Chapter 659 Coolidge, the Smart One

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, perhaps you should seriously consider the proposal of the Australasians." The Chancellor of the Exchequer looked at Prime Minister Baldwin carefully and proposed very seriously.

Prime Minister Baldwin fell into a brief silence, then nodded and said: "Yes, but definitely not now. The economic crisis has not dealt a heavy blow to the United States. We still have to guard against the actions of the Americans. After we are sure that the Americans are too busy to care about other things because of the economic crisis, perhaps it is time for us to abandon the gold standard."

The gold standard is still the monetary system used by countries around the world. The currencies of countries around the world are linked to gold, which is also the fundamental reason why currencies can maintain their value.

Once the British government takes the initiative to abandon the gold standard, the depreciation of the pound is inevitable.

Although it will not depreciate as much as France, it is also a heavy blow to the international reputation and currency status of the pound.

At present, the only threat to the pound is the US dollar. Before the United States is completely defeated by the economic crisis, the UK cannot take the initiative to give up the gold standard.

Otherwise, if the Americans are given the opportunity, the US dollar can replace the pound as the new world currency at any time, which is unacceptable to the British.

Hearing that Prime Minister Baldwin decided to abandon the gold standard in the future, the faces of the cabinet members changed, but they were silent.

They knew the cost of abandoning the gold standard, but they knew more clearly the cost of the current economic crisis to Britain.

If they could not properly resolve this economic crisis, they would not have to think about the cost of abandoning the gold standard, because this government could not last until then.

If the British people could not satisfy the public in the economic crisis, they could change the cabinet at any time.

"How are the Americans doing now? The situation in the United States should be much worse than ours, right?" Prime Minister Baldwin suddenly asked.

"Yes, the number of unemployed people in the United States has exceeded 10 million, and is moving towards 20 million. Compared with them, our economic crisis can at least be controlled." Talking about the United States, the expressions of the cabinet members were obviously much more relaxed, and the foreign minister replied with a smile.

For the British, the current biggest competitor, the United States, is deeply trapped in the vortex of the economic crisis, which is more exciting than them getting out of the economic crisis.

"Put some more pressure on the Americans. Their economy and industry are too large, which is the biggest threat to us." Prime Minister Baldwin nodded and ordered calmly.

"Yes, Prime Minister."

"By the way, didn't the Americans give up paying the indemnity? Then raise tariffs on the United States and invite all countries in the World Alliance to raise tariffs on the United States together." Prime Minister Baldwin suddenly thought of something and smiled meaningfully, "There are also island countries. They dare to give up paying the indemnity. I believe they are also ready to deal with our sanctions."

The economic crisis has torn the US economy and industry apart. If the World Alliance increases tariffs on the United States at this time, it will greatly destroy US exports and pose a huge threat to the US economy and industry.

As for whether doing so will cause resistance from the Americans, Prime Minister Baldwin is not worried at all.

After all, the current military strength of the United States is not enough to support the United States to resist the entire World Alliance.

What's more, this time the United States gave up supporting the indemnity first, which also took the initiative to give Britain a reason to sanction the United States.

After all, this compensation was approved by the World Alliance. It was the compensation for the global flu outbreak caused by the United States' active research and deepening.

"Mr. Prime Minister, will this cause strong opposition from the Americans?" The Foreign Minister hesitated a little and looked at Prime Minister Baldwin: "The economic crisis is about to collapse the United States. If we jointly increase tariffs on the United States, I am afraid that the United States will go to an uncontrollable situation."

"Your concerns are not unreasonable, but the current United States obviously cannot shake the British Empire. What's more, we are not without allies. Whether it is France or Australasia, I believe they will not mind sharing the United States together." Prime Minister Baldwin said with a smile: "Compared with the life and death of their own country, what is the interest of the United States?"

This is not unreasonable. After all, the only means for any country to maintain its voice and status is military. A diplomatic status that is not based on military is ultimately empty.

Although the United States has the largest industry and the most prosperous economy, its military strength is obviously not worthy of its status.

The current economic crisis is also the best time to sanction the United States. The US government cannot confront the World Alliance in a tough manner under internal chaos, because this means the demise of the United States.

It is not an exaggeration to say that no country can confront the alliance of the World Alliance, because it brings together the four major powers of Britain, France, Russia, and Australasia and many second- and third-rate countries in Europe. These countries have colonies all over the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a world alliance in the true sense.

Prime Minister Baldwin has some news that he has not revealed, that is, the economic crisis in the United States was actually jointly promoted by Britain and Australasia in order to avoid the outbreak of the economic crisis in London.

Obviously, such an action was very successful, causing the economic crisis in the United States to break out ahead of time, and the harm of the economic crisis is no less than that in history.

But such an action must be kept strictly confidential. After all, it concerns the happy lives of tens of millions of people and the survival of millions of people, and even a truly global economic crisis.

If the actions of Britain and Australasia are revealed, they will inevitably be portrayed as sinners of humanity.

After all, this economic crisis has caused economic losses of hundreds of billions of dollars to countries around the world, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs, and nearly 100 million people are facing a food crisis.

"If the Americans dare to retaliate wantonly, then we don't mind turning the United States into several scattered countries, with each ethnic group and race in the United States having its own government." Prime Minister Baldwin said with a smile: "Don't Americans advocate freedom? I think both whites and blacks should establish their own countries. Anyway, the United States is a large country, and dispersion may be a good thing."

This may be the confidence that the world's first naval power and the first great power brought to Prime Minister Baldwin.

Although the glory of the British Empire is no longer what it used to be, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. At present, no country can threaten the status of the British Empire, not even the United States.

Under the influence of the alliance and balance policies of the British Empire, the British supported the objects of balance for several countries that threatened them, which greatly stabilized the position of Britain and kept Britain out of the matter, watching the competition between those countries.

Unlike the secret plot of the British Empire's cabinet government, the US government at this time was in a mess. President Coolidge could not take back the power of the government and could do nothing about the current chaotic situation in the United States.

The White House of the United States.

President Coolidge sat at his desk, looking at the bad data reports delivered by various government departments with a heavy face. After a long silence, he asked: "Has our unemployment population exceeded 10 million?"

"To be precise, not more than that, Mr. President." The US Secretary of State replied with an ugly face: "According to our latest news, our unemployment rate has reached 14%, which means that at least 14 million people have lost their jobs."

"Damn, why is it so crazy?" President Coolidge's mood was a little broken, which was a huge blow to his presidency.

But President Coolidge, who likes to delegate power to his subordinates, does not have such a high control over the government.

This led to the US government not being able to understand the news of the stock market very well. After learning about the stock market crash, it was obviously too late to respond.

"The unemployed people are now filling the streets of various cities. We must do something, Mr. President." The Secretary of State continued.

Compared with the United Kingdom, the danger of the US president's job is undoubtedly higher.

If President Coolidge does not perform well in the economic crisis, in addition to worrying about the impeachment of the opposition party and Congress, he will also have to worry about assassination by people who hate him.

The assassination of the US president is nothing new, which makes President Coolidge even more flustered, and he doesn't even know what to do.

"What should we do? Mr. Kellogg." President Coolidge looked at his most trusted subordinate, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, and asked.

"Mr. President, we should ensure assistance to the unemployed and try to find jobs for them. To be honest, the government alone cannot feed tens of millions of unemployed people. They also have their families behind them, which is a huge and heavy burden." Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg said: "In addition, I think you should coordinate the food supply between the states to ensure that there is enough food throughout the United States, rather than dispersing it to the states.

In addition, we should strengthen the maintenance of public order and reduce the occurrence of criminal incidents. It's time to let those damn blacks take a break. Their resistance to white people has aroused racial confrontation. If no measures are taken, the Civil War will continue to break out."

The United States is terrible now. The massive bankruptcy of financial institutions and corporate factories, the massive surge in the number of unemployed people, the conflicts between whites and blacks, the conflicts between states and the conflicts with the national government, etc., make the current United States look like an ultimate contradiction, and it is very difficult to start from anywhere.

But unfortunately, no matter which problem is enough to make the current United States collapse, this is also the most difficult point to deal with these problems, because the government simply does not have the energy to deal with so many problems at the same time, and the originators of these problems will not let the government solve them one by one.

President Coolidge rubbed his frowning brows and asked tentatively: "How should the conflict between whites and blacks be handled? Cancel the relief for blacks to threaten them?"

Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg widened his eyes, looked at President Coolidge in disbelief, and asked in confusion: "Mr. President, don't you know that we don't have any relief for blacks at all?"

The United States today is not the United States of later generations, and racial discrimination is still very serious. Although there is no such strict racial segregation system after President Wilson stepped down, some discrimination and segregation against blacks are still going on, including that there is no share of blacks in this relief, which is actually the root cause of the conflict between whites and blacks.

The cause is that those white middle-class people bought stocks and went bankrupt, and they were desperate and somehow clashed with blacks.

How can blacks in this era fight against whites? Some extreme whites took weapons and emptied their magazines, which made the conflict between blacks and whites more intense.

What's more terrible is that the conflict between blacks and whites seems to be driven by some force. It has intensified and even the contradiction between blacks and whites has become irreconcilable.

If most public areas were not inaccessible to blacks, I'm afraid that a war between blacks and whites would have been set off in the city.

In addition, due to the influence of President Wilson, the US government often actively ignores blacks when formulating some policies, which makes the black community more angry and hates the government and whites very much.

How to solve the black problem is very difficult, because there are also many blacks in the United States, and the United States cannot expel all blacks like Australasia.

After all, the reason why the American Civil War was won was largely due to the support of blacks.

If we cross the river and demolish the bridge and expel all blacks at this time, it will undoubtedly arouse a full-scale resistance from blacks and even provoke another civil war.

If you want to blame it, blame the United States for being a country that does not ban guns. Even blacks can afford the cheapest pistols and shotguns.

If this provokes a full-scale conflict between blacks and whites, some casualties are inevitable, and the rift between the various races in the United States will become deeper and deeper, and it will be almost impossible to make up for it.

"Well, maybe I remembered it wrong. Then tell the blacks that they will also be within the scope of government relief, provided that they do not cause trouble. The United States now needs a stable environment. I hope that the conflict between blacks and whites will not happen in the short term, at least before the end of the economic crisis." President Coolidge nodded awkwardly, pretending that nothing had happened, and instructed Secretary of State Kellogg as if nothing had happened.

Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg nodded hesitantly. Looking at President Coolidge's expression that could not be refused, Secretary of State Kellogg could only suppress his doubts in his heart.

If the president's power and status were not indeed much greater than his own, Kellogg would have wanted to stand up and ask: "Mr. President, how can you shamelessly ask blacks not to cause trouble while actively ignoring relief for blacks?"

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