Chapter 325 Weak Hester
"The scenery here is nice. Why don't you consider developing some real estate here?" Looking at the beautiful bay, Natalia's eyes narrowed into crescents. Looking at the dilapidated buildings here, the contrast was too obvious.
"If you don't consider it, you will lose money!" Sheffield shook his head without even thinking about it, "Let's talk about it later. Our operations in the Great West are still centered in Los Angeles. This place is not worth considering."
When Sheffield really came to San Francisco, he remembered that there was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in this city at the beginning of the century. The United Company, which developed real estate here, could consider closing down when the 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit.
Because of its mineral resources, although San Francisco's population on paper is similar to that of Los Angeles, its actual population is much larger than that of Los Angeles. The extra population are naturally illegal immigrants. However, as Sheffield worked hard to catch and fleece the Chinese workers, the Chinese workers, who were the largest group of illegal immigrants, have been used to very small numbers.
The natural result is that while the economies of other cities in the United States have been booming in recent years, San Francisco's population growth is far less than its outflow, and its population is constantly declining. San Francisco's development is naturally stagnant, with little change from a few years ago. If there is any change, it is actually more depressed.
The city is surrounded by the sea on three sides, so Hearst naturally does not have the foundation like the wealthy people in other cities to build his own manor. His residence is a large villa by the sea, with a panoramic view of the bay.
Before he arrived at the villa, a carload of bodyguards who had followed him all year round had cleared the way. Many people stood directly outside Hearst's villa, and ten people followed him directly into Hearst's villa.
"I've only heard about it before, but I never thought the rumors were true. Mr. William, isn't it troublesome to bring so many people with him?" Hurst saw a guest making such a big noise, and he complained with a helpless smile as soon as they met.
"It's better to have some trouble than to lose your life. This world is so terrible that even the president has been assassinated." Sheffield took off his black gloves after entering the villa, slapped them twice, then reached out and took Natalia's hand and asked the girl to sit down first.
When mentioning the assassination of William McKinley, Hearst's face turned pale and blue. The assassination of the president was his biggest worry recently, because William Bryan lost to William McKinley again. After the election, his newspaper did make inflammatory reports, calling for the assassination of the winner William McKinley.
It was just a report to vent anger. Among the news that are currently flooding the United States media, it is not that serious. At least compared with the Spanish-American War, when he and Pulitzer fabricated the news that the Spanish fleet landed in New York, it was just a routine news and not eye-catching at all.
But he could not have imagined that nearly a year later, President William McKinley was actually assassinated, and the murderer had the news reprinted from his newspaper in his hand. This was simply an unprovoked disaster.
"Mr. William, you are laughing at me. This is not the behavior of a gentleman." Hester said with a hidden needle in his voice. "You should know that a few months ago, you also encountered this kind of pressure from public opinion."
"Or I should thank you, but that doesn't stop me from gloating. We Texans are so real. If we don't like something, we don't like it. And I have nothing to do with any gentleman. Everyone knows that I'm a slave owner." Sheffield raised his eyebrows and continued to laugh. "Mr. Hearst is selfless, and I am very grateful. That's why I came to visit you today. Your newspapers have no credibility at all. Eight newspapers, including the San Francisco Examiner, have been exposed. I have an idea now. Sell your media group to me, so that you can get out of this predicament."
Sheffield pretended to be reserved and spoke as if he was thinking of Hurst, hoping that Hurst would stop struggling and quickly agree to cut his losses and leave the market so that he would not lose everything.
"You want to swallow up my media group?" Hearst was shocked. He didn't expect that the distinguished guest he was waiting for would have such an intention. He flatly refused, "Impossible, Mr. William seems to have made a mistake. I have my own ability to withstand risks."
"Your ability to withstand risks? You don't mean the Chinese Exclusion Act, do you? Haha!" Sheffield laughed out loud. "The leader of the California Workers' Party back then seemed to be an Irish immigrant like you. Although California was controlled by the Republicans at the time, you, as a supporter of the Democratic Party, worked with the California Workers' Party to get the Republicans to support your Chinese Exclusion Act. It's really complicated. Several unrelated forces jointly promoted the Chinese Exclusion Act and forced Washington to agree to your proposal? Is there any similarity now?"
Given the accusations Hearst is facing now, let alone trying to win the support of the federal government, it would be a blessing in disguise if he is not suppressed by the federal government.
Sheffield didn’t want to say much about the early conflicts between the Irish and the Chinese. After all, any reason he gave in defense of the Chinese would not be accepted by the citizen class. The citizens of the United States at that time were not white leftists, and it was difficult for them to trust a completely unfamiliar ethnic group. Moreover, Sheffield was also xenophobic, and the scale of his xenophobia was even greater.
The conflict between the Irish and the Chinese was a conflict between two lower social groups over competition for jobs. The Irish were also discriminated against by European powers, and later the problem of intermarriage arose. In the early days, the ratio of Chinese men to women was seriously unbalanced, so many Chinese men married women of other ethnic groups, mainly Irish women who were excluded.
This became the main target of the Irish's attack. Sheffield could understand Hearst's original actions, so he was not prepared to accuse the other party of promoting the Chinese Exclusion Act. His current reason was that he had no reason and simply wanted to annex the other party's industry. He was now waiting for Hearst's consent.
However, Sheffield only mentioned it casually, but Hurst did not let go of the question and said, "It seems that Mr. William has always had a good impression of the Chinese? He has been violating the law and using Chinese workers."
"I will use whoever can help me save costs! Now I will return your boasting to you. When it comes to using Chinese workers, I have enough ability to withstand risks. As for the assassination of the president, you are just pretending that you have this ability, but in fact you don't have it at all."
Sheffield crossed his fingers and leaned back on the sofa, looking like he had everything under control. He did feel a sense of accomplishment watching others struggling to survive. As for the fact that both of them were supporters of the Democratic Party, how can we explain this? Slave owners have always beaten heretics first and then pagans, and before we can fight against foreign enemies, we must first stabilize the internal situation.
Besides, he is a descendant of the British. It is normal for him to continue to deal with the Irish in another situation.
Sheffield thought he had shown the utmost kindness, but Hurst didn't think so and asked, "What if I just don't want to?"
"Mr. Hester, you're putting William in a difficult position!" Natalia glanced at Sheffield and gently advised, "It's not too late for you to hand over your media and newspapers now. You can get the money and continue to invest in other industries. It won't be awkward when you meet each other in the future. If you keep your attitude like now, things may not end so easily. After you quit the media industry, you can apologize publicly and turn around like a gentleman. I believe the public will forgive your mistake. If you continue like this, it's hard to say what will happen."
"Haha, a woman is threatening me." Hester chuckled. He felt as if he was the leading actor in an absurd comedy today. Now he felt like he was falling into a dream and didn't want to believe that this was real.
Sheffield didn't like what he said. "This woman is my woman, Mr. Hester, please pay attention to this. Since you must know, what are the consequences if you don't want to, then I will tell you directly. Now you have eleven newspapers in total, and two of them were established less than three months ago. Citizens may not know all of them now, but it doesn't matter, I will let them know all of them, and then the sales of your newspapers will plummet."
"If you still don't agree, I can only compare your connections in the Democratic Party. Although there are local political parties in our country, it is actually a two-party country. Because of your newspaper, the Republican president has been assassinated, so your image on the Republican side has been fixed. Now let's consider the problems on the Democratic side."
Sheffield stood up and strolled in the living room of the villa. As he walked, he walked around behind Hearst and patted him on the shoulder. "As a de facto two-party country, the attitude of the Democratic Party is very important. Although you and I are both supporters of the Democratic Party, your influence is mainly in the West, while my influence is in the southern states. You are also someone who has paid attention to many elections. You should know what the southern base means to the Democratic Party?"
Hearst's body stiffened. He understood what Sheffield meant. To the Democratic Party, supporters in the southern states involved the question of whether the Democratic Party could still exist. Democratic supporters in the western states would not make the Democratic Party feel dead. If Sheffield tried to make the Democratic Party cut ties with him, his dream of pursuing a career in politics would end ahead of schedule.
"You, can't do this..." Hurst spoke with difficulty, and every word he uttered seemed to exhaust a lot of strength.
Sheffield patted Hurst's shoulders rhythmically with his hands, as if he was comforting a frightened kitten, and whispered, "Mr. Hurst, of course I can do this. Have you forgotten that your newspaper has scolded me for several years, huh?"
(End of this chapter)
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