Mafia

“ The Mafia, which is the parent of all such murderous organisations, has members and agents in every town, village, and hamlet in Italy, in every post-office and barracks, in every trade and profession from the highest to the lowest in the land. The Sicilian police force is infested with it, so are the Italian customs. ”

“ The Camorra—like the Mafia—is more akin to a secret society, and to those factionist practices which are eminently characteristic of Italy. In this sense the Camorra is a national institution, which infects every Italian enterprise, and functions in every Italian theatre. The Mafia, like the Camorra, is widespread in Naples and Sicily and counts men of all ranks among its members. None of these were ever Roman institutions; and the teppisti who now afflict Rome are an importation from the north. ”

“ You are an improvement on your ancestors, Duke. Instead of being a brigand you belong to the Mafia, and perform your robberies and murders in security. Very clever, indeed."
"But again you are wrong, signore," replied the Duke, with a frown. "I have never known of this Mafia, of which you speak, nor do I believe it exists. For myself, I am no robber, but a peaceful merchant."
"A merchant?" returned Uncle John, surprised by the statement. ”

“ That sounds as if we were afraid of getting swelled head ourselves—at least anybody might take it that way."
"There's a big secret society in Sicily called 'The Mafia,'" vouchsafed Carmel.
"Then let us call ours 'The Chilcombe Mafia.' No one will understand what we mean, even if they get hold of the name. Indeed I shouldn't mind casually mentioning it now and then, just to puzzle them. When things get bad, 'The Mafia' will take them up."
"Strike secretly and suddenly!" agreed Dulcie with a chuckle.
"Let's sign our names at once!" declared Phillida enthusiastically. ”

“ And if thou dost not leave here, I write at once to the Mafia and thou wilt be declared infamous. A cross will be drawn on thy door,” and she made gestures with her hands signifying the choking of a person.
The man’s olive skin turned to a greenish pallor and he kept his small black eyes fixed pleadingly on her face. “Surely thou wouldst not do that, my daughter. The Mafia is implacable and the companions would consider me a traitor and put me to sleep for what was a mistake. It was not in my heart to kill Constante.”
“Thou hast soft shoes; thou canst walk backward,” said Zilla inexorably. ”

“ If we take for granted that the Camarista has disappeared or been abated, it is certain that in Sicily a much more cruel species of oppression, called the Mafia, is still in a flourishing condition. The Mafia might almost be called a universal conspiracy against law and order. Its basis is terror. All who belong to the confederacy are protected, on the understanding that they aid in sheltering evil-doers and facilitating their escape from justice. ”

“ What would you have me tell?"
"The name of the Capo-Mafia, for instance."
"You think there is a Capo-Mafia?"
"I know it. What's more, I know who he is."
"Belisario Cardi? Bah! Few people believe there is such a man."
"You and I believe it."
"Perhaps. But what if I could lay hands upon him? Think you that I, or any Sicilian, would dare? All the police of this city could never take Belisario Cardi. It is to make laugh! Our friend Donnelly was unwise, he was too zealous. Now—he is but a memory. He took a life, his life was taken in return. This affair will mean more deaths. ”

“ In an organized form the Mafia survives only in isolated districts. Generally speaking, it is to-day not a compact criminal association but a complex social phenomenon, the consequence of centuries of misgovernment. ”

“ It is no sect, no cult, no secret body of assassins, highwaymen, and robbers, as you foreigners imagine; it is a national hatred of authority, an individual expression of superiority to the law."
"In our own New Orleans we are beginning to talk of the Mafia, but with us it is a mysterious organization of Italian criminals. We treat it as somewhat of a joke."
"Be not so sure. Some day it may dominate your American cities as it does all Sicily." ”

“ If I had the power to sway the citizens of New Orleans from the course which I believe they contemplate, I doubt that I could bring myself to exercise it, for it is plain that the Mafia must be exterminated. The good of the city, the safety of all of us, demands it." He regarded her curiously. "Do you realize what Maruffi's freedom would mean to you and Oliveta?" ”

“ No, sir! This isn't the time for violence of that sort—we'll win without it. If we can't, let's fight like men, and not hunt in a pack like wolves. If you want to do something, put us back on our mines and help us hold them, but, for God's sake, don't descend to assassination and the tactics of the Mafia!"
"We knew you would make that kind of a talk," said the speaker, while the rest murmured grudgingly. One of them spoke up.
"We've talked this over in cold blood, Glenister, and it's a question of their lives or our liberty. The law don't enter into it." ”

“ By a singular anomaly, the middle class—that very class of which the absence is deplored in the rest of Sicily as the absence of an element of order—forms in Palermo the chief strength of the Mafia. Its proverbial virtues of prudence, industry, and foresight are here exercised in the calling of crime. The so-called Capi-mafia are men of substance and education. ”

“ These men, slowly degenerating, have produced the mafia, which is associated with bullying, blackmailing and crime. The word mafia has been applied in this bad sense only in more recent times, as we are assured by those who have studied the subject. The ancestors of the mafiosi used to call themselves Cristiani—that is Men in the sense of men of courage and silence. ”

“ When we ourselves questioned a Carib about the terrible Mafia, he said it was the Devil, that was why they worshiped him; not God, for God was good. "Mafia," said he, "always carries away the boy that is offered to him." ”

“ The New Orleans papers have been full of stories about the Mala Vita, the Mafia, or whatever you choose to call it. There is a big Italian population there, you know, and they are causing our police a great deal of worry. I live in Louisiana, so I ought to know. We understand it's an offshoot of the Sicilian Mafia."
"In Naples I hear there is a Camorra. But this is Sicily. We have no societies."
"Nevertheless, I heard you say something about 'Mafioso' last night,"
Blake insisted.
"Perhaps," grudgingly admitted the overseer. "But La Mafia is not a man, not a society, as you say. ”

“ To Martel's hasty and very incomplete sketch of the hidden influences of Sicilian life Blake listened with the greatest interest, noting the grave determination that had settled upon his friend; yet he could scarcely bring himself to accept an explanation that seemed so far-fetched. The whole theory of the Mafia struck him as grotesque and theatrical.
"And one man has already been killed, you say?" ”

“ This does not prevent their existing, and in a more extended network than we might conceive possible. The Mafia, indeed, exists, and has existed since the time of the Moors in Sicily, when, law and justice being unattainable, the secret society was formed to apply them in a rough and ready fashion. ”

“ Signore, look upon me. Do you think such men as I—"
"Oh, you stand for all that is best in your community. Mr. Maruffi. I only wish you'd help us clean house."
The Sicilian shrugged. "Help? How can I help?"
"Tell what you know of the Mafia so that we can destroy it. At every turn we are thwarted by the secrecy of your people."
"They know what is good for them. As for me, my flesh will not turn the point of a knife, Signore. Life is an enjoyable affair, and if I die I can never marry. ”

“ We should be worth a ransom too, and by this time the whole country knows that we are coming.'
'Then we may really have some excitement,' said Orsino, more surprised than he would show at his cousin's confirmation of much that Vittoria had said. 'How about the mafia?' he asked by way of leading San Giacinto into conversation. 'How will it look at us?'
'The mafia is not a man,' answered San Giacinto, bluntly. 'The mafia is the Sicilian character—Sicilian honour, Sicilian principles. It is an idea, not an institution. ”

“ He showed his white teeth as Blake assured him:
"It's the most peaceful, restful spot I ever saw."
"You see nothing but the surface. Sicily is much what she was in my grandfather's time. You have inquired about La Mafia. Well, there is such a thing. It killed my father. It forced me to give up my home and be an exile." At Norvin's exclamation of astonishment, he nodded. "There's a long story behind it which you could not appreciate without knowing my father and the character of our Sicilian people, for, after all, Sicilian character constitutes La Mafia. ”

“ But of the Mala Vita there is evidence enough.
Every large city, where people exist under unwholesome conditions, has some such phenomenon. In Palermo we have the traditional Mafia—a state of mind, if you will, ineradicable and all-pervasive. Naples festers with the Camorra as with a venereal disease, its whole body politic infected with it, so that its very breath is foul and its moral eyesight astigmatized. In Paris we find the Apache, abortive offspring of prostitution and brutality, the twin brother of the Camorrista. ”

“ He raised his bushy, gray eyebrows at the American's question.
"Brigands? Ippolito is a great liar."
Seeing the angry sparkle in the old fellow's eyes, Norvin hastened to say:
"He told me nothing, I assure you."
"Thieves, yes! We have ladri here, as elsewhere. Sometimes it is well to take precautions."
"But Francesca was quite excited, and I heard you and Martel mention La Mafia last night," Blake persisted. "I see you all go armed. I am naturally curious. I thought you might be in trouble with the society."
"Children's tales!" said Ricardo, gruffly. "There is no society of La
Mafia." ”

“ The abject poverty of the poorer classes, unable to eke out existence by work in the sulphur mines or on the fields, fostered the growth of two classes of mafiusi—the vast majority of the inhabitants who were glad to put themselves as passive members under the protection of the Mafia, while the active members shared in the plunder. ”

“ From the last word of the dying Valori I imagine that the brotherhood so vauntingly alluded to by "Smithson" was the Mafia, the infamous society which to this day practically though secretly governs Sicily and much of Italy as well. ”

“ You cannot stamp out the Mafia in a day, in a week; it is Sicilian character. Already you have done enough to vindicate the law. If you go on in a mad attempt to catch this Cardi—whose existence, even, is doubtful—the consequences may be in every way bad."
"We have five of the murderers now, and we'll have the other man soon—the fellow with the rubber coat. The grand jury will indict them. But we won't stop there. We're on a trail that leads higher up, to the man, or men, who directed Larubio and the others to do their work." ”

“ He is connected with the Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society, enforcing its decrees by murder. Now you see how the affair begins to clear up. The other fellow is probably an Italian also, and a member of the Mafia. He has broken the rules in some fashion. Pietro is set upon his track. Probably the photograph we found in his pocket is the man himself, so that he may not knife the wrong person. He dogs the fellow, he sees him enter a house, he waits outside for him, and in the scuffle he receives his own death wound. How is that, Mr. Sherlock Holmes? ”

“ The Mafia, a purely Sicilian product, exerts a much more obvious influence in America than the Camorra, since the Mafia is powerful all over Sicily, while the Camorra is practically confined to the city of Naples and its environs. The Sicilians in America vastly outnumber the Neapolitans. Thus in New York City for every one Camorrist you will find seven or eight Mafiusi. But they are all essentially of a piece, and the artificial distinction between them in Italy disappears entirely in America. ”

“ For the life of him Norvin could not tell whether the man was pleased or chagrined at his secrecy, but something told him that the Sicilian was feeling him out for a purpose. He smiled without answering.
"Betrayed!" said Maruffi. "Ah, well, I should not like to be in the shoes of the betrayer." He seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment. "Believe me, I would help you if I could, but I know nothing, and besides it is dangerous. I am a good citizen, but I am not a detective. You American-born," he smiled, "assume that all we Sicilians are deep in the secrets of the Mafia. ”

“ These guards are Mafiosi. Let us say that one of us opposes this monopoly. What happens? He loses his crop in a night; his trees are cut down. Should he appeal to the law for protection, he is regarded as a weakling, a man of no spirit. This is but one small example of the workings of La Mafia; as a matter of fact, it permeates the political, the business, and the social life of the whole island. Knowing the impotence of the law to protect any one, peaceable citizens shield the criminals. ”

“ A gentleman returning from a lodge-meeting had even found himself on the edge of the battle, and had been so frightened that he ran straight home. He had learned, later, the significance of the fray, and had told nobody about his experience until Norvin Blake had traced him out and wrung the story from him. He feared the Mafia with the fear of death; but descending from the stand he pointed out four of the assassins—Normando, Fabbri, Rafiro, and Dora. ”

“ The original cause of the Mafia was probably self-protection, the lower classes banding together to save themselves from the oppressions of the upper classes who clung to the remains of the feudal system. ”

“ It is rather an esprit de corps, and no more a secret society than omertà is a secret society; nevertheless, they speak of the mafia as being more highly organised in some districts than in others, and there are secret societies whose members are mafiosi, so that for a foreigner to speak of the mafia as a secret society would appear to be an excusable error.
Among every collection of men, and even in a herd of bullocks, one is always the acknowledged leader, and in a sulphur-mine it naturally happens that one man has a more dominating personality, more prepotenza, than any of the others ”