Chapter 413 Guests from the Navy Department
No one respects the boss of the military more than the slave owner, this is beyond doubt, as for the conflict with the Department of Justice, it is limited to the Department of Justice, not other departments of the federal government, and is generally preventable and controllable. The fault of the Department of Justice alone does not mean that the federal government has ill intentions towards the United Company.
"Dear Mr. Dodd, Mr. James, everyone is aware of the current situation. The Department of Justice has gone crazy and has taken irrational actions. This time I came to New York with the goodwill of the United Company, hoping to reduce internal friction." Pat nodded to the two colleagues in the industry, showing his goodwill.
Dodd was the Rockefeller family's lawyer and served Standard Oil for almost the same length of time as the super trust was established. Many people believe that the trust business model was Dodd's advice to old Rockefeller.
As for the other lawyer, he is more familiar with him. He represented Northern Securities in the fight against the White House and has become a well-known figure in the industry.
Pat came to New York this time and took the initiative to find the chief lawyers of the two giants. Naturally, he had his own purpose. Sheffield meant that it was impossible to unite all forces that could oppose the government. It was very risky for large companies to unite and fight against the federal government.
Once all the companies involved in antitrust laws unite, there will naturally be two results. If they defeat the federal government, all companies will no longer be able to hide and will have to come to the fore.
This is unlikely, because once all companies unite, it would be tantamount to confirming the White House's concerns and actively telling the citizenry that President Roosevelt was right and that the country has been controlled by greedy big companies.
Then the second result will occur, because many large companies will unite to fight against the federal government, and citizens will support the White House to take tough measures to let these large companies die together.
Everything will result in a 50-50 outcome. It is definitely not okay to let a successful person like a slave owner take a chance. Even if the federal government is completely wiped out by luck, what will happen in the future? Will the victorious big companies still have to fight it out? After all, many companies have overlapping businesses.
Once this situation occurs, Sheffield is very familiar with similar history. Isn't it just another version of the warlords' melee? In the end, there is only one winner, and all other competitors will die.
If the slave owner had brought a few nuclear bombs with him when he was reborn, he would not have to choose and could just choose the latter. But he did not have any, so he could only continue to resist within the rules and use legal means.
How can the vested interests choose to risk their lives? But it does not mean to do nothing. It is still possible to give each other a guarantee. As the chief lawyer of the joint company, Pat came to New York this time for this purpose.
"At such a difficult time, my boss wants to avoid competition between companies and fight the attack of the Federal Department of Justice with all his strength. I believe this is also in the interests of both of us." Pat took out a contract from his bag and put it on the contract. "In short, in order to avoid malicious competition, United Company hopes that Standard Oil, **** and United Company will sign a contract not to poach each other's employees. It is strictly forbidden to use high salaries to poach technical personnel and management personnel from each other's companies. If discovered, they must compensate for the losses. If someone from the three companies wants to change jobs, the other company cannot take him in unless the other two parties agree. Gentlemen, you can take a look at the contract first. We are all legal professionals. If there is anything to add, we can still discuss it."
Dodd and James exchanged glances and calmly checked the contract. With so many years of experience in the legal field, they could naturally see the real purpose of the contract that Pat took out.
The biggest benefit of not poaching each other is to prevent the flow of relevant talents in the field where several companies compete. After eliminating this worry, it avoids raising wages due to competition and saves huge human resources expenses. There is no need to worry about causing criticism when regularly providing talents to the society every year.
"Once one of our three companies shows an example, the doors of the three companies will be closed to that person forever." Dodd flipped through the contract and said, "This also includes all our allies."
"Adding our allies to the mix means that the so-called talents with great abilities have already entered social death." James raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "It can avoid unfair competition. It's really a valuable contract."
Once this agreement is established, the companies involved can tell each other which employees can be hired and by whom. By exchanging key employees or prohibiting exchanges, the companies can avoid the risk of expensive litigation or losing key employees to protect their intellectual property.
It can also control the flow of relevant talents and screen out those who are truly loyal to the company. The benefits are simply too numerous to count.
"Pat, have you got the full authorization from United?" After spending a few minutes reading the contract, James looked at his old friend and got a positive answer from Pat. He continued, "I still need Mr. Morgan's consent. Anyway, in this difficult time, our companies should not continue to hold each other back. It's gratifying that we can protect each other."
"Yes, in such a difficult time, my boss said that if we unite to fight against the federal government, things will only get bigger and bigger, and we may even be unable to clean up in the end. We have to get through this storm on our own, and I hope we all have good luck." Pat said very sincerely, "I hope that in a few years, we can still make economic rules here."
In the Oak Manor, Sheffield was teasing a puppy with a sausage, and said as he teased, "Yan Ji, come here!" Wangwang, the little puppy came running over and circled around his owner.
Sheffield was not in a hurry at all. He was just teasing the little puppy with his sausage, and was not in a hurry to let the little puppy achieve his goal. He used his actions to prove that in the eyes of the little puppy, although I am not a human, you are a real dog.
"Look how anxious it is!" Sheffield, who was pinching the sausage, looked at the anxious look of the puppy and turned to Natalia. When he looked back again, the puppy was drooling in anxiety. "Look how greedy it is!"
"It's leaking so much water, give it the sausage quickly." Natalia couldn't help but screaming when she saw that the dog looked pitiful.
The bodyguards around them moved away without any expression. They were all elites, and they used their actions to implement the principle of not asking questions that should not be asked. Such vulgar words were just pretended not to be heard.
"Be more restrained when you speak next time!" Sheffield threw the sausage to the puppy and took Natalia to sit on a lounge chair under the shade of a tree. Natalia's face was red, as if the words he just said were indeed a bit ambiguous.
After lying down and chatting for a while, Jesla strode over and said, "Boss, Mr. Pat said that the deal has been settled, and everyone is very satisfied. Both companies expressed their gratitude to you."
"Why thank me? It's all for myself." Sheffield laughed and said sarcastically, "If it wasn't good for everyone, would they agree? Do you really think it's as easy as providing society with a thousand talents every year?"
If it is a hundred years later, such an agreement will be considered as disrupting the normal flow of talent resources in the market, causing unfair competition in the industry, and violating the antitrust law. From the perspective of contract law, it violates the basic principles of public order and good morals. As an individual, it can be considered from the perspective of the company violating the labor law and damaging the rights of workers who choose their own careers.
But in the early 20th century, this was undoubtedly a great innovation, and it did not violate the relatively crude antitrust laws. Many provisions of the antitrust laws themselves are very vague, and they do not cover the issue of non-poaching agreements.
"Mr. Pat didn't say when he would be back!" Sheffield asked Jesla casually.
"He said he would go to farmers in various places to collect responses and prepare to take on the Department of Justice." Jesla also heard the next plan from the few words Pat said.
At the Washington train station, Alice Roosevelt followed the Navy Department's observers on the train with great interest. The Navy Department is an important department of the federal government and is more valued than other combat departments. The Secretary of the Navy is a fixed member of the President's Cabinet, but the War Department, which is in charge of the Army, is not.
Thinking that she would soon meet the man of her dreams, Alice Roosevelt was in a very good mood and had a pleasant chat with the arrogant first-class people. President Roosevelt himself had a strong influence in the Navy Department, and these observers naturally expressed their friendliness towards the president's daughter. In their view, this was a publicly funded tour.
Being able to enjoy the sunshine and beaches in the south should be the biggest gain of this trip. As for other gains, don't even think about it. The destination, Houston Shipyard, is a shipyard with equipment and personnel that cannot be compared with the East Coast shipyards. What kind of technical accumulation can such a shipyard have? No 10,000-ton ship was manufactured here.
In any case, these observers have no hope and have focused their attention on a romantic encounter. What's wrong with thinking that it might be a good thing?
"It's a pity that I can't blow up the aircraft carrier too!" Sheffield brought a bottle of perfume, which was unusual for him, as if he was going out on a date. Whether the Admiralty was interested in aircraft carriers or not was a small matter.
It doesn't matter if they are not interested. The United States is at a loss. At worst, they can just sell it to Cuba. Can they still keep it in their hands? But he is on an aircraft carrier, so he really doesn't dare to set off fireworks. Aircraft carriers are not like submarines, so it's easy to say that there are accidents. If they really explode, it will only damage the reputation of the Houston Shipyard, and they can't use it to make money in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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