Chapter 407: The Rogue Federation
"There is also a Farmers and Stockmen's Association in Phoenix, right? Send a telegram to New Orleans, focusing on the fact that the federal government can appoint judges. How can the law be fair? The propaganda to us Dixies should focus on the issues of state rights and federal government power." Sheffield thought for a moment and said, "The federal government is indeed much more shameless than our private enterprises. Don't let Alice know. Go!"
Jesla understood what his boss meant and knew that his boss did not want to end his life of being out of contact, so he immediately went to contact New Orleans.
The place where Sheffield is now is the state of Arizona in later generations. Of course, the name of this place is now called the New Mexico region, which also includes the future state of New Mexico.
Phoenix is now the largest city in New Mexico. It actually has everything it needs except water.
For Alice Roosevelt, this was a very new place. Desolation was nothing. As long as she was free and could explore, she took Sheffield's arm and asked him questions. "I haven't been here before. Are you familiar with it? Is there any business here?"
"There are some. In addition to farming, there is mining. Silver mines are the business of some alliance companies. My company is engaged in associated minerals such as lead and zinc, as well as copper mining business." Sheffield did not hide too much and described his business projects in New Mexico one by one.
"You gave away the silver mine? Isn't that a big loss?" Alice Roosevelt was a little surprised that Sheffield was such a person. He gave the most valuable minerals to others and mined the very valuable minerals himself, didn't he?
This surprised Alice Roosevelt a little. As far as she knew, a large number of people within the Democratic Party were obsessed with silver and had been reluctant to accept the pure gold standard. As an important company supporting the Democratic Party, United Company would certainly make great sacrifices by doing so. For a time, the image of the slave owner became somewhat lofty.
"There is no end to making money, and we must always give other companies a chance." Sheffield accepted Alice Roosevelt's compliment insincerely and took the opportunity to shape his own image.
This was of course false. Sheffield knew that the value of gold would be almost 100 times that of silver in a hundred years. Except for World War I, when the world was in chaos and no one cared about anything else, the value of silver would increase. The Silver Party's proposal was very difficult to implement.
The overvaluation of silver itself is only one of the problems. For pure silver mines, the main value is also reflected in the associated minerals. Therefore, giving up high-quality silver mines is just a nice talk. The other minerals brought by the associated minerals are more valuable than the final finished silver.
Ordinary people don't need to know so many inside stories. They just need to know that silver is valuable. In fact, the value of silver is not as high as people think.
The distribution of minerals in the New Mexico region between the United Company and the Allies is that the Union Company mines silver mines, while the United Company mines associated minerals and copper mines. The silver in the associated minerals belongs to the United Company, and the same is true for other zinc and lead.
As for other elements of associated minerals, the joint company can absorb some of them by itself, and the rest it cannot absorb will be sold at a fixed price. As for the fact that it is cheaper to sell abroad than domestically, this is a minor issue. Domestic companies are all competitors, so it is normal for them to do so.
"I'll take you to meet the Indians!" Looking at Alice Roosevelt who was cheering as she left New York, Sheffield laughed and reminded her, "Again, don't do this yourself."
"Aren't Indians very dangerous?" Alice Roosevelt was eager to try and didn't seem to feel the danger at all.
"That's for others. Black Gold and the Indian tribes have a special relationship. We are partners in the same trench." Sheffield explained as he walked. "At least compared to other people, the Indians trust our company. We have helped each other a lot. Many of the troubles faced by the Indians are communicated on their behalf by the United Company. It's not a very good relationship, but it's definitely better than the relationship with other citizens."
As for the use of having good relations with the Indians, it is very useful. If two companies are interested in the mineral resources here, the joint company can negotiate, but the other company cannot. Or if the negotiation is successful, the Indians, with the support of the joint company, will attack the company.
If the company retaliates, the United Company will intervene to stop it, which can determine many things. In the matter of minerals, the Indians are the compatriots of the United Company, and some of their compatriots automatically become invaders.
In this area of New Mexico that has not yet officially become a state, current laws do not exist, and with the help of the Indians, the truth as big as a fist can be better exerted.
Wearing the armband clothes of the Black Gold Company, Sheffield and Alice Roosevelt completely lost contact and disappeared from the crowd's sight. As for the lawsuit between Northern Securities Company and the federal government, they will be discussed later.
There are many places to visit, such as the Grand Canyon, the Colored Desert, the Petrified Forest and the Meteor Crater, which are enough for Alice Roosevelt to have a great time.
The slave owners also supported the president so that he would not have to be distracted by his family at this critical time.
"If you like it, this is not a formal administrative district anyway. During this blank period of time, I can buy it and give it to you!" Holding Alice Roosevelt's slender waist, Sheffield felt a little inflated and found the feeling of being the boss and second to God.
The federal government passed a temporary proposal to set up a temporary court to hear monopoly cases involving major public interests. After a brief shock to all trust companies, they were then attacked by a concentrated attack.
Newspapers everywhere, from industry to finance, from Dixie to Yankee, denounced the rogue behavior of the federal government. There were only slight differences, such as the Southern newspapers, led by the New Orleans Morning Post, which focused on the imbalance between state and federal power and worried that after President Roosevelt came to power, a big government similar to an imperial country might eventually emerge.
This government plans everything for citizens, and once this big government is needed, there will be concerns similar to the exodus of European Protestants to the American colonies. Now the federal government has shown this trend, bypassing the law through proposals and forcibly achieving its own goals when there are precedents in case law.
The New Orleans Morning Post called on states to pay attention to the federal government's current dangerous actions, as once there is a chance of countless actions.
Facing unprecedentedly united criticism from the national public, the federal government announced that it would reopen the trial of Northern Securities Company's alleged railroad monopoly, citing the proposal it had just passed as an excuse.
The White House's decision has undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to major companies. You can criticize it as much as you want, but the White House will not change its position. The federal government also said that it is looking for a suitable third-party location to hear the case, which will surely show that the trial is fair and that most people will not find fault with it.
Morgan and Rockefeller naturally could not believe this obviously false explanation. When the real confrontation came, they found that they had underestimated the confrontation and overestimated the bottom line of politicians.
Edith Rockefeller called all the possible places where the slave owners might be, whether it was Arlington, Los Angeles or New Orleans, but there was no sign of them anywhere. In the end, she could only tell Rockefeller Jr. that she couldn't find anyone.
Later, the federal government officially announced that the case against Northern Securities Company for suspected monopoly would be heard in St. Louis, and the judge for the trial was still being selected.
The strongest legal team on the planet, which had just taken a break, had to return to New York and head to St. Louis for the second trial. Because they didn't know who the three judges would be, even James had a bad feeling in his heart. Before leaving, he said to Morgan, "Mr. Morgan, I hope you can be mentally prepared. We know nothing about the judges who will hear the case and the local environment. The most important thing is the attitude of the federal government. The start of the second trial can be said to be a signal sent by the White House. This is very guiding and may even interfere with the thinking of the judge hearing the case. In short, under such an unfair ruling, the probability of our failure is very high."
On the day of the Northern Securities Company's retrial, Assistant Attorney General Baker attended on behalf of Attorney General Knox. His presence almost represented the inclination of the Federal Department of Justice, which made James, who was defending Northern Securities, feel very uneasy.
As for the three judges in the court, James didn't know any of them and didn't know where they were from.
Assistant Attorney General Baker's speech at the beginning of the trial shocked James. "The previous St. Paul court ruled that there was no essential difference between the monopoly formed by one railroad purchasing another railroad and Northern Securities purchasing a controlling stake in two railroads. There was absolutely no difference."
"An assistant attorney general's words make me very worried about the fairness of this trial. The Northern Securities case has already been tried. The temporary approval of the proposal to restart the trial can only show that the federal government has malicious intentions towards the existence of large companies." James immediately retorted loudly, "This is the government's illegal embezzlement of private property. There is no other explanation."
Assistant Attorney General Baker looked at James deeply. He had to applaud his opponent's eloquence, but was it useful? He ignored James and made it clear, "If what Northern Securities did was legal, then Northern Securities could buy and control all the railways in the country. By controlling railway freight rates, they could even control the country's economy. Isn't this directly replacing the government's responsibilities?"
"You..." James's debating skills were useless. The other party said so directly. Is there still a need for a trial? The federal government is simply playing rogue.
(End of this chapter)
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