Answer:
The statement that best summarizes the authors claim is a cruel prince may be better for his subjects in the long run.
Explanation:
The excerpt talks about a prince who should not fear the reproach of cruelty, which implies that he has committed acts of cruelty in order to keep the order by punishing the criminals in a very severe way to work as an example to others that might have the same intentions, this will be good in the long run since people will behave better and crime will be reduced.