The foreigner in
Italy, if he is wise, will familiarize himself not only with the
cathedrals to be visited, but also, and primarily, with the technique of
legal bribery and subterfuge - with the methods locally employed for
escaping out of the meshes of the law. Otherwise he may find unpleasant
surprises in store for him. Had Mr. Mercer made it his business to
acquire some rudiments of this useful knowledge, he would never have
undergone that outrageous official ill-treatment which has become a
byword in the annals of international amenities. And if these strictures
be considered too severe, let us see what Italians themselves have to
say. In 1900 was published a book called "La Quistione Meridionale"
(What's Wrong with the South), that throws a flood of light upon local
conditions. It contains the views of twenty-seven of the most prominent
men in the country as to how south Italian problems should be faced and
solved. Nearly all of them deplore the lack of justice. Says Professor
Colajanni: "To heal the south, we require an honest, intelligent and
sagacious government, which we have not got." And Lombroso: "In the
south it is necessary to introduce justice, which does not exist, save
in favour of certain classes."
I am tempted to linger on this subject, not without reason. These people
and their attitude towards life will remain an enigma to the traveller,
until he has acquainted himself with the law of the land and seen with
his own eyes something of the atrocious misery which its administration
involves.
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