Chapter 245: Laws that Are in Name Only

Liang Yao didn't want to disturb the children who were doing dangerous work at 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 original good mood was gone at this moment.

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.

These children will become the first generation of native-born California youths in ten years and are the hope for 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 the state's founding, 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 able to receive 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 completing their studies.

California currently has a small population and fewer children of school age. The state government's finances are relatively abundant, and there are some companies with strong financial resources that are fully capable of shouldering the 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 Law, California also has legal provisions prohibiting employment. There are actually factories that dare to violate the law and blatantly employ child labor. Moreover, this factory is his own factory.

This made Liang Yao feel very angry. It seemed that it was necessary to introduce special laws 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 crawl out of the chimney safely covered in dust.

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

Liang Yao took out the 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 coming to the factory, Wyatt, the director of the steel plant, hurried out to greet Liang Yao.

"Wyatt, what's going on with these child workers?" 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 Area 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.

Allowing them to do more things at the lowest cost will help improve the economic benefits of our steel plants. Don't worry, boss, I ran my steel plant well when I was in Ohio, and I'm 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 among 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. 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 speaker of the state 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 spoke, Liang Yao walked to the office of the steel plant.

"Boss, I don't know the laws of 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 a punishment, I must make some adjustments to the personnel of the San Francisco Steel Plant, and the state court will issue a fine to the San Francisco Steel Plant in accordance with California law."

When Wyatt heard Liang Yao's decision, he was shocked and stood there in a daze.

Liang Yao paused and turned around, patted Wyatt on the shoulder and said, "But Wyatt, you have run the steel plant very well in the past year or so, and I admire your ability."

After all, Wyatt worked for him, and the steel plant was indeed well run in Wyatt's hands. Liang Yao did not intend to throw Wyatt away as a pawn. First, Wyatt still had value, and second, it was very inhumane 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. You can't stay in the steel plant in San Francisco. However, there is a railway in Los Angeles, 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 plant 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. You go to Los Angeles and you will still be the director to set up this steel plant.

As for your treatment, it will be 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. 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 has shares, but the shares of all the management added up to only 6%, of which Wyatt's shares are 1%.

But the San Francisco Steel Plant is a large steel plant with an annual steel output of 40,000 tons, supplying 8% of California's steel. The dividend of 6% of the shares is also very considerable.

"How much start-up capital do you plan to prepare for the steel plant in Los Angeles?" This is the issue that Wyatt cares most about.

"The assets of the new plant in Los Angeles will not be less than 300,000 US dollars. I will not treat people who work for me unfairly, especially people like you who have flaws but are capable. You just need to answer whether you are willing to be the director of the new plant or not." Liang Yao said calmly.

California's current development is rather distorted. More than 80% of the state's industries are concentrated in Jinshan 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 dominated by agriculture and fisheries, and Los Angeles' industry is still a blank sheet of paper.

Liang Yao also plans to transfer part of the industrial capacity to Los Angeles to lay a solid foundation for Los Angeles' chemical industry in the future.

"Yes! Of course I am! You make a lot of sense! If you make a mistake, you should be punished! I will definitely keep your teachings in mind! Remember today's lesson! In the future, I will definitely abide by California laws, turn over a new leaf, and be a law-abiding California citizen!"

White's depressed and lost mood was swept away, and he was full of energy all over his body. It seemed that he wanted 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 Minister of Industry Fair and Minister of Education Pearlman came to the director's office of the San Francisco Steel Plant to meet Liang Yao.

Although the Sacramento State Government Building was completed in November last year, it is still under renovation, so the state government's office is temporarily located in San Francisco.

It is only six or seven kilometers from the downtown area of ​​San Francisco to the industrial area. The road conditions between the industrial area and the urban area are very good. Trains have also been connected to the urban area and the port terminal, and transportation is very convenient.

Whether riding a horse or taking a train, it does not take too much time to travel between the industrial area and the urban area.

"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 an unshirkable responsibility."

In the office of the San Francisco Steel Plant, Liang Yao reprimanded the two California ministers mercilessly.

Minister of Education Pearman explained very aggrievedly: "Deputy Governor, this is not our fault. Although the state government's funding for the Ministry of Education has been in place, our Ministry of Education has also distributed the money to various schools. The schools have indeed waived all tuition and miscellaneous fees and provided free lunch for students.

But these students went to work in the factory after lunch at school, and directly used 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 one-third of the students did this, and the school also said that they could do nothing.

Many children's parents directly told their children to go to work in the factory after lunch at school!"

"Employing child labor is also the norm in other states. This is a very social phenomenon. Children can also create value in factories." Minister of Industry Fair said, "The parents of these children also hope that their children will work in factories to supplement their family income. This is their family affair, and we can't intervene."