Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 194 Phone
Relying on the bootleg business, Luciano successfully expanded the power of the Mafia throughout New York.

But obviously, Luciano's ambition was more than once.

At the first Mafia Global Congress that ended not long ago, Luciano convened 24 families, persuaded them to set up and elect a national committee, deployed the next overall action strategy, and formulated a new commandment: one is not allowed to drug trafficking; the second is that the murder of law enforcement officials is strictly prohibited unless the committee votes unanimously.

The enactment of the two laws is not because Luciano and these mafia families are so kind, but because drug trafficking and murder of the police will arouse public anger and lead the parliament to increase police funding.Investigating crimes is a very expensive thing. Without additional funding, the police can only watch one mafia after another being acquitted.

The establishment of the committee represents the beginning of the mafia's development in the direction of organization.

As the convener of the conference, Luciano also stole the limelight.

"Whoo~"

Taking a sip of the cigar in his hand, he looked away from the semi-finished four-color double-sided paper offset printing machine on the assembly line, and Luciano's eyes fell on Colin in the factory: "I don't know, Mr. What is the result of the investigation by the Nigerian Association?"

Not long ago, Luciano received an inquiry from the Tammany Association.

The "Daily Courier" under Colin didn't seem to have any plans to stop. Instead, it recently participated in the general election through the newspaper, which made the Tammany Association question Luciano's ability.

"It's still going on."

After the meeting at the Polo Stadium, Colin didn't take the Tammany Association's affairs too seriously at all, so he naturally didn't investigate.

"Perhaps I can help a little."

Hearing Colin's answer, Luciano's eyes lingered on him for a long time, and the latter responded calmly.

Slowly closing his eyes, Luciano immediately stated the purpose of his trip: "Mr. Hines, the chairman of the Tammany Association, would be happy to meet with Mr. Colin Luper to resolve the misunderstanding. "

At present, the Tammany Association's political influence in New York City is still huge.

Even Luciano was unwilling to offend him easily.

Especially as the general election is approaching, the importance of the Tammany Association as a political machine of the Democratic Party has also become prominent.

Even if the Democratic Party knows that there are many problems within the Tammany Association, but as the opposition party, if they want to overthrow the ruling Republican Party, they still need to rely on the power of the Tammany Association. This is why Jimmy Walker, as a corrupt New York Key figures, but only the reason for stepping down.

"I don't think there is any misunderstanding in this."

In this regard, Colin calmly refused.

He is not in the habit of meeting others under threat, not to mention that as a latecomer, Colin knows very well that the Tammany Association will not be prosperous for long.

Rejecting the invitation, Colin's eyes fell on the mafia leader and he thought about it. If Luciano or the Tammany Society didn't open their eyes, he wouldn't mind using some special means to get rid of them.

In the real world, although his strength is not enough to confront the army head-on.

However, it is more than enough to face the Mafia.

What's more, in this society, there is not only one way to deal with opponents. Colin, who has mastered the conditions of foresight, can completely solve these troubles subtly through the influence he has established in New York.

This time, Luciano's eyes stayed on Colin much longer than ever before.

Just when he thought that the other party would do something, he silently prepared to make a move.

Luciano in front of him suddenly withdrew his gaze: "I understand, I will pass on your attitude, Mr. Colin Looper, to the Tammany Association."

"In the future, I will not participate in it again."

Luciano seems to intend to remove himself from the affairs of Colin and the Tammany Association, otherwise he will be too involved in the struggle between the two sides.

Hearing this, Colin couldn't help but look at Luciano more.

From a certain point of view, the other party's ability to become the all-powerful mafia leader in the New York underground world does have its own uniqueness.

This may also be the reason why Luciano was able to continue to run his mafia business with ease after the collapse of the Tammany Society.

As he said that, Luciano took out the wallet from his pocket, pulled out a 100 denomination note from it, and handed it to Colin, "This is compensation for disturbing the factory's production."

After receiving the $100 bills from Luciano, Colin felt at ease with the money.

Because the other party's actions did have an impact on his messenger factory.

After handing over the compensation to Colin, Luciano didn't stay any longer in the factory, and quickly left with his men.

Watching Luciano leave, Colin looked down at the banknotes in his hand.

"Mr. Looper..."

With the departure of Luciano and others, Lange and the workers returned to the factory.

"Let the workers keep working."

After putting away the banknotes, Colin explained to Lange, who then nodded and greeted the workers behind him.

Hearing Lange's shout, the workers who were still a little uneasy breathed a sigh of relief, and returned to the familiar assembly line to continue the assembly work of the offset printing machine.

"What is the current progress of the factory?"

Looking at the hard-working workers on the assembly line, Ke Lin brought the topic to production.

"The first four-color double-sided paper offset printing machine is about to be assembled..."

Sensing that Colin was unwilling to explain more about Luciano and others, Lange also responded in cooperation: "The offset printing machine has just been launched, and the workers are still in the stage of groping. When they are proficient, they will speed up. .”

"What about the order?"

"I have already contacted a printing factory. They are very interested in the printing technology of the four-color double-sided paper offset printing machine, but they need to wait until they see the actual printing effect before making a decision. In addition, I have also contacted the newspaper office. Let's take a look." Speaking of this, Lange couldn't help but glanced at Colin in front of him, and said that the other party was also a member of the newspaper industry: "Including "World Journal" and "New York Times" have expressed interest in this new technology. "

Leaving aside the episode brought by Luciano, the production of the Messenger Machine Factory is gradually on the right track.

Leaving Brooklyn, where the factory is located, Colin did not directly report to the newspaper, but made a call through a public phone booth.

"Hi, this is the Bell System telephone company, what can I do for you?"

After inserting coins, a long wait followed by a communication operator's inquiry from the other side of the phone.

Compared with the radio, although the invention of the telephone was earlier, the speed of popularization is far slower than that of the radio.

In the early telephone calls, correspondents were required to transfer, which also made the work of correspondents extremely cumbersome, especially in the era when early broadcasting had not yet appeared, correspondents had to receive 5000 calls per day asking for the time; elections and professional boxing matches The results, football and baseball scores were also repeatedly asked.

At the same time, rural telephone operators even serve as information distribution centers for local communities, helping to find lost children and issuing flood and fire warnings.

At the time, listening to neighbors talking on the party line was a form of rural entertainment, a situation that was gradually replaced by radio soap operas.

"Tell Mr. Fiorello Henry LaGuardia in Washington for me that Colin Luper has asked him to meet at the old place."

"Okay, sir."

At this time, it was common practice to send messages through messengers. Considering the high price of long-distance calls, a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco cost nearly $3, and if it was London, it cost $60. About, although the price has been reduced to a certain extent in the future, the cost is still high. It was not until 300 that the cost of a 1966-minute call to San Francisco fell below $3, and the cost of a call to London was not until 10. Down to under $1981.

Such an expensive telephone fee has also led to the development of the telephone at a very slow speed.

In the phone booth, after a long wait, the call from LaGuardia was connected.

"no problem."

LaGuardia gave a curt reply and hung up the phone quickly.

But for this short call time of less than one second, Colin needs to pay 25 cents for the call.

bang bang-

On the streets of New York, just the second after Colin just hung up the phone.

There was an urgent knock on the door from a pedestrian outside the phone booth.

Looking at the urgent expressions of the passers-by outside, Colin nodded and put down the phone, then walked out of the phone booth

Seeing Colin walking out, the passers-by immediately got into the phone booth impatiently, ripping off their clothes to reveal the simple 'S' logo inside.

Standing outside and witnessing the behavior of pedestrians, Colin noticed that the color of the phone booth was red.

……

"...It seems that there is a consensus within the Republican Party?"

That night, West 52nd Street, in Restaurant 21.

Colin lowered his head and took a bite of the steak, while teasing LaGuardia in front of him.

Not long ago, Hoover publicly announced his re-election campaign, and declared in his speech: "Where will our country go in the next 100 years, the key lies in abiding by American traditions, rather than messing around with new tricks, and clearly stated that the federal government will not be a part of economic and social life. participants in the..."

Obviously, Hoover's next campaign will focus on traditional American values ​​and conservatives.

This is not a wrong approach for a president seeking re-election. Past Republican presidents have been re-elected in this way.

It's just that Hoover apparently ignored the background of his campaign.

American traditions cannot save the people in the Great Depression era, and everyone is looking forward to new changes.

From this point of view, Hoover's failure was doomed.

"The president has a strong will to run for office, and it's not easy to express opposition within the Republican Party."

Hearing Colin's ridicule, LaGuardia couldn't help but sighed.

The re-election of the incumbent has always been the general consensus within the Democratic and Republican parties. In the history of the United States, there are very few presidents who failed to be re-elected.

However, the situation in front of him made LaGuardia unable to see the possibility of Hoover's re-election success.

"What about the New York mayoral election?"

Facing this inquiry from Colin, the expression on LaGuardia's face was also not very good.

In a way, the presidential election is also linked to the results of the New York mayor's election. Once Hoover loses the election, even LaGuardia's mayoral election will become troublesome.

After all, both he and Hoover were Republicans.

Obviously, the Tammany Association will not let go of this opportunity to attack LaGuardia. In fact, rumors have begun to circulate in New York City that voting for LaGuardia is equivalent to voting for Hoover. Asia's mayoral election is quite unfavorable.

"Perhaps you should try to separate yourself from Hoover."

Looking up at LaGuardia's sad face, Colin immediately reminded him.

"Although it is the mayoral candidate launched by the Republican Party, it does not mean that you can only support the Republican Party's political views. The Democratic Party is not monolithic. So far, Al Smith has not expressed his support for Roosevelt."

"what do you mean?"

Colin's reminder made LaGuardia's eyes flicker slightly.

"At present, it seems that the possibility of Hoover's re-election success is not high. If so, why insist on his identity as a Republican. Hoover's election and your election are two different battlefields. You don't need to replace them. Hoover is responsible for his wrong politics, and instead, you can choose to support his opponents."

"Roosevelt?"

Nodding his head, Colin continued: "Don't forget, as the governor of New York State, Roosevelt's reputation in New York is not low. In some respects, he is even more popular with New York citizens than President Hoover."

"..."

At the dinner table, LaGuardia fell into a brief silence.

Seeing this, Colin did not continue this topic, but changed the topic and said: "Of course, in addition to cutting positions, campaign policies are also the key. At present, New York City is generally dissatisfied with corruption and public order issues, especially Tammur The combination of political groups dominated by the Nigerian Association and the power of gang organizations has led to general public distrust of law enforcement agencies, which may be a breakthrough..."

The main reason for the resignation of former New York Mayor Jimmy Walker was because of the corruption scandal revealed by Colin's "Courier".

"As a political machine of the Democratic Party, the corruption issue within the Tammany Association has always been the focus of criticism. In this case, why not use it as the main axis of the campaign, and use the Tammany Association and the Democratic mayor candidates it supports I believe that the root cause of chaos in New York will be completely removed, and I believe that the Republican Party will agree with you and even support this approach."

"As long as the Tammany Association, the Democratic Party's political machine in New York, can be removed, I believe the Republican Party will not be too prosecuted for your support for Roosevelt. After all, in politics, there has never been an eternal enemy."

　Thanks to the mysterious person No. 9527 for the reward of 500 starting coins, and the reward of 100 starting coins in Xiashuhuang.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)