Needless
to say, he gets his camorra--a good one--on the money that
otherwise might never be obtained.
It is probable that we should have this kind of thing among
the Italians in America even if the Neapolitan Camorra and the
Sicilian Mafia had never existed, for it is the precise kind
of crime that seems to be spontaneously generated among a
suspicious, ignorant, and superstitious people. The Italian
is keenly alive to the dramatic, sensational, and picturesque;
he loves to intrigue, and will imagine plots against him when
none exists. If an Italian is late for a business engagement
the man with whom he has his appointment will be convinced
that there is some conspiracy afoot, even if his friend has
merely been delayed by a block on the subway. Thus, he is a
good subject for any wily lago that happens along. The
Italians in America are the most thrifty of all our immigrant
citizens. In five years their deposits in the banks of New
York State amounted to over one hundred million dollars.
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