Meyer Lansky explained the situation to Niall and Frederick. The Italian mafia was mostly established by Italian immigrants, and there's no need to go into further detail about that.
Within the Italian mafia, there are three main factions: the Northern Italian mafia, the Southern Italian mafia, and the mafia from Sicily.
The North of Italy is more industrialized, particularly the Po Valley and the Veneto region. These areas were among Italy's most prosperous even into the 21st century. As a result, fewer people from the North migrated to the Americas, as the average person in these regions could make a living at home.
This led to people from Northern Italy often aligning with other Italian mafia groups, but they were a minority, so we won't go into further details for now. The main players in the American mafia are the Southern Italians and the Sicilian mafia.
This distinction is more than historical; the Southern Italians and the Sicilians have different views on the future. The mafia from Southern Italy, originally from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (which included Naples), are considered more secular. Their most prominent representative is Charles "Lucky" Luciano. These people were willing to accept people from various backgrounds into their mafia as they worked towards their American Dream. They focused on gray-area businesses and were willing to compromise with official powers. For example, Luciano made pretrial deals with prosecutor Dewey, paying for peace. You handle your law enforcement, and we handle our mafia business.
On the other hand, the Sicilian mafia, which includes figures like Al Capone, Maranzano, and Masseria, can be considered the "fundamentalist" mafia. They believed that only Sicilians, and even specific regions of Sicily, could truly belong to the Sicilian mafia. To preserve their purity, they used extreme measures, including targeting outsiders like Jewish members. People like Meyer Lansky, who are Jewish, wouldn't be accepted as core members of the Sicilian mafia—if they weren't outright killed, that would be the best-case scenario.
Despite all being Italians, the mafia groups from Southern Italy (Naples) and Sicily have split and become hostile toward each other. It's a complicated situation where even within the same ethnicity, there's intense conflict. As the saying goes, heretics are often more hated than the infidels.
Once Meyer Lansky finished his explanation, Niall understood the situation. The mafia, including Germans, Irish, Jews, and even some Native Americans, had been pushed out or relegated to second-class status by the Italian immigrants. Now, the Italian immigrants themselves were fighting amongst themselves.
The reason behind this internal conflict was obvious: the economic crisis had caused the once-thriving bootlegging industry to collapse. At the same time, the government increased its crackdown on mafia businesses, making life difficult for everyone.
However, Charles Luciano and Meyer Lansky had prepared for this by starting a ginger beer business. This allowed their part of the mafia to maintain profitability and continue expanding, while other factions faced stagnation. Luciano, who was adept at making deals, managed to avoid long prison sentences, making deals with Dewey so that he could serve just nine months in jail.
As expected, the world doesn't often admit when it's in the wrong. Many people envy others' success and want to sabotage it. That's why assassinations happen.
Ultimately, the conflict led to a murder attempt because of the unequal distribution of profits. With limited money in the gray market, if one person gets more, it means another gets less.
Last night, Meyer Lansky had spoken to Charles Luciano in prison. Although it's unusual for someone in prison to make late-night calls, Luciano suggested that both sides should sit down and discuss the issue. There was no need for it to be a life-or-death struggle. They were willing to give up some of their profits to appease the other mafia groups.
It's a typical method: appease the others with some profits and hope things calm down for a while. While it might not lead to long-term peace, it could buy a couple of years of stability. After two years, they would deal with the situation then.
Given the mafia's survival situation, there was a possibility that not everyone would be alive in two years. Even those who survived might not be in great shape. Dewey, having been elected as the Southern District Attorney of New York, would likely fulfill his campaign promise to crack down on crime and stabilize the area.
"This is like adding fuel to the fire," Niall sighed.
"What do you mean?" Meyer Lansky, clearly appreciating Niall's perspective, asked.
"When there's a big fire, you don't pour more fuel on it. You cover the fire with dirt. It may look like the fire is out for a while, but in the long run, it will flare up even bigger." Niall explained simply.
Clearly, Luciano's approach was like adding fuel to the fire. He could calm things down temporarily, but in two years, there would likely be a stronger backlash. How would Luciano appease the other mafia groups then? Would he continue to give up his profits?
He could sacrifice for his people, but what about the members of his own mafia? Would they accept sacrificing for other factions?
"The situation in the streets is indeed difficult, but there's not much that can be done," Meyer Lansky acknowledged.
"The best solution now would be to find ways to expand the market and look for new profit points. Otherwise, there will definitely be a second or third assassination!"
"What ideas do you have?" Meyer Lansky asked, leaning in closer to Niall.
"How much money do you have?" Niall asked in return.