1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 192 Erie Railroad Company

"Both the federal government and state governments have given great concerns and preferential policies to railway companies, but what kind of railways have you given back to the government and people?"

On the line to New York, trains travel slowly along the tracks at 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour.

The violent turbulence that came from time to time made Fillmore, who was riding the Erie Railroad Company's special train, nervous all the way, fearing that he would become the first American president to die in a rail traffic accident in history.

"Mr. President, it is precisely because of the tireless efforts of our railway companies that the United States' railway mileage has exceeded 10,000 miles, and will soon surpass the United Kingdom to become the country with the longest railway mileage in the world.

This is something to be very proud of. The industrial level of the United States has reached a new level. This is the feedback that our railway companies give to the government and the people."

James King, the president of the Erie Railroad Company, said very proudly, and then James King made his request to Fillmore.

"We hope to get greater support from the government. The Illinois government wants to tax real estate in the state, including rail routes along the way.

The Erie Railroad Company has a long stretch of rail route in Illinois, and if it pays huge taxes to the Illinois state government, the Erie Railroad Company will have no way of surviving and will soon go bankrupt."

Fillmore frowned, these shoddy railways you built have the nerve to compare with the railways built by the British?

James, who was born and raised in a famous family, could not really look down on Fillmore, who was born into a grassroots family.

Although James has tried his best to hide his arrogance and try to show due respect to the president.

But James' arrogance radiates from the inside out, and this arrogance cannot be hidden.

Fillmore was also well aware of James' attitude towards Fillmore, but Fillmore still had to choose to endure it and was still polite to James.

What Fillmore feared was not James's status as president of the Erie Railroad Company, but James's status as president of the New York Chamber of Commerce, a congressman, and a later founding father.

James's father was a close friend of Alexander Hamilton, America's first Secretary of the Treasury.

And James's father, Rufus King, was no ordinary person. He was one of the first two senators from New York State.

James, who lives in the upper echelon of New York society, has huge influence in New York State. This is why Fillmore, as the president of a country, has to be so polite to James.

"What do you mean, Mr. James?"

Fillmore turned over a page of the newspaper and asked knowingly.

The Erie Railroad Company controls the most profitable railroad lines in the United States, and a mere real estate tax is unlikely to put the Erie Railroad Company into bankruptcy.

Fillmore also knew in his heart that James was being alarmist.

"We hope to draft a bill to exempt railway companies from all unnecessary taxes. Of course, the taxes to be exempted are only unnecessary taxes. Railway companies can pay the corresponding franchise tax to the Treasury Department of the federal government every year." James.

Said in a tone that could not be refused.

Fillmore tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart and suppressed it from bursting out. He thought that if this was the case, he would just exempt your railway company from all taxes.

James's request obviously crossed the line. The state of Illinois levied real estate taxes on the railroad companies. That was a matter for the Illinois and Erie Railroad Company. The federal government had no right to intervene in the specific affairs of the states.

Fillmore's rash intervention in the specific affairs of Illinois is also contrary to the spirit of the American Constitution.

Furthermore, standing up for the Erie Railroad Company would not be of any benefit to the federal government. Instead, it would cause a scandal and intensify the conflict between the eastern and western states.

"The federal government has no right to interfere in the specific affairs of Illinois. Of course, Mr. James also has the right to submit a bill to exempt real estate taxes to Congress. As long as the bill can be passed, I think Mr. James's problem will naturally be solved."

President Fillmore said calmly.

If this bill can be passed, what else am I going to do with you? James secretly cursed.

"If there are no other important things, I think our conversation is over here. Mr. James, I still have something very important. I want to meet with the Qing Dynasty's delegation to the United States in person.

Before meeting with the Qing Dynasty’s envoys, I have to do enough homework to understand the national conditions of the Qing Dynasty.”

Fillmore issued an eviction order for James.

After James left in anger, Fillmore met John Murray Forbes of the Forbes family on the train.

Morrie was one of the main partners of Qichang Foreign Company in the United States. He lived in the Qing Dynasty for several years and was one of the few people in the United States who knew the Qing Dynasty relatively well.

Qichang Foreign Company in China is not only responsible for the United States' trade with China, but because the United States does not have the right to set up a consulate in China for the time being, it sends consuls to be responsible for diplomacy.

Qichang Foreign Company also took care of the United States' diplomatic affairs with China during this period. When Morrie was at Qichang Foreign Company, in addition to doing business, he also had to deal with officials of the Qing treaty ports.

As the main American foreign firm in China, Qichang Foreign Company's partners were not stable.

Famous American wealthy families such as the Forbes family, the Roosevelt family, and the Russell family were all major partners of Qichang Yangxing.

These families all have one thing in common, that is, after grabbing the first pot of gold in trade with China through Qichang Foreign Company, they immediately left home and used the dirty money earned from selling opium in China to return to the United States to invest in legal and profitable industrial transformation.

Morrie was one of them. As early as 1845, Morrie left home and returned to China to devote himself to the hot railway industry.

"If the United States can acquire an island off the coast of the Qing Dynasty like the United Kingdom, it can serve as a trading supply station and fleet port for our American merchant ships. It will not only facilitate American merchants to do business in the Qing Dynasty, but also expand America's influence in the Far East.

"

Fillmore motioned for Murray to sit down and then expressed his thoughts.

Before meeting Fillmore, an extremely excited Murray had already made preparations in advance.

The sudden visit of the Qing envoy was undoubtedly great news for the United States. The United States needed a market, a huge market to digest American goods.

This is the consensus of all the people of the United States.

"There is also the establishment of a consulate and the dispatching of consuls to be responsible for the diplomacy of the two countries, Mr. President."

Morrie opened his briefcase and took out a map.

"This is a map of the coastal areas of the Qing Dynasty that I drew during the years I lived in the Qing Dynasty. The area north of Zhejiang is a forbidden area of ​​​​the Qing Dynasty, and it is difficult for us to understand it in depth.

However, we still have a relatively clear survey of the coastlines and the layout of coastal cities in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, as well as the locations of the Guangdong Navy and Fujian Navy of the Qing Dynasty."

(End of chapter)