Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
SHADOW OF THE BLACK HAND
Criminal Organizations Operating on
Both Sides of the Ocean.
PROBLEM FOR AMERICAN POLICE
Secrecy ana the Cohesive Power of
Plumber Recruits Members and
Directs weapons - How
They work Abroad.

The assassination of Lieutenant Petrosino
OF the New York police in Palermo, Sicily,
a month ago, and the murder Of a Chicago
grocer who would not submit to blackmail,
are the latest additions to the bloody record
OF Italian criminal organizations operating
ON both sides of the ocean. Their organiza-
tons are grouped in the country and COM
monty known as the Black Hand. a name
derived from the black hand" symbol ac-
companying the extortion letters sent by
members to their victims. The trial OF
crime corresponds with the distribution of
Mediterranean immigrants, but is most
conspicuous in the large cities and in the
coal mining regions of Pennsylvania. The
problem Of exterminating these organized
criminals is the most serious one confront
ing the police of this country. The secrecy
which organization gives. the protection
organization affords, the racial instinct
strengthened by fear. are difficulties which
for the moment seem almost nsurmoun
able to the authorities.
A correspondent of the New York Times,
writing from Naples shortly after the as
sassination of Petrosino, throws needed
light on the methods of the organizations,
where and how they operate. He says, in
part:
stirred ny n Crime.
The murder Of Petrosino at Palermo has
stirred Italy no less deeply than II has
America, and undoubtedly the brave fell
lows martyrdom will bring about radical
changes that years Of argument would
have been rowerless to effect. The national
pride has been touched to the quick. Some
ctt.6 . onaHv e,,oI ornr ,A,,.o $500,
needed to arouse public Indignation, for
in this country the criminal secret So
cleties are of such ancient date and are so
thoroughly a part Of the social order in
such cities as Naples and Palermo that the
average citizen has come to think very
little about them. Now they have become
in this dramatic way an International ques-
ton, and It Is certain that changes will
promptly be made not only in the emigra-
tion laws but also in regard to the some
what too lenient treatment of criminals.
On the other hand, the average American.
ignorant Of the causes that gave power 10
these strange organizations and Of the con-
ditions that serve to keep them influential.
has had his eyes ouened. Only n few yenrs
ago there was a disposition to treat Ms ex-
aggerated and more or less fabulous the
ldtto VI lHt ldT-TtdCnllB anu wei, IlOO9n
looslv, organized societies that hold south
ern italy and Sicily in their grip. It was a
capital mistake to despise one's enemy.
The Black Hand. whether II be a branch
Of the Malta and Camorra or not, Is GER
tainly made up of ex-members of these
redoubtable societies and did not from the
first lack either intelligence or experience.
Worst of All.
MI A.~As =
establish in America the fac-simile of the
extraordinary criminal organizations OF
this country is grave enough, for 1t may
be said with confidence that the Black
Hand is an, even more. dangerous and law
less association than the older two. The
Malta and Camorra are bad enough. in all
conscience, but they have existed so long
tina their proceedings have come to have
a regularity on which everybody can count.
They are a part of daily life. and they
have actually come to fill certain functions
that are at times useful.
The Black Hand, on the contrary, is with
out even this small redeeming feature, and
while check the criminal societies here. It
is, happily, true. that there is not in
America sufficient soil of ignorance and
iiNAlANtS'N1S " 80 oS u blO"NA
to the perfection 1t has attained here
through centuries of bad government, when
the law afforded hardly a shadow of pro-
lection, but 1t Is a strong root, and cutting
1t out will be no easy matter. PetrosIno
will not be the only martyr the undertake
ing will claim. 1t is just as we'll to clear
the situation by understanding the sys-
TENS on which the Black Hand is based,
and which no Doubt &c raadU m on-nparafo
with It as may be necessary.
To begin with, the Malta and Camorra,
in spite of honest and heroic efforts on the
part of the police. are supreme In southern
Italy and Sicily. No living soul escapes
their watchfulness. They have spies every
where. in every rank of life. They know
the coming and going of everybody. One
may live for years in southern italy with
out ever suspecting such a state of affairs
and then suddenly, perhaps in some vny
trivial way. it comes to one with a shock
that every action is known to them. They
weave a network over the whole country.
Crime is an absolute monopoly.
Political Power.
Politically their power is immense. It is,
as may be imagined, usually employed for
evil, but not always. Garibaldi succeeded
III SICILY Ndu NAt alid nlSlbu lllil
to succeed. The Camorra In Naples never
intrigued against the government of
United Italy. although 1t was prosperous
under the Bourbons. Just what their po-
litical connections are It is hard to say,
for no man high in office is likely to ex-
pose his dealings with them. but they are
a potent factor In political life, and It Is
hardly probable that an open enemy TO
them could ever attain great influence. II
is in fact a boss" system fully devel-
opened and one in which the man
who really holds the power never appears.
He lives very likely in what would seem
squaior. but he has the luxuries he Graves,
idleness and power.
Both the sicilian Malta and the Neapoli-
tan Camorra are centuries old, and at
tanned their finest growth under Spanish
misrule. 1t is hard to believe that they
had ever a worthy purpose, but at first
there seems to nave been an idea that the
poor might by banding together exercise
a power over the rich or at least keen or