American comics: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Relying on the bootlegging business, Luciano successfully expanded the power of the Mafia to the entire New York.

But obviously, Luciano had more than one ambition.

At the first Mafia Global Congress that ended not long ago, Luciano convened 24 families, persuaded them to establish an electoral national committee, deployed the next overall action strategy, and formulated new commandments: First, no Drug trafficking; second, murder of law enforcement officers is strictly prohibited unless the committee votes unanimously.

The two laws were enacted not because the Luciano Mafia family was so kind, but because drug trafficking and the murder of police officers would arouse public outrage and lead Congress to increase police funding. Investigating crimes is a very expensive matter. Without new funding, the police can only watch as one mafia gangster is acquitted one after another.

The establishment of the committee represents the beginning of the Mafia's organizational development.

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

"Hoo~"

Taking a sip from the cigar in his hand, Luciano took his eyes back from the semi-finished four-color double-sided paper offset printing machine on the assembly line. Luciano's eyes fell on Colin in the factory: "I don't know, Mr. Colin Luper is very interested in Tan. What are the results of the Munich Association’s investigation?”

Not long ago, Luciano received an inquiry from Tammany Hall.

Colin's "Daily Courier" seems to have no intention of stopping. Instead, it has recently participated in the election through the newspaper, which made Tammany Hall question Luciano's ability.

"It's still going on."

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

"Maybe I can help a little bit."

After hearing Colin's answer, Luciano's eyes stayed on him for a long time, and the latter responded with a calm expression.

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

Currently, Tammany Hall's political power in New York City remains huge.

Even Luciano was not willing to offend him easily.

Especially as the general election approaches, the importance of Tammany Hall as the political machine of the Democratic Party has become increasingly prominent.

Even if the Democratic Party knows that there are many problems within Tammany Hall, as the opposition party, if they want to overthrow the ruling Republican Party, they still need to rely on the power of Tammany Hall. This is why Jimmy Walker is the corrupt leader of New York. The key figure is just the reason for stepping down.

"I don't think there was any misunderstanding."

In response, Colin refused calmly.

He was not in the habit of meeting others under threat, not to mention that as a latecomer, Colin knew very well that Tammany Hall would not be glorious for long.

After rejecting the invitation, Colin's eyes fell on the mafia leader and he thought. If Luciano or Tammany Hall didn't open their eyes, he wouldn't mind using some special means to deal with 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 subtly solve these troubles through the influence he has established in New York.

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

Just when he thought the other party would do something, he was silently preparing to take action.

Luciano in front of him suddenly withdrew his gaze: "I understand, I will convey your attitude to Mr. Colin Looper to Tammany Hall."

"I will no longer be involved in future events."

Luciano seemed intent on removing himself from Colin and Tammany Hall, otherwise he would be too involved in the fight between the two parties.

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

In a certain respect, the other party's ability to become the all-powerful mafia leader in New York's underground world is indeed unique.

This may be why Luciano was able to continue to run his Mafia business with ease even after the collapse of Tammany Hall.

As he spoke, Luciano took out his wallet from his arms, pulled out a 100-denomination note, handed it to Colin and said, "This is compensation for disturbing factory production."

After taking the $100 note from Luciano, Colin felt at ease with the money.

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

After giving the compensation to Colin, Luciano did not stay any longer in the factory and quickly left with his men.

Watching Luciano leave, Colin lowered his head and glanced at the banknotes in his hand.

"Mr. Looper..."

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

"Let the workers continue to work."

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

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

"What's the current progress of the factory?"

Looking at the workers working hard on the assembly line, Colin brought the topic to production.

"The first four-color double-sided paper offset printing machine is almost completed..."

Sensing that Colin was unwilling to explain more about Luciano and others' issues, Langer also responded cooperatively: "The offset printing machine has just been put online, and the workers are still in the exploratory stage. Once they become proficient, the speed will speed up." ”

"Where's the order?"

"I have 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. After a while." At this point, Lange couldn't help but glance at Colin in front of him. He said that the other person was also a member of the newspaper industry: "Including "World Journal" and "New York Times" have expressed interest in this new technology. ”

Putting aside the interruption caused by Luciano, the production of the Courier Machinery Factory is gradually getting back on track.

After leaving Brooklyn, where the factory is located, Colin did not meet the newspaper office directly, but made a call through a public phone booth.

"Hello, this is the Bell System telephone company. How can I help you?"

After inserting the coin, and after a long wait, the communication operator's inquiry rang on the other side of the phone.

Compared with the radio, although the telephone was invented earlier, its popularity was far less rapid than the radio.

Early telephone calls also required a correspondent to transfer them, which also made the correspondent's work extremely cumbersome. Especially in the era before early broadcasting, correspondents had to receive 5,000 calls a day asking about the time; elections and professional boxing matches Results, football and baseball scores were also asked repeatedly.

At the same time, rural operators even need to serve as information dissemination centers in local communities to help find lost children and issue flood and fire warnings.

At the time, listening to neighbors talking on the phone over a party line was a form of rural entertainment until the advent of radio soap operas.

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

"Okay, sir."

During this period, it was common practice to send messages through correspondents. Taking into account the high price of long-distance calls, a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco cost nearly $60, and if it was London, it cost $300. Although the price has been reduced to a certain extent in the future, the cost is still high. It was not until 1966 that the cost of a three-minute call to San Francisco dropped below $10, while the cost of a call to London was not until 1981. Down to under $10.

Such expensive telephone charges have also caused the development of telephones to remain at a rather slow pace.

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

"no problem."

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

For this call time of less than one second, Colin needed to pay 25 cents for the phone call.

Bang bang——

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

There was an urging knock on the door from outside the phone booth.

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

Seeing Colin coming out, the pedestrians immediately got into the phone booth eagerly, tearing off their clothes to reveal the simple 'S' logo inside.

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

…

"...It seems that a consensus has been reached within the Republican Party?"

That night, inside the restaurant No. 21 on West 52nd Street.

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

Not long ago, Hoover publicly announced his re-election bid and declared in his speech: "The key to where our country will go in the next 100 years lies in adhering to American traditions rather than inflicting new tricks. He made it clear that the federal government will not become the mainstay of economic and social life. of participants…”

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. Republican presidents in the past have also used this method for re-election.

However, Hoover apparently ignored the context of his campaign.

American tradition cannot save the people during the Great Depression, 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, and it is difficult for the Republican Party to express opposition."

Hearing Colin's teasing, LaGuardia couldn't help but sigh.

It has always been a common consensus among the Democratic and Republican parties that the incumbent should be re-elected. In the history of the United States, it is rare for a president to fail to be re-elected.

However, the current situation prevented LaGuardia from seeing the possibility of Hoover's re-election.

“What about the New York mayoral election?”

Facing Colin's question, LaGuardia's expression didn't look too good either.

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

After all, he and Hoover were both Republicans.

The Tammany Hall obviously would not miss the opportunity to strike LaGuardia. In fact, rumors have begun to circulate in New York City that voting for LaGuardia is equivalent to voting for Hoover, which is quite unfavorable for LaGuardia's mayoral campaign.

Tomato

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

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

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

"What do you mean?"

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

"It seems that the possibility of Hoover's re-election is not high. In this case, why do you still cling to your Republican identity? Hoover's election and your election are two different battlefields. You don't need to take responsibility for Hoover's wrong political views. On the contrary, you can choose to support his opponent."

"Roosevelt?"

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

"..."

At the table, LaGuardia fell into a brief silence.

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

The main reason why former New York Mayor Jimmy Walker stepped down was because of the corruption scandal revealed by Colin's "The Courier" at the time.

"As the political machine of the Democratic Party, the corruption 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 label the Tammany Association and the Democratic mayoral candidate it supports as the root cause of chaos in New York, and completely eradicate it. I believe that the Republican Party will agree with your approach and even support it."

"As long as the Tammany Association, the political machine of the Democratic Party in New York, can be eliminated, I believe that the Republican Party will not pursue your support for Roosevelt too much. After all, in politics, there is never an eternal enemy."

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