Chapter 424 San Francisco Earthquake
Faced with such double happiness, even Morgan was not calm. He himself did not have huge assets, at least not comparable to the Rockefeller family. Even Carnegie, who had not left before, was richer than Morgan.
Morgan dared to propose the acquisition of Carnegie Steel only because he was able to mobilize a large amount of funds, not because of how rich he was. Money that was not his own needed confidence to maintain. The defeat of Northern Securities in the Supreme Court and the inability to recover its loans to Japan were both things that dealt a heavy blow to market confidence.
The first thing Morgan had to deal with now was the doubts about his judgment among the huge Morgan Alliance. At the same time, he had to appease the two railroad tycoons, Hartman and Hill, who were the direct victims of the dissolution of the Northern Securities Company and suffered heavy losses.
Dealing with Northern Securities was undoubtedly a huge victory for the federal government. The Department of Justice continued its efforts and filed lawsuits against a series of corporate trusts. For a time, the business community was in a panic. Even the Northern Securities, which was supported by Morgan, could not avoid the fate of dissolution. How could they resist?
The Supreme Court's decision meant the victory of the principle of free and fair competition, and also meant the beginning of the end of the golden age of American monopoly enterprises. Roosevelt was very satisfied with the decision. For him, although the antitrust law could not solve the monopoly problem once and for all, the significance of the government's victory was that the Supreme Court finally changed its position and recognized the practice of the executive branch. In this way, the federal government finally established its authority to regulate the activities of large companies, which was a crucial first step.
Well begun is half the battle; this saying could not be more apt for the Roosevelt administration.
The disintegration of each trust enterprise represented a further enhancement of the authority of the federal government. The support of the citizen class for President Roosevelt was also steadily increasing, and the name of the trust buster had become famous among the people.
"Recently, the stocks of U.S. Steel and Carnegie Standard Union Steel have been rising faster than other stocks." Anne, with her big belly, was holding the latest stock market data analysis and moving it carefully.
Sheffield took the rare step of standing up and supporting his wife, allowing Anne to sit steadily. He heaved a sigh of relief and said, "It's very simple, because the capital of the financial industry needs an industry as a carrier. Compared with other industries, the national defense is now building a navy, and the country is developing projects, real estate, and railways, all of which require steel and other metals. So this time the financial industry chose steel companies as the carrier of the stock market to push up the stock value for speculation. Currently, steel stocks are the most capable of taking on this responsibility. Just like railway stocks after the civil war."
"But you also know the consequences of railway stocks. They can make many people bankrupt. Almost every economic crisis is accompanied by bankers infiltrating the real economy." Sheffield is now also doing prenatal education, and the family of three is analyzing the current stock market.
As for the stock market, there are different industry carriers in every era. Previously, railway stocks took on this responsibility, now it is the steel industry, and as for later, it is actually the automobile industry stocks that have become the darlings of the market.
The financial industry must have such a stock in the stock market, bearing such expectations. In Sheffield's previous life, the stocks that bore such responsibilities were Google, Apple, and Amazon. Not all companies make money. At least Amazon has been losing money for many years, but its valuation is rising every year. Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, was favored by investors from all sides despite the annual losses. They helped him to prop up the Amazon empire and became the richest man in the world.
As for the person favored by the financial industry after him, it is Musk, the owner of Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors has also been burning money and making losses, but Tesla Motors has been chosen as the new carrier, and Musk's net worth is also skyrocketing.
However, by the time Tesla Motors catches up, the United States is already heavily in debt and the stock market is already very risky. Whether it can be pushed up to that level by various capitals is still an unknown. If Tesla Motors has not grown to that level, the stock market will collapse first, and the journey to become the second Jeff Bezos will naturally be ruined.
The risks in a hundred years will obviously be greater than those in the current financial industry. At least the two steel giants in the United States were not pushed up by force when they were always losing money. Instead, they were profitable enough because of the economic prosperity.
"Now the trusts are all busy with their own business. No one knows how many trusts the White House is going to target. The steel industry currently has two obvious advantages. First, there are two giants, so there is no danger of being accused of monopoly. Second, the steel industry is very profitable, and some funds are pouring into steel stocks." Annie also understood, and said with an air of "I am very smart," "Many speculators are choosing the companies that look the best as their vehicles."
"Yeah, that's it." Sheffield nodded. "The stock market is abnormally hot right now, so we have to be prepared. When the market crashes, whoever has more cash will be the boss. Although physical enterprises like us don't make as much money as the financial industry in terms of numbers, we have cash in our hands, not bonds or stocks. When the tide recedes, people will know who is really swimming naked."
One benefit of Roosevelt's leadership was that money was pouring into steel company stocks, which were considered high-quality stocks, as many trusts were at risk of being broken up.
In recent months, President Roosevelt's approval rating has soared due to his mediation of the Russo-Japanese War and his heavy blows against corporate trusts. Contrary to the complaints from the business community, the support for President Roosevelt from the citizen class is also visible.
The mediation of the Russo-Japanese War can be said to have enhanced the prestige of the United States externally, and the crackdown on the trusts won the support of citizens internally, and it seemed that the only victims were the trust companies.
If the United States is a country that can dissolve Congress and hold early elections, Roosevelt could have chosen to do so now. However, the United States is not a country, so the operation of taking advantage of the advantage to hold early elections will not occur here.
Anne looked at her husband, called two railroad giants, Hartman and Hill, expressed shock and disappointment at the current result, and by the way expressed the rhetoric that the federal government is our common enemy, holding her stomach and laughing on the side.
"Okay, let's meet and talk when we have a chance." Sheffield hung up the phone with a smile that said "I wish you guys would die". He couldn't hold back any longer and laughed, "It's as if my soul has been sucked out. I don't even have the energy to talk. We were so arrogant to charge the farmers for shipping back then. Now you two bastards have finally gotten what you deserved."
"Would you like to see the progress of United Cereal Company?" Annie asked lazily.
"I'll do it myself. Your best idea right now is to stay put, dear." Sheffield stood up and knelt down to kiss Anne's cheek, and said softly, "Thinking of Morgan, I am full of energy now."
At this time, the tobacco magnate James Duke also lost in the Supreme Court. Sheffield, who was observing the improvement of the repeating rifle at the United Firearms Factory, heard the news and curled his lips and said, "This is the tobacco magnate who was ready to help me. He always feels so good about himself when nothing happens to him."
Remembering the things that helped him, now looking at James Duke's defeat, Sheffield felt like he was in a dream. The American Tobacco Company was found guilty of monopoly violations by the Supreme Court and the company was split into four.
The slave owner still felt that it was not enough. He understood the operating model of the American Tobacco Company. Simply put, it was free trade. The main production base of the American Tobacco Company was in China. If a real estate businessman became president a hundred years later, it would be a perfect reason for a trade war.
Of course I thought so, but I definitely couldn't say it. After leaving the noisy shooting range, Sheffield called James Duke and expressed his indignation at the suppression of many well-known companies by the federal government.
Although there is a relationship with Alice Roosevelt, these are two different things. Sheffield wants to make big businesses hate the Republican Party as much as possible. Although the next election is still early, it doesn't matter. Some bad things can be said now.
After firing a barrage at Roosevelt and the entire Republican Party, the slave owner returned to the factory contentedly and said, "It would be great if the accuracy of this carbine could be improved. Basically, I am very satisfied. But make sure the technology is not leaked. You all know the consequences of leaking."
The engineers who took off their glasses all nodded. Although they didn't know what the boss's purpose was, they just had to obey. This is the biggest characteristic of qualified talents.
As night falls, the residents of San Francisco are sleeping soundly and everything seems very normal. As the sky begins to brighten, it seems that a new day has begun and the city begins to revive, but the wakeup call of this day is destined to be earth-shaking.
Between half asleep and half awake, the earth was shaking violently. Countless seemingly solid buildings collapsed along with the cracks in the ground. An unprecedented earthquake replaced the alarm clock and woke up the whole of California.
On the San Andreas Fault, from Oregon to Los Angeles, California, a doomsday-like scene is unfolding, with San Francisco, located in the middle, bearing the brunt of the earthquake and the subsequent fire, sweeping across the city.
Countless San Francisco citizens held torches and set their own houses on fire, turning the numerous fire points into a larger sea of fire, devouring everything that could burn. This behavior further contributed to the expansion of the disaster, leaving all local rescue forces helpless.
Sheffield, who is used to sleeping late, jumped up when he received the call and said in a guilty conscience, "This is such a tragedy."
(End of this chapter)
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