A BLOW AT THE MAFFIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12070, 13 September 1902, Page 2 (Supplement)

A BLOW AT THE MAFFIA.

DRAMATIC CLOSE TO A FAMOUS

TRIAL.

The most famous trial of recent years in Italy came to a close at Bologna, and the sentences were pronounced —Signor PalizEolo and Signori Fontana and Trapani being condemned to thirty years' rigorous imprisonment. ;' The verdict is a terrible blow aimed at the dread secret society, the Maflia, and to understand the crime the punishment for '-which has just been meted out it is necessary to appreciate the working of this organisation, which has its foothold so firm •in Southern Italy and Sicily—in Sicily particularly—that nearly everyone belongs to it, even men of the highest standing, while fit, can even make its unwritten law felt far aw'av in the United States—witness the -notorious disturbances at New Orleaus a .few years ago. The Mama, which has been intimately connected with the internal political history of Sicily for very many years past, was originally an underground means or bringing political pressure to bear on individuals or districts, but latterly it became n, terrorising power, without a- responsible head or definite objects, and was used as a cloak to covet robbery and murder, to say aiothing of blackmailing and brigandage. It was a very dangerous factor in Sicilian and Italian life. Its members., like Count Fosco, '•stuck at nothing," and st far-reaching was it« arm that it could often defy the law end deal out its punishments—mostly death with the secrecv, suddenness, and certainty which made it universally dreaded. It needed a strong Government to meet the organisation face to face. The Palizzolo trial afforded the great opportunity, and the Italian Government took. the challenge uii. It was a mysterious affair, and the way the protagonists in this tragedy became linked with it- is remarkable even in the annals of crime.

TTTE matfia at ■work. Oa Febiuary 1, 1893. Signor Notarbar*oln. the former managing director of the Bank of Sicilv, was mysteriously murdered in the train between Palermo and Trabia. Several men wore arrested, examined, and released. Justice could do nothing, prove nothing. It was the Maffia at work. Palizzoio at that time was deputy for Palermo, and had been on the board of the Bank of Sicily. There had been a dispute about a stolen report, and he had to resign his position. That was all, until at length in December, 1399. at Milan, the nephew of SSTotarbartolo directly accused Palizzolo of complicity in the murder of his uncle for financial and political reasons, and he was formally arrested.

Another curious murder is then recalled— viz.. that of a ducal steward in 1892, and again Palizzolo was linked with it, Throughout the previous tria.ls if had become apparent that the two murders had ■been brought about by the agency of the Mama, and as both the murdered men had been known to be bitter opponents thereof, it was thought that certain members of the secret society had willingly lent themselves to the perpetration of the crime, suggested tor desired bv the notorious Palizzolo.

The accused man made desperate attempts to avert a trial, but in vain, and the Italian Government made a masterly final coup by removing the venue from the Mania-haunted purlieus of Palermo to the untainted jurisdiction of Bologna, in the north.

The great final trial formally opened in September of last year, and, with the exception of holidays, has been going on day by day ever since. Nearly twelve hundred witnesses have been examined, and the excitement throughout Italy has been immense, as until the verdict "was actually pronounced it was thought by many that Palizzolo would be acquitted, principally because of his intimate connection with the Maffia, which exercises enormous control. DEIN'GIN'G- HOME the GUILT. In both cases, however, the guilt was eventually brought home to him, and a thousand" little details cropped up connecting, him circumstantially with the crimes. Ono fact was proved beyond dispute, namely that Palizzoio was an enemy of Notarbartolo. Nothing very material except that fact was actually sworn to, and ib was not made evident that Palizzoio was •a chief of the Maffia. His chief counsel, Signer de Nicolo, after working hard till nearly the end of the trial, suddenly fell ill, and could not make the speech for the defence, so his junior spoke for 102 hours, spread over fourteen davs. After the judge had summed up the evidence the jury"' retired to consider their verdict. There were twelve of them : seven declared that Palizzolo was guilty, and five that he was innocent, so that his sentence was the result of a majority of one. When tho judge delivered sentence Palizzoio in a torrent of tears exclaimed: *' God will avenge me. lam innocent!" The two accomplices, or rather the two bravos hired by Palizzolo, who were in the dock with him, Fontaua and Trapani, also burst into tears, and almost at the same moment the whole of the public in Court began cheering lustily, for they knew that the miscreants Tiad met with their deserts. _ It is generally believed in Sicily that if the trial had taken place at Palermo Palizzolo would have been acquitted, because of his popularity, which is and was immense in the island, and because of the influence of the Maffia. The trial and the condemnation have practicallv settled nothing, for the interminable disputes.as to the guilt or innocence of Palizzoio continue unabated! throughout Italy. ________