Mussolini Wipes Out Dread Mafia

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 335, 21 April 1928, Page 24

Mussolini Wipes Out Dread Mafia

MrKgflßESnil HE Mafia, one of the most picturesquely villainous secret societies J7b) B QfV the world has ever seen, exists no more. k L 1 * After holding absolute sway over Sicily for centuries, murdering, blackmailing, terrorising the luckless inhabitants, it has met its fate at the hands of the Fascist Government after a four-year struggle. The last battle of this war of giants was fought a few weeks ago in the court room at Termini Imerese, near Palermo, where 154 Mafiosi—as the members of the Mafia are called—of both sexes and of all classes of society, chained together in groups of four and closed in iron cages, were tried for a multitude of crimes, ranging from murder to cattle-maiming, from blackmail to destruction of crops, from highway robbery to extortion. The sentence of the court was exemplary and salutary. Only seven of the 154 desperadoes were acquitted and sentences almost 20 centuries of hard labour were distributed among the remainder.

The Mafia found adherents in all classes of society. From men of ancient lineage and noble birth to the lowest ruffians of the cities and the peasants of the country, all found it profitable to enter a secret association which gave its members protection and money and dealt out summary justice to its enemies. Wild young men of good family, common murderers, gangsters, robbers, thieves, gamblers, cheats, forgers and worse, all had a place in the organisation. Its activities included every known form of crime. Systematic blackmail filled its coffers; it levied toll from farmers and merchants; it collected tribute from gambling dens and houses of ill repute; it accepted bribes for political preferment and had a powerful voice in the dispensing of local offices. Yet the daring criminals who composed it were not without fascination in the eyes of the lowly Sicilians. Despite ghastly cruelties it often won popular sympathy, and many Sicilians served long terms in prison rather than commit the “infamy” of giving information to the police. The appellation of “giovane d’onore”—“a young man of honour”—given to one who refused to assist the police in bringing some desperado to justice was a much sought after distinction. In its early period the Mafia creed held that it was cowardly and disloyal to appeal to the authorities of the oppressor for redress of any wrong. The Mafia took it upon itself to dispense a rough and ready justice rather than permit the Sicilians to have dealings with the justice of the Spaniards. Anyone who appealed to the regular courts was branded as infamous and dealt with accordingly. This creed, drilled into the Sicilians for centuries, became a part of their mental make-up.

The Mafia in time lost its patriotic character and continued as a criminal organisation. In the latter half of the last century, when Sicily became a part of the Kingdom of Italy and any justification for such a body as the original Mafia ceased to exist, the quality of the society deteriorated until the members were ordinary gangsters and the leaders cold-blooded criminals 'who thought no more of ordering the murder of an enemy than of killing a fly. Nothing was immune from the

taint of the Mafia. The police usually found that it was better to come to terms with the dread society than to oppose it openly. Many of the judges had soft hearts for the Mafia; they did not last long in office if they had not. The same thing may be said of the King’s attorneys. What was not obtained by political protection was obtained by terrorism. When a courageous King’s attorney was found who set his heart on bringing the Mafia to book—and such attorneys were many, considering all the circumstances—he was powerless because he could find no witnesses ready to testify against the society. It was more than their lives were worth. There are cases on record in which men were stabbed to death in broad daylight in crowded streets and no one would admit knowledge of the crime, though the name of the murderer was known to the

whole city. The tradition of silence and secretiveness backed up by fear was so strong that nothing appeared capable of shaking it. The Government at various times made determined efforts to break the grip of the Mafia. The bestknown instance is the trial and the conviction of a member of Parliament, who was -also a Mafia chief, for the murder of the banker Notarbartolo in 1592. The trial took place 10 years after the death and was held out of Sicily, to remove judges, juries, lawyers and witnesses from the menace of the Mafia’s vengeance. Such efforts, however, were sporadic and, being always directed against some great chief instead of against the rank and file, never succeeded in crushing the order. The Mafia always found time to perform acts of real justice, usually to benefit some of the humblest of the population. Sometimes an unjustly discharged workman would appeal to the society; sometimes a wretch who had fallen into the hands of moneylenders; sometimes the victim of a theft, or a penniless devil in need of a meal. Such appeals always received prompt attention —they cost nothing, for a single word whispered in the ear of the proper person was sufficient to achieve the desired result.

The Mafia’s reputation for chivalry was one of the greatest obstacles for Mussolini and his lieutenants. It was first necessary to shear the society of its popular appeal and to show it in its true character as a band of cut-throats and murderers who dominated the island in pursuance of wicked ends. Mussolini, in a speech in May of last year, said; “Every now and then my ear is reached by dubious voices which would have me believe that in Sicily we are exaggerating, that we are mortifying an entire region, that we are casting a shadow over an island which can well boast of noble traditions. I reject these voices with indignation because they cab. only emanate from infected centres. It is time for me to reveal the Mafia to you. But first of all I wish to denude this company of brigands of all its poetic fascination,

which it does nob in the least deserve. Let us not speak of the nobility and the chivalry of the Mafia if we do not wish to insult the whole of Sicily!” The man who accomplished the redemption of Sicily from the Mafia is Prefect Mori, of Palermo. Mussolini adopted the method he always chooses when he wants something important done. He picked a man in whom he felt ’he could place the utmost confidence, gave him unlimited power and told him to go ahead. His instructions to Mori were few, clear and to the point. He said to him, “Smash the Mafia at all costs. Let nothing stand in your way.” Mori interpreted Mussolini's instructions literally. This result was not obtained without a serious struggle. Eleven men of the police were killed and 350 wounded in encounters with Mafia gangs, which promptly took to the hills as soon as Mori’s strong hand made itself felt. More than 130 men received special awards for conspicuous bravery. Mori himself earned a great reputation for courage: he did not disdain to go out with his men and direct operations. Soon he became a legendary figure in Sicily—a man against whom it was useless to struggle.