In Paris we find the Apache, abortive offspring
of prostitution and brutality, the twin brother of the
Camorrista. In New York there are the "gangs," composed of
pimps, thugs, cheap thieves, and hangers-on of criminals,
which rise and wane in power according to the honesty and
efficiency of the police, and who, from time to time, hold
much the same relations to police captains and inspectors as
the various gangs of the Neapolitan Camorra do to commissaries
and delegati of the "Public Safety." Corresponding to these,
we have the "Black Hand" gangs among the Italian population
of our largest cities. Sometimes the two coalesce, so that
in the second generation we occasionally find an Italian,
like Paul Kelly, leading a gang composed of other Italians,
Irish-Americans, and "tough guys" of all nationalities. But
the genuine Black Hander (the real Camorrist or "Mafiuoso")
works alone or with two or three of his fellow-countrymen.
Curiously enough, there is a society of criminal young men in
New York City who are almost the exact counterpart of the
Apaches of Paris.
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