Chapter 342: Cotton Crisis

  Chapter 332 The Cotton Crisis

Naturally, Franz was unaware of the British worries, and at this time he was still having a headache over the Suez Canal project.

There were two main problems:

One, the canal company’s extensive use of slave labor caused European public opinion to condemn it;

The second was that the construction of the canal was overspent and needed more investment.

The second problem is easy to solve, the canal company has decided to issue additional shares to raise funds, it will not take long to solve the problem.

Under normal circumstances, it would not be difficult for France and Austria to join forces to silence European public opinion. There were not many Madonna’s in this day and age, and not many people would have stood up for a bunch of Egyptian slave laborers.

Moreover, these slave laborers were provided by the Egyptian government, and the Canal Company paid money to the Egyptian government.

Previously, even if there were newspaper reports, they were all directed at the Egyptian government. After all, the laborers were organized by them and their salaries were withheld.

Anyway, Egypt is not a European country, the European public opinion of God, and they can not feel, take the blame on the back.

Now it’s different, in order to promote cotton cultivation in the Egyptian region, the British must compete with the Canal Company for labor.

The Suez Railroad, built by the British, was likewise in competition with the Canal Company.

Conflicts of interest between the two sides could not be avoided and conflicts arose. In order to combat the Canal Company, John Bull stirred up public opinion to put pressure on the Canal Company.

Once the shit stirrer was out of the way, the shade was not enough. France and Austria were not doing charity, and the canal company had to save costs and inevitably compressed labor costs.

Now the Canal Company pays the Egyptian government one million Shendian fees per year, which seems to be quite a lot, but spread over 150,000 laborers, the per capita is only 6.66 …… Shendian.

This figure is less than a month’s salary for the average Austrian worker. What’s more, this money also includes compensation for land acquisition, labor management fees and so on.

John Bull not only these insiders all revealed, but also accompanied by a few photos, including the laborers’ life and work photos.

The bloody photos, accompanied by artfully crafted captions, made Franz feel sympathetic when he looked at them.

If you look closely, you will find that the violent supervisors are Egyptians, which is the only good news.

The benefits of subcontracting labor appeared, with an extra mine-topper. If John Bull hadn’t deliberately created a public outcry, nothing would have happened if the canal company had shifted the blame to the Egyptian government.

Franz asked, “What are the French going to do?”

Now leading the construction of the canal is the French, in the center of public opinion is the French, the pressure is the French government.

After all, the French population was rich in internationalism. The French domestic newspapers were all attacking the canal company, and some even directly attacked the French government, demanding that the Paris government be held responsible for this.

The same thing to Austria, public opinion to be much more moderate, the newspaper fair and objective analysis of responsibility, determined not to take the blame.

The first to be criticized is naturally the Egyptian government, the mainstream public opinion is that the Egyptian government did not fulfill its responsibilities, to pay the main responsibility.

The second is the Canal Company’s poor supervision, which is the responsibility of the company’s management.

The Austrian government has nothing to do with the problems of a listed company or a multinational joint-stock company. If the minority shareholders are responsible for this, then are not all shareholders responsible?

Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied: “The French are still hesitating and have not given a clear attitude. The public opinion in France is putting a lot of pressure on them.

Embassy news, the Parisian people have taken to the streets, the Canal Company’s headquarters in Paris has repeatedly been surrounded by marching crowds, has been unable to normal office.

Our representatives have proposed to the Canal Company’s board of directors to move the headquarters to Vienna to ensure that the office can be carried out normally, which is still under discussion.”

There was no doubt in Franz’s mind about relocating the headquarters. History was not one or two companies that were forced out by the French public, the company could not conduct normal office work without moving.

As an investor, Franz also did not want the French government to concede and intervene in the Canal Company’s operations.

Anyway, the reputation of the Canal Company was not in the investor’s consideration. Unless a government intervened, the Canal management was sure to die to the end.

The present situation is, in any case, much better than the historical one. Everyone knows that the Suez Canal is a joint project of France and Austria, only the civil newspapers scolded fiercely, the governments did not comment.

Politicians are not stupid, now is Britain, France and Austria in the political game, show attitude is in the diplomatic stand.

The British are indeed very bullish, but on the European continent, France and Austria speak more weight, even if the British little brother now know that silence is golden.

Franz thought about it and said, “Let’s put it this way, since the British broke the rules first, there is no need to be polite.

Find an opportunity to sell the British black history we’ve collected to the Canal Company. Let our people at the Canal Company get their hands dirty and push for this counterattack.”

It wasn’t the best way, but it was the most effective. Colonial empires in this day and age are not much cleaner than anyone else.

The British could expose the black history of the Canal Company, so naturally the Canal Company could expose the black history of the British.

Anyway, the Suez Canal Company was backed by France and Austria, and going up against the British government was just as good as going up against the British government, so there was no need to wimp out.

When everyone is brought to the same level and public opinion is busy, it will not continue to focus on the Canal Company.

News only gets everyone’s attention because it’s new. When the storm has passed, the Canal Company management will then announce an improvement in the treatment of laborers, such as an extra potato a day, and buy a few more newspapers to wash their hands of it.

It’s a matter of curiosity, and the Canal Company must not concede anything now. No matter what is done, it is unlikely to satisfy everyone, and it may even cause a bigger furor.

……

In West Africa, an uninvited guest was welcomed to the estate of Carlos, the great plantation owner.

“Sir Carlos, we are very sincere in coming to buy cotton this time. We can add ten percent to last year’s cotton price.”

Carlos smiled faintly and said, “Unfortunately Mr. Max, I really don’t feel the sincerity you are talking about.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, it is a foregone conclusion that cotton production will be reduced this year. Coupled with the blockade by the northern government, how much cotton can be shipped out in the end is a question.

And last year’s bumper crop of cotton, the price was already on the low side. Under so many favorable conditions, the price of cotton will certainly protect.

As far as I know, the price of cotton on the futures market in London, has risen by fifty-six percent.”

Max explained as if nothing had happened, “Sir Carlos, the price of cotton on the futures market is speculated.

You should know clearly what a fifty-six percent increase in the price of cotton means, and the market simply can’t afford this astronomical price.”

This was the truth, a fifty-six percent increase in the price of cotton was simply unacceptable to the cotton spinning industry. Otherwise, even if cotton cloth was produced, it would not be sold in the end.

In this day and age, the market’s capacity to bear is limited. The main reason that industrialized cotton cloth was able to flourish was because it was cheap. With a sudden increase of half the price, the people simply couldn’t afford to consume it.

The two men fell silent, and after half a ring Sir Carlos quoted the price, “A forty percent increase on last year’s price, and I’ll sell you all of this year’s cotton.”

Max shook his head and said, “Twelve percent increase on last year’s price, this is already the highest price for cotton in the last ten years.”

Sir Carlos sneered, “As far as I know, Felix Trading Company seems to be ready to increase its cotton purchase price by twelve percent this year as well, so if it’s the same price why should I sell it to you?”

Max quoted again, “Okay, I’ll raise it by two more points, that’s always okay, right?”

Sir Carlos shook his head, “Mr. Max, Felix Trading Company Limited has been purchasing cotton in West Africa for a long time, while your Darvell Company has always purchased cotton in the United States.

The choice is a good one, there is no way I would offend a longtime partner just for the sake of some profit, and no plantation owner in all of West Africa would do that.

If you just want to buy a shipment of cotton for an emergency, then I suggest that you should just buy it directly from the Felix Mercantile!”

Max got a headache, and that was the biggest trouble. It was because this year’s cotton supply in the United States could not be guaranteed that the country had allowed him to purchase cotton in the West African region.

But the market here has long been done by someone else, and if they want to step in, there’s no way to do it except to raise the price.

As for buying from cotton merchants, it would be strange not to be extorted. Originally, he wanted to play a time gap and fool the ill-informed plantation owners, but the result was that he failed just before he started.

……

News of the failed attempt to snap up cotton from West Africa is being discussed at the headquarters of the Darvell Cotton Buying Company in London.

Kenneth, the purchasing supervisor, said, “The situation is now clear that news of the American Civil War has come through. Unless we raise the cotton buying price significantly, we simply can’t rob the Austrians.

You have to know that we have to pay import and export tariffs when we buy cotton from the West African region, and it would have cost us much more than them.

Now if we have a price war, in the end, even if we acquire enough cotton, we may not be able to make any money.”

This is a real problem, the United States of America’s cotton can be shipped back or not is still an unknown, which is related to the price of cotton in the coming year.

If the northern government blockades the south, then the price of cotton will surely rise like crazy, and they, the merchants who hoard cotton, are going to make a lot of money. On the contrary, it is necessary to consider how to sell the hands of cotton.

Market director Marti analyzed: “Because of the civil war, this year’s U.S. cotton production fell at least three layers, because the war in the Indian region of the cotton has been three consecutive years of extinction.

Even if the West African region of the cotton harvest, the international cotton production in general is still a downward trend, cotton prices have become inevitable.

Now from the days of the cotton harvest, is not far away. If we want to grab enough cotton, we have to be quick.”

……

(End of chapter)