Hey all, I've been reading, well still I'm, the First Family on Holiday (Excellent book!) and came across that sometime before 1909 the Commission created and 'that it consisted of no more than a handful of the most powerful bosses from around the country....A much larger general assembly, numbering as much as 150 delegates.'
Does this mean that there was no commission when Masseria and Maranzano were 'Boss of Bosses'? and Did Luciano base is idea of the Commission on this one?
The General Assembly you are referring to did not had the duties the Commission (created in 1931) had, This assembly was a forum to select the boss of bosses and delegate "mini commissions" to deal with serious problems that had arose.
As I have said before, the idea of a Commission replacing the boss of bosses system, as a ruling and governing body, was circulated during the Castellamarese war and presented to Maranzano. And it wasn´t Lucianos idea. However, Maranzano who was about to win the war and who had his eyes steadily focused on the boss of bosses position, rejected the idea.
You can find this in the Gentile work.
I guess the General Assembly did serve as a model for the Commission in 1931. But all of the power was centralized in New York, more so than before the Commission was created.