The Dread Camorra.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 7, 16 August 1911, Page 36

The Dread Camorra.

REIGN OF TERROR IN NAPLES. FAR-REACHING BLACKMAIL. STORIES OF A SURPRISING ORGANISATION. In New Zealand, with our absence of even a settled criminal class, it is not too impossible to appreciate that the Camorrist o f Naples could exercise the subtle and terrible power which they actually do exercise over their fellow townsmen who live in the sun-dashed, colour-flecked city on the beautiful bay. It is extremeb difficult. even now that the trial of the leaders of the notorious Camorra is going on at Viterbo and the secrets of the society are apparently being revealed, to gather any genuine stories of th<* doings of the Camorristi, because. after all. only a few of the prominent members of the great seen l ', community are on trial. The rank and tile, together with enough leaders to keep the society as well organised as ever, arc still on the trail in Naples, ami are bu-y with their customary activities. So general, however, is the reign of terror that a number of extraordinary examples of it have within the last few months come to light. Youthful Copyists. To show how thoroughly used to t' • Camorra idea Neapolitans are. the police recent 1\ disorganized a gang of ztreet boys who had for souk* weeks Im-cii keeping a whole neighbourhood in complete zubjeetion in the following ingenious manner: One morning a shopkeeper, when he opened hi* store, found the windows smashed. One or t w o householders in the vicinity also found their windows on the street floor broken. \ little later in the day a tall lad went casually into the shop and said to tin* padrone: •*l see your windows an* broken.” es. answered the shopkeeper sullenly, **l should like to know who did it.” ”1 know,” replied the youth. "It is a pack of lawless boyz. |f you will give me a few lire a week I and my follows will protect yon from them.” The shopkeeper looked keenlv at the

young rascal, and decided in favour of giving him the money. The neighbours were all visited in turn, and only one refused the sum demanded fur protection. His windows were all smashed the next night, and the following day he gave in. The majority of the young scamps, whose messenger the tall lad was, were not more than twelve or fourteen years old and in no way connected with or inspired b\ the Camorra. Yet. profiting by tin* habit into which the law-abiding people of the city had fallen, the habit of paying to be let alone, the urchins had made a good sum of money out of simple blackmail. Toll From Street Vendors. The Camorristi, of course, have far more unexpected ways of living on their neighbours, more devious and ingenious methods of tormenting and terrorising people into paying them money to obtain safety for their lives or property or both. It is hard to believe, yet it is true, that even the little secret vendor of syrups and lemonade from whom you buy a cool drink on a hot day is paying the Camorra for the privilege of using the street vender’s license that he has bought and paid for. Only a short time ago a woman who could not afford to pay the price of peace tried in vain to carry on business independently. She had a new booth painted in clean, bright colours, and she chose a piazza in the crowded part of the city where there should be enough trade for all. She was

visited as soon as she opened for business by an agent of the secret society, who suggested to her that to be protected would Im* a valuable aid to her, and to have powerful friends was practically a necessity. She scorned the man’s talk, and sent him away. Within a short time a rival booth appeared beside hers —an old. dusty looking. ill kept affair it was. too. But the man behind the counter sold exactly the same drinks that she was offering for sale. Very soon it was noticeable that the rival booth got all the trade, while the independent was hardly ever approached, except by some one who was a stranger. This went on clay after day until the woman, who had started without much capital, went into debt. She was then visited again by tin* Camorra. The emissary, who was a different one this time from the one who first came, knew exactly how much she owed to her various creditors and offered her the money to pay them off. demanding a ruinous rate of interest for the loan. If she did not take it. he suggested, she would be forced to give up her business, as he assured her no one would patronise her booth. 'The woman had children dependent on her. and was obliged to give in. As soon as she did so the rival booth disappeared, and she did a flourishing business. If she had paid the usual Camorra fees when they were first asked she would have been wiser, because the terms were then easier, and there would have been a larger percentage of profit for her in her earnings.

Complicated Spy System. One of the chief sources of strength in the Camorra is its knowledge of the people of Naples and all their private affairs. This intimate knowledge is gained by a system of sleuthing that is almost incredible for its patience and diligence. If the Camorra wishes to find out something about any particular person, an agent is set to work to get the information, and is allowed an almost unlimited length of time if the case is a difficult one.

For example, a wealthy man, who was arrested on a charge of making free with the government funds, was follow ed into prison by a Camorra agent, who gained the man’s confidence to such an extent that he confessed that tae charges against him were true. When the trial came off the prisoner was somehow found innocent, and the Camorra reaped a golden harvest from the guilty man for the safekeeping of his secret! Camorristi not only makes money easily, but do not have to spend so much as other people. Among the shops where they are known to be members of the great society they sometimes go through the strange process of paying for what they buy. and receiving in change from the shopkeeper more money than they gave. There is a certain simulation of honest dealings and fair treatment to the merchant in this quaint formula which is half ridiculous, half pathetic. But as a rule the Camorrist merely gets his goods free, without receiving a money bonus besides from his unwelcome patronage. Tn this way he picks up his luncheon and his cigarettes, keeps his shoes shined and his hair cut. and gets his afternoon coffee, his evening paper and all the little necessities of the day, and the equally necessary luxuries and comforts. Ruining An Inn-keeper. Those who incur the enmity of the Camorra in Naples are practically doomed. The keeper of a small trattoria, or inn, on the high road out toward Posillipo, and whose business for the most part was done among Camorrists, in some way offended one of the most powerful of the minor captains of the Camorra in that district. The offence was committed while the usual company of merrymakers was in the main room of the inn. drinking red wine and smoking. The Camorrist rose ami went out. signalling the others to follow, which they did. As he went out the captain' said: ‘'You might as well close up. You’ll do no more business.” The trattoria kept its doors open a few months longer, and then closed. It was boycotted by all Camorrists. and had so few other patrons that it became deserted looking and unattractive.

Gradually, even those few avoided it, and went to brighter and more popular resorts. The proprietor, who had been losing money steadily, ami was fast getting into debt, sold out at very disadvantageous terms and went to look for woik. But he found, to his horror, that the vendetta li.id not yet been satisfied. Wherever he applied for work either he was refused, or else, if he obtained some sort of job, he was discharged within a few days, accused of petty theft which ho had never committed or some dishonesty. The man whose enmity he had incurred dogged him about, inspired distrust of him in his employers and ar ranged the circumstances that would make the poor victim appear to be a thief or a liar, or whatever sort of criminal it pleased his tormentor to have him appear to be. Finally, the old man was driven out into the streets, to try to pick up a living as a public porter. Not being strong enough any longer for such work he earned hardly enough to buy his scant supply of food, lie had no roof over his head, no friends, no means of support. Finally, with the hopelessness and terror of his existence, his mind gave way and he starved to death in some back alley in the city. That such a thing as this could occur in the midst of a so-called law protected community seems horrible enough, but even more terrifying to the people is the ease with which it is done and the absolute certainty that a threat once made will be carried out to the letter. Something that is punished with merciful swiftness is the betraying of any of the women in a Camorrist*s family. The man who does this is stabbed within twenty-four hours of the time that his villainy is discovered. Assisting the Police. The Camorra has various uses besides that of merely selfish gain. As the society has been so much more powerful in its secret organization and energetic methods than the police have been in controlling ‘the people of the lowest classes, the police are sometimes accused of appealing to their supposed foes in the Camorra for aid in catching criminals. And if the person whom the

law seeks is not a Camorrist the aid is not unlikely to be forthcoming, for ingratitude is an uncommon trait in the South of Italy, and the Camorrist often needs a little friendly help from the black arm of the law. This interchange of courtesies is. of course, conn tenanced neither by the authorities nor by the Camorra society, but cannot always be stopped between individuals, who. in the course of time, get to know’ and admire each other, and who find mutual benefit in the help they can give. “You help me and 1 help you” is the not ungrateful theory on which they work. Little street boys who run their errands, or who. knowing one of them and seeing him in danger, warns him. get all kinds of opportunity of earning good and sometimes honest livings by the Camorristi in grateful recognii : oi. of such service. Opera Singers Pay. A peculiar phase of Camorra activity, and one that, strangely enough, we never seem to hear of on this side of the water, is the “censorship’’ of the opera. Whenever a new' singer goes to Naples to make a debut at the San Carlos opera, he or she is approached by an appointed agent of the Camorra, and it is suggested to the aspirant for operatic honours that it lies in the power of the society to insure failure or greatly to aid success. If the demands of the Camorra are met and the money is paid over to them in advance, they form a regular claque at the opening night and do their mightiest to give the artist an ovation. If the singer is either too poor or too proud to “come up.” the first night she appears will be a night of horrors that she will never forget. A run of more than a week in ‘the San Carlos opera without the co-operation of the Camorra is practically impossible. The demands of this strange band of desperadoes are seldom exorbitant or even high, and its members are usually

punctilious to a degree in the carrying out of their part of the bargain; for Camorristi have a code of honour, and. such as it is, one must respect it or take the consequences. Many of them are apparently devout and sincere in the following of their religious faith, and

although they will in bonnie spirits rifle a house, sell the plunder at public auction and cheat over the delivery of the goods ’to those who have unsuspectingly bought them, many of them would think it a sin to miss going to church on Sunday or to fail to say their prayernight and morning. It is a strange phase of the fickle Neapolitan’s disposition that he seems to have no sense of consistency in action. And it is interest ing to notice that the central and north ern Italians are as much puzzled over the doings of their strange brothers in Naples.