1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 248 A law in name only

Liang Yao didn't want to disturb the children who were doing dangerous work on the top of the chimney, so he asked Hu Jinchen to notify California's Minister of Industry and Education to come to the factory to see him.

The good mood I had originally was gone now.

Child labor was common in the mid-19th century, but he didn't want it to become common in California.

The population structure of California is dominated by adult males, and there are originally few school-age children in school.

In ten years, these children will become the first generation of Californian youths born and raised, and they are the hope of California's future.

California's future hopes were ruined on the factory assembly line. This was a result he could never accept.

At the beginning of statehood, he passed the "Compulsory Education Act" through state legislators to force California school-age children to receive twelve years of compulsory education from elementary school to middle school.

Those who are capable of receiving higher education can also sign training contracts with the state government, America Group, and other interested companies. The state government and companies will fund college tuition and basic living expenses, and return to California to work after graduation.

California currently has a small population and fewer children of school-age age. The state government's finances are relatively abundant, and there are some companies with strong financial resources that are fully capable of shouldering this cost.

He can spend a lot of money to recruit talents from the eastern United States and even Europe to make up for the current talent gap in California, but Californians must also have certain blood-forming abilities and make their own blood.

A place that cannot retain talents has no future, and a place that cannot cultivate talents has no future.

In addition to the Compulsory Education Act, California also has legal provisions prohibiting employment. There are actually factories that dare to violate the law and blatantly employ child labor, and this factory is his own factory.

This made Liang Yao feel very angry. It seemed that it was necessary to introduce a special bill to prohibit the employment of child labor, not just clauses.

Liang Yao breathed a sigh of relief after watching the children at the top of the chimney get into the chimney after completing their homework, and climb out of the chimney safely with dust all over their bodies.

After the chimney was cleaned, these children did not leave the factory, but walked into the factory habitually.

Liang Yao took out his pocket watch from his pocket, opened the protective case of the pocket watch, and looked at the time on the pocket watch.

It is now 3:15 in the afternoon, and today is not a weekend, which means it is normal class time.

"Mr. Liang, why are you here at the factory?"

Seeing Liang Yao arrive at the factory, Wyatt, the director of the steel plant, hurriedly came out to greet Liang Yao.

"Wyatt, what's going on with these child laborers?" Liang Yao asked.

Wyatt was previously the director of a small steel plant in Ohio. In 1850, his small steel plant was acquired by Strauss, Liang Yao's assistant sent to the east, and moved to the San Francisco Industrial Zone in California. He was still the director of the plant.

long.

He was one of the first steel factory owners to arrive in California.

"You mean those child laborers?" Wyatt had a normal expression.

"Child labor is cheaper. For the price of one adult, you can hire five, six or more child laborers. Moreover, they are smaller and more flexible. They are very suitable for jobs such as cleaning chimneys and oiling machines.

Letting them do more things at the lowest cost will help improve the economic benefits of our steel plant. Don't worry, boss, I ran my steel plant well when I was in Ohio, and I am very experienced in this area.

"

It was cheaper to hire women than men, and children were cheaper than women, and they were easier to control. This was the consensus of factory owners and capitalists during this period.

"Apart from our factory, do other factories also employ a lot of child labor?" Liang Yao asked gloomily.

"Of course, other factories employ much more child labor than our steel factory. Child labor is very cheap, and who would refuse cheaper labor? But we are a steel factory, and many jobs still require strong men to do it. We can provide

There are very few jobs for these children. As for women, they prefer to work in brothels or textile and garment factories. Steel plants cannot attract women now."

Wyatt gushed that he wanted to express himself better in front of Liang Yao.

"Okay, I get it."

Liang Yao interrupted Wyatt who was talking endlessly.

"Who is the deputy director of the steel plant?"

"It's the Chinese assistant you sent to me to learn how to manage a steel plant, a young man named Wang Qifeng." Wyatt said without thinking.

"How is his current business ability?" Liang Yao continued to ask.

"Very good. He is a smart and hard-working young man. He has made great progress over the past year." Wyatt replied.

Liang Yao suddenly asked about the deputy director, which made him feel a little uneasy. After answering the question, he couldn't help but ask another question.

"Why do you suddenly ask about him?"

"Employing child labor violates the laws of California. I am the lieutenant governor and state speaker of California. I must set an example and abide by the laws of California. I cannot break the law without knowing it, let alone bend the law for personal gain." As he said this, Liang Yao walked to the office of the steel plant.

"Boss, I don't know the laws in California. I hope you can forgive me this time. I promise you! I will never hire child labor again!" Wyatt hurriedly followed Liang Yao and said.

"It's too late. I participated in the formulation of California's laws. If I don't abide by California's laws, others will not take California's laws seriously." Liang Yao said to Wyatt.

"As punishment, I must make some adjustments to the personnel within the San Francisco Steel Plant, and the state court will subsequently issue fines to the San Francisco Steel Plant in accordance with California law."

Upon hearing Liang Yao's decision, Wyatt was struck by thunder and froze on the spot.

Liang Yao paused and turned around, patted Wyatt on the shoulder and said, "But Wyatt, for more than a year, you have been running the steel plant very well. I admire your ability very much."

After all, Wyatt was working for him, and the steel plant was indeed running well in Wyatt's hands. Liang Yao did not intend to throw Wyatt away as a discarded child. After all, Wyatt still had value.

Secondly, it is very impersonal to do so.

"Are you going to change your decision?"

Seeing Liang Yao turn around, Wyatt seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

"I will not take back my decision. The steel plant in San Francisco cannot survive anymore, but Los Angeles is connected to the railway and there are several small coal mines there. It is also very convenient to import iron ore from Mexico.

I plan to set up a steel factory in Los Angeles. This time I brought back a lot of workers and machines from the east. I will allocate some equipment and workers to you. When you go to Los Angeles, you will be the director of this steel factory.

Get it done.

As for your treatment being the same as now, I will also give you 2% of the shares of the factory, but remember, you must abide by the laws of California, California is not Ohio, and this will not happen again." Liang Yao said to Wyatt.

The frustrated Wyatt's eyes lit up. The management of the San Francisco Steel Plant also had shares, but the combined shares of all management only accounted for 6%, of which Wyatt's shares were 1%.

However, the San Francisco Steel Plant is a large steel plant with an annual steel output of 14,000 tons, supplying 77.8% of California's steel, and the 6% share dividend is also very considerable.

"How much start-up capital do you plan to prepare for the steel plant in Los Angeles?" This is Wyatt's biggest concern.

"The assets of the new factory in Los Angeles will not be less than 300,000 US dollars. I will not treat people who do things for me badly, especially people like you who are flawed but capable. You just need to answer, and you are willing to be the new factory."

The factory director is still unwilling." Liang Yao said calmly.

California's current development is relatively abnormal. More than 80% of the state's industries are concentrated in Gold Mountain Bay and Sacramento, and the remaining 20% ​​are gold-related industrial and mining enterprises in Nevada.

As for Los Angeles, it is still a small town based on agriculture and fishing, and the industry in Los Angeles is still a blank slate.

Liang Yao also plans to transfer part of the industrial production capacity to Los Angeles to lay the foundation for the subsequent chemical industry in Los Angeles.

"Yes! Of course I do! What you said makes sense! If you make a mistake, you should be punished! I will definitely remember your teachings! Remember today's lesson! I will definitely abide by the laws of California in the future, change my mind, and be a law-abiding Californian."

citizen!"

White's depressed and lost mood was swept away, and his whole body was full of energy. He seemed to be eager to give himself a pair of wings and go to Los Angeles for inspection now.

"Okay, you and Wang Qifeng will hand over the work." Liang Yao said to Wyatt.

California Secretary of Industry Fair and Secretary of Education Pearman came to the office of the director of the San Francisco Steel Plant to meet with Liang Yao.

Although the state government building in Sacramento was completed in November last year, it is still under renovation, so the state government offices are still located in San Francisco for the time being.

It is only six or seven kilometers from the city center of San Francisco to the industrial zone. The road conditions between the industrial zone and the urban area are very good, and trains are also connected to the urban area and the port terminal, so the transportation is very convenient.

It doesn’t take much time to travel between the industrial area and the city either by horseback or by train.

"It has become a common phenomenon for factories to employ child labor in violation of the law. Both the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Education have unshirkable responsibilities."

In his office at the San Francisco Steel Plant, Liang Yao scolded the two California ministers mercilessly.

Minister of Education Pearlman explained very aggrievedly: "Lieutenant Governor, you can't blame us. Although the state government's allocation to the Ministry of Education has been in place, our Ministry of Education has also distributed the money to various schools, and the schools have indeed exempted all students from

Miscellaneous expenses and free lunches are provided to students.

But these students went to work in factories after lunch at school, directly using the school as a lunch canteen. The school also complained to me that if one or two students did this, we could still control it, but there are one-third of the students

Even if they do this, the school says there is nothing they can do.

Many parents of children directly tell their children to go to work in the factory after eating at school!”

"The employment of child labor is also normal in other states. This is a very social phenomenon. Children can also create value in factories." Industry Minister Fell said, "The parents of these children also hope that their children will work in factories to support their families.

This is someone else's family matter, and it's not easy for us to interfere."

Yesterday's and today's updates are updated on July 21st.

(End of chapter)