A diplomatic controversy between the United States and Italy in 1891 grew out of the lynching of Italian nationals by a New Orleans mob. In the 1890s New Orleans was plagued with criminal gang violence that was blamed on supposed members of the Sicilian Mafia among the recent flood of emigrants from southern Italy. Police superintendent David C. Hennessy launched a campaign against the gang warfare but was assassinated just before he was to testify in court on October 15, 1890. Nineteen men were arrested and charged with murder, but a trial of nine resulted in no conviction. On March 14, 1891, a mob calling itself the Committee of Fifty murdered 11 of those in custody, among whom were three Italian citizens.
The Italian minister to the United States, Baron Francesco Saverio Fava, demanded that the members of the mob be punished and an indemnity be paid. Secretary of State James G. Blaine informed Baron Fava that the federal government could not punish the lynch mob because it had no jurisdiction in the case. Italians were outraged. Unable or unwilling to understand the workings of federalism, the Italian government called Fava back to Italy in protest. Thereafter, President Benjamin Harrison recalled the U. S. minister from Rome and refused to discuss the incident as long as the Italian minister was absent. In fact, most Americans, given their ethnic prejudices and their tolerance for lynching, remained unfazed by the Mafia incident.
Although it was disturbed, the Italian government did not want war. In a conciliatory gesture, Italy dropped its ban on the importation of American pork. In December 1891 Harrison announced in his annual address that the lynching was a deplorable act, but he reiterated that he would only discuss the matter if the Italian minister returned to Washington. Italy was ready to send Fava back when the United States agreed to the principal of an indemnity, but Harrison, feeling that he had done so already in his annual address, refused to do anymore. Secretary of State Blaine, who had just recently returned to work after an extended illness, informed the president that drawing out the negotiations over a minor point was more embarrassing than having to pay damages. He also reminded Harrison that since Italy would appoint an arbitrator to the international panel empowered to resolve the Bering Sea dispute with Britain, it was in the nation’s best interest to be reconciled with Italy. Harrison understood, and in March 1892 he sent the American minister back to Rome. One month later the United States paid Italy an indemnity of $24,330.90, and Italy sent Baron Fava back to Washington.
Further reading: Charles S. Campbell, The Transformation of American Foreign Relations, 1865-1900 (New York: Harper & Row, 1976); Edward P. Crapol, James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire (Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 2000).
—Timothy E. Vislocky
Specialized magazines grew enormously during the Gilded Age, with new periodicals focusing on the sciences, engineering, manufacturing, and mechanics. Professional journals for physicians and teachers sprang up, agriculture and farm journals proliferated, sports magazines began publishing, and a number of monthly magazines for children appeared. Weekly magazines devoted to news and commentary included popular journals with their woodcut illustrations like Harper’s Weekly (among its featured artists were WiNSLOW Homer and cartoonist Thomas Nast) and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper and the era’s most outstanding journal of opinion, the Nation, edited by Edwin L. Godkin. Several publications devoted to humor (preeminently Puck, 1877-1918) and illustrations (mainly Life, 1883-1936) appeared. Puck was distinguished by a double-page cartoon in the centerfold, printed in color and drawn by artist Joseph Keppler.
World History
