THE BLACK HAND, ITALIAN CRIMINALS IN THE NEW WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 166, 13 July 1907, Page 9

THE BLACK HAND, ITALIAN CRIMINALS IN THE NEW WORLD.

Criminals who call themselves the "Mafia," or the 'Black Hand," have been noticeably active in America of late. They hare been committing crimes in real life which as a rule are only to be read of in penny dreadfuls. Money, being at the root of all evils, is at the root of the Black Hand. There is nothing romantic or patriotic about the motives of its brethren. They have simply gone into the blackmailing trade and reduced it to a fine art. Their victims are usually wealthy Italians. One morning a rich American Italian will re-

Fac-simile of a letter from the Black Hand to a wealthy New York Italian. Translated it reads: Esteemed Friend, —Tie society has pot forgotten you. Bring the money if you do not wish, to die. We fear do one, and the priests ■will not be able to protect you. ceive a cheerful letter from the Black Hand notifying him that it is his turn to be .bled, and that if he doesn't send the Black Hand a good round sum he will be murdered. If he declines to part, he receives further letters, written more in sorrow than in anger, and if be proves obdurate to the last he is murdered in due course. The Black Hand murders a man in the matter of fact way that ordinary business men sue a debtor who refuses* to pay his account in spite of threats to "place the matter in the hands of our solicitor. The American police have succeeded in catching several of the Black Hands, but blackmailing and kidnapping are still being practised to an extent which makes it clear that a large and dangerous gang are still at large. The Italian Acting Consul-General in New York, Chevalier Tosti, has made some interesting remarks on the subject. Chevalier Tosti is there is no such organisation as the "Mafia" or the "Black Hand" in the sense in which, their existence is popularly accepted. Both in Italy and America he has given much attention to a study of this branch of crime. He is familiar with the Italian authorities upon the question, from whom he quoted in discussing the matter.

"I wish there was some way of convincing people that they are mistaken in thinking that there is, either in Italy or America, any such organisation as they picture in their imagination," he said. ."None such exists, I am positive, and by imagining the existence of such a society, or societies, a confusion, is cast about the subject which renders it much more difficult to treat intelligently. "Originally, a hundred years ago or more., there may have been a secret organisation calling , itself the Mafia, with political purposes, though that is a fact which has not been proven. There was a vast amount of misgovernment in Sicily and Xorthern Italy until about forty years ago, and there may well have been some such society among the people who found the law as administered incapable of protecting them. ''But thtrt-condition of affairs has-long since pased away, leaving only the'name of Mafia as a reminder of its existence.

'"The tarm Mafia, in the minds of intelligent Italians, has two distinct meanings. There is the spirit of Mafia, to which I have referred, which permeates the people of Sicily, which means not so much a disregard of the la-vv in the conduct of their affairs, as a deep-rooted determination to settle their disputes without appeal to law.

"This is doubtless due to the fact that for centuries they found an appeal to the law futile, and it has left them with an unwillingness, which generally amounts to stubborn refusal, to testify in court regarding the circumstances of which they have and are known to have complete knowledge. "The inability to obtain witnesses in a suit in which Sicilians are concerned is a condition met'with as-generally in Sicily as among Sicilians in America. They insist upon settling their -own disputes in their own way, and are more than willing to let the authorities attend to their own business, which, in their minds, consists chiefly in refraining from interference with the affairs of the people. "That is the spirit of Mafia, and by the use of the word in that sense nothing more serious is meant than a graphic expression of a state of affairs the existence of which has to be accepted as a fact and treated as best may be.

"On the other hand, 'Mafia , is used to characterise a class pf criminals. When we speak of 'Mafia , in Italy we mean a 'gang.' A 'gang of thugs, , as you would say in this country, is known as a 'Mafia.' There is no central organisation having branches in various as is popularly supposed, but a lot of detached bands of criminals to whom the term is applied.

"So generally has the term been used, however, to characterise a supposedly secret and widespread society conducted with utter disregard'of law and order, the workings of which are supposed to be wrapped, in mystery, that the name has come to inspire abject terror in the minds of ignorant Italians- as well as being accepted in that sense by those who have not given study to the subject. "As to the so-called Black Hand society, that is generally a creature of the imagination. Thei-e never was such an organisation in Italy, and, if I am not mistaken, the name was given to a society which had'its existence in many years ago.

"But the question of whether "or not there are any such organisations as the

'Mafia' and 'Black Hand' are supposed to be is of little importance as compared with finding a remedy for the present state of affairs. "■The fact that bands of criminals are taking adyantage of tbs- popular acceptation of the terms Olafia* and 'Black Hand' to terrorise their fellow countrymen, to extort money from them by threats of death in yonie mysterious manner and by using weird symbols in their blackmailing letters to convey the impression that it is a great secret society which is operating', is enough for the authorities to act upon."