Chapter X: Appendix

ANXIOUS for the actual facts, the writer asked an Italian
friend to secure an interview with Cavalier Tarantelli,
Questor of Florence, who for a long time was a functionary of
the Public Safety in Naples, and testified in this capacity,
at Viterbo, on August 9, 1911. In discussing the power of
the Camorra, the Questor, after having given it as his
opinion that the actual criminal organization had lost most
of its unity, said: “At present there exist what are called
‘_combricole di quartiere_’ (_conventicles of the quarters_)
small secret associations of ‘camorristi’ belonging to the
same quarter of Naples. Naturally the different _combricole_
in the different quarters of Naples assist each other, as
likewise do the different chiefs of the quarters. Perhaps
there is still a kind of hierarchy among the chiefs as
there may still exist a hierarchy among the ‘camorristi’ in
the different quarters. These ‘camorristi’ are, as a rule,
bad characters, whose chief characteristics are immorality
and overbearing insolence, and who live accordingly. They
impose upon women and get money out of them; they practice
usury; they receive and hide stolen things. Naples has now
a special and intense criminality. The ‘camorristi’ are
at present almost all habitual criminals. But the real
so-called ‘act of camorra’ (_atto d’camorra_) is _extortion_,
namely, a price imposed upon those who fear individual or
collective imposition, either occult or open, on the part
of the ‘Camorra.’ Every morning a ‘camorrista’ will go to
the shopkeepers and tradesmen of the quarter (_quartiere_)
and collect the price paid by him to be let alone. There
are instances even nowadays of people who go to the chief
‘camorrista’ of their quarter in order to have their persons
and property protected. This protection, however, is now more
apparent than real. For instance, it is much more difficult
now than it was formerly to find people who try to recover
stolen property by having recourse to the ‘Camorra’ rather
than to the police. The ‘camorristi’ are extremely numerous
in Naples; at funeral processions, for example, you may see
thousands of them. Songs are sung beneath the windows of
prisons by the friends and relatives of the prisoners as a
means of communicating with the latter. But this custom of
‘the songs’ is now disappearing and the same may be said of
the ‘dichiaramenti’ (kinds of challenges), and of the tribunal
of the ‘Camorra.’ Some large meetings of ‘camorristi’ still
take place now and then. They will meet in some deserted
place in the country far away from the city or among the
mountains. I shall not deny that the judiciary of Naples is
somewhat different from that of Northern Italy. The former is
sometimes exceedingly indulgent, perhaps corrupt; that will
explain the influence of the ‘Camorra.’ It is no exaggeration
to state that magistrates in Naples are at times in awe of
the ‘camorristi,’ and especially of their friends who always
appear as perfectly honorable persons. It is a fact that the
police now endeavor to destroy the ‘Camorra,’ a thing which
they would not even have dreamt of a few years ago, and we
must not forget that the police consist for the most part of
men from the South of Italy. That there are officials and
agents taking bribes from secret associations for delinquency
is well known, but, of course, that does not occur in Naples
or in Italy alone. In Naples the ‘Camorra’ places itself
at the disposal of those who pay it, even in the case of
elections. As a rule, it is the candidates of the conservative
parties who avail themselves of the ‘Camorra.’ Thus, you see,
even ministers and prefects may avail themselves of it! At
all events, these deplorable facts are becoming less and less
frequent. Let us hope they may completely disappear! To the
Socialist party, however, must be given the credit of fighting
against the ‘Camorra’ to the best of its ability.”

This is an extraordinary admission for a public functionary
to make, and it is only fair to the Questor to state that his
interview was not made intentionally for publication. It is
what would be called in law an “admission against interest”
and is evidence of the weightiest character. One can read
between the lines that he but hints at the real state of
things. His opinion that the solidarity of the Camorra has
been greatly weakened seems to be borne out by many other
evidences. For example, the depositions of the informer
Abattemaggio are filled with detailed accounts of how various
local “camorristi” quarrelled over the division of their petty
spoils, tricked and cheated one another, and often betrayed
each other to the police. The day of the real camorrista,—he
of the swift dagger, the man of “heart,”—seems to be over
and to have given place to an era of filthy traders in vice,
petty grafters, blackmailers, and cheap thieves. But popular
imagination still surrounds these with the halo of romance and
regards the Camorra as “the friend of the people.”

FOOTNOTES.

[Footnote 1: Now abolished.]

[Footnote 2: In the State of New York.]

[Footnote 3: The following table gives the yearly percentages of convictions and acquittals by verdict in New York County since 1901:

+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+
| | NUMBER | NUMBER | | |
| YEAR | CONVICTIONS | ACQUITTALS | CONVICTIONS | ACQUITTALS |
| | BY VERDICT | BY VERDICT | PER CENT | PER CENT |
+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+
| 1901 | 551 | 344 | 62 | 38 |
| 1902 | 419 | 349 | 55 | 45 |
| 1903 | 485 | 307 | 61 | 39 |
| 1904 | 495 | 357 | 58 | 42 |
| 1905 | 489 | 299 | 62 | 38 |
| 1906 | 464 | 246 | 65 | 35 |
| 1907 | 582 | 264 | 69 | 31 |
| 1908 | 649 | 301 | 68 | 32 |
| 1909 | 463 | 235 | 66 | 34 |
| 1910 | 649 | 325 | 66 | 34 |
+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+]

[Footnote 4: Written in 1909.]

[Footnote 5: Naples and Sicily were united under that name in 1734.]

[Footnote 6: G. M. Trevelyan, “Garibaldi and the Thousand,” c. iii, p. 45. De Cesares F. di P., p. lxix.]

[Footnote 7: Compare the Florentine _carcisfo_ “artichoke” for gendarme.]

[Footnote 8: H. D. Sedgwick, “Letters from Italy.”]

[Footnote 9: G. M. Trevelyan, “Garibaldi and the Thousand,” c. i., p. 19.]

[Footnote 10: Compassion.]

[Footnote 11: _Publica Securezza_, or Public Safety—the regular police.]

[Footnote 12: The Italian Parliament approved in June last a bill proposed by the government authorizing the establishment of 6,000 schools, mainly in the southern provinces, at a cost of 250,000,000 lire ($50,000,000).]

[Footnote 13: See appendix.]

[Footnote 14: In stolen burial shrouds and the bones of children.]

[Footnote 15: About equivalent to our “quartermaster-sergeant.”]

[Footnote 16: May, 1912.]

[Footnote 17: Ten or more have been liberated already on this ground.]

[Footnote 18: Much more likely in Italy than in the United States.]

[Footnote 19: Petrosino is a national hero in Italy, where he was known as “Il Sherlock Holmes d’Italia”—“the Italian Sherlock Holmes.” Many novels in which he figures as the central character have a wide circulation there.]

* * * * *

Transcriber’s note:

1. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
errors.

2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.