Dutch swept his hand downward, a masterful gesture, and the veterans, with their ingrained military discipline, quieted, despite the immense, almost uncontrollable excitement throbbing through their veins.
"Gentlemen," Dutch's voice resonated, rich and commanding, filling the small club. "I have always believed that veterans are the very foundation of a nation, its beating soul. A country that cherishes its veterans is a noble country, a beautiful country! Providing a life, a dignified existence, for retired veterans should be the most fundamental moral bedrock of any nation. Yet, to our profound dismay, under the leadership of those spineless congressmen, our America has become utterly boundless in its cruelty, devoid of morality, a land where human rights are a forgotten whisper!"
His voice swelled with righteous indignation. "They flaunt slogans of freedom and democracy, yet they engage in acts of murder and merciless exploitation! But it matters not. If they won't give you a way to live, I will! My original intention in establishing this Veteran Club was precisely that: to allow all retired veterans to live normal lives, to forge ideal existences, to marry, to raise families, to find true happiness!"
Dutch's gaze swept over the crowd, his voice dropping, laced with calculated empathy. "So, gentlemen, for my dream, and for your lives, I founded this Veteran Club, offering you free food and drink to the best of my ability. But this… this is not enough. Your lives remain barely at subsistence level, and your futures… they remain utterly devoid of hope."
He watched the veterans grow increasingly silent, their faces etched with a profound sorrow. Then, Dutch raised his right hand high, his voice erupting with fervent, messianic power. "But it matters not, gentlemen! Your lives will be ushered into a new chapter by me! You will ultimately gain families, you will ultimately gain happiness, you will ultimately gain true resolve!"
Dutch's speech was deafening, a roaring crescendo that resonated deep within the veterans' very souls.
"Good!!!"
"That was wonderfully said, Mr. Arthur! Please, allow me to follow in your footsteps, wherever they may lead!"
The veterans, thoroughly invigorated, cheered, their voices raw, loudly praising Dutch's greatness. Tears streamed down their faces, for in Dutch, they saw their complete, unwavering spiritual pillar.
But mere words were not enough. If Dutch merely spoke, his impassioned speech would wither into meaninglessness. So, Dutch waved his hand again, silencing the crowd once more.
"Alright, gentlemen," he continued, his voice now calm, deliberate. "Next, I want to discuss my plan with you. As the old saying goes: 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.' This means that simply providing you with free food and drink is, in essence, not as beneficial as providing you with a good job. So I believe that offering you true employment, allowing you to chase a bright future on your own, is the most profound help I can provide. Therefore, I have decided to give you a job. A decent job. A job where you won't have to sleep on the street or in a stable at night. A job that will allow you to rebuild your families!"
Upon hearing "decent job," the murmuring crowd below erupted with even greater fervor. Why did they flock to the Veteran Club for meager, free food? Because their lives were an unceasing struggle. And why were their lives a struggle? Because their jobs were brutal, soul-crushing.
The money they earned from a day of back-breaking labor was barely enough for food and drink, and accommodation was a constant nightmare; they often slept by the roadside or secretly in stables. The promise of a decent job, one that offered dignity and a roof over their heads, ignited a raging fire within them.
Dutch gazed at the fervent veterans, his satisfaction palpable. He didn't draw out their anticipation but delivered his proposition directly. "Gentlemen, to be perfectly frank, I am a businessman, and I have a clothing factory under my name that is about to commence operations. I am here to offer you genuinely decent positions. Currently, the scale of our clothing factory is not excessively large, so the number of people we are hiring is limited. Those who are not hired need not despair, for our subsequent recruitment will continue to expand as production increases."
His voice boomed with conviction. "Alright, gentlemen, without further ado, I shall outline my recruitment quotas. First, our clothing factory needs to hire 10 cleaning staff, with no age limit. You will be provided with a six-square-meter room as your personal living space, where all bedding and daily necessities will be fully prepared. Your daily three meals will be directly provided by the factory, completely free of charge. You are welcome to bring your immediate family members to live with you in the same room. The factory allows your family members to come, also with free food and drink, but each person can bring a maximum of three family members. After all, if you are a vast family of hundreds, that would surely bankrupt even me!"
A booming chorus of laughter, tinged with a desperate, feverish gleam, swept through the crowd. Dutch's words continued, each one a hammer blow to their hardened reality.
"And the salary I can offer you is a substantial twenty dollars a month. Within the factory, you will incur no extra expenses, which means you will be able to save every single one of those twenty dollars in salary each month, accumulating two hundred and forty dollars a year! Work in my factory for just one year, and you will possess enough money to marry and raise children. Furthermore, the factory will prioritize hiring your family members as employees, should they desire work. You will learn about the specific salary items and benefits when the time comes. How about it, gentlemen, with these conditions, do you want to work?!"
As the words left his mouth, the club exploded!
Twenty dollars a month!!!
With food and accommodation provided, and even the astonishing freedom to bring their families! Just as Dutch had declared, every penny earned could be saved. In just a few short years, they could become prosperous, free from the agonizing worry of their next meal! A monthly salary of twenty dollars was, indeed, not astronomical. America was in a period of rapid development; in 1900, a blue-collar worker in the East earned twenty-eight dollars a month, a figure that would shift dramatically in the coming years.
But currently, a day laborer earned a meager eighty cents a day. While that might total more than twenty dollars a month, it included no provisions for food or accommodation! And it was entirely unstable. They would be lucky to save three dollars and twenty cents throughout the entire year, with most of their earnings vanishing into the gaping maw of food, drink, and meager clothes.
But now, they could consistently save twenty dollars—equivalent to a pure, unadulterated twenty-dollar monthly income. No taxes!These twenty dollars could be saved, or they could be used to buy clothes; it was pure, unburdened profit! The more they considered it, the more their excitement surged, their happiness overflowing. Immediately, they clamored, shouting over one another, vying for the precious positions, a desperate, primal fear of losing their chance driving their voices to a fever pitch.