Salvemini and LaPiana Write-"What to Do With Italy"
SALVEMINI, GAETANO
Salvemini and LaPiana Write-"What to Do With Italy" By GAETANO SALVEMINI and GEORGE LA PIANA pro)'et\Bort of History, Harvard University (This article ia taken froai Um long-swaited...
...Where the courts may not be fully controlled, the political leader has a trump card in the assistant district attorneys who are supposed to present evidence of the gambling or vice...
...Important civic and ktgal leaders rallied behind Levy's nomination...
...Nobody knows what the configuration of the landscape will be, or what the shape of things will be when the storm is over...
...Js Bow serving time In 8iag Sing...
...But cooperation exists, cer*¦¦"*-m the matter of patronage, and there is MjmB area where gangster influence or cor** Political control still is entrenched...
...Marcantinio won in the Democratic priesanea...
...In turn the Republicans nominated Gavagan and Aurelio...
...The receiverships are even more lucrative 'In cases involving reorganizations or bankruptcy proceedings, the companies become "wards" of the court, sind a receiver is appointed to manage and direct the affairs of the firm...
...abbes a clubs to rwpadmtt Marcasjtsaie, those GOP dabs worked openly far his election bp the Republican primary GOP lessor of the" 18th, David Levy, publicly sadsrsid Marcaatosuo...
...These receivers stay on the job until the company is reorganized and solvent, or until settlement of debts is made...
...and time-tested Tammany method of patronage, favors and outright vote-baying pi wee ?; here more distinctly than any other section ef the city...
...Wt that is what Magistrate Thomas A. Asftlio, the repudiated Democratic-Republican epmjbe for the New York Supreme Court, is ***js|gOB to happen in November—along with ¦Aeerreptitious help of a number of district mders, Tammany and Republican.* Tat metropolitan community was shocked "mm District Attorney Frank Hogan revealed |ku Aurelio'g nomination for the judgeship had •mi brought about by Frank Costello, a pdwer? "ew York gangster...
...America and Britain would earn respect and gratitude by their fair dealings and , humanitarian activities...
...j ?/hoever tries to visualize the psychological reaction of tb* Italian people to their present tragic situation should tklnk of s person caught in the spirals of a terrific sandgfgyrrB on the Sahara Desert snd tossed around in a hot, thick atmosphere of yellow dust with no possibility of gfienUtion or escape...
...Politics of Innocence A TREMENDOUS and righteous indig·" nation was displayed when the Aureliogangster connections were revealed...
...Under the Fascist regime there has been extensive capitalistic concentration of big business, and those companies are now interlocked with each other, in the hands of a few dozen tycoons, who form.the directorates of most of them...
...r^jJMe was one of the charges against the j-fflKW Tammany leader Jimmy Hines...
...fc .? armed forces of the United Nations, among I whisk those of Britain and the United States will have the last word to Mediterranean occupation, will ? ?? be able to oceapy the whole Italian peomsala at --' sea Stroke...
...Years ago, ta sty own district nearly seven hundred lawyers belonged to the Tammany organisation...
...mas Thomas Carraa to the local ? ay...
...The passages are arinted here by the special permission of the publishers.] Vm the mistakes which here been made and may still be made in dealing...
...said the party leader, "if you don't my la line on this vote, we'll read you out of -»¦arte- - "leu," replied the legislator, "go ahead...
...when we bid them a melancholy goodbye...
...Most cases though are small, involving fees to the lawyers of $100 to $200 on foreclosures, etc...
...Some people wonder why so many lawyers join district political dubs...
...For the Supreme Court judges dispense the lucrative jobs of referees and receiverships in case* arising in their courts...
...But the Communist wing held firm and Church wae endorsed...
...dying for an ideal: to maintain in America and ' to revive in Europe the democratic way of life...
...red, buck, or white...
...Lifetime habits are hard to break, so it is likely that many Democratic leaders will attempt to knife Levy and was ? for Aurelio After all, for them, there to no percentage in Levy's election...
...Last yesr, Tammany district leader William Solomon went to jail on some printing frauds...
...Yet the pattern of gangster-political boss ' toWssahip has been a prosaic fact for "w fifty years...
...Receiverships crop up anywhere from the cement to the theatre business...
...4%' This liaison with the Men set sail grasp was net something new It was a working alliance ever a year eld Msrcaatoaie s chief__ itrengih lies not so much ta bis doastastiom of the Communist wing ta the ALP which controls Maahatiaa, as ia his political strength to east Hsrlem...
...David W. Peck, Republican, had been appointed by Governor Dewey to replace Justice McCook who had left for the army...
...After nine years at that job, Aurelio was appointed a magistrate by Mayor Jimmy Walker, a ten-year position that pays $10,000 a year...
...The State leadership of the American Labor Party, immediately nominated former Mankfl pal Court Justice* Mathow ? Levy fee the Supreme Court...
...An upheaval of such magnitude aa that which will take place in Europe after Hitler's and Mussolini's debacle cannot be met by resorting to the rales snd regulations of s football game...
...But a still greater sadness comes into our hearts when we, old teachers in an American university, which has ' become a large training camp for soldiers and officers, see our boys, most of them fine young men, depart and...
...Neither can we forsee the direction in which the political forces will lead Italy after tss debacle of Fascism...
...Hogan revealed the circumstances behind the Aurelio nomination...
...Com men sense suggests some considerations which might have value for those who know Italy, not through toe drawing rooms of the Fascist aristocracy, nor through the libraries, archives, and museums where once they v browsed, nor yet through the ante-chambers of the Vatican, but through its whole history and, much more, through intimate acquaintance with the present history and psychology of the Italian masses...
...We realise that s revolt at „ the Italian people, if it is actively opposed by the American and British armies of occupation, will have no chance, but certainly it will mean bloodshed...
...fe people fat my district can't read, anyhow...
...Patronage, of course, has its hierarchy system...
...An effort mast be made to eoavtoce the ItaHaa sassls...
...This mistake should be avoided in Italy in the approaching crisis...
...We wished to train them for life and for constructive work, not for death and destruction...
...the German Socialist* and Democrats proclaimed a republic But they left all the higher-ups of the former regime undisturbed and then sat back while the latter reorganized their forces to kill the republic...
...And the political machines want the control of those jobs because of the tremendous patronage involved...
...uvea Communist lawyers are net averse to a little patronage...
...During the days or weeks which must pass before the army ef occupation eaa get full control, many things will happen...
...Today we are 'facing the crude realities ef an iron age in which extraordinary measures are necessary to most European countries to secure sa enduring resettlement...
...But for the voter at large, there is an important "percentage"—a large step towards a really independent judiciary...
...Costello operated *4*ek four Tammany leaders, one of them ?¦* Stand, the secretary of the all-important ^¦dy eommrttee...
...Tammany tentacles reach into many fields...
...They proposed George J. Mintaer...
...A Taasmamg man running in these boroughs on s Dsme era tic and ALP line is ahmest certain of vJsV tory...
...During that period of crisis, in both the occupied and still unoccupied sections, the men who have run the machine of the Fascist administration—a machine shattered and discredited by defeat but not yet demolished— will find themselves face to face with the members of the • anti-Fascist underground groups, who will burst into the open...
...Hines had been the "fixer" for **** Schultz, who controlled the policy ·**»* ia New York because his "runners" never convicted...
...Marcantonio's crowd still sought to go through with the bargain...
...Receivers get executive's salaries (depending on the size of the company), and again these jobs are eagerly sought after...
...Last year, independent-minded voters repudiated Tamaaany candidate Paul P. Rao, when it was dlselceed that Rao's law firm bad done legal work for the German-American Bund, and elected Laborite Samuel Null...
...Nearly all cases originate here, and a magistrate exercises tremendous powers in holding or freeing a criminal...
...W.fll the men of the older generation who have in their hands the conduct of the war and the settlement of the peace continue in their blunders...
...Salvemini and LaPiana Write-"What to Do With Italy" By GAETANO SALVEMINI and GEORGE LA PIANA pro)'et\Bort of History, Harvard University (This article ia taken froai Um long-swaited SalveminiU, Piana book, "What to Do With Italy," published week' by Duell, Sloan and Pearee...
...Paul Sarubbi...
...They talk of "clean government" but grease the »heels of patronage and corruption...
...retains a hold over the GOP cbabe those, ami '? last year, aenmite orders by Cssmty Chair...
...Britain and America, by demolishing the Fascist mill- tary structure, preventing any coup* de main, and-grant- - ing the Italians a cooling period, during which they can - freely organize themselves, would thus empower them to choose according to their own lights the form of government they find most suitable...
...Gavagan, apparently, was given the nomination because reapportionment had eliminated his Congressional district Byrnes was given a promotion, and Aurelio, as District Attorney Hogan has disclosed, because of- the influence of racketeer Frank Costello...
...The confiscation of ill-gotten properties and the nationalization of big business will be the first steps towards the setting up of a new social and economic order...
...J ^ Tammany felt secure in its strategy, because it had made a deal with the Comsmiiuat wing in the ALP, and thought that the Cotnsausuets would control the judicial conventkoa of the first district...
...Bat his name appears on the wrtorheari of the organisation, and ia releases issued by the front...
...80 the tactics ware hurriedly revised and a deal made with tiw Republicans...
...Last year Marcantohio ran for Congress ta the Republican, ALP and Democratic party primaries, and it was no secret that the Democrat*, although they had named an opponent against Marcantonio, aa had the Republicans officially, were working quietly for his election And with covert Domoeratie leadership support...
...by actions rather than by vague, generic declarations, that oar solemn promises concerning democratic liberties amd-'< institutions to be established after the war will be faith- . fully kept We must revive their faith and their confidenee, both of which were shaken by the Parian muddle, and even more by our sinister backstage dealings with Fascist .politicians through the intermediary of the ' Vatican, and by our consorting with Fascist generals...
...They know the facts of political life...
...Then the situation blew up in Tammany's and the Republican's faces...
...Young judges want the advancement for the money and security...
...Their advancement to higher bdidel pasts often depended upon their co•Mstion with the powers that control the 4*.» not to suggest that most of the judges •as beach are "corrupt" or "controlled...
...Four judges, all Democrats, running for re-election, received the unanimous endorsement of the Democratic...
...In many cases the litigation may be so long and complicated that the judge appoints a referee to hear testimony and bring in a report...
...Here the money runs into really large figures...
...We lived in them...
...This ' is the only way in which the ideal of an industrial ' democracy may at least partly be realized and provide "freedom from want" , Democracy must be positively supported by the huge majority of the Citizens, if it is not to be doomed to failure...
...Many litigations that originate in the Supreme Courts involve tremendous sums of money, cases ranging from disputes over guardianships, such as the Gloria Vanderbilt case, to the bankruptcy and receivership proceedings of the IRT...
...Even the most honest magistrate is helpless if a district attorney shirks his job, snd the loss of Manhattan's District Attorneyship was the bitterest pill Tammany had to swallow...
...The government of the Italian republic, in its provisional 'stage, must also face and begin to solve the problem of "the land to the peasants," and not leave it as a convenient - springboard for Communist propaganda...
...and to let the Italians choose their own, political system—or whether we "attend to thrust upon them, willy niUy, a reactionary regime in order to protect the special interests of groups which are not working for the good of either Italy or America...
...This pattern of New York polities is revealed here by Daniel Bell, New Leader managing editor, to the first of two srI tides...
...With sll this, "the politics of innocence...
...There are some social groups which ought to be rendered harmless immediately, if the new regime is to establish itself oa solid foundations...
...Cases involving referees may run from a week to a year, and the referee is well paid for his work...
...For the Aurelio story is only the 1943 mellerdrama version of s stock thestrepiece in the Tammany repertoire...
...MAGISTRATE Thomas A. Aurelio went up 1 the political ladder in the traditional way...
...Peck also sought election...
...Clarence Seal, one of the district leaders involved in the Aurelio affair, is leader of the 20th district and Democratic opponents have charged that Neal had .given orders to bio captains to work for Marcantonio...
...boys in the backroom tell of the assemblyman who defied a party whip's order « the voting ef a certain bill...
...Once we have regained the confidence of the Italian people, we can expect their full cooperation when the crisis comes...
...The situations are the same, the lines are hackneyed, only the faces sre new...
...let aa tell them that - apart from this, we have no interest to keeping the Ssivey Monarchy ta power, if they wish to get rid ef it Let us tell them, tee, that we have ?? toteres...
...The Italian democratic republic must be established on the confidence, devotion, and faith of the ; great masses of the Italian people...
...Will it be possible to prevent the anti-Fascist forces from coming into the open at the moment when the Allied armies set foot on Italian soil and the defense gives up the fight...
...Later, Congress ionai Democratic leaders proposed Marcantonio for the House Judiciary Committee, but Southern Democrats would...
...One must not overlook the fact that big industrial firms, banks, shipping and insurance companies, in Italy no less than Germany were, together with the army, responsible' in good measure for the creation of the dictatorship...
...been ia dsily communication with Clarence ,i Neat leader of the 20to District and Bert Stead, the secretary of the coaaty committee (.who also, had been executive secretary ¦ of the State Athletic Commission for the past 1$ years...
...City Court Judge Joseph Byrnes and Magistrate Aurelio...
...Also at stake were seven Supreme Court Judgeships...
...Last year, the Supreme Court in the First Judicial District Manhattan and the Bronx., named thousands of referees and receivers...
...They talk of merit but their specialty is ia "knowing the plsce to put the fix...
...Judges have owed their ••eoistment and nomination to the bench *· U»e geadwill and strength of district besers...
...Serious crirrses are remanded over to the Grand Jury or General Sessions, less serious crimes to Special Sessions, or by judgement by the magistrate himself...
...The left wing was -to endorse the Tammany choices...
...Some salaries are now only $22,000...
...v , f"\ur hearts are filled with sadness sad with a sense almost of despair when we read of the terrific bombing which is heaping so much devastation and death oa toe " Italian cities...
...If our intentions are pare, aa we claim, ami if we really mean what we say a boat liberty and democracy, why do we not reassure the Italian people about their future...
...Wealthy lawyers seek the position for the honors and prestige...
...We fervently hope not We ean»not bear to think that these boys shall have died in vain...
...to help Italy start life once more on the solid foundations of liberty and democracy...
...L'Affaire Aurelio —The Shame of a City's Politics By DANIEL BELL...
...Aide, is ??-Wader wttk „ Rosenthal snd caste half a vote ta the Tarn...
...Before that Magistrate ViUle was removed after he had ?* charged with accepting a »20,000 ·*· from Arnold Rothstein, the notorious JJJjble...
...But that is another subject...
...Thus the Roxy theatre on 7th Ave...
...The Magistrates Court is the key position in the widespread gambling and rice rackets that are toe petty graft of the local politicians...
...Aurelio had thanked aad promised "undying loyalty" to the racketeer who bad orked to get him the job...
...Messina, Catania, Bari—all names which revive in our minds remem be ranee of years of peaceful study and are associated so closely with the glorious traditions of Italian culture...
...Aureus sow atotoss that the use of his name was "unauthorised...
...Thus the job actually runs for life...
...The regular ALP refased to be a party to the dealt and nominated hide pendent can didates...
...The years before thst Tammany district leader Jimmy Hines was convicted of using his' political influence to aid Dutch Schultz...
...working with gangster elements, will ••l pressure on a judge to quash a ease or IP* · sentence...
...But this only proves that people hsve short memories...
...Magistrate Hulon ""•baw, one of the men charged by then *Wet Attorney Thomas Dewey es one "Jtoo magistrates controlled by Hines, ** removed by the Appellate Division be22·, of his role to the Hines trisL The 2J*ws Seabury investigation deposed one"* »f the magistrates sitting to Bronx ¦"^Manhattan...
...Originally s Ropubiicaa, Maresmteaae...
...Assistant district attorneys are usually assigned to criminal courts to act as prosecutors and»to represent the state...
...Republican and American Labor parties...
...The real "class jobs" are in the surrogates courts, where wills arc contested and guardianships and executors appointed...
...If the majority of the people joins these anti. fascist groups, and a general upheaval takes place, unI mwJjji the long repressed hatred against Fascism, acts of violence, revenge, and destruction against Fascist leaders, and eventually against some ecclesiastics who have distinguished themselves for ardent Fascist seal, are to be expected...
...in the matter of their rclatiems with the Church, provideo freedom of conscience, religion sad s ?? stattest ? is felly guaranteed to all...
...many executive committee...
...A crisis will be unavoidable to large sections of the country, between the moment of military • hj||^,-r and the time when the armed forces of ' the Atlantic powers have Irmly established their i csetrol over the whole peninsula...
...No political observer would foolishly state thst the Democrats had lost control of their districts The answer could be seen to the setwas last year of the "left wing"-controlled ALF judicial convention that nominated Democrat Lloyd Church for the Supreme Court hsprk after he had resigned the year before ta make an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Joseph Me Goldrick for controller...
...They are wonderful sinecures...
...All parties were asked to unite behind Levy...
...A member of a district club on the East Side, he was appointed an assistant district attorney, a well-worn first rung for young Tammany lawyers...
...the 'Jjl* certainly has declined drastically since "bdtyi of Boss Tweed or the Lexow investigate of the 1890*8...
...Let as tell them frankly that we, far the sake ef the world's peace, will net tolerate the establishment ta Italy Of any military or party die- v tatorehip...
...After all...
...Under public pressure, the Democrats have repudiated Aurelio and accepted Judge Levy as their candidate...
...These awards can be read daily in the New York Law Journal, and are the most important clues to the trends of political control within the parties...
...The Hilm...
...displayed by the Democratic and Republican leaders is a mockery...
...CoeteHo, telephone records showed, bad...
...Tbe right-wieg was net willing to accept the Tawaewiy senamptia Without two lines on the voting lmmtiines, Tammany might lose some judgeships...
...They say that it would apt be to the disadvantage of the Republican* if Aurelio ware elected, for then impeachment proceedings could be brought to the Appellate courts, ami ? Aurelio were removed, Govaraor Dewey would have a nice, fat plum far a Republican lawyer, thus giving the GOP two judges on the Supreme Court bench (assuming Peck is ejected, aa is likely...
...We cannot bear to think that that land „ of beauty, those cities with their artistic treasures, are' being reduced to ruins...
...Thus, Tammany sought to freest sat the Republican...
...The magistrates court is the lowest criminal court in the judicial system...
...with the Italian problem* have...
...That job can be done again...
...described, one question remains to be answered: WAet to A> with Italy t Which are the solutions we would recom-end for those problems...
...Costello had also ???- r ferred with Dr...
...East Harlem does not go in for political lav ology or political principles...
...This year, four judges on the bench up for re-election were nominated by all three parties...
...Regular 1 msiliaSJ T> bor Party leaders at that tueisamisa dacrmd the nomination of Church, pointing to various anti-labor ecctsions...
...Seme astute pelifcioui observers poist oat a lean them altruistic mallse on the Republican's part to splitting the spjtjV * Aurelio vote...
...And the usual practice is for sitting "judges to be automatically endorsed for re-election by both parties...
...And once these anti-Fascists come out into the open, will it he possible to prevent them from giving vent to their hatred of those who have oppressed them for twenty years, have murdered their brothers and fathers and sent thousands of boys to be killed in Russia fighting for the Germans...
...no part of the deal—and Marcantonio was rebuffed Tammaay atrategy asew up whoa the Communis* wing failed to del ft «? the judicial cwavwntioe...
...loader of the 1st District Jimmy di Salvia, leader of the , 2nd and Abraham Rosenthal leader of tap...
...we loved them: Naples, * Palermo...
...GOP leader Thomas Curran's jibe at the Labor Party sa "being opportunistic tor insisting on Matthew Levy- as ? candidate, has a strange and bellow rin gin the face of his willingness to make a deal...
...Next week's piece will trace fur" ther the threads of political chicanery and the desk that sew together New York's political life, from Tammany to the Communists...
...I" ?IS year was regarded by politicians as an * off-year...
...In a broad sense we may call them believers in democracy...
...Marcantonio apposed the nomination of Lamy...
...Manhattan ami Breast aea strong Democratic districts and the ALP* is particularly strong in the Bronx...
...Tammany dropped Judge Byrnes from the ticket aad accepted David Peek...
...8th District Aerobes home district wbec* Aurelios wife...
...The story trails back, literally, to Boss Tweed...
...and 60th St was in receivership for several years, until Howard S. Cullman put it back on its feet again...
...Rarely does an assistant district attorney retire without a comprehensive insight into the tie-ups of gangster elements and political leaders, especially one serving in the riotous days of the 1920's when Aurelio served his stint...
...At the judicial convention they aessfnstsd A arena, Gavagaa snd Peck...
...Ia the fall of 191...
...These jobs are the solid core of the political patronage system of New York...
...The mistakes of politicians and statesmen have borne bitter fruits...
...One of the more hilarious stones ...·¦** rear was the hold-up of a dinner given * »werel gangsters, while several TamTJ7 magistrates were present as guests j^tbough these are the more spectacular and T**d aspects of the ties between the judi?[and political machines, they are hardly 2jN»<or the real.story...
...A fifth judge...
...For twenty years, under the protection of the regime, they jiave monopolized the Italian market, cornered all government contracts for public works, war supplies and weapons, and exploited the minor concerns and the helpless Italian people...
...HidutsUig Major Laposrdia, Samuel Seaburj and the., hsmda of all the bar sasutliaiuns in the eky...
...crudest form, this control over the Hjjf » exercised by "fixing...
...Pre-Fascist Italy fc dead and cannot be revived, no-matter how strong may ? the nostalgia of some of the men and groups of men belonging to the eld generation, '. The fandamental issue in our inquiry an what to do with Italy is whether we intaspj to destroy Fascism, root and branch...
...Of one fact at least we may be certain...
...Tammany originally named three candidates, freezing out Peck...
...In our opinion, these big monopolistic concerns should be nationalized both for political' security and economic readjustment...
...We must realize that the time has passed when political democracy could exist apart from economic democracy...
...But for a young lawyer without business connections, or large practice, this, juicy bit of patronage is like manna from heaven...
...The Republic ana refused...
...We wish them good luck with all our hearts...
...The answer lies ???1"**·» in the workings of the State ™'"»* Courts...
...The job runs for 14 years and pays $25,000 a year...
...A district...
...While political influence in the judiciary and district attorney's office has declined tremendously in the LaGuardia administration, gambling and vice conditions still flourish in certain sections of the city, and gambling clubs are reputed to receive some "protection," t;>tably clubs in Harlem and east Harlem, and in downtown Manhattan...
...These were Congressman Joseph A. Gavagan...
...Until the death of Lieutenant-Governor Thomas A. Wallace, the highest posts that were to be contested were City Councilmen...
...First of all, we must remember that the anti-Fascist forces now alive in Italy are represented by a large group of people who want liberty and free institutions...
...e . · ? J^R&fcs-work hard to get a Supreme Court '?%B»uip...
...Perhaps it is not very wise to indulge in over-optimistic or over-pessimistic guesswork...
...It is because of the contradiction between what we promise in high-sounding official declarations and what we do through backstage intrigue that so many difficulties arise, and will continue to arise, in our international theatre...
...If a political leader can "control" a judge, he can offer protection to gambling clubs and vice rings, and of times, many of the gambling rings function quite openly in the local Democratic or Republican political clubs...
...Loath to give a Republican the well-paying job of Supreme Court judge...
...The situation was given an even more ludicrous twist when it was revealed that Aurelio had joined in the, ssTaatssfoJmp of a Cwsaamtatl» freut headed by Vito Mareemtenie, tike UwSMvf HssTmms ·/ Ameriemn Origin...
...The Supreme Court is one of the keys to this answer...
...these boys are now fighting and...
Vol. 26 • September 1943 • No. 37
