the crime family. Even mafiosi know the wisdom of the tale of the goose that laid the golden egg. It was observed by some journalists that there was no greater show of sadness over a fellow mobster's death than at the fabulous moneymaker's lavish funeral.
See also: Demotions in the Mafia; Sex and the Mafia.
Long, Huey (1893–1935): Syndicate partner and assassination victim He was the Kingfish of Louisiana politics, serving first as governor and later as U.S. senator. As far as the national crime syndicate was concerned, Huey Long was the best political friend the mob ever had. Long controlled the state—whatever he said went—and he invited New York mobsters under Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky to "come on down, y'all."
When New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia started busting up the syndicate's slot machines, a desperate Costello had to find a new haven for his one-armed money makers. The mob cultivated Long—or perhaps it was vice versa. In any event, the mob shipped one-armed bandits and other slots by the thousands to Louisiana, soon making New Orleans the illegal slot machine capital of the United States.
And that was only the beginning of the Long-syndicate joint venture. The slots were for the poor folks who could only part with nickels and dimes. Lansky worried about the big spenders, those who could afford to part with big bucks. There was a need to offer them luxuriously equipped casinos so they could play for high stakes. Long was interested, but still a mite hesitant. It meant a lot of payoffs all around, and he was very worried what to do about his own graft payments which Lansky said would equal $3 or $4 million a year.
Huey was already in hot water with the tax people. He railed to Lansky and a top aide, Doc Stacher, that the new president, Franklin Roosevelt, reneged on a promise to call off the tax sleuths. How was Long supposed to conceal $3 million or $4 million a year from the government snoops? Patiently Lansky and Stacher explained to him the wonders of Swiss bank accounts and numbered accounts in particular. Stacher added:
You have nothing to worry about. We'll take the money there for you with our special couriers and nobody but you and us will know your number. And only you will be able to draw on the account. Your signature and secret code which you give the bank—you don't even have to tell us—will be your protection. To put money in, all we need is the number. To draw it out, you need the code that only you will know. You must never write it down. Keep it in your head.
Long was entranced with this sophisticated fillip to the art of graft and gave the syndicate carte blanche to set up casinos. There were several choice locales—the famous Blue Room at the Roosevelt Hotel and the fabulous Beverly Country Club, both in New Orleans, as well as numerous others. Moe Dalitz had already been opening joints in Ohio and Kentucky, but Louisiana represented the break into the big time, the beginning of countrywide development of casinos by the syndicate—in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on Florida's lush East Coast and elsewhere. The mob had much for which to be thankful to the Kingfish.
Then, in 1935, Long was shot to death by a demented assassin—or perhaps by overzealous bodyguards who shot Long while trying to protect him. If the syndicate thought it at first to be a disaster, the boys soon discovered otherwise. There were plenty of other politicians eager to take payoffs, and they didn't even think as big as ole Huey. Lansky and Costello could count. The payoffs decreased and the profits soared. They were, indeed, very thankful to Huey Long—for everything.
Los Angeles Crime Family: See Hickey House Mafia.
Lovett, William "Wild Bill" (1892–1923): Irish waterfront racketeer Under Wild Bill Lovett, the White Hand Gang—the last organized-crime hold by Irish gangsters on the New York waterfront—reached its pinnacle of power. The gang was made up of diverse Irish gangsters who around the turn of the century combined on the waterfront to repel the Italian gangsters seeking to move in on dock rackets. To counter these upstarts, considered part of La Mano Nera, or Black Hand, the Irish organized under the name of the White Hand.
Shortly after the end of World War I, Wild Bill Lovett took control. His slight 5-foot-7-inch, 145-pound frame belied the terror he inspired in the Brooklyn Bridge and Red Hook sections of Brooklyn. He demonstrated his viciousness in the way he achieved leadership of the gang.
The previous leader, Dinny Meehan, had been assassinated in his sleep. Contending for his crown were Wild Bill and a pier rowdy named Timmy Quilty. In the interests of peace and gang unity, the pair agreed on a most democratic method of choosing a new boss. They would engage in a dice contest, and the first man to throw a seven would become the undisputed leader.
The contest was held in a Furman Street bar and was attended by a number of gang members and curious dock hands, much impressed with this new experiment
