Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1911. THE UNDESIRABLE ALIEN THE MAFIA ON THE MOVE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 25 January 1911, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1911. THE UNDESIRABLE ALIEN THE MAFIA ON THE MOVE.

IWHILE we in Australasia, often deplore our remoteness and the sparseness of our population, we have much -to be ithankful for in some ways because of that very remoteness and spaa'seness, jusit as the poor man has not the worries of tlie millionaire. At least we are spared, so far as 1 we know, from incursions by anarchists who have made Europe too hot to hold them; Xtalian Secret Society agents given to the practices of the bravo; or "slim" Chinese guilds and rings who make immigrant and opium smuggling a science. The people of some of the countmies not 'many days l ' journey from Europe must be feeling far from comfortable just now in .the., apprehension that perhaps the elusive Peter the Painter and his associates ai'e in their midst with oocket bomibs, or that the Mafia and Gaanorra members who have escaped the recent Italian drag.net of the law are lurking round the corner \vith their blackmailing knives ready. ' Anyway, if those undesirable immigrants he with us, they have no scope to hide, and hence dure •not give rein to their peculiar ways. i • •» » • ■.

The secret trial, sentence and exe'.-u-Mon of'a mine manager in Sicily suspectod of having betraye<l the secrets of the infamous Mafia Society, as reported in recent cables, affords a startling instance of happenings .still .posart>le in some civilised' countries. -But it must also be borne in mind that the Mafia exists as a well-known institution in Italy and Sicily, not epidemic but •endeimic, affecting and terrorising all ranks of society and having, with the Ga.morra, its influence' on national characteristics, even on national legrislation. It is only by fits aind starts that the Italian Government, sets out to deal vigorously with these all but licensed l bravos and assassins—and then it is generally sorry and matters go on as before. Mafia murders are of such common occurrence in Italy that they aire) merely eomimc<n place events, and the contrast between Italian and British notions on the question of .detecting the murderers' and .meting out, justice is simiply bewildering. Were such a £° u l gang of criminals to exist in any British community, there would he no rest in Parliament, putpit, or press, till it was exterminated root and branch.

'The isßue with regard to Mafia, Camonra asnd Black Hand members may become somewhat' acute in Australia at any moment, for there is a good deal of talk just now of permitting and even encouraging the immigration of Italian orchard and vinery workers. Already, in view of the recent, conflicts between the law a.nd the murder societies in Italy, there has been an exodus of actual and potentiaL.assasslnis to Britain and the United States, and some of the Commonwealth' newspapers are sounding a warning note lest they find their w ay to Australia, driven still further by the cool welcome both John Bull and Uncle Sam aire giving them and their brethren, the Anarchists. So far, sayfc the "Sydney Daily Telegraph,'' there has "been no special grounds of complaint against Italian colonists in New iSouth Wales* as undoubtedly they hafve 'been industrious, thrifty, and law-abiding. But a. different class is to <be found among, the Italians going to the United States, where the Mafia and ite subsidiary societies, snob, as the Black Hand, lately have been following their evil ways as if they were at home. Simultaneously, there is an imimigration "boom" of sorts, and some Australians have made a special mission to Italy to secure immigrants. .. Hence it is more than possible that Mafia men and Ciatmorrists have been amongst the audiences who have been told of. the good things awaiting them at the Antipodes, including the revenue from the blackmailing industry, and it is quite on the cards that they may .preifer Australia to America and Britain as >an entirely new field of labour.

Left us hope not; but it is difficult tol •see-Low tLo men of the knife and the dagger and the bomb are to be kept out should they evince a desire .to become Australian citizens, with, a selector's license hobnobbing in. their, pockets with lethal weapons. They are not likely to arrive 'as contracted labourers, except by secret compact in the field of crime; hence that check and hindrance are of 'no avail. Moreover, being Europeans, there is no special Australian law to. prevent their advent. The only recourse is to the law providing for the exclusion of criminals and vagabonds. It is, therefore, being urged by the Australian'prefix that im.'migrant© from the Mafia, and Camprra-, infested districts of Italy and, Sicily should be subjected to most careful examination as to' their past lives 'before admission ,is grafted.