River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-09-24


brotherhood, the like of which never
before has been known in America,
gets fairly under way. For it will be
more powerful than the criminals
themselves. 1t will intimidate them,
not by fear of death, but by fear OF
| JAIL The whole plan is only what
might have been anticipated-the ris-
ing of the good Italians of New York
| to blot out the stigma that is no fault
of theirs, but is stain made by those
of their own blood. The interesting
part of it all is that it will be a mat
| ter of fighting fire with fire, by Sc
cret organization gradually. growing so
powerful that the criminal on the
street never will know whether the
man he speaks to in his own tongue
| the man from his own village-is or is
not member of the secret body that
will fight crime to it's vanishing point.
The nameless brotherhood-fo its
name as well as the names of it's indi-
vidual members will be kept secret
already has been formed. The first
meeting has been held. There were
| so men present at this. At the next
meeting 300 are promised to be on
hand. Within three months it is ex-
pected that there will bes 5000 mem
| bers. The unwritten prospectus pro-
vides for the establishment of large,
highly organized and efficient body of
secret agents. The first object will
be the protection of the homes, the
families and the property of the mem
bers of the organization, this to be ex-
banded gradually until every good
Italian of New York is under the di-
rect care and guard of these Italian
vigilantes.
The city is not to be called upon for
a single cent The organization pro-
poses to raise among it's members all
/ of the large sums that will be neces-
sary to carry on it's work. The amount
required will not be small. A very
great share of it will be appropriated
for rewards for the secret agents. The
scheme for these secret agents is re-
markable and it really is the keynote
of the entire plan. Regular detectives
will be employed only to a moderate
extent. A vast amount of the preliml-
nary work Of collecting evidence will
| be done by Italians of both sexes
while engaged in their regular Occur
pations, who thus will be able to move
among their countrymen without sus-
picion. In addition to this, these Sc
cret agents will be guarded carefully
against harm. AS one of the men
most powerful in the establishment of
the brotherhood expressed it, Few
criminals will attempt to do anything
against our agents if they know that
they are watched"
TT PROBABLY is not known general
I ~ that New York city is divided up
very curiously as concerns it's Italian
population The Italian quarters are
divided up into what practically
amounts to hundreds of little villages.
An Italian comes, say, from a small
town in Calabria He is followed by
others. And all that come from that
town endeavor to live in the same
tenement house, if possible as the
first man; if not, in the same block.
| This is primarily for the sake of COM
partnership, because it brings old
friends together; and, secondly, for
the reason that the dialects of differ
ent districts of Italy are very distinct
| ly different and the customs of these
same districts no less diverse. To
really enjoy America an Italian family
wants to live with families that speak
the same patois and do the same
things-that have every interest in
common.
Any regular police detective is at a
double disadvantage. He not only is
known as q detective, but he also is
only in complete sympathy with the
people of the district in Italy from
which he comes. These considera-
tons greatly limit his usefulness. The
plan of having a thousand and more
secret agents eliminates at once all
/ this trouble 1t means the getting
right down to a scientific method of
keeping a watch upon people.
Thus the first object of the organiza-
ton will be thorough espionage upon
every Italian of criminal tendencies in
New York, the bringing to book sharp
ly and suddenly of such people when
they begin to terrorize, preventing
them in this way from terroriZing at
ALL The way in which this is going to
be worked out is very complete and