The Washington herald., 1909-03-18
A CITY of Refuge

n Ohg VI RCluAC
n the old Biblical DAYS they used 20
have, scattered about the plains, walled
in cities OF refuge" IN which a criminal
in danger OF paying the penalties OF his
crime might hide and enjoy his freedom
and immunity from punishment. The
murder recently in Rome Of the Italian
police on, er. Joseph Peuosino. lends Pc
culiar significance once more TO the Oft
reiterated speculation as to whether the
United States has not become in sort a
city Of refuge" for many Of the crimi-
nails and wrong-doers Of the earth.
Certainly there can be no doubt that for
many years great many Of the more
dangerous agitators and outlaws Of Italy
have sought refuge in this country. or
ganized their Black Hand and other So
cIeties and have enjoyed a wonderful i'm
munity from punishment This. Of course.
has not beer because the United States
invites criminals, malefactors. and wrong
dOers 70 its shores. but simply because
we have been too careless and too in
different If we are inclined 10 doubt this
we can have our speculations confirmed
by a recent report made 10 the Treasury
Department by an italian expert. which
report has been laid before the United
States immigration Commission Il is the
experts opinion, based on the facts. that
the one great reason why Italian and
Sicilian bandits and outlaws make this
country their haven OF refuge is be-
cause Of our lack OF police system. the
ease with which crime may be committed
and the greatly increased chances here
Of immunity from punishment. The re-
port Of the italian expert shows that in
1896 there were tried in the United States
1852 persons for homicide, while in Italy.
during the same period. the number OF
persons tried for this crime was 3.5O6. In
Italy So per cent Of the murderers tried
were convicted, while the percentage OF
convictions in the United States was only
ID per cent.
Says the report:
Here the surveillance Of policc is almost mi. Here
IL IS easy 20 buy weapons and dynamite for cTimi-
nal purposes Here there IS no penalty. as unde-
the Italian Law, for giving false name and ad-
dress Here IL is easy % hide. partly because of
the enormous extent Of the American territory ard
partly because q the OEcrcrUEded condition Of the
larger cities aud the different laws and regulations
between State and State. All these render the
prosecution long and sometimes f-1itless. And the
institution q bail being very easy % jump makes
the escape from penalty matter Of small difficulty "
Thus It will be seen that 10 the profes-
sional Italian criminal the United States
must appear a very paradise for the field
Of his operations. His chances TO escape
after committing crime here are very
much greater than they would be in italy.
and the commission OF crime in this coun-
try is rendered doubIy easy by the facil-
ity with which the criminal may DUR
chase weapons and the tools Of his trade.
II really is getting 10 be time that the
United States should cease 10 be the hap
py hunting ground for the riH-raR Of
Europe. We can't stop the italian crimi-
nal or the members Of the Black Hand
merely by talking about it and depre-
eating their crimes. 1t is necessary that
vigorous and merciless methods should be
employed We have a right 20 guard our
society against the influx Of Italian and
other malefactors, and we should look 10
our authorities 10 take the necessary
steps