Chapter 341: Meet the President Together
As usual, Morgan received representatives from many companies in the coal cartel on his yacht, including Jess and Bell, who all arrived and met Morgan on the calm sea.
"The vastness of the sea can broaden people's minds. I just like the feeling of being on the sea." Morgan said this without any context to these bigwigs in the coal industry. Then he sat down in front of the uneasy people and slowly said, "The situation in the Pennsylvania mining area is already very serious. There are hundreds of thousands of coal miners, thousands of private armed forces of your companies, and nearly 10,000 state police. Things have almost reached this point and there is no way to end it. Do you want to have another war of independence in Pennsylvania?"
"Mr. Morgan, the workers poured water into the mine, made explosives, and set fires, causing great harm to our industry. If there is no solution to this, then there will be no order in any industry in the future. Mr. Morgan is also very particular about order." Jace said hesitantly, "Things always have to come first, and the responsibility for delaying production is not on us."
"I understand why you do this, but others may not understand." Morgan stroked the beard under his big nose, his eyes sharper than ever before, "Even you bosses here should understand in your hearts how most citizens tend to be inclined towards this matter. In recent years, no large company has had a good reputation. Oh, there is a company in the South that continues to explore emerging industries, and this company has a good reputation. But the coal cartel is definitely not that kind of company. Now that summer is about to pass, the temperature in the northern states will turn cooler. By then, there will be problems with coal supply, and the price will soar several times. It may be even more difficult to deal with this problem."
"To be honest, even now, President Roosevelt has put tremendous pressure on me. Roosevelt is a politician who values public opinion more than big companies."
"Even Mr. Morgan, you have no other solution?" Bell said with a look of disbelief, "If President William Bryan were here, he would definitely not treat us like this."
"But it's not him now. Roosevelt's presidency can be said to be picked up by chance. No one thought of this at the beginning." Morgan shrugged his shoulders and looked relaxed but said helplessly, "Who would take him seriously as the vice president? Few companies have ever taken him seriously. Now that something has happened, it's too late to contact him. His attitude is very tough. We need to let both sides negotiate as soon as possible."
"What if we don't want to?" Bell gritted his teeth and said firmly, "I don't believe he would offend us."
"The president will try to confiscate the mining area on the grounds of national energy security." Morgan said coldly, "Such a president has already crossed the line, but who can guarantee that he dare not do so? Time is running out."
The yacht was filled with a depressing atmosphere. The sound of a bunch of bodyguards walking back and forth came through the deck, like the beating of a heart, making people feel irritated. No one spoke, for fear of becoming an excuse for others to attack them in the future.
In the end, it was Morgan who spoke first, and he gave a very firm order, "No matter what, the price of coal cannot skyrocket. The time will soon come when the citizens of the northern states will need coal. At that time, the president will really want to confiscate your mines, and there will be a large number of citizens who support this. You should know that there are many so-called citizens who hate the rich."
Morgan's urging was already very harsh, which made the silent mine owners look at each other. Finally, Jace, the most senior, spoke up, "We can't agree to all the miners' conditions. A one-fifth wage increase is too high. The eight-hour workday is almost cut in half. If we agree to it, there will be big problems after the work starts."
"If you believe me, I will go to the White House to discuss this matter with Roosevelt!" Morgan thought for a moment and took the matter upon himself. "I will do my best to fight for your interests, but don't think you can get through this without paying anything. Be prepared to accept some losses!"
Since Morgan had already said so, everyone including Jace and Bell finally agreed and asked Morgan to go to the White House.
"Leave it to me!" Only now did Morgan smile from the bottom of his heart. For him, making money was of course very important. Just his hobby of yachting required strong financial support. But making money was not the most important thing. The most important thing was to let everyone make money within the rules he set. This was more important than simply making money.
Morgan was completely different from the serious Rockefeller. He liked the feeling of being able to call the shots and wanted to be praised by everyone at the same time, and he was always working hard for it.
Two days later, Morgan, who was expected by many mine owners, walked into the White House with his head held high, leaning on a cane. Even when facing the current federal president, Morgan did not feel the need to be cautious. Now it was the president who needed help, and he was here to provide it. This order must not be wrong.
Before Morgan arrived in Washington, news of his mediation in the coal dispute had already spread. This was also to put pressure on Roosevelt. In the following two days, Morgan stayed in the White House and did not appear. Major newspapers were speculating on the progress of the matter, but there was no first-hand news. Many related parties were waiting for the final result.
Sheffield left New Orleans before the World Expo closed. On the way, he learned that Morgan was going to meet with President Roosevelt, but he did not take it seriously. He was also going to meet the president, but the future president. He had sent people to look for Wilson before, and now he has found him.
President Roosevelt, whom Morgan met, was a figure on Mount Rushmore, widely loved during his lifetime, the first practitioner of a modern powerful president, and an enemy of many large companies. For the slave owners, this president was not as high in status as Roosevelt in the past twenty years.
But President Wilson is also a very important president in the history of the United States, even more important than Roosevelt. Many of Roosevelt's policies were too straightforward, such as the carrot and stick approach, which was very effective, but not conducive to publicity. Especially after the United States became the world hegemon and lived a comfortable life, it adopted another set of standards that were conducive to publicity, waving the banner of freedom at every turn, and the origin of maintaining world peace was seen in the president of the slave owners.
Later facts showed that Americans preferred Wilson's idealism, that is, America is the embodiment of morality and the leader of freedom. They did not like Roosevelt's naked power politics. In the eyes of Americans, this kind of thing is too European.
Wilson's idealism was simply the destiny of the country, but Sheffield knew that Wilson, who promoted all good things in his policies, was a typical racist. His idealism absolutely did not include black people. Wilson advertised that he never offended anyone, but when it came to taking action, he would only act without saying anything.
To make them accept the operation of power politics, it must first be based on the establishment of a moral banner. However, Roosevelt did not belong to this path, so in the course of history, his ideas gradually stepped aside.
Roosevelt had to do and say things, not only to big domestic companies, but also to weak countries, especially Asian and Latin American countries. Roosevelt accused more than one or two countries.
If Wilson's People's History of the United States had not been published, Sheffield would not have found the president who led the Democratic Party to a comeback. Only in this era did people understand how difficult the Democratic Party's situation was after the Civil War. Now Sheffield has done a lot of work, sometimes not even for money. He simply regards himself as a politician who is not in public office, paving the way for the Midwestern states, hoping that these states with similar environments to the South can be pulled into the Democratic Party.
But Sheffield was destined not to be able to run for president himself, just like Rockefeller and Morgan, he could not step into the stage himself, and could only choose agents from within the two parties. This is why Roosevelt finally dared to turn against the big companies. Voters choose the president, not which company to serve. Roosevelt realized this at some point and finally chose to turn against the big companies.
"I am willing to donate to Princeton University!" This was the first sentence Sheffield said when he saw Wilson. He knew that Wilson had just become the president of this famous university, so he directly gave him a big gift.
"Mr. William, it seems we don't know each other." Wilson looked at the young stranger in confusion, carefully recalling the past to make sure he had not made a wrong judgment.
"Without being modest, I have to say that my respect for academics far exceeds that of many company founders. If I had not inherited an estate, I believe I would have become a good scholar." Sheffield looked regretful, as if sighing that he had not become a respected scholar because of the burden of his billions of assets.
Wilson hesitated to speak, but out of good self-control, he resisted the urge to blurt it out. Is there anyone so shameless?
In the White House in Washington, Morgan walked slowly on the lawn with a cane and a smile of victory on his face, as if reminding people that he was the winner again. As for Roosevelt, he did not show up.
"The strike in the coal industry will end soon. This strike is just an episode of communication difficulties between the two sides. Citizens should put their minds at ease." Morgan said complacently to reporters who were inquiring about the news after leaving the White House. "We are facing a new view of property on human welfare. Some people mistakenly believe that all human rights are secondary to profits. Now, such people must give in to those who uphold human welfare. Everyone's property must be subject to the overall rights of society and the extent of its use must be determined according to the requirements of public welfare."
"This arrogant banker!" Roosevelt let out a long sigh and left the stage for showing off to Morgan.
(End of this chapter)
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