conservative wing of the commission

[JakeTheSnake630]

I've come across this a few times reading LCN history from when the commission was formed. I know Joe Bonanno was considered part of this "conservative" side of the commission. Of course now when I search this I can't find anything, but I am positive I have seen it before. Anybody know what is meant by this? Apologies if this has been brought up before.

[johnny_scootch]

It's mentioned quite often in A Man of Honor. The Conservatives were the old school bosses who believed in the tradialonal ways like Bonanno, Profaci, Mangano, Gagliano & Magaddino opposed to the newer bosses like Gambino and Lucchese. Obviously all those guys weren't bosses at the same time but the groups gained and lost members as time went on. They weren't actual groups but rather the alliances that formed amongst the Commission members.

[JakeTheSnake630]

Thanks scootch! I read A Man of Honor years ago, I remembered Bonnano saying it. So was conservative used as a synonym for traditional? Meaning old school bosses would only work with Italians or maybe even just Sicilians? As compared with guys like Lucky, Costello, Albert, etc who would work with Jews, Irish, and other groups. Is that what he meant? Thanks for the response

[B.]

The conservative faction was conservative in the true sense. They wanted to maintain the mafia tradition and resisted change. They tended to be Sicilian-centric and opposed to the mafia becoming Americanized and pan-Italian though they reluctantly went along with some of these changes as many conservatives eventually do.

Though they don't use the conservative/liberal terms, a lot of Families have had their own conservative vs. liberal dynamic which informs factionalism within the Family.

[JakeTheSnake630]

Thank you for your response B! What you said makes total sense. The more "progressive" or "liberal" side I guess would have been the Luciano, Costello side as they were willing to assimilate more and work with different groups. Thanks again for your two cents!

[johnny_scootch]

It was more than just who they were willing to work with. One example I can give is when the Gallo’s were having problems with Profaci and they went to Gambino for advice. Bonanno said the older more traditional bosses would have never ever given an audience to another father’s children especially to give them a chance to air dirty laundry. It was a big insult to Profaci.

[JakeTheSnake630]

Got it. Thanks for clarifying it was more than just who they did business with, that makes a lot of sense! I wonder which families would be considered the most conservative now. I imagine the Westside?