America 1919

When all the tavern owners of Atlantic City were excited that the prohibition could not be enforced in Atlantic City, there were also two groups within the city expressing their dissatisfaction with the matter!

The first group was the WCTU of Atlantic City, which was established more than a hundred years ago with the sole purpose of instituting prohibition across the United States. Now, the long-fought battle had finally been won with the inclusion of prohibition in the constitution of Atlantic City.

And yet, Atlantic City intended to ignore the prohibition order!

This outcome was unbearable for the WCTU of Atlantic City, and so they promptly resorted to their tried-and-true method.

Parade!

These women, dressed in long skirts that covered their ankles, wearing bonnets and holding banners, chanted "We don't want alcohol, we want prohibition!" as they marched down the wooden walkways of Atlantic City.

Donnie, Robert, and John, who had just returned to Atlantic City, sat at the entrance of Block Tavern, each holding a bottle of beer, and watched the procession with relaxed demeanors.

"I told you we shouldn't let these women have more of a say—look at what happens when you do!"

Robert took a swig of his beer and said nonchalantly.

John agreed, adding, "That's right, those women should be taking care of the home and the kids. Giving them the right to vote in the constitution is just fueling their arrogance!"

The two men exchanged sentiments, realizing they saw eye to eye on many things, and happily clinked their bottles together.

As for the WCTU parade, they treated it as nothing more than a women's fashion show—except that these women were dressed far too conservatively to be compared with the women from the neighboring boarding houses.

"Donnie, will these people become a problem for us in the future?"

Finally, it was Robert who voiced his concern to Donnie, "If their parade gets publicized, it's very likely that the National Government might take notice of what's happening in Atlantic City!"

Although the constitution of the United States granted each state a high degree of autonomy, prohibition was an order written into the constitution of the United States. If the National Government took notice of this issue, it would not bode well for Atlantic City.

Donnie took a casual sip of his beer and then laughed, "Relax, the news about Atlantic City's decision on prohibition has been out for several days. When have you ever seen it reported by the newspapers of Atlantic City or Philadelphia?"

Robert thought for a moment and said with some surprise, "Yeah, how come I haven't seen such news in the newspapers?"

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The United States is a country of free speech!

Anyone who really believes that should go check whether their head was caught in a door when they were young or kicked by a donkey.

Although many newspapers criticize American politicians and laws, if you look closely at the details, you'll see.

What these newspapers criticize are not the politicians or laws; they criticize their political opponents.

Newspapers are founded by people, and in the United States, if you are a person, you have your own political stance—either supporting the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.

Those supporting the Republican Party criticize the Democratic Party, and those supporting the Democratic Party criticize the Republican Party.

It's as simple as that.

When you find that a newspaper's political stance has suddenly changed, it's for one reason: the newspaper's owner has changed their political stance.

But when both major parties decide on an issue together, that issue is definitely not criticized.

Although there is space for the Democratic Party in Atlantic City, it is not significant; the entire city could practically be considered a stronghold of the Republican Party.

Nucky has already persuaded the leaders of the Republican and Democratic Parties in Atlantic City, so naturally, such reports will not surface!

"The WCTU shouldn't be our concern—it's Nucky's problem!"

Donnie's gaze fell on a woman in the parade, plainly dressed but with a figure and facial features that were difficult to conceal.

This woman, appearing to be in her late twenties, walked among those chanting slogans, giving Donnie the impression similar to when Tang Bohu shouted "Qiuxiang" amidst the parade in Washington D.C.

"Nucky?" John asked in confusion: "What does this have to do with Nucky? If we can disregard them, why would Nucky care about them?"

Donnie, still watching the woman, replied without turning his head, "Didn't you just say? The constitution gives women the right to vote. Since they can vote, their ballots are what Nucky needs!"

John, still not entirely grasping the concept, asked, "So, could Nucky change his decision because of them?"

Donnie and Robert shook their heads simultaneously, with Robert saying, "Impossible, this matter involves the common interests of all stakeholders in Atlantic City. Nucky would never give up this decision for their sake!"

Donnie then said, "Rather than these women, I'm more concerned about the situation with the 3K party!"

The other group dissatisfied with Atlantic City's stance on prohibition was indeed the 3K party. Known in American history as a radical faction, the 3K party was violent. Donnie didn't bother to delve into what the party stood for elsewhere, but in Atlantic City, this party was a troublemaker. It would not be like them to stay idle on this issue.

Actually, by this time the 3K Party had already taken some actions.

"I heard that the Amber Tavern on Chicago Street was smashed yesterday?" Donnie asked Robert.

During his time in Atlantic City, Robert had become the most knowledgeable about the current situation in Atlantic City among the three of them.

Robert nodded and said, "Yes, Lisa told me about it last night. I heard that if it wasn't for Nucky's mediation, Amber Tavern's owner, Will, would have already taken people to shoot at the 3K Party's headquarters in Atlantic City!"

This is why Donnie was more worried about the 3K Party than the WCTU, because the WCTU would at most sit in protest in front of your tavern, while the 3K Party really had no scruples, ready to shoot at any moment.

"We should keep a low profile for now. In two more days, we can officially open for business!"

Donnie instructed Robert and John.

The two nodded at the same time.

As the parade was about to pass by their doorstep, Donnie signaled to Robert, "See that woman there?"

Following Donnie's gaze towards the WCTU parade, Robert quickly identified the woman Donnie was referring to. It couldn't be helped; in this parade, she was simply too conspicuous!

"Nice taste!" Robert immediately lit up and said, "She is definitely the most beautiful and charming among these women, not even our neighbor Lisa can compare to her!"

Donnie smiled, "Find out about this woman's background for me."

John, somewhat dissatisfied, said, "Donnie, if you want to find a woman, you could totally find one who is unmarried and close in age. That woman is clearly already married."

Donnie glanced at John, hadn't even said a word when Robert already spoke up, "What do you know? I'll tell you, only married women know how to please a man. Those unmarried women, they don't even know how to pose properly, holding them is like holding a log, what's the point in that?"

"Hmph, I think you're the one who knows nothing!" John angrily slapped Robert's head and said, "Unmarried women are trainable. Just spend more time with them, and they will eventually be able to pose in any way you want them to!"

"What if you don't train them well?" Robert, rubbing his head, retorted helplessly.

Donnie didn't pay any attention to their argument, focusing his gaze back on the woman who was moving further away. Donnie admitted she was a beautiful woman, but his true reason for wanting to know more about her was not just her appearance.

Of course, it was her appearance that he noticed first before deciding to place his plans upon her.

The WCTU of Atlantic City, although not having had too great an impact on Atlantic City's Prohibition, indisputably held sway over a large portion of the female votes in Atlantic City.

If Donnie wanted to make a name for himself in Atlantic City, then he would inevitably get involved in the competition for votes in the future.

.

Two days later, Donnie's Block Tavern reopened.

"Donnie, you're late in reopening. If you had stayed open this whole time, you would have already made a lot of money by now!"

Scott, who would regularly come to Block Tavern, started his teasing the moment he saw Donnie!

For nearly two months, all the taverns in Atlantic City had been selling out their alcohol like crazy, and yet during this period, Donnie chose to close up shop, which many tavern owners viewed as a foolish decision.

Donnie looked at Scott nonchalantly and asked, "Have you truly made money in these two months?"

That question caught Scott off guard; although alcohol sold like hotcakes, the prices during these two months were much lower than before. Moreover, considering their tavern's daily expenses and the money paid up to Nucky, the actual amount that ended up in the pockets of people like Scott wasn't much at all.

It wasn't even as much as a baker's assistant could earn in a month!

"Hmph, at least we've built up a clientele!" Scott said, discontented.

Donnie nodded and said, "Then why is it that my tavern is already hosting a good number of customers?"

Scott, observing the situation inside Block Tavern, snorted and turned to leave.

Watching Scott's departing figure, Donnie felt smug inside. He's not happy now, but wait until they can no longer buy alcohol; that's when they will be truly unhappy.

Through conversations with William James, Donnie already knew that these distributors hardly had any alcohol stock left. It could be said that by now, the alcohol in the entire Atlantic City had essentially been monopolized by Nucky and his people.

Now, people like Scott could still make do with some stock from their own taverns, but once their stock was gone and they wanted to restock on liquor, they would find that the money they made in these two months was insufficient even for that purpose!

At that point, they would have to give up even more benefits to Nucky and the others, forever earning just a meager income!

Donnie had thought that things would just continue smoothly until the official start of Prohibition, but Robert, who had been sent to gather information about the woman, brought back some shocking news to Donnie!