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Textbook Governing African Gold Mining Private Governance and The Resource Curse 1St Edition Ainsley Elbra Auth Ebook All Chapter PDF
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International Political Economy Series
Ainsley Elbra
International Political Economy Series
Series Editor
Timothy M. Shaw
Visiting Professor University of Massachusetts
Boston, USA and
Emeritus Professor University of London, UK
The global political economy is in flux as a series of cumulative crises
impacts its organization and governance. The IPE series has tracked its
development in both analysis and structure over the last three decades.
It has always had a concentration on the global South. Now the South
increasingly challenges the North as the centre of development, also
reflected in a growing number of submissions and publications on indebted
Eurozone economies in Southern Europe. An indispensable resource
for scholars and researchers, the series examines a variety of capitalisms
and connections by focusing on emerging economies, companies and
sectors, debates and policies. It informs diverse policy communities as
the established trans-Atlantic North declines and ‘the rest’, especially the
BRICS, rise.
Governing African
Gold Mining
Private Governance and the Resource Curse
Ainsley Elbra
The University of Sydney
Australia
Any project of this size is undoubtedly the result of many helpful mentors,
colleagues, friends and family. This book is based on research undertaken
at the Department of Government and International Relations at the
University of Sydney. However, much of my interest in private sector gov-
ernance was sparked during my time as a corporate banker, where I was
first exposed to the wide array of attitudes towards firm-led governance
and the implications of these approaches.
I was fortunate enough to undertake the research for this book in a
collegial and friendly department of academics. I would like to thank John
Mikler, Ariadne Vromen, Megan Mackenzie, Chris Neff, Lisette Collins,
Alice Juddell and Chris Hills for the advice and encouragement that were
central to the development of this book. Beyond the University of Sydney,
I have benefited greatly from the guidance and advice of Richard Eccleston
and Aynsley Kellow.
This project would not have been possible without the invaluable assis-
tance of the company representatives who agreed to be interviewed for
this project. Although these individuals cannot be named, my project
is inherently stronger for their participation and for this I am extremely
grateful. I am also grateful for the financial assistance provided by the
University of Sydney throughout my project.
Personally, I could not have completed this book without the support
of my family and friends who have provided continual encouragement
throughout this project. I am particularly lucky to be able to thank my
mother, Dianne, for her blind faith in my ability to achieve whatever I set
vii
viii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
out to do. Similarly, my thanks go to Pete and my closest friends Dave and
Amy for their unwavering support.
My final thanks go to my husband Tim. You are the most intelligent
person I know, and without your emotional, intellectual and financial
support the book simply would not have been possible. As I finalise this
manuscript in the weeks after the birth of our first child, I suspect our next
project might be infinitely more challenging, but ever so rewarding.
CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
Appendix 221
Index 235
ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
xi
xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
xiii
LIST OF TABLES
xv
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
and fill the void where governments are unable or unwilling to regulate.
Furthermore, it is demonstrated that firms leverage their rule-making abil-
ity, as well as their industry expertise and technical knowledge, to depict
themselves as natural governors of industry. In doing so, business relies
less on instrumental and structural power (activities such as lobbying and
threatening to relocate operations offshore) and more heavily on what is
known as discursive power whereby interests need not be pursued if they
can be created. What emerges from the analysis is that large multinational
corporations (MNCs), operating in a wide range of jurisdictions, are active
rule setters. Furthermore, they rely on their private authority in order to
have these rules and regulations accepted by other industry players and in
turn impinge on the sovereignty of the SSA states in which they operate.
The result is that in the period since decolonisation in SSA, the private
sector has been increasingly relied upon not only for economic growth but
also as a source of rules and regulations. Porter and Ronit (2006, p. 41)
reflect on this sentiment in their observation that, ‘Self-regulation has
come of age; it represents an increasingly viable alternative to the market
and the state’. The acknowledgement that firms have the potential to gov-
ern the gold mining sector has important ramifications for the resource
curse literature. If we are to fully understand the linkages between resource
wealth and underdevelopment, we must take into account all actors that
contribute to industry governance. As such, this book makes an important
intervention in the existing literature on the political economy of mining
in developing states. It does so through an application of qualitative meth-
ods of analysis to a comparative study of SSA’s three largest gold produc-
ers: Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania.
This introductory chapter is organised as follows. Firstly, the link
between the resource curse literature and SSA is explored. It is demon-
strated that despite the cleavages in the literature, the scholarship remains
most pertinent in SSA, where centuries of mineral extraction have failed to
produce economic and social development. Secondly, the chapter makes
a case for focusing on the gold mining sector, where it is argued that an
acute case of the resource curse exists. Thirdly, the three countries studied
as part of this research, Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania, are introduced,
and the reasons that they are classified as ‘resource-cursed’ states are out-
lined. It is shown that in addition to being the three largest gold producers
in SSA, a comparative study of the three countries hinges on their com-
mon colonial history, intervention by IFIs, as well as their status as host to
a small number of multinational gold mining firms. Fourthly, the research
4 A. ELBRA
questions and approach are outlined. Lastly, the chapter concludes with a
roadmap for the remainder of the book.
to meet all eight MDGs, by 2015. This failure reflects the fact that these
states remain hampered by underdevelopment despite the mineral wealth
that has accrued to these countries’ governments.
Despite three decades of scholarship examining the link between min-
eral wealth and the negative outcomes outlined above, many SSA states
have been largely unable to escape the resource curse. The scholarship’s
continued focus on governments’ role in corralling and hedging mineral
incomes overlooks a prominent actor in the extraction of mineral wealth:
multinational mining firms. In practice, MNCs have acknowledged their
role in host state development, actively setting rules and regulations,
partly in response to criticism that has been directed at the mining sec-
tor’s impact on economic growth and development. Accordingly, business
has been at the forefront of creating and promoting its own solutions to
the resource curse. Many of these initiatives have focused on the resource
curse as it affects SSA. The next section explores the applicability of the
resource curse scholarship to the region, as well as the decision to focus
this research on gold mining in Ghana, South Africa and Tanzania.
their export income. For these countries the “resource curse” is an urgent
puzzle’ (Ross, 1999, p. 298).
Furthermore, while the paradoxical outcomes associated with mineral
wealth are highly evident in SSA, the African Development Bank in its 2012
report Gold Mining in Africa: Maximising Economic Returns for Countries
argues that slow growth and uneven development are even more evident in
gold-rich SSA states. The same report notes that the effects of the resource
curse are more acutely felt in SSA’s 34 gold-producing countries, particu-
larly the inability of governments to translate mineral income into genuine
development. Moreover, unlike fair trade coffee, or even diamonds, there
is no link between the producer and end consumer of gold. Gold has tra-
ditionally been sold as a refined, non-branded commodity, where the end
product (either jewellery or bullion) can be made up of gold refined from
a wide range of sources and where there is no expectation or norm that
information regarding the original source of the gold is provided to the
purchaser. In this sense, gold is similar to many other minerals and primary
commodities; however, this attribute makes for an interesting case study,
as there is little motivation for firms to be ‘socially responsible’ in order to
increase their brand’s market share. Instead, firms are focused on balancing
their relationships with host communities and countries, with the require-
ment to extract gold at the lowest price possible.
The demand for gold has been driven by three main factors, derived
from the commodity’s wide range of uses. Gold is used in jewellery, as an
industrial input and as a financial reserve. While the uses for gold and the
growing demand for the product are explored in greater detail in Chap. 3,
over the past ten years a rising middle class in China and India, combined
with the global financial crisis, has seen the price of gold rise from US$351
an ounce in 2000 to US$1195 in 2014 (World Bank, 2015a). Ostensibly,
the steadily increasing gold price over the past decade should have led to
increased profits for gold mining firms and greater taxation revenue for
gold-rich states. Yet, it is the case that many gold mining countries remain
plagued by slower economic growth, poorer development measures and
greater inequality. The African Development Bank (2012) argues that gold
producers on the continent suffer from a more acute form of the resource
curse when compared to other mineral producers, highlighting that these
countries have received a smaller amount of the rents generated from gold
mining and that these have generally not been efficiently utilised.
Taken together, these facts form the basis of the decision to focus on
SSA’s gold sector. In order to delineate the impacts of gold mining on the
INTRODUCTION 7
Sources: *(World Bank, 2014), ^(U.S. Department of the Interior, 2013), ^^(Revenue Watch, 2013),
^^^(U.S. Department of the Interior, 2014)
8 A. ELBRA
per cent of total exports and where mining’s contribution to GDP is greater
than 8–10 per cent of total GDP. According to this definition, South Africa
and Ghana qualify as resource-based economies. Alternatively, the IMF
defines a resource-dependent state as one where either government revenue
from resources or mining’s share of exports is greater than 25 per cent of the
respective totals (International Monetary Fund, 2007). According to the
IMF’s definition, all three countries qualify as resource-reliant.
In evaluating the presence of the resource curse in Ghana, South Africa
and Tanzania, it must also be demonstrated that these states have not ben-
efited from mineral wealth and instead continue to experience sub-optimal
economic and development outcomes. This second factor is far more
nuanced and, in the case of South Africa, is not widely acknowledged.
Ghana
Ghana’s experience with mineral extraction has been mixed. While
Ghana’s economic growth levels have outperformed many of the coun-
try’s peers over the past ten years, inequality has worsened and significant
developmental challenges remain. Ghanaian economic growth has been
highly volatile, as detailed in Fig. 1.1. The graph below shows Ghana’s
GDP per capita growth, compared with other SSA states and lower-mid-
dle-income countries, in the period following the country’s transition to
15
10
0
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
–5
–10
SSA GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Lower Middle Income GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Ghana GDP per capita growth (annual %)
South Africa
South Africa suffers from many of the outcomes commonly associated
with the resource curse, yet the country is often left out of analysis of
Africa’s resource-cursed states. The country’s economic growth rate has
been historically lower than its upper-middle-income peers. Since the end
of Apartheid rule in 1994, South Africa’s GDP per capita growth has aver-
aged 1.3 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent for SSA and 5 per cent for
middle-income countries, indicating that not only is the country lagging
behind other middle-income states, it is also behind the regional average
(World Bank, 2015b). Figure 1.2 demonstrates South Africa’s slower
growth relative to its peers.
Additionally, measures such as economic wealth per capita mask the vast
and well-documented inequalities facing South African society (Leibbrandt,
INTRODUCTION 11
10
0
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
–2
–4
SSA GDP per capita growth (annual %)
South Africa GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Upper Middle Income GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Fig. 1.2 South Africa’s annual GDP per capita growth compared
Source: World Bank, 2015b
Tanzania
Mineral rents have historically made up a smaller portion of the Tanzanian
government’s revenue base when compared to Ghana and South Africa.
Yet, the country’s GDP per capita growth has outperformed both these
states and the regional average since 2000. Between 1990 and 2003,
Tanzanian mineral rents made up less than 1 per cent of GDP. After 2004
this contribution has grown steadily, reaching 5 per cent in 2011 but drop-
ping to 3.6 per cent in 2013 (World Bank, 2015b). Since 2004, Tanzanian
GDP per capita growth has averaged 3.6 per cent per annum, outper-
forming the average of 2.5 per cent for all sub-Saharan countries (World
Bank, 2015b). Although GDP per capita growth remains high relative to
Tanzania’s peers, sustained economic growth is likely to be challenged
by the country’s unreliable electricity and transport infrastructure (Ellis,
Blackden, Cutura, MacCulloch, & Seebens, 2007) (Fig. 1.3).
Income inequality has been steadily falling since independence; the
Gini coefficient in Tanzania has fallen from 54.5 in 1967 to 35 in 2007
(UNU-WIDER, 2014). Yet this has failed to deliver significant improve-
ments in the number of Tanzanians living in poverty. As a result, the
Tanzanian government implemented MKUKUTA I (the Kiswahili acro-
nym for National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty) in 2005,
followed by MKUKUTA II in 2011. The programme’s report notes that
although Tanzania’s income growth has been impressive over the period
of MKUKUTA I, income inequality has not improved during the same
period (United Republic of Tanzania, 2010). In 2000/2001, prior to the
growth in minerals income, 36 per cent of Tanzanians were considered
poor; this number fell slightly to 34 per cent over the following seven
14 A. ELBRA
8
6
4
2
0
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
–2
–4
–6
–8
SSA GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Low Income GDP per capita growth (annual %)
Tanzania GDP per capita growth (annual %)
13. Il Gianni era fuggito da Roma dopo l’assassinio di Bassville col Salfi, che
su questo fatto compose un poemetto. A Firenze il Gianni improvvisava
colla Fantastici; e l’Alfieri ammirandolo diceva però che quello non era
improvvisare, ma un comporre in fretta, alludendo al suo lento
declamare.
17. Il pittore Gros ricusò le offerte de’ Perugini, pur promettendo levare sol
due o tre quadri.
18. Era console allora Antonio Onofrio, sul cui mausoleo nella pieve fu poi
scritto Patri patriæ.
19. Raccolta cronologica dei documenti veneti, tom. ii. part. ii.
Vascelli da 70 cannoni Nº 10
Vascelli da 66 » 11
Vascelli da 55 » 1
Fregate da 42 a 44 » 13
Fregate da 32 » 2
Galere » 23
Bombarde » 1
Cutter » 2
Barche cannoniere, armate di un cannone da 4, e »
quattro da 6 16
Brich da 16 a 18 cannoni » 3
Golette da 16 » 1
Galeotte da 30 a 40 remi » 7
Sciabecchi » 7
Feluche » 5
Barche obusiere armate con due obici da 40 o da »
50, e quattro cannoni da 6 31
Galleggianti sulle botti, armati con due cannoni da »
30 10
Passi, armati d’un cannone da 20 o quattro da 6 » 40
Batteria galleggiante di sette cannoni da 50 sul »
perno, detta Idra 1
22. Mutinelli ebbe la pazienza di notare che, negli otto giorni che i quaranta
elettori stettero in conclave per eleggere l’ultimo doge, si spese in pane,
vino, olio, aceto lire 129,421; in pesce 24,410; in carni, polli, selvaggina
23,360; in salami, salciciotti, prosciutti 3980; in confetti e candele di cera
47,660; in vini, caffè, zuccaro 63,845; in frutti, fiori, condimenti 6314; in
masserizie da cucina, legna, carbone 31,851; per guasto di mobili
noleggiati 41,624; per spese minute 108,910; stuzzicadenti 25: tabacco
4931; carte da giuoco 200; altri giuochi 606; berrette di notte 506; calze
e borse di seta nera per la coda 64; tabacchiere 3067; pettini 2150;
essenze 182.
25. Il maresciallo Marmont nel vol. i, p. 36 delle sue Memorie (Parigi 1857),
racconta che i Veneziani mandarono Dandolo ed altri al Direttorio per
lamentarsi del turpe mercato di Buonaparte, e che questo, prevedendo
come un tal passo sarebbe stato la sua ruina, spedì Duroc dietro alla
deputazione, e se la fece condurre a Milano. J’étais (soggiunse) dans le
cabinet du général en chef quand celui-ci les y reçut: on peut deviner la
violence de sa harangue. Ils l’ecoutèrent avec calme et dignité, et quand
il eut fini, Dandolo répondit. Dandolo, ordinairement dénué de courage,
en trouva ce jour-là dans la grandeur de sa cause. Il parlait facilement:
en ce moment il eut de l’éloquence. Il s’étendit sur le bien de
l’indépendance et de la liberté, sur les intérêts de son pays et le sort
misérable qui lui était réservé; sur les devoirs d’un bon citoyen envers
sa patrie. La force de ses raisonnements, sa conviction, sa profonde
émotion agirent sur l’esprit et sur le cœur de Buonaparte au point de
faire couler les larmes de ses yeux. Il ne répliqua pas un mot, renvoya
les députés avec douceur et bonté, et, depuis, a conservé pour Dandolo
une bienveillance, une prédilection qui jamais ne s’est démentie: il a
toujours cherché l’occasion de le grandir et de lui faire du bien: et
cependant Dandolo était un homme médiocre: mais cet homme avait fait
vibrer les cordes de son âme par l’élévation des sentiments, et
l’impression ressentie ne s’effaça jamais. Celui qui pouvait éprouver de
pareilles émotions, et garder de semblables souvenirs, n’était pas
assurément tel que tant de gens ont voulu le représenter.
Questo Dandolo non appartiene all’antica nobiltà: era un chimico, che
salì poi ad alti posti ed ebbe il titolo di conte come senatore del regno.
32. Di que’ Governi esponemmo i disordini nella Storia della città e diocesi
di Como, lib. ix.
33. Quelle pazzie venivano così riferite dal cittadino Poggi alla Società di
pubblica istruzione di Milano: — Il popolo tutto ondeggiava nelle
dolcezze, ai puri repubblicani serbate, se il truce oligarca si tragga, che
in segreto angolo appiattato mordeva forse la polvere, vedova rimasta
del mal seminato oro fatale; quando improvvisa fama annunzia
clamorosa, che nel quartiere di Prè, creduto per influsso molesto il men
democratico, si è innalzato il primo albero di libertà per mano del popolo
esultante. Fu questa una voce creatrice: in un istante comparvero alberi
su d’ogni piazza, entro poche ore parve Genova un bosco, e, meraviglia
ai presenti ed ai lontani popoli, più di cento ne sursero lo stesso giorno! I
sermoni dettati dall’eloquenza repubblicana si udivano per le vie tutte e
appiè degli alberi, e varj d’abito e di colore i ministri del culto peroravano
collo zelo maggiore la causa del popolo; ben diversi da quegli impostori,
che non bramando esser utili, anzi cercando di nuocere alla pubblica
cosa, protestano di non volersi immischiare in oggetti politici.
«I pranzi repubblicani, tanto opportuni per nodrire il piacere
dell’eguaglianza, e per stringere i nodi della fraternità, erano pubblici, e
senza numero moltiplicati: i suoni di numerose bande, gl’inni ed i balli
patriotici e marziali, che allumarono in Francia il fuoco della libertà, e
scossero i debellatori dei re, condivano le mense di non mai gustate
dolcezze: i saporosi brindisi alla morte de’ tiranni, alla salute della patria,
alla libertà dell’Italia, alla memoria del liberatore de’ popoli Buonaparte,
si rispondevano all’unissono da mille canti.
«L’ora s’accostava intanto, in cui il popolo ligure dovea dar prova
dell’odio profondo che nodrir denno i figli di Bruto contro ogni ombra di
tirannia: quindi abbattutosi egli nelle due statue colossali dei tiranni
Doria, animato dal genio siracusano, a cui l’immortale Timoleone fu
padre, le diroccò, le stritolò, le teste e le braccia ne appese all’albero
della salute, e alcuni pezzi del busto ne destinò a formar patere e vasi
per la Dea Cloacina.
«Sul declinare del giorno il popolo sovrano richiese l’esecrabile libro
d’oro: si tentò d’ingannarne l’ordine assoluto colla esibizione di altri libri:
era già pronta la pubblica vendetta, se i veri originali in cinque volumi
non venivano immediatamente consegnati. Un decreto del nuovo
Governo consolò il popolo, e que’ libri, che come in Roma i sibillini, si
tenevano in venerazione, furono con universale esecrazione lacerati ed
arsi solennemente all’Acquaverde in presenza di venti e più mila
cittadini. Ma chi descriverà colle tinte della natura la brillante energia, i
vivi trasporti e la nobile fierezza, onde fu accompagnata la gloriosa
impresa? Le ceneri furono consegnate ai venti, che le recarono sul mar
Tirreno, onde confonderle con quelle del libro d’oro pochi dì prima
abbrugiato sulle adriatiche Lagune, che sull’ale di altri venti si
trasportavano alla cumea voragine d’Acheronte.
«Popolo lombardo che belle lezioni repubblicane!
«Nuovi canti, nuovi balli, nuove grida di tripudio chiusero quest’illustre
giornata, che viverà eterna nella memoria de’ liberi nipoti».
34. Moniteur, anno vi, nº 167.
37. Lettera del Milizia, 2 marzo 1798, in De Potter, Vie de Ricci. A Tavoleto
nell’Urbinate altre sollevazioni, dove accorso il generale Sahuguet, pose
il fuoco al paese, bruciandovi vecchi, donne, fanciulli; e innocenti ben
più che malfattori.
38. I tribuni fatti da Berthier erano i poeti Monti, Gagliuffi, Solari genovese e
il medico Corona. L’editto 5 ottobre del senato di Bologna dice «d’ordine
del comandante di piazza a cui siamo in dovere di obbedire».
43. Pettegolezzi chiariti nei Mémoires tirés des papiers d’un homme d’Êtat,
tom. vii.
* La nota del Moniteur conchiudeva: On regarde cette innovation comme
une victoire de la grande nation: ma a Ginguené fu scritto che il Governo
francese era rappresentato da ambasciadori, non da ambasciatrici.
Fra le altre insistenze con cui Ginguené molestava incessantemente il
Governo piemontese, era che fosse punito di morte chiunque si trovasse
con uno stilo o coltello, per qualsivoglia uso. Gli si domandava se un
codice, dove fosse scritta tal legge, s’addirebbe alla filantropia tanto
predicata dall’ambasciadore.
Barante, nell’Histoire du Directoire, stampata al tempo stesso di questa
nostra, e che noi conoscemmo solo adesso, parla a lungo delle vicende
d’Italia nel triennio; ma non ci parve una novità, nè in modo da cambiare
i giudizj da noi portati. Sulla lettera del Pignatelli al Priocca (pag. 86) non
mette alcun dubbio. Si estende su questo incidente del Ginguené;
honnête homme, mais la philosophie et la révolution lui avaient inspiré
des opinions absolues et orgueilleuses. Les chimères systématiques et
l’emphase sentimentale étaient devenues dans son esprit une croyance
sincère et intolérante,... il attribuait (aux princes d’Italie) des complots, et
révait les poignards et les poisons, tandis qu’il parlait avec admiration de
la loyauté du Directoire, qui l’avait chargé d’exciter contre le roi les
révoltes de ses sujets.
Segue a dire che aveva preparato un discorso accademico e panegirico;
ma vista la semplicità della Corte, ne proferì uno meno enfatico, ma
sconveniente, lodando la lealtà del Direttorio, a fronte della perfidia degli
altri Governi, ecc. Carlo Emanuele, invece di rispondergli, gli domandò
se avea fatto buon viaggio, se stava bene di salute; gli parlò della
propria infermità, dei dispiaceri, delle consolazioni che gli dava la santa
sua moglie Clotilde, ecc. ecc.
44. Il Bossi finì prefetto in Francia nel 1823; compose l’Oromasia, poema
italiano sui fatti della rivoluzione, ma freddo. Il dottore Botta divenne poi
storico famoso.
46. Di questo Mammone, così orribilmente dipinto dal Coco, non fa il minimo
cenno Lomonaco, la cui relazione a Carnot è vera opera d’un frenetico,
eppure è la fonte a cui principalmente attinsero i narratori di quelle
tragedie, e principalmente Carlo Didier nella Caroline en Sicile. Molte
falsità emendò il barone Leon d’Hervey Saint-Denys nella Histoire de la
révolution dans les Deux Siciles depuis 1793: ma resta ancora il dovere
a qualche storico onesto di vagliare la verità dalla sistematica menzogna
delle gazzette e dei settarj. Il tempo nostro v’è meno adatto che nessun
altro.
48. La vita del Coco, inserita nella Biographie Universelle, racconta che egli
viveva in intimità colla San Felice: un Bacher per rivalità minacciò di
denunziarlo: ma la San Felice denunziò più prontamente il Bacher come
reazionario, e fu mandato al patibolo. Cambiato vento, essa pure fu
condannata. Il Coco divenne giornalista nella repubblica Cisalpina, poi
nel regno d’Italia; fu impiegato sotto Murat, ma aspirava a esser capo
dell’istruzione o ministro, e non ottenendolo, trescò contro i Napoleonidi.
Di ciò gli fece merito Ferdinando IV, che lo conservò direttore del tesoro.
Trovavasi così a una Corte che egli avea violentemente denigrata: e una
volta il principe reale avendogli espresso il desiderio di leggere la sua
Storia della rivoluzione di Napoli, egli ne prese tale sgomento, che
divenne pazzo, e sopravvisse in tale infelicità fino al 1823.
50. Fra i detenuti era il famoso naturalista Dolomieu, che, partitosi dalla
spedizione d’Egitto, fu spinto sulle coste napoletane il giugno 1799, e
toltogli il portafoglio, fu gettato in un fondo di torre senza libri e penne;
dove, fattosi inchiostro col fumo della lampada, sui margini di qualche
volume sottratto alla vigilanza scrisse la Filosofia mineralogica. Fu
liberato il 15 marzo 1801.