Chapter 423 Dissolution of Northern Securities
The great United States will naturally breed great slave owners like Sheffield, which is determined by the national system. In the eyes of slave owners, no system or civilization is special, and national power is divided into two types: one is money controlling power, and the other is power controlling money.
Fortunately, the great beacons of humanity are the former. Attorney General Knox has to go through election screening every four years, but Sheffield, the slave owner, does not. Although the inviolability of private property is only correct to a certain extent, the inheritance risk is much smaller than that of politicians.
As long as Sheffield is alive, he will always be a slave owner. Even if Knox is alive, he will never be the Attorney General. The two have completely different foundations. With this understanding, Sheffield feels that the Attorney General's anger is understandable. Watching monkey shows can be a diversion from a boring life.
This court debate can be said to be brilliant, especially Attorney General Knox, who was worthy of his identity as an antitrust fighter and almost exerted 200% of his fighting power. As an attorney general, he could be evenly matched with James in the debate. You have to know that James is a famous lawyer in the United States.
Even if this trend continues, Sheffield feels that Northern Securities does not have an advantage. As a businessman, he is biased against the federal government. To be more precise, Sheffield hates all governments. As long as the government restricts himself, he must hate it.
"If Northern Securities is dismantled in this trial, I guess the rest of the tobacco trusts and the like will not end up well." Sheffield sighed, his tone showing sympathy for these companies.
"That's really bad news. I hope it won't happen." Edith Rockefeller also had a serious look on her face and deeply felt the necessity of bourgeois unity.
Although there is no trend so far to indicate that the federal government has any motivation to take action against Standard Oil, once there are too many antitrust cases, it may be easier to attack Standard Oil.
The arguments between the prosecution and the defense echoed in the tense courtroom. The arguments that were repeatedly debated in the lower courts ultimately boiled down to two focuses: first, whether Northern Securities Company restricted or conspired to restrict interstate commerce or competition; second, whether the powerful monopoly destroyed the rights of others.
These two points became the most intense places where James and Knox clashed. In the empty trial hall, the voices of the two echoed and seemed to resonate in everyone's heart.
After the court debate ended, the nine judges of the Supreme Court had disagreements and were unable to make a judgment in court, so they adjourned the court and would announce the verdict on a later date. Now all this has nothing to do with the Ministry of Justice and Northern Securities Company, and has entered the stage of internal debate. No one knows what the result will be.
In an environment where the storm was about to come, Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller invited two railroad tycoons, Hartman and Hill, to a party to discuss their prospects for the final judgment.
The slave owner certainly hopes that Northern Securities will be dismantled, but he will not say it out loud. Instead, he expresses his support for the railway system's struggle, showing the solidarity of the monopoly bourgeoisie. "We will kill anyone who makes us unable to make money. If my company is dismantled, I will make the Ministry of Justice pay the price."
The slave owner, who had no worries about talking, fanned the flames of the two railroad tycoons, hoping that the two would teach Knox a lesson, or even better, make the Attorney General disappear.
Edith Rockefeller remained expressionless, but based on her understanding of slave owners, she could conclude that this was the time when bad things were about to happen. It was obvious that she herself wanted to kill Knox, but she was instigating others to do it.
But the two sides were not so familiar with each other. Edith Rockefeller felt that the slave owner's straightforward proposal was a bit too much, so she tried to smooth things over by saying, "William is young and has not considered things very comprehensively. Please forgive me, gentlemen."
"Ah, yes, I was just saying that." Under Edith Rockefeller's stern warning, Sheffield decisively backed down and admitted his mistake insincerely, "I was young and ignorant, and it was Edith Rockefeller who took care of me meticulously. If it weren't for Edith's help, I wouldn't want to work hard."
Hartman and Hill didn't know the real meaning of "I don't want to work hard anymore", and they were a little confused. But the relationship between Sheffield and the princess of the oil kingdom was a tacit understanding in the upper class. There was also discussion about Edith Rockefeller's behavior of eating young grass.
Hartman laughed and said, "William is so successful at his age. It's inevitable that he always considers things according to the most successful scenario. It's also thanks to Edith's frequent help. The matter of Northern Securities Company will take some time to get a result. Let's not talk about the Ministry of Justice."
"Hartman is right. Thank you for inviting us to be our guests. It is really touching that you stand with us at this time." Hill didn't know what he was thinking about, and his face was a little gloomy, but he immediately returned to normal.
"Hill, don't be like this. Aren't we trying our best to get a result that's in our favor?" Hartman said, and then said to Sheffield and the others, "I hope we can eventually sit together as relaxedly as we did today."
After the two men left, Sheffield said to Edith Rockefeller, "It looks like it will take some time before the results come out. From what they said, they seem to be fighting for something in secret."
"You'd be stupid not to fight for it. There are nine justices, and if you can win over five of them, you'll win the case." Edith Rockefeller said unhappily, "So what are you talking about? You actually implied that the two of them killed the Attorney General."
"I didn't!" Sheffield denied it flatly, implying that this thing was not stated explicitly, and since it was not stated explicitly, it did not exist.
Since there would be no results in a short time, there was no need for Sheffield to stay in Washington. He packed his luggage and prepared to return to New Orleans. This time he took Edith Rockefeller with him. The north had entered winter. According to the agreement between Sheffield and Edith Rockefeller, the slave owners could not stand the life of always being on the road. In order to save time, Edith Rockefeller took her children to live in New Orleans from the arrival of winter to the arrival of spring every year to avoid the not very friendly climate in Chicago.
So this time, Edith Rockefeller brought her children to live in the estate in New Orleans. She bought the estate next to Oak Manor and renamed it Edith Manor.
Near the end of the year, Evelyn also traveled south from Los Angeles to save the slave owners the trouble of visiting them one by one to comfort them. The women's sensible actions touched the slave owners deeply, and even if they had to carry heavy loads, it was all worth it.
"What is happiness? I am very happy to see you." Sheffield said shamelessly to Evelyn, Natalia, and Edith Rockefeller, "After Christmas, I will go back to Arlington."
Of course, during this process, we also have to take time to comfort Sato Kyoko, a girl who is wandering alone, but let's put that aside for now.
"You hid it very well!" Sheffield returned to Arlington Manor, reached out and touched Anne's bulging belly, bent over to listen attentively, and kissed her belly heavily, "I feel that the goal I'm working hard for is getting closer and closer. You said that I was forced to inherit such a large fortune, but all this was not in vain. My grandmother hopes that I can defeat all opponents and become the only one, because in her eyes, if the civil war is won, this goal will have been achieved long ago."
"There is only one Sheffield family that is above everyone else?" Anne lowered her head and held the man's ear, whispering, "Do you think you are close to this goal now?"
"It's almost done. All that's left is for the Democrats to take power." Sheffield took a deep breath and said, "Then I'll let the Yankees know what real collusion between officials and businessmen is."
Facts have proved that this feeling of hardship before sweetness is right. From the end of this year, slave owners began to receive good news. At the Portsmouth Naval Base in New Hampshire, the peace treaty signed by representatives of Japan and Russia announced the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The President of the United States, Roosevelt, gladly stepped in to mediate. After ten meetings, with the help of European and American countries, Russia was forced to sign a peace treaty with Japan in Portsmouth.
For the first time, the United States used its main force to make the two great powers shake hands and make peace on its own land. This scene successfully aroused the pride of the citizens. However, for Sheffield, after reading through the entire clause, he did not see any words about compensation from the Russian Empire. This meant that it was impossible for Morgan to expect the Russian Empire to pay compensation and then Japan to repay the loan.
At the headquarters of the United Company, Sheffield no longer had to go against his conscience to maintain the unity of the monopoly bourgeoisie like he did in Washington. He did not have to expose his true nature and gloat in front of Anne. "Morgan has come to this day. I heard that the loan is more than 80 million US dollars. Waiting for the Japanese to pay it back? He can wait."
"Look at you!" Anne looked at Sheffield with a smile, holding some prepared baby clothes in her hand.
As spring approached, the Supreme Court debated for several weeks and finally came up with the Supreme Court's verdict. The five members of the Supreme Court sided with the federal government and made a final ruling that Northern Securities must be dissolved.
In just three months, Morgan received two pieces of bad news in succession, and he felt as if he was plagued by bad luck.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
