Chapter 408 Appeal
Compared to the trial time in the St. Paul court in Minnesota, this time the formal trial time was surprisingly fast. Both parties were given only one day to submit evidence before the trial was announced to be completed and the verdict would be announced on a later date. This made Morgan even more uneasy, while the White House was calm.
In the Grand Canyon of Colorado, Sheffield and Alice Roosevelt are still enjoying the natural wonders, like two greedy treasure hunters shuttling back and forth here. Now the two are living in the ruins of a cliff dwelling, building a house in a large cave under the cliff.
Alice Roosevelt had never been here before. She held Sheffield's arm tightly and dared not let go for a moment, listening to the explanation of a famous scholar in the humanities. Only then did she realize that Sheffield seemed to have a lot of knowledge that others didn't know about.
"Indians is a broad concept. In our country today, almost all of them are nomadic peoples. You can think of them as the Mongols in America. Near the equator and south of Mexico City, the Indians there are farmers, and their population is much larger than that of the Indians in our country."
Enjoying Alice Roosevelt's dependence, Sheffield's mouth couldn't be compared, and he engaged in the content of this journey of exploration and discovery, "From the geographical isolation of the Americas, it can be said that the Indians were destined to be invaded by other continents, but it happened to be us, and the Indians also had a bad fate."
In Sheffield's opinion, a place that is too geographically isolated will hardly give birth to a powerful civilization. It all depends on who has the opportunity to seize it.
"If Europeans don't have this opportunity, which ethnic group do you think might replace Europe?" As Alice Roosevelt spoke, she had already taken out her camera, ready to take a photo.
Sheffield thought of several candidate ethnic groups and said with certainty, "West Asia, Arabs, other than Europeans, they are the ones. There is no doubt about it."
Before Europe soared, the oceans were controlled by the Arabs, and China was not among the candidates. The Pax Romana in Indonesia and Malaya in Southeast Asia had been influential almost since the 11th century. If Spain had not been a country that broke free from the control of Pax Romana, resulting in a strong religious factor in its colonial policy, even the Philippines would not have become a country dominated by Christianity.
The speed of Arab expansion and assimilation should be the fastest in the agricultural era, except for the European Industrial Revolution.
Reaching out and pulling Sheffield over, Alice Roosevelt snuggled up to the man and allowed the other bodyguards to take a photo of the two of them.
"It's so beautiful here. Thank you, William!" Alice Roosevelt said happily. There were only two of them and their bodyguards here. She didn't have to worry about her behavior becoming a headline like she would in New York. "There are so many good places in the country, and there are so many fun places in the world."
She knew that Sheffield had a huge company to manage and should be very busy. The fact that he could take time out to accompany her was enough to prove that this man valued her.
Moreover, the relationship between the White House and big companies was like this now, and Sheffield didn't even ask about it, which made Alice Roosevelt feel a little guilty. Looking at the moonlight that night, she took the initiative to say, "Some members of the Republican Party believe that the biggest threats are two types of people: mobs and rich people. Mobs may be instigated by politicians to rebel, while rich people lack the most basic moral principles. Their insatiable greed can only stimulate mobs and cause social unrest."
"People who are too rich are greedy? People who are too poor are mobs? Then who are the good people? Civil servants?" Sheffield sat on the ground with one hand on his knee and said in a bohemian manner, "From what I know, this is definitely not the style of Republican conservatives. It can only be said that your father's last incomplete term was not a walk-off. Without anyone noticing, his supporters have become the mainstream of the Republican Party."
If Alice Roosevelt had not taken the initiative to speak, Sheffield really would not have been able to accurately assess the views of Roosevelt's followers. Now he almost understood it, but he did not feel dissatisfied with his father-in-law. Instead, he praised, "You have a cowboy style. Okay, let's not talk about this. In fact, I am more interested in your cousin!"
"Franklin Roosevelt?" Alice Roosevelt thought for a moment and felt that Sheffield was talking about him. "He is two years older than me and three years younger. He got married before I left the White House and my father even attended the wedding. He is a rich man who inherited more than one million dollars. He was the editor-in-chief of a newspaper before he graduated. However, he is not as wealthy as you."
"Is he a member of the Republican Party now?" Sheffield asked indirectly. He remembered it absolutely correctly. Franklin Roosevelt became president on behalf of the Democratic Party, but he didn't know when he joined the Democratic Party.
"He hasn't shown any inclination yet!" Alice Roosevelt paused for a moment. "You don't want to pull him into the Democratic Party. That's impossible."
"Nothing is impossible!" Sheffield laughed and stopped asking Alice Roosevelt about her family affairs. This kind of thing is not afraid of thieves stealing it, but afraid of thieves thinking about it. Alice Roosevelt is a typical example of the final result of thinking about it, but she, the person involved, is still kept in the dark.
As for Franklin Roosevelt's million-dollar fortune, Sheffield did not take it seriously. No one who dared to run for the president of the United States was poor. The last Democratic president, Cleveland, was very poor. He had a fortune of only $600,000 in 1890.
"Why do the Indians recognize these armbands on their clothes? Many Indians also have these armbands on their clothes?" Alice Roosevelt pulled at her shirt with such a big movement that the beautiful scenery flashed by.
"This has to start from the Civil War and the establishment of the Black Gold Company!" Sheffield's eyes were like hooks, distracting Alice Roosevelt's attention subtly. The adventure in the West was far from over.
When he came out of the Grand Canyon, he happened to catch the verdict of Northern Securities. Sheffield was not surprised at the time this process took. It was abnormal to have a trial today and a verdict tomorrow. Even if the White House was full of malice, there was no need to tamper with the procedure.
"So the trial is being held in St. Louis!" Alice Roosevelt also learned that the location of the trial was actually the place where she met this man at her first Olympic closing ceremony.
"That's right!" This is exactly where you are in a dangerous situation. Sheffield added in his mind, but didn't dare say it out loud.
"In fact, if the two railroad tycoons Hartman and Hill were smart enough, they could have formed a cartel-like alliance. There's no need for this." Sheffield shrugged. "It's just like the coal cartel, except that a trust can more easily push up stock prices. They are too greedy and don't want to take any losses."
In the St. Louis court, in front of James, the attorney appointed by Northern Securities, three judges unanimously ruled that Northern Securities lost the case. In front of many people with livid faces, the verdict was read out, "This securities company has the characteristics that Congress accused of being illegal. It destroyed all motivations for natural competitors to compete with each other. Northern Securities stockholders would never allow competition between the two railroads, because neither railroad would lower freight rates or increase services to attract customers from another railroad that also belongs to it. This obviously constitutes a monopoly."
"As for the defense's claim that the Northern Securities Company is just the same company that happens to hold stock in two railroads, this court does not support this claim and hereby declares that the Northern Securities Company must be closed down immediately."
"This is an unfair verdict. Northern Securities will fight to the end." James shouted, "You will realize your mistakes. You will."
James got on the train directly back to New York. He now had to discuss the next steps with several important clients.
"We must not give up like this. We must mobilize all our strength." Hartman waved his fist and encouraged his competitor at the time, Hill, the owner of another railway.
Once the Northern Securities Company closed down, both of them would suffer heavy losses. Unlike Morgan and Rockefeller, both of them had their entire fortunes tied up in the Northern Securities Company.
"That's right. We must make the Morgan and Rockefeller families understand that this is just the beginning. Once the Northern Securities Company is gone, the White House will take action against other trusts." Hill agreed with Hartman's idea.
Soon the two of them came to Morgan together, hoping that Morgan would not be shaken by the brief setback.
"Then appeal to the Supreme Court!" Morgan finally decided to fight to the end after being persuaded by the two. Before that, after knowing the unreasonable action of the White House, Morgan wanted to take a step back and dissolve the trust, so that the two railway giants could form a cartel-like alliance in the coal field.
This would allow him to avoid the spotlight temporarily, but Morgan eventually changed his mind. He still had loans in the hands of the Japanese, so he could at least try to delay the time to recover the funds and appeal to the Supreme Court, which would buy him at least a year or two. He might even win. If he fought in the Supreme Court, I believe that even the federal government would not have the opportunity to make a temporary proposal.
At the headquarters of Northern Securities, the private security guards were already in a standoff with the federal government personnel who had come to enforce the closure order. James walked out of the headquarters building when he received a call from Morgan. He shouted to the investigators who came to forcibly close Northern Securities, "The decision of the St. Louis court is not the final decision. You have no right to do this now. I will appeal to the Supreme Court."
(End of this chapter)
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