The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1908-10-03

ter Of fighting fire with fire, by . So
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 ID
not q member Of the secret body that
will fight crime to its vanishing point.
The nameless brotherhood-for its
name as well as the names of its 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 be 5000 mem.
bers. The unwritten prospectus pro-
vides for the establishment of a large,
highly organized and efnolent 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 IL under the d.
rect care and guard Of these Italian
vigilantes.
The city is not to DO called upon for
single cent The organization pro-
poses to raise among its members all
Of the large sums that will be neces-
sary to carry on its work. The amount
required will not be small. A very
great share of 1t will be appropriated
for rewards for the secret agents. The
scheme for these secret agents is re-
markable and 1t really Is the keynote
of the entire plan. Regular detectives
will be employed only to a moderate
extent. A vast amount of the prelimi-
nary work of collecting evidence will
be done by Italians of both sexes
while engaged in their regular occu-
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 1t, Few
criminals will attempt to do anything
against our agents II they know that
they are watched"
n HE Italians who are the projectors
] of this brotherhood are widely rep.
resentative citizens of New York and
come of many different classes. Some
of them are rich, others of moderate
means. In the organization already
are to be found natives Of all parts of
Italy and of all shades Of political be-
lief. 1t is the scheme to have the
membership include not only big and
little business men, but a large pro-
portion of the laboring element. The
secret agents will be picked designed
ly from this class. AS the element to
be fought comes mostly from the south
of Italy It is planned to have as many
of the secret agents as possible from
the same region. Experience has
shown that the slower,witted, more
plodding Italian from the north Is no
match for the devious ways Of those
that are born in Sicily and the south.
Hitherto the great trouble has been
to get the natives from the south Of
Italy to testify at all in "Black Hand"
matters. An American who Is not an
Italian-American has no idea OF the
terrorism that is employed. 1t Is a
terrorism that is below the surface,
not to be seen by the outer world. 1t
is this that has handicapped, beyond
belief, the efforts to secure justice in
the Italian Matchmaking cases Of New
York.
A thousand secret agents, for exam
ple-men working at their daily trades
can be had at the price Of, say, ten
police detectives. These thousand men
and women will not be vidocQs, nor
will they have the skill Of Sherlock
Holmes. Yet they will have two mar
velous advantages, advantages that
cannot be estimated too strongly. In
the first place, their identity will be
hidden absolutely. When once this or
ganization is fully started any italian
met with may be one Of these secret
agents. The laborer playing MORO In
the back room of dingy saloon with
a party OF new found friends may be
one; an Italian physician or lawyer Of
high repute and income may be an
other. Secondly, there will be thou
sand of these men and women-per-
haps several thousand-all listening,
questioning, remembering, repeating
permeating every strata of Italian life
in New York, and together they Will
have the mastery Of every dialect and
r,,otovv, ~ Tfa1v sfI