Saredo Inquiry

The Saredo Inquiry, officially known as the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Naples ( ''Reale Commissione d’Inchiesta per Napoli''), presided by senator Giuseppe Saredo ( it), president of the Italian Council of State, investigated corruption and bad governance in the city of Naples. The Commission was established in November 1900 and published its findings in October 1901.

Background

In 1899 a new Socialist newspaper, ''La Propaganda'', began a campaign against the rampant corruption in the city of Naples.
La lobby di piazza Municipio: gli impiegati comunali nella Napoli di fine Ottocento
', by Giulio Machetti, ''Meridiana'', n.38-39, 2000L'Inchiesta Saredo
by Antonella Migliaccio, Cultura della Legalità e Biblioteca digitale sulla Camorra, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (Access date: September 5, 2016) The paper's main target were the Mayor of Naples Celestino Summonte and Alberto Casale, a Liberal member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the local government power broker with extensive contacts in the Neapolitan underworld of the Camorra.Politica e camorra nella Napoli fine '800
La Repubblica, 13 December 1998Dickie, ''Mafia Brotherhoods''
pp. 88-89
/ref> As a result of the campaign, reform candidates such as the socialist Ettore Ciccotti and Domenico De Martino were elected in the summer of 1900 in the Vicaria, Mercato and Porto neighbourhoods, the previously unconquerable fiefdoms of Casale and his Camorra associates.Snowden, ''Naples in the Time of Cholera'',
p. 254
/ref>

Casale, known as the "uncrowned king of Naples",The Tammany of Naples; A Royal Decree May Be Used Against the Camorra
The New York Times, November 10, 1901 accused the newspaper of slander, but in the criminal case that ensued, ''La Propaganda'' was able to prove corrupt deals and in particular a kick-back from a Belgian tram company after a horse-cab drivers' strike in August 1893 against the expansion of the tram network.Assoluzione del gerente della "Propaganda"; I fatti addebitati all'onorevole Casale tutti provati
La Stampa, November 1, 1900 The outcome of the Casale case reached the national government in Rome. Casale had to resign, the Naples city council was dissolved, and an official inquiry into the corruption in Naples was initiated.

The Inquiry

On November 8, 1900, Prime Minister Giuseppe Saracco signed the decree establishing the Commission of Inquiry under the presidency of the senator and law professor Giuseppe Saredo, to investigate how huge amounts of money that had been poured into Naples after the cholera epidemic of 1884 had vanished without noticeable benefit for the city's poor.De Grand, ''The hunchback's tailor'',
p. 97
/ref> The inquiry unearthed an extensive political patronage system in the city of Naples, the so-called "administrative Camorra" or "high Camorra"; the corrupt class of Neapolitan executive in charge of city governments between the 1880s and 1890s brought to light by ''La Propaganda''.

The investigations of the Inquiry took place in a difficult climate, hampered by boycotts of the administrative staff of the Municipality that contrasted with the widespread public support. The paperwork was in chaos and official files ad been lifted by staff to cover their tracks, while interviews with and testimonies of key people involved were half-hearted.

Findings

The Commission published its findings on October 21, 1901,L'inchiesta Saredo sull'amministrazione comunale di Napoli
La Stampa, October 22, 1901The Camorra Supreme in Naples
The New York Times, October 23, 1901 in effect an indictment of those responsible for governing Naples. It brought to light a serious situation of corruption, cronyism, clientelism and general inefficiency.

"I can attest that almost all the towns in the province of Naples, almost all the charitable organizations, are under the authority of criminal organisations; I add almost o asnot to exclude the possibility of some exception," Saredo concluded. The inquiry identified a system of political patronage ran by what the report called the "high Camorra":

The Inquiry introduced the terminology of "high Camorra", with a bourgeois character, but distinct from the plebeian Camorra proper (known as the ''Bella Società Riformata'' at the time), although both were in close contact through the figure of the intermediary (''faccendiere'').

However, whether the "high Camorra" was an integral part of the Camorra proper, is disputed. Although the inquiry did not prove specific collusion between the Camorra and politics, it brought to light the patronage mechanisms that fueled corruption in the municipality. The Camorra proper controlled elections by intimidation, blackmail and favouritism.

The so-called "low Camorra" or Camorra proper had established a well-organized protection racket and had the monopoly of the wholesale trade of every product entering Naples. The Commission's report had looked into the meat trade. The Camorra ran the city's slaughter-house in the suburb of Poggioreale. Peasants, shepherds and drovers were obliged to pay protection money for their animals and to hire unnecessary labourers and accept fraudulent weights. Health regulations were ignored and taxes were never paid. Superannuated meat was sold as lamb or beef for highly inflated prices.Snowden, ''Naples in the Time of Cholera''
p. 41
/ref>

Regulations had been systematically evaded. The Saredo Inquiry painted a desolate picture of public governance of Naples. It was the city the most urgent health problems in the kingdom. However, less than 1 per cent of the city budget was spent on sanitation and hygiene. More than twice that amount was spent in Milan and Turin, where the needs were far less urgent. Saredo concluded that among all major Italian cities, "Naples more than any other is burdened by debt, and spends the least per resident on education, health and public works."Snowden, ''Naples in the Time of Cholera''
p. 49
/ref>

Aftermath

A direct result of the Inquiry was a corruption trial in which twelve people were convicted, including Alberto Casale and the former Mayor of Naples. The Saredo Commission's report discredited the Liberal politicians of Naples, who were voted from office in the local elections of November 1901.Naples Camorra Defeated; Its Candidates Beaten in the Naples Municipal Election by a Small Majority
The New York Times, November 13, 1901 However, the Rome correspondent of The Times said the Camorra had cast many votes for Socialist reform candidates at the last minute and doubted whether the new Municipal council would be able to destroy the influence of the Camorra.The Defeat of The Camorra; Correspondent Doubts Whether the New Naples Council Will Be Able to Destroy Its Influence
The New York Times, November 14, 1901 At the municipal election of June 1902, most Camorra-backed politicians were elected again.The Camorra Victorious
The New York Times, June 23, 1902

The role of ''Il Mattino''

The Neapolitan newspaper '' Il Mattino'' of Edoardo Scarfoglio, acted as the mouthpiece of mayor Summonte, Casale and their men and blasted the inquiry. Scarfoglio had close friends among the "high Camorra" politicians, which paid for his yacht with a permanent crew of eleven.Dickie, ''Mafia Brotherhoods''
p. 91
/ref> The director of ''Il Mattino'' launched frenzied attacks against Saredo, who was described as an evil eye, and the inquiry was compared to a pestilential disease. The inquiry revealed that Scarfoglio had received 10,000 lire from the tramway company.

References

* Behan, Tom (2005).
The Camorra: Political Criminality in Italy
', London: Routledge,
* De Grand, Alexander J. (2001).
The hunchback's tailor: Giovanni Giolitti and liberal Italy from the challenge of mass politics to the rise of fascism, 1882-1922
', Wesport/London: Praeger,
online edition
* Dickie, John (2011).
Mafia Brotherhoods: The Rise of the Italian Mafias
', London: Sceptre,
* Snowden, Frank M. (1995)
Naples in the Time of Cholera, 1884-1911
', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saredo Inquiry
1900 in Italy
1901 in Italy
20th century in Naples
History of the Camorra in Italy
1901 crimes in Italy