Chapter 330: The Antitrust Clarion
"Mr. Tesla respects you, which is really gratifying." After leaving the institute, Anne praised Sheffield admiringly, "Many of your words make sense."
"That doesn't make sense. It's just that I'm in a position now where even fart makes sense. If it were the other way around, who would take what I say seriously?" Sheffield didn't look overly happy. Although he had no worries about food and clothing in this life, he was also an ordinary citizen in his previous life. He had seen what the scene of toxic chicken soup running rampant was like.
Therefore, Sheffield was very immune to Anne's words. He neither forgot himself nor got upset. However, he was still very happy to be praised by his woman. "These words coming out of your mouth can easily make me feel so happy."
"No way, Annie is the most honest person and always speaks the truth." Annie nodded slightly, looking very cute with an unconvinced look.
Regardless of whether Anne's reminder was effective or not, Sheffield has really been sorting out the importance of various industries recently. Although as a conglomerate, theoretically, it can do anything. However, the investment in different industries is also different, and it is very normal to focus on certain aspects.
In fact, there are not many examples for Sheffield to learn from. The chaebols in Japan and South Korea are typical conglomerates, involving all walks of life. In Europe, such enterprises are mainly concentrated in Germany. There are actually no examples for him to learn from in the United States, and as for his motherland in his previous life, there are even fewer. It is impossible to say that state-owned enterprises are conglomerate-style enterprises.
After sorting it out, Sheffield found that no industry seemed to be unimportant. All the industries he had in his hands seemed to be very important. He was simply trapped in the troubles of happiness.
"So, you think that no industry can be let go now?" Anne asked dryly after listening to Sheffield's recent review process. "It seems that the entire company is extremely solid, so it shouldn't matter."
"That's just an appearance. Do you know why I want to bring a carload of people with me wherever I go? I'm the only male heir in my family, so I have to be careful. Even the route I take when I go out is random, and I may even change my route when I go abroad." Sheffield spread his hands helplessly and said, "Little Rockefeller has several sisters to help him, but I really have no one to help me. From a family perspective, the Sheffield family is extremely fragile, and the DuPont Consortium is the extremely powerful existence."
"Then I will give birth to one for you!" Anne blushed, obviously she had misunderstood Sheffield's meaning. Actually, she was not wrong. The appearance of the next generation of heirs could make people feel at ease.
Anne was not completely unaware of the rumors that Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller had an illegitimate child. She was definitely worried. However, Lafayette once said that an illegitimate child would not shake her position, and she was not old enough to worry about this issue. But if there was an illegitimate child, it would completely put her mind at ease.
"I told you, I'm so charming." Sheffield fell into narcissism. A woman took the initiative to ask to have a child for him. Unless you reach this level, you will never know how proactive a woman can be.
In fact, even if Sheffield is already in the United States, many of the problems he faces are still exactly the same. A large member structure like the DuPont family is not something that can be easily defeated.
One important role of relatives is that relatives make it easier to be xenophobic and protect oneself. A family with a large population is the same as many clan forces in the folk.
Why are relatives united? Because the group of relatives is at least a dozen people, and at most hundreds of people. Apart from these hundred people, the others are not relatives. People will not recognize relatives randomly. In this regard, they exclude all strangers. Therefore, a small group of one hundred people is united. If all the people in the country are your relatives, and you treat everyone like your relatives, then where is the meaning and value of relatives? When everyone is your relative, it is equivalent to having no relatives. This attribute is gone, and unity does not exist.
Of course, if a country is full of such groups, the country will be in constant internal strife. But if there are not many such groups, such as companies like the DuPont Consortium, there are not many in the United States, so as their opponents, we must be cautious.
From this point of view, in Sheffield's eyes, the DuPont family is actually similar to the folk clans that bully others by relying on their numbers. However, there are different levels of strength in numbers. When it comes to the scale of the United Company, it is no longer a matter of strength in numbers.
"Every time I wanted to compete with DuPont in the past two years, something more important always came up. After the World Expo this time, I must test the strength of the DuPont family. I can't delay any longer. I should have taken action after returning from the Philippines. That was the best opportunity. Now the DuPont Consortium has recovered."
Sheffield once again put the issue of squeezing out the DuPont family on the agenda. "Boss, Mr. John wants to talk to you," Jesla said as he walked into the office. "The calls were made to Oak Manor and Arlington Manor. He didn't know you were in Houston."
"So anxious? Okay, I'll go right away." Sheffield looked surprised. This was not consistent with the young Rockefeller he knew. It was understandable that Edith Rockefeller was so anxious, after all, pregnant women needed more comfort.
"The telephone is not that reliable. What's so urgent?" Sheffield held the phone and endured the unfriendly noise. He did not appreciate the telephones of this era. Rockefeller Jr. was not Edith Rockefeller. He was not very interested in talking on the phone with his brother-in-law.
A hissing voice came into my ears, "Roosevelt delivered the State of the Union address to Congress, calling for restrictions on corporate trusts. This vice president has just come to power and he's already looking for trouble with me."
This is not a small trouble! Sheffield was silent for a moment. He did not know when in history Roosevelt began to dismantle the trusts. He had always thought that he would have to do so in his first term.
Now it seems that Roosevelt's attack on the trusts came a little faster than expected. Sheffield replied with a worried look on his face, "What does it have to do with me? The United Company is not a trust."
Although this is what he said, Sheffield knew that this statement was just a consolation. Roosevelt had no concerns about using the sword of the previous dynasty to kill the officials of his own dynasty. Could it be that he would let himself off the hook just because the conglomerate model originated from Germany? This was unlikely.
"William, you are really good at comforting yourself. Is there any essential difference between your joint company and a trust enterprise? You don't think that the canning trust and the sugar trust industry are not trust enterprises because of their small profits? Then what is the joint company that controls such a trust?" Rockefeller Jr. said in a teasing voice from the microphone, "Are you still thinking of staying out of it?"
"Let's talk about this when we have time!" Sheffield said coldly with a stern face. Although his attitude was a bit bad, it was not because Rockefeller Jr. angered him, but because the State of the Union address really affected his mood. After hanging up the phone, Sheffield directly ordered, "Ask the Democrats what's going on?"
"What's going on?" Anne came to the office and saw that Sheffield looked unhappy, so she asked worriedly.
"Our president is going to take action against the trust!" Sheffield shrugged helplessly, "A lot of people are worried now."
"With so many trusts, can he really dismantle them all?" Annie curled her lips in disbelief, "What's there to be afraid of?"
"It's not scary if you know who you are attacking. The scariest thing is when the butcher knife is raised but you don't know who it is aimed at. There are so many trust companies. If others are fine but you are in trouble, wouldn't that be very unlucky? It's infuriating to think about it." Sheffield smiled. The emotion of fear is due to the lack of mental preparation. Who would be afraid if they were mentally prepared?
The good times of the trusts now are also due to the support of President William McKinley before he was assassinated. During McKinley's presidency, monopoly capital was formed and began to go abroad. His top priority was to revive the economy. Therefore, President McKinley's governing idea was to make American companies competitive in the world market, and only by becoming large companies, so he at least ignored the formation of monopoly capital.
During McKinley's administration, with the rapid development of industrial production, trusts emerged at an unprecedented rate. Before his assassination, there were more than 200 newly established trusts with a capital valuation of more than 100 million.
The flourishing of trusts has caused dissatisfaction among many people due to monopoly, forming sharp social contradictions. It is no longer possible to pretend that there are no contradictions. This generation of citizens cannot do this, and they are easier to deceive than future generations.
"In that case, no wonder Rockefeller Jr. got angry. Standard Oil is the most powerful trust and has been fighting against antitrust laws for many years. Once they hear about any disturbances in the trust, they will react immediately." Anne also knew the seriousness of the situation and asked worriedly, "If there is a fierce confrontation, will you stand by Standard Oil?"
Of course, did Rockefeller Jr.'s sister sleep with him for nothing? However, Sheffield did not say it out loud, but instead analyzed it in a serious tone, "Yes, it is rare to be able to confront Congress, and we cannot let these politicians ignore us. If they think it is easy to deal with us, it will be difficult to deal with them in the future."
(End of this chapter)
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