[TheStellarEnsemble.com] The Godfather - Mario Puzo

public indignation might even lead to a suspension of democratic procedures which could befatal to him and his people. His own empire, internally, was secure. He decided to bring peace toall the warring factions in New York City and then in the nation.He had no illusions about the dangerousness of his mission. He spent the first yearmeeting with different chiefs of gangs in New York, laying the groundwork, sounding them out,proposing spheres of influence that would be honored by a loosely bound confederated council.But there were too many factions, too many special interests that conflicted. Agreement wasimpossible. Like other great rulers and lawgivers in history Don Corleone decided that order andpeace were impossible until the number of reigning states had been reduced to a manageablenumber.There were five or six “Families” too powerful to eliminate. But the rest, theneighborhood Black Hand terrorists, the free-lance shylocks, the strong-arm bookmakersoperating without the proper, that is to say paid, protection of the legal authorities, would have togo. And so he mounted what was in effect a colonial war against these people and threw all theresources of the Corleone organization against them.The pacification of the New York area took three years and had some unexpectedrewards. At first it took the form of bad luck. A group of mad-dog Irish stickup artists the Donhad marked for extermination almost carried the day with sheer Emerald Isle élan. By chance,and with suicidal bravery, one of these Irish gunmen pierced the Don’s protective cordon and puta shot into his chest. The assassin was immediately riddled with bullets but the damage wasdone.However this gave Santino Corleone his chance. With his father out of action, Sonnytook command of a troop, his own regime, with the rank of caporegime, and like a young,untrumpeted Napoleon, showed a genius for city warfare. He also showed a mercilessruthlessness, the lack of which had been Don Corleone’s only fault as a conqueror.From 1935 to 1937 Sonny Corleone made a reputation as the most cunning and relentlessexecutioner the underworld had yet known. Yet for sheer terror even he was eclipsed by theawesome man named Luca Brasi.It was Brasi who went after the rest of the Irish gunmen and single-handedly wiped themout. It was Brasi, operating alone when one of the six powerful families tried to interfere andbecome the protector of the independents, who assassinated the head of the family as a warning.195