Respect in our world is something that is often in short supply. Maybe we've all grown up with each other, know the score and are in short supply of some fresh-off-the-boat talent. At least the majority of our community are wise to the world because of this. Regardless of my thoughts though, there is one comment I would like to make on our situation and bring to the table for discussion by the fine men and women who walk our many streets.

I was sat in my Detroit office quite recently, my close associate Linus Caldwell was in the kitchen still fumbling around with the mince for the meat balls, all the while forgetting to stir the sauce. Through the ceiling and my very lush carpet I could smell the horrific over heating of my delicious tomato sauce. One day he'll make meatballs like Salvatore Gato used to, they made myself and my father overeat on many occasion.

Anyway, I was sat with a good friend, Gabriel Mancini, rummaging through a few papers, when I came across a copy of our very own law of the land for this thing of ours. The two of us discussed the points in quite some detail, before I was temped to take to paper on one such commandment.

"No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it"

Now this, to me, would be great to see happen in our day to day lives. I have never once had someone approach me, say; "Hey this is Jimmy no-nose, he's a good fella" and then likewise, introduce myself to the young newcomer. The idea of vouching for someone is live and exciting in my mind, but in our day and age, can it be put into effect?

Fair point my good friend, fair point. I think it could easily enough work, but only if enough people were willing to make it work. My father always told me it helped to have people who would vouch for you, and I myself to this day believe it to be true. With those of us Made and above, we have the ability to have an associate; this could be a gateway to introducing people. Say if a leader wanted to know somebody, they could simply go to that persons sponsor, and ask them questions.

When the sons and daughters of mafia men and women come into this thing of ours, all too often are they handed tons of money, and respect. No contacts, no friends, and no family, they are already set for life. If we as a whole decided that you must have someone introduce you to the people you wish to work for, then this system could be broken.

Hopefully I am not too confusing, for I have had quite a bit of alcohol this evening.

James tips his hat and stumbles off into the dark

Reading through family journals, the last instance I can find of a truly successful 'vouching' system were in the days of CP.

From what I read of this, and what I can remember from story on ol' Grandpappy's lap, it was an excellent system. For those of you who cannot remember or were not present at the time of this, the basic scheme was that for a Wise Guy to become made he needed to, in addition to whatever his Leader's requirements, have 3 references willing to vouch for him. 2 of these references had to be at least Earner, and at least one made. If the vouchee fucked up after his made ceremony, both he and all his references would die for the indisrection.

It was a system as creative as it was simple. People were unwilling to give references to those known as repeated fuck ups, and this had a delightfully two edged effect. First of all, there were less rogues as less people known to have a liking for 'going red' could recieve the reference. Even if a Leader was willing to promote such an individual, he was unlikely to have the necessary referencse. Of course this is not such a valid point just now as we thankfully are doing business in a time that appears to be relatively rogue free, touch wood.

The second massive benefit was the onus that it placed on being made. Back in the 'reference days', people looked at Made Men knowing they had not only had their Leader's total approval, but the backing of three individuals willing to stake their lives on what a stand up guy this Made Man was.

Of course, there was widespread criticism of this system, but it worth mentioning this vocal opposition came mostly from those not skilled enough to reach the upper echelons.

Compare this to now, a time where I believe the importance of Made Man has certainly not gone, but somewhat diminished compared to what it used to be in the days where so much as mailing as looking at a Made Man's shoes in a funny way would get you in trouble. I definitely believe some sort of vouching system would be much welcomed, if only be me. Of course, there are two very glaring problems with any sort of implementation like this:

1. It would require the agreement of all the City Heads, if not all the actual Crew Leaders. If this scheme was only used here and there by some families, those who did use it would presumably find themselves at a massive disadvantage due to lesser high ranked members than the leaders of other crews.

2. To impose such strict enforcement of rulebreaking as in CP times, i.e. the death of the rule breaker as well as his references, could easily lead to a slowdown of street activity. When you want to say something that might get you killed, you may be willing to take the risk. When you want to say something that might get you, and three of you most respected colleagues and friends killed, you would understandably be less inclined to open yer trap.

However, to not impose such strict sanctions is to not really emphasis the importance of the position, which is essentially what any vouching system is about. Taking even just this point into account creates something of a catch 22.; so when we regard all the logistics surrounding this subject, is it really viable? Can the ends realistically justifiy the means?

I realise this is a largely hypothetical discussion but I feel it's a worthy enough topic to attract some serious debate!

That is very interesting my friend. Though I was referring more to one person meeting another through a third part as opposed to vouching for people to become part of the family, it is indeed what my point is and what the commandment is referring too.

You would have to really, really trust someones ability to put your ass on the line though, it would be good to see what people really think of each other and their mannerisms if such a system was implemented.

James you make a good point, the associates system is a big step towards vouching for someone. It means a sponsor has to get to know his young ward before allowing them to make the step up into bigger shoes.

A means of vouching for associates in general opens alot of doors though...

Of course Sammy, the first stage will always be the introduction; thought it stands to reason that such would eventually progress into what I described.

Although I did go on a massive tangent, I feel it was the natural progression. As it stands, the associate/sponsor system should be doing what we both described; the sponsor acting as an intermediary between the Leader and the nobody, and eventually should the opportunity arise speaking for him to become made.

Sadly though, the associate/sponsor path seems to be largely underused, and these things have a habit of rarely panning out in reality the same way they do in our idealist hypotheticals.

Personally, I make it a priority to emphasize the huge gap between Wise Guys and Made Men. I tend to use whatever means I have at my disposal to accomplish this goal. One aspect of this is the sponsor system- every one of my Made Men receive the ability to invite an associate into the family during their ceremony. I often have my Made Men approach me and say "I've got this associate, he's doing real good work and he might be worth having a sit down with."

I can defintely sink my teeth into the thought having recommendations to make it into a family... That is how the first of my bloodline made it into the Chosen, I had the recommendation of one of her family members.

I do however hate the Reference's for mademan system... My families journal's spoke of such a time, and even though they had no problem getting the reference's it seemed like a ridiculous pain in the ass to do. I mean, If you have busted your ass for your family and gotten along with everyone, and your Boss want's to open the books for you there should be no doubt in your bosses mind as to weather or not your good for the job. Three people's opinion shouldn't sway a Mob Boss to give you the nod.

But as for the original topic, A way to make a name for yourself in the eyes of others is to have someone else vouch for you... Its how the civilian life often operates and it would be nice to see it carry over into here as it would make much sense from a business stand point. You don't just trust someone to do business with them from the word go, but if a mutual friend says "Hey this is a good guy, you should see if you can work something out" then you'll be much more inclined not to be so judge mental when dealing with said individual.