THE WATCHWORD OF THE "BLACK-HANDERS"
"_Have no fear--I am not asleep--and I have not slept ever since that
time!_"
These ominous words were underscored in a letter written by Morello,
the arch-bandit, to a friend in Palermo who had warned the chief to be
on his guard against betrayal in his extensive criminal operations.
The words "that time" undoubtedly refer back to the Corleone murders
that made the chief change his habitat from the mountain haunts of the
Mafia to the by-ways of New York.
I have quoted Morello because in that ominous sentence he has spoken
the watchword of the "Black-Handers" in New York City. The criminal
element among the Italians here is not sleeping. At the time he penned
these words Morello had advanced to the leadership of the worst and
most elusive band of criminals that ever slipped past the scrutiny of
the Ellis Island officials.
In contrast to the criminal element, the honest Italians of New York
City, and other large centers of population in this country, are
certainly sleeping. It is a restless, fearful sleep in which they are
indulging. A sleep from which they will be aroused sometimes by a bomb
at their door, or by the stealing of the smallest child in their
household, or by a knife-thrust in the dark. The Italian, the honest
Italian, the good citizen, knows that what I say is true.
But why does the honest Italian go back and sleep again when he knows
that the same danger is imminent still?
The honest Italian is drugged with fear.
He fears to open his mouth and tell the police and the government
officials about the threats that have been sent to him by letter or by
those whom he knows are among the criminal element. His mouth is
closed with the drug of fear. He goes back to sleep in silence not
realizing that by so doing he invites another crime upon his
household.
The antidote for the drug of fear is courage.
Perhaps courage is not the correct word; I mean rather disregard of
threats. If the honest Italians in this country would disregard the
threats of the very small number of criminals among them, the
"Black-Hand" nuisance would be wiped out before the sun returned to
the meridian many times. If the honest Italian would help the police
authorities by telling the facts when threatened there would be a
swift ending of the "Black-Hand" gang.
The reason for the fear in the mind of the honest, and even the most
intelligent, Italians is born of the thought that such leaders as
Morello and Lupo, were more than human in their craftiness, and had
dark and mysterious ways of avoiding the best detectives in this
country, and that they could even commit murder and laugh in the teeth
of the police. The answer to such a thought is the sentences imposed
on Morello, Lupo and the other members of the gang now confined in the
federal prison. If there are other leaders of less magnitude than
these two, and who have caused any Italian fear through threat or
otherwise, I invite such honest Italian to tell me what he knows.
There are cells unoccupied in many prisons.
In conclusion I ask the honest Italian to disregard the idea that the
criminals of his race are infallible and may not be reached by the
law. It is to honest Italians particularly that I send out this book.
I repeat the words of Giuseppe Morello:
"HAVE NO FEAR, I AM NOT ASLEEP, AND HAVE NOT SLEPT EVER SINCE THAT
TIME."
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Spelling and hyphenation variants were standardized to the most
frequently used, as follows: Black Hand(er) to Black-Hand(er), calibre
to caliber, getaway to get-away, maccaroni to macaroni, post-office to
post office.
Chapter XXVI, p. 239: "Schiavi tells of leaving Rio de Janeiro about
February 23, 1909, on the steamship _Gunther_, and arriving in New
York in the middle of February of the same year." This apparent error
in dates has been retained as in the original since it could not be
resolved.