting counsel
The members of the court come fully
armed, but their first act on entering Ia to
nd over their weapons TO the chief. who
ties them up in a handkerchief and de.
livers them to a carnorrista who remain at
the door.
III CbtlAO vi NV eNStb1 ~ hct hoNtbr
sary. When death is decreed four picci-
uotti are called in and charged with the
execution of the sentence. generally within
twenty-four hours. The punishment for
d%enunciations to the police is always death,
az in the case OF Cuocolo.
As evidence hat the sentence hes been
carried out the executioners generally take
some object belonging TO the accused and
give it TO the chief, who displays 1t in such
a manner that all the camorristi can see
it. In the case of Cuocolo, Erricone. the
head chief. wore the dead mans ring for
an. entire month after the murder.
The Camorristi have a slang of their own
which is characterized by the fact that it
10 only used in poetry. Thus. for example.
a camorrista. very often disguised as a
lazzarone or tramp, sits in the sun and
/ sings about a huntsman who went out
shooting birds and tried to hit them under
! their wings. People stop I'M listen; if
there happen 10 be camorristi among them
these understand that the huntsman is a
; judge and that he is attempting to get
| some information out of member of the
society.
Camorristi communicate with their COM
panions in prison by means OF these songs.
they warn each other of the approach Of
the police and they arrange robberies and
murders in broad daylight and in the most
frequented places.
The camorristi are very superstitious.
For instance. they firmly believe that the
murderer who swallows a drop Of blood
/, Of his victim is never arrested by the police.
In case they have to rob a church or a
shrine, before doing so they kneel down
and say some prayers. followed by a formula
a. .ho afaot th.s the roAAaxr, - 49,, 49, -
suit TO God, but to get a living.
Camorristi often max vows to saints, and
in case their undertaking succeeds they
wear for a month the special color of the
saint, green for st. Anne. black for the
Mother Of Sorrows. and so on. A favorite
vow Of the camorristi is TO marry a woman
of bad repute in order TO prevent her from
leading a life of sin.
The general impression throughout Italy
is hat the Camorra is in league with the
police. IL is said that all the men who
represent Naples in Parliament owe their
elections to the Camorra. Even the
municipal elections are influenced by the
Camorra, and hence it follows that the
Honorable Society has protectors in high
places.
The Neapolitan Deputies have certainly
never made any effort against the Camorra
In Parliament nor have they denied the
revelations made by local srs
alleging their completely with the Honorable
! Society. A Deputy from the north Of
Italy, Signor Giaoomo Ferri, during a
recent debate in the House, provoked by
q question he asked as TO whether the police
were so much in league with the Camorra
as to hamper the work Of the carabinieri,
furnished the following information about
this criminal organization whose existence
had been denied by some Neapolitan Dspu-
ties. 1t is a well known fact, he said, that
the authors of the Cuocolo murder were
not arrested owing to the connivanoe Of
the police.
Since the oarabinieri have taken the
matter in han many things have come to
light. A priest, Don Giro Vitozzi. has
been arrested, and Il has been ascerteined
that he was the chaplain of the Camorra.
He persuaded the Investigating Judge to
set free the persons first arrested for the
Cuocolo murder, and it has been proved
crimes, murders, immoral trafficking,
spoliation of graves, DC. was q friend OF
Judges and high police officials.
Bills of exchange drawn in favor of Judges
and police commissioners have been found
in possession of Don Giro Vitozzi, Errioone
and other camorristi. Signor Ferri, there
fore, concluded by saying that there 10
not the least shadow Of doubt that the
police and Camorra were in league and
be expressed his firm conviction that where
il not for the personal intervention Of the
King no effort would have been ever mace
TO combat the Camorra.