287 Order of the Knights of Labour
The next day, Li Mu went to Boston and talked about this with Longkele in Boston.
"Anti-Chinese behavior is really unfriendly-" Langkel is now a Massachusetts senator and has his own office in Boston. This office also has the credit of Li Mu. Langkel received Li Mu in the office: "To be honest, I don't care about San Francisco's affairs now. What I can do is to guarantee that similar things will not happen in Massachusetts."
"How much do you know about Watson Squire?" Li Mu tried to solve the problem from a political level.
Watson Squire is the governor of California. In the anti-Chinese incident in San Francisco, the inaction of the government and the police must be directly related to Watson Squire.
"I only know that he is a Republican, and I don't know much about the others. I just got elected to the Senate and have never had any dealings with him before." Langkel told the truth.
Langkell is a politician who just came out of college. Massachusetts is located on the East Coast and California is located on the West Coast, so it is normal for Langkell to not know Watson Squire.
Unable to get the news he wanted in Boston, Li Mu went to Washington that night.
In Washington, Li Mu met Watson Squire himself.
Watson Squire came to Washington to work as a senator, and at the same time sought support from the upper class of Washington to continue his campaign for the post of California governor.
Li Mu made an appointment with Watson Squire through Ebel without any trouble.
At Ebel's house, Li Mu met Watson Squire.
When Ebel introduced Li Mu to Watson Squire, Watson Squire was obviously a little surprised.
"Oh, it turns out you are Mr. Reim, hello." Watson Squire took the initiative to show his goodwill to Li Mu.
"It's not very good, because I haven't had dinner since last night in San Francisco." Li Mu was right, he really didn't have much appetite today.
"I'm sorry about San Francisco, that's not what I want to see-" Watson Squire's face wasn't very good-looking.
Li Mu said this, which was like a slap in the face in person. It would be strange if he could look good.
"But since it happened, you have no choice." Li Mu was not polite, this time it was equivalent to criticizing him in person.
"Hi, why don't we sit down and eat and chat?" Eble saw that the atmosphere was a little stiff and tried to ease it.
"This matter is a bit complicated, I think I can explain it." Watson Squire had a good attitude.
If Watson Squire didn't know who Li Mu was before, then after coming to Washington, Watson Squire already knew how much energy Li Mu had. Washington's well-informed level is not comparable to California. Ordinary Americans may not know what Li Mu did in Cuba, but it is not a secret for Washington officials.
Just before Li Mu came to Washington, George Dewey, Benjamin, Mahan and others had already returned to Washington. These people are now celebrities in Washington, and others can't help but not pay attention to them. When they talk about Cuba, they can't avoid Li Mu.
"I'll listen attentively-" Li Mu is also a Republican, so he has to give Watson Squire some face.
"Reim, how much do you know about the Knights of Labor?" Watson Squire sat down at the dining table, without using a knife and fork, but picked up the cup and prepared for a long speech.
"I don't know--" Li Mu told the truth. Before that, Li Mu had never heard of this organization.
"Well, I'll start with the Knights of Labor-" Watson Squire wanted to try hard to smile at Li Mu, but unfortunately he couldn't laugh: "About five years ago, several tailor union members in Philadelphia established the Knights of Labor. This organization was just like the trade union organization, but it was a secret organization with the purpose of uniting all skilled and unskilled workers without being restricted by race, gender or skin color. About three years ago, the organization was officially released and began to absorb workers, but refused to join lawyers, bankers, alcohol dealers, gamblers, exchange brokers. At the beginning, the organization's requirement was an 8-hour work system, implementing equal pay for equal work, abolishing child labor, etc. Now it's different. In order to win the joining of workers, this organization began to consciously guide workers to start anti-China. I now have reason to believe that there is a certain Democratic background behind this organization."
"Democratic Party?" Li Mu was very surprised.
"What does this have to do with them?" Eibel didn't understand either.
"Listen to me, my friends, it's true that our Republicans are in power now, and it seems unshakable, but don't ignore those Republicans. They are not willing to lose power, so they are always looking for opportunities - just two months ago, Jacob Westbeck of San Francisco was in charge of mayor, and he contacted Daniel Crowling, who jointly promoted the anti-Chinese incident in San Francisco." Watson Squire, as governor, knows everything.
"Who are Jacob Westbeck and Daniel Crowling?" Li Mu finally found the envoy behind the scenes.
"Jacau Wisbeck is a grocery store owner. His business closed in the economic crisis some time ago, so this guy jumped out to run for mayor. Jacob Wisbeck believes that it is precisely because of the large input from Chinese that the competitiveness of large enterprises has further increased, so his business closed down. As for Daniel Crowlin, this guy is a rogue and a fraudster. He is a member of the Knights of Labor in San Francisco. He wants to develop membership in the factory where Chinese people are located, but Chinese reject him. The Chinese have their own organization and are very xenophobic." Watson Squire drank a sip of wine and looked at Li Mu with a bit of fun.
"A Chinese organization?" Li Mu was curious.
"Yes, I'm about to say this, what's the name - it seems to be Hongmen." Watson Squire raised his eyebrows and continued: "Two months ago, a large-scale fight occurred in Chinese in San Francisco. The police and some white people tried to stop it. As a result, a policeman was injured and a white man was killed by a man, which led to the subsequent outbreak of anti-Chinese incidents."
Hearing this, Li Mu immediately understood what Watson Squire's eyes meant just now: "So what you mean is that this is the Chinese who blame it, and those who kill people are innocent?"
"Of course not, I didn't mean that." Watson Squire immediately denied it, widening his eyes to prove his innocence: "When the anti-Chinese incident broke out, I notified the San Francisco government and asked them to control the situation, but Lim, you know, the police have limited staff and it takes time to gather militias, so they were unable to control the situation as soon as possible, but Lim, you have to believe that most San Francisco people are still good. On the day of the riot, many local white people took the initiative to protect the Chinese, so the death toll of Chinese was only eight, otherwise this number would definitely be more."
"So why no one is responsible for the subsequent trial?" Li Mu did not give up and pursued the "inaction".
"Ah--about this." Watson Squire looked helpless and put down his cup and continued: "The San Francisco Police Department investigated afterwards, but no one was willing to come out to testify. The judge could not convict someone without evidence. After all, the judge was chosen by San Francisco people, and the Chinese in San Francisco never participated in the election, and the votes in their hands had no effect."
After all, it was still the votes.
Li Mu was speechless. The situation was much more complicated than Li Mu imagined. Judging from the news that Li Mu received at present, the role of some behind-the-scenes pushers in San Francisco is certainly not to be ignored, but the Chinese themselves have their own responsibilities.
"Tell me about Hongmen, this is the first time I have heard of this name." Li Mu was interested in Hongmen.
In fact, this is definitely not the first time Li Mu heard of this name. In the Chinese circle, the Hongmen has always been famous, especially during the Xinhai Revolution decades later, the Hongmen played a key role in funding the "Father of the Nation". It can be said that without the support of the Hongmen, there would be no success of the Xinhai Revolution.
"This is a gang organization, and their methods of acting are similar to the Italian mafia." Watson Squire seemed to have no good impression of Hongmen.
This is also understandable that politicians and gang organizations must be separated from each other, otherwise, politicians will be disgraced and will not receive any support.
Of course, there must be a tacit understanding to a certain extent, otherwise if the gang organization makes trouble, no one will look good on their faces.
"Okay, is the Knights of Labor? Very good, I will talk to the President about this matter." Li Mu has now surpassed the level of fighting and killing. Of course, Jacob Westbeck and Daniel Crowlin will be punished, but Li Mu no longer needs to do it himself. Li Mu has the best weapon in his hand, that is Time magazine. As long as Li Mu uses this weapon well, it is not difficult to ruin someone's reputation. Tweed is the best example.
"That's great. If Reim, you can convince Mr. President to dissolve this organization, then I think there will be many people grateful for you." Watson Squire reminded Li Mu in a very obscure way.
That's right, since this Knights of Labor is a trade union organization, the goal is to have an 8-hour working system, implement equal pay for equal work, abolish child labor, etc., it means that in name, it is an organization that fights for workers and opposes capitalists. Such an organization is the enemy of all capitalists.
Li Mu just was a capitalist, and a big capitalist.
Chapter completed!