The Mafia.

Evening Star, Issue 8506, 4 May 1891, Page 2

The Mafia.

Major Manning, city clerk of New Orleans, asked to state his views with regard to the lynching of the Italians in New Orleans, replied: "It is hard to say when mob law is justifiable. If it ever is, then it was in this case. The Mafia is a society of murderers and paid ruffians, who would commit murder for sums as low as sdol, The Mafia was never molested until Mr Hennessy, the late Chief of Police, took office. Previous to that time New Orleans had never had a chief of police who dared to attack the society. When the Mafia said a man must die, bis death was sure and quick. A murderer might escape the penalty of the law, but never the vengeance of the Mafia. The mob was not a wild uprising of lunatics, but the result of calm, deliberate action on the part of the best elements in the city. Lawyers, doctors, and merchants were all there; and they felt that something must be done, they being the court of last resort. They knew that the Italians were murderers, and no man's life would be safe 1 if, through bare* faced intimidation, the Mafia were allowed to escape, and they took the business into their own hands. Who can blame them? The result must hurl dismay amongst the Mafia, because it means its utter destruction. The movement against it will proceed until New Orleans is freed from these wretches. If the Mafia should attempt to wreak ven(;eance by more murders, the city would use ts power to sweep the Italians from the face of the earth, as the present ohief of police is following in Mr Hennessy's footsteps, and the oity is determined to uproot the evil"