Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 233 Wine Business

"That proves at least one thing."

Picking up the wine glass in his hand and shaking it, Colin looked at Roosevelt in the wheelchair and said with a smile.

"Everyone is looking forward to your coming on stage."

Staring at the wine glass in Colin's hand for a while, Roosevelt sighed silently, lowered his head and forked a piece of steak into his mouth, hiding the worry on his face.

"Yeah, everyone is looking forward to the new president to solve the problem."

Although he defeated Hoover with a huge advantage in the general election and succeeded him as the 32nd President of the United States, Roosevelt was very disturbed in his heart.

During Hoover's tenure, he made a mess of the entire American economy.

The existence of the Great Depression has become a catastrophe that the United States and even the whole world need to face. This is a big problem for any successor who comes to power.No one knew how to fix the Great Depression, just as no one knew why it happened.

From this point of view, Roosevelt's time as president was pretty bad.

At least during Hoover's time, although he is now generally referred to as the "starving president", at least when he first came to power, the American economy was still in a booming stage, and even at that time he claimed to be the first president in American history. A business president.It's just obvious that this guy's business methods are pretty bad.

The "Smoot Hawley Tariff Act" became the fuse of the Great Depression. After the bill was passed, many countries took retaliatory tariff measures against the United States, causing the import and export of the United States to drop by more than 50%. The later Great Depression sowed the bitter fruit.

"But at least until you come to power, people no longer need to hide and drink illegal alcoholic beverages at home like in the past..."

The abolition of the "No.18 Amendment" is also one of Roosevelt's election platform this time. It can be said that because of the existence of this political opinion, a large number of alcoholics voted for Roosevelt.

In the wheelchair, Roosevelt couldn't help showing a smile on his sad face when he heard what Colin said, and he also raised the wine glass in his hand to signal to him.

"Indeed, from now on, smuggled alcohol will become a thing of the past, and the public will no longer need to worry about drinking."

Picking up the wine glass, he took a sip of the carbonated drink mixed with alcohol and fruit juice, and Colin raised his brows slightly.

Strictly speaking, Roosevelt had not officially taken office, so the legal effect of Prohibition also existed.

However, since the two dared to drink openly in the restaurant of the 21 Club, they naturally had something to rely on.

In fact, cocktails were a popular drink during this period to evade the detection of Prohibition agents. By adding fruit juices, sodas, and syrups to spirits, the Prohibition level was reduced to make it a 'legal' drink, and it was also Prohibition. The most widely circulated way of drinking in the period.

Of course, other "household non-intoxicating juices" brewed by the farm, and "low-alcohol drinks" from wineries, including some wines born before the Prohibition Act, can also be drunk.

On the other hand, although the "Prohibition of Alcohol" is strict, it also left some gaps. Drinking alcohol itself is not illegal, but it cannot be bought or sold.At the same time, the religious activities of Catholicism and Judaism are also allowed to use a small amount of wine. Therefore, many people also go to church to drink in the name of worshiping the Lord.

Not to mention, in Capitol Hill, the congressmen who signed the "Prohibition" have never stopped drinking in ten years.

The "Washington Post" once published six consecutive serials, reporting in detail on the transactions on Capitol Hill.

These reports also became an important reliance for Roosevelt to abolish the "No.18 Amendment" during the general election.

Regarding the repeal of the No. 18 Amendment, the positions of the two at the table were the same.

This policy proposed by Colin at the beginning has also become the key to Roosevelt's election today. Both Roosevelt and Colin himself are well aware of this.

After finishing the cocktail in his glass, Roosevelt turned his head and gestured to the waiter not far away. After the latter put on a new glass of cocktail, he turned to look at Colin in front of him and continued, "So, what do you think? Want to tell me, Luper?"

Although Colin did not really join his campaign team, the political opinions he put forward without exception became Roosevelt's campaign platform in the election, whether it was the abolition of the "Prohibition" or the "new law". proposal.

It is precisely because of this that Roosevelt attaches great importance to Colin's opinion.

"Wait and be cautious."

In this regard, Colin did not give any lengthy solutions, but only told Roosevelt two suggestions.

Hearing Colin's suggestion, Roosevelt showed a thoughtful expression on his face.

In fact, this is Roosevelt's current thinking.

As early as after the ballots came out, many people had contacted him through various channels, revealing their desire to have a dialogue with Roosevelt and Hoover.In this regard, Roosevelt was quite cautious, rejecting these temptations on the grounds that he has not yet officially taken over and is just an ordinary person.

Because of Roosevelt's reaction, many people, including Hoover, who was about to step down, left him with the impression of weakness.

Judging from the information revealed inside the White House, Hoover seems to intend to use this to design Roosevelt. During the handover ceremony, he will publicly admit that he will adhere to all the policies of the former president, and tie Roosevelt and himself to the ship of the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, this plan, which should have been kept secret, spread out for some reason, and even fell into Roosevelt's ears.

Obviously, with the end of the general election, Hoover, who was already lame, could no longer control the power inside the White House.

He intends to sink Roosevelt with him, but not everyone intends to disembark with him.

His gaze stayed on Roosevelt's thoughtful expression in front of him for a while. The current impression of Roosevelt from the outside world is that he is generally regarded as a yes person.However, Ke Lin is very clear that all this is just a disguise of the other party. When the power has not been handed over and everything has not yet been settled, being weak is not a bad thing, on the contrary, it is a very good protective color.

When everyone relaxes their vigilance towards you, then they will also expose their own flaws.

Roosevelt was a man of means and ambition, and as a latecomer, Colin knew this better than anyone else.

"In addition, you may pay more attention to the development of radio. Since the Great Depression, the number of American households with radios has skyrocketed from 40% to more than 60%, and this number is still growing. Radio programs have become It has become an indispensable part of people's daily life, even more popular than newspapers."

"So you're going to ask me to limit the development of radio?"

Withdrawing his attention from Colin's suggestion, and hearing his description of the radio, Roosevelt subconsciously thought that this was the other party's plan to attack the radio.

After all, Ke Lin's newspaper industry is quite dissatisfied with the broadcasting.

"Do not."

Shaking his head, Colin's reaction was somewhat unexpected to Roosevelt's: "On the contrary, I think the development of broadcasting has become an unstoppable trend. It's better to follow the trend than to stop it. In addition, you don't Do you think this is a good channel for people to hear their voices?"

Colin's words made Roosevelt move a little in the wheelchair, obviously touched.

"Compared with the traditional media and newspapers in the past, broadcast information spreads more widely and is more convenient. Everyone can read newspapers, but adults, children and even women are willing to listen to the broadcasts in front of the radio. , wouldn’t it be the best way to connect with your supporters if you turned the content of the radio show into the president’s voice?”

"A radio show?"

As he grew up in the era when newspapers were developed, Roosevelt did not have a detailed understanding of the novel media platform of radio.

However, Ke Lin's description made him feel somewhat different.

On the other side, noticing the emotional expression on the other party's face, Colin also smiled and gave the suggestion he had already prepared.

"In fact, I'm working with CBS right now, and I'm sure CBS would love to have the president's voice on their broadcast."

……

"Boss, here they come."

Courier Newspaper.

Jack Leibovitz knocked on the door of the newspaper office and nodded to Colin.

"Thank you, Jack."

Looking at the dusty Jack Leibovitz, Colin immediately thanked him.

With the opening of newspaper offices and factories, Ke Lin's business is no longer limited to the publication of newspapers and comics.

In fact, as early as before the general election, Colin had arranged for Jack Leibovitz to go to the UK to be in charge of contacting the brewers. Jack was still a little hesitant about Colin's approach. The wine business is not a very good choice.

However, Roosevelt's candidacy and his attitude towards "Prohibition" made Jack aware of some signs.

Perhaps, "Prohibition" will become history.

Within a month of taking a cruise ship to the UK, Jack Leibovitz successfully met British brewers such as Dewar and Gordon, and expressed his desire to be the only American importer of the Scotch whiskey and gin they produced. idea.

Although these British brewers were a little moved by Jack's proposal, they did not fully agree to it.

The occurrence of the Great Depression and the existence of the "Prohibition" in the United States have had a great impact on the business of brewers. In recent years, major brewers have been reducing the number of production in an effort to survive.

At this time, a guy who came from the United States and had no previous experience in liquor business sales suddenly told them that he planned to sign a contract to become an American importer of British Scotch whiskey and gin.

As long as the brewer is in his right mind, he won't just say yes.

After all, the news channels of this era are far from the popularity of later generations.

The consciousness of these brewers living in Britain is still in the era of Prohibition.

It was precisely because of this relationship that Colin was given the opportunity to take advantage of the loopholes, as one of the behind-the-scenes driving forces behind Roosevelt's abolition of Prohibition.

Naturally, he wanted to seize this opportunity to seize the opportunity before the bill to abolish the Prohibition was officially signed, and to do everything well before everyone reacted.

It is foreseeable that once the "Prohibition" is officially abolished, the domestic alcohol market in the United States will usher in a period of retaliatory consumption. This kind of opportunity is within reach, as long as normal people will not miss it.

"Mr. Colin Luper?"

Behind Jack was a representative of British brewers. Unlike the United States, which was mired in the mud of the Great Depression, although Britain was also affected by the economic crisis of the Great Depression, the situation was relatively much better.

Therefore, in terms of attitude, there is no such thing as future generations looking forward to the United States.

After looking at the Courier newspaper, the brewer's eyes fell on Colin in front of him, and then he spoke with a British accent.

Seeing the brewer's arrogance deeply rooted in his bones, Colin didn't show much emotion.

The afterglow of the never-setting sun is doomed to not shine for too long, and the impression of the Great Depression on the world political situation is more profound than imagined.

Britain, which seemed to be spared, was also dragged into the impact of the Great Depression in another way.

After meeting Colin himself, the brewer heaved a sigh of relief. At least this meant that Jack and the others were not liars. It was only because of the import business that they lifted their hearts.

"It's a great pleasure to meet you, and we also feel the sincerity of your cooperation. However, we already have a stable partner in the United States. The only thing you ask for..."

If Colin only wanted to be an importer of Scotch whiskey and gin, these British brewers would not have much reaction, but his request to sign the sole partner made them hesitate.

"It seems that you have made a mistake. What I am looking for you to cooperate with is not the shady bootleg business, but the formal imported wine business."

"In fact, I never wanted to stop you from continuing to cooperate with those bootleggers. My only purpose is to become the only legal one!"

"Doesn't prevent working with bootleggers?"

Hearing Colin's reply, the two British brewers looked at each other.

The internal interests of bootleg liquor are huge, and even these brewers are unwilling to give up easily, but since Ke Lin's goal is not to replace these partners, then they don't seem to have much reason to object.

As for whether it is legal or not, that is a headache for Americans. They are only responsible for making wine.

Noticing the change in the brewer's expression, Colin knew that the matter was basically done.

Although he vowed that he would not stop the cooperation between British winemakers and bootleggers, once the sale and transportation of imported wine became legal in the United States, the problem of bootleggers would naturally disappear.

After all, once you can legally drink the wine you want at a lower price, who would want to go back to hiding in the basement.

(End of this chapter)