Chapter 175 Stable Reconstruction, Turbulent Situation

On December 1, 1903, with Arthur's help, New Zealand received a loan of two million pounds from Australia to restore New Zealand's post-disaster economy and various construction projects.

In order to reflect the good relationship between Australia and New Zealand, the loan was interest-free and the repayment date was 20 years later.

This news was also widely publicized by New Zealand newspapers and was promoted as a witness to the further relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

It is precisely because of this huge amount of money that New Zealand's reconstruction work has made very good progress, and the reconstruction of towns and livestock areas is proceeding in an orderly manner.

On December 3, Arthur decided to designate the day when the typhoon landed in New Zealand, that is, November 8 every year, as New Zealand's Disaster Memorial Day, and set up a disaster monument at Opunaki, the first place where the typhoon landed.

The monument clearly engraved the specific time and place of the typhoon, as well as all the losses and damage caused to New Zealand by the typhoon disaster.

On the day when the disaster monument was established, Arthur attended the ceremony and personally expressed his condolences to all New Zealanders.

This move also won the favor of all New Zealanders. When the disaster occurred, they immediately provided assistance and soon came to New Zealand in person.

He also donated funds to the New Zealand government as the Australian royal family and the Governor-General of New Zealand, and mobilized a large amount of manpower and material resources from Australia to save New Zealanders in the disaster as much as possible.

Arthur's attention to New Zealand also made New Zealanders feel how wonderful it is to have an excellent ruler.

It gradually began to spread among the people of New Zealand that it would be great if Arthur was their monarch.

Although Arthur is now the Governor-General of New Zealand, his term of office is only 20 years, and New Zealand is still nominally under the management of the British Empire.

With Arthur, Australia's current development momentum is unstoppable, and the achievements it has made have exceeded New Zealand's best history.

Coupled with the completely different attitudes of Australia and the British Empire towards New Zealand in this disaster, most New Zealanders gradually had other ideas in their hearts.

On December 13, 1903, Arthur merged the Advisory Group and the House of Commons of New Zealand, and renamed the House of Commons as the House of Representatives.

At the same time, Grant and Joshua were appointed as life members of the House of Lords.

The Law Commission is the upper house of New Zealand, directly appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand, and is a lifelong system.

As the name suggests, the functions of the Law Commission probably include formulating and amending existing New Zealand laws and supervising the power of New Zealand officials.

Since Arthur took office as the Governor-General of New Zealand, there has been no change to the Law Commission.

There are currently six people on the Law Commission. In addition to the garrison commander Pierce, Grant and Joshua, the other three are life members left by the previous Governor-General.

Fortunately, these three people are very obedient to Arthur, because they also know that life members are just a matter of words for Arthur. Even as the Governor-General of New Zealand, Arthur can control their life and death.

This is actually a check and balance measure of the British Empire for colonies like New Zealand that already have autonomy.

In colonies like New Zealand, the position and power of the governor are basically equivalent to the head of state, and represent the British royal family and the British king.

The governor is directly appointed by the British king, not elected from New Zealanders. This also means that the measures formulated and implemented by the governor must be biased towards the British Empire. After all, everyone knows who their immediate superior is.

This is actually a bargain for Arthur. As the irreplaceable governor of New Zealand, Arthur's power in New Zealand is also very huge, and there is no force or individual in New Zealand that can resist Arthur's power.

Pierce, the commander of the garrison, may be one, but Pierce also knows his ability very well. So far, there has been no conflict with Arthur.

Under the premise that the New Zealand government is all smart, no one will stop Arthur from merging the Advisory Group and the House of Commons. This is equivalent to Arthur successfully placing a large number of loyal people in the New Zealand House of Commons.

As New Zealand's reconstruction work has entered a stable stage, the political situation in New Zealand has become increasingly turbulent.

On December 17, a member of the Coalition Party gave a speech that shocked the whole of New Zealand in his hometown, extolling Arthur's greatness and believing that New Zealand should join Australia, just like sixty years ago.

This is not just empty talk. I don't know where this member got the information from, but he did produce a very detailed development data of each Australian state, from before Australia became independent to the latest third quarter summary of this year. All kinds of data confirm a reality, that is, the six states of Australia are experiencing high-level and high-speed development, and the current achievements and potential of Australia's development have far exceeded New Zealand.

Of course, New Zealanders are not paying attention to this, but another reality confirmed by this data.

Australia has achieved the common development of the six states, and even in Tasmania, the state with the smallest population, people's living standards have been greatly improved.

Although Tasmania has the smallest population, it also means that the economic improvement is very rapid and effective.

After Tasmania built hospitals and schools, nursing homes, orphanages and some roads, the living standards and income of people in Tasmania have experienced explosive growth. The current per capita annual income has reached 15 pounds, which has exceeded the level of New Zealand.

Not to mention other states in Australia. Because of the rich mineral resources, the five states of the Australian continent have developed rapidly. Even South Australia, which has the lowest per capita income, has now reached more than 14 pounds.

This income level makes New Zealanders really envious. Since New Zealand separated from Australia, the highest per capita income has been only 16 pounds, and it is gradually decreasing with the sluggish economy of New Zealand.

Especially after this typhoon, it has caused a serious blow to New Zealand's economy, and New Zealand's per capita income will usher in a cliff-like decline.

According to the bold predictions of some New Zealand newspapers, New Zealand's per capita annual income will drop to 11 pounds by the end of 1903.

This is not the end. The year most affected must be 1904. It is estimated that the per capita annual income of New Zealanders in 1904 will not exceed 11 pounds, and even maintaining it at 10 pounds would be a relatively good result.

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