"Damn it!"
Niall felt that the agricultural relief fund was a scam. You could go after it, but at most they'd push out some minor figure to take the fall, locked up for a few months or a year, but the money would never be returned. If you didn't go after it, the whole situation would just irk you.
It was frustrating. They had worked so hard to help the local villagers achieve something, even using threats and hints, but in the end, it all went to the benefit of a bunch of politicians and capitalists.
No way! Absolutely not!
Niall couldn't just let these people get away with it. He sent off the uncle from the neighboring county and started pacing in the snow. He was calming down, thinking of a way to really make these people pay, while also ensuring that at least some of the funds would be put to good use.
With the spring breeze blowing, Niall's mind cleared up. Alone, they had no real power. Even if Tomayerlanski and Willkie brought in the big newspapers to expose the matter, it would just result in a scapegoat being jailed for a few months or a year—it would be pointless.
Wait a minute!
Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. Remember back when he had helped Charlie Luciano legalize gambling in Carson City, Nevada? The social organizations that came running?
Although they appeared to be advocating for women's rights, religion, family support, etc., their leaders had all learned to exploit the system. They were now on the Nevada Gaming Development Committee, acting as review members, staying in big hotels, dining on French cuisine, and all had their own luxury cars.
People who would never have had access to such luxuries in their lifetimes were now enjoying it all. And they were doing it all while claiming moral superiority, representing justice and the voice of the people.
The Nevada state government had gotten a taste of this, and now Niall felt that it was time for West Virginia to enjoy the same. Let them see how the big players on their moral high horse behave.
Without hesitation, Niall quickly wrote several anonymous letters, and instead of sending them from Brook County, he took the coal truck to more distant counties, mailing them in batches to various social organizations.
The letters even provided these organizations with ready-made excuses and methods. For example, for the Women and Children Protection Organization, Niall suggested that many of the men in the state were miners, leaving behind widows and orphans—"the natural vulnerable group." These women struggled to farm and survive, so the agricultural relief fund should definitely have a policy favoring them.
But the fund had no such provisions, and these families couldn't even get a loan. This was pure oppression of women and children, a direct manifestation of male domination over women's rights, and the biggest injustice in the whole country.
For religious organizations, Niall focused on the issue of discrimination against different denominations. America was a country that prided itself on religious freedom, but the manager of the West Virginia Agricultural Fund was a Protestant, so he implemented discriminatory policies against Irish Catholic farmers in the state.
Not only were these farmers denied loans, but they were also subjected to unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, which the fund manager claimed were due to these Irish Catholic farmers being uneducated and lazy in applying.
This was a huge violation of religious freedom and an outright affront to the constitution of the United States, an ugly crime. The fund manager's behavior greatly harmed the feelings of the Catholic community, and was a great desecration of God the Father and the Virgin Mary.
Niall even wrote a letter to an environmental organization, criticizing the West Virginia Agricultural Fund for lending money to tobacco farmers, who used the funds to buy large amounts of pesticides. The pesticides had killed off the local bird population and caused significant damage to plants.
The once pastoral beauty of West Virginia was now barren, thanks to this corrupt fund. It was a monstrous act of cruelty. "You lost some tobacco leaves, but the birds and mice lost their lives!"
The goal was clear: stir up trouble with all these American social organizations and make them come to West Virginia to protest. Teach these politicians a lesson about the power of speaking from the moral high ground.
At the very least, even if they pretended to make changes, they would have to release at least two million dollars to improve irrigation systems or make loans available to regular farmers.
If they were so shameless that they kept the money for themselves, Niall would have nothing to say. It would be useless.
A few days later, social organizations across the U.S. received petitions from West Virginia. Some letters came from single mothers, others from Irish Catholic farmers begging their priests for help, and some were from children asking their sisters to write on their behalf.
All these letters had one thing in common: they pointed out that West Virginia had five million dollars in unclear funds, just ripe for exploitation.
The leaders of these social organizations quickly realized this was a great opportunity for a big payday. Even if some leaders sensed there was something off about these letters, they knew that as long as the issue was real, they could still make a big profit.
Within a couple of days, they had confirmed that the West Virginia Agricultural Fund had been established before Christmas the previous year!
Like vultures sensing a rotting carcass, the organizations descended on Charleston, the state capital, from all directions. Hundreds of protestors gathered, and the numbers kept growing. The leaders called on their members and supporters to come to Charleston and protest.
They were not just any social organizations; they had considerable media influence. With a single call, they could have newspapers across the country publishing critiques of the West Virginia Agricultural Fund.
In no time, the West Virginia government found itself under siege, with protests growing louder and more intense.