The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 815 -609: The Ambition of the Minister of Agriculture_1

The economic toll was not only evident in the Allies and Powers but also in the defeated nations of World War I, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Because of the so-called subcontractor factory model, Germany’s Industry had seen a resurgence over a period, having reached the scale of Germany’s Industry in 1905.

Although there was still a gap compared to the pre-war industrial scale, compared to the horrifically restricted state post-war, Germany had at least seen a revival in the industrial sector.

Similarly apparent was the case with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost Hungary, the industrial core remained in Austria and Bohemia.

The current industrial scale of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had recovered to the levels of 1910, and apart from the loss of Hungary, their situation was much better than that of Germany.

However, these countries’ industrial and economic resurgence had a clear characteristic: their currency’s actual value was decreasing, and the value of their money was continuously devaluing.

Although it seemed like the economies of various countries were constantly growing, and even the incomes of people were steadily increasing.

But the problem is, the value of money was continuously weakening, and the purchasing power of people’s wages was actually reducing.

While such economic growth had created a false sense of prosperity, it was like a bubble that could burst at any time.

People’s incomes appeared to grow, but their living standards were constantly declining. If all industries still can’t see such a crisis and continue to ramp up the production scale of finished goods, the outbreak of an economic crisis becomes inevitable.

But which government would willingly expose such an impending crisis? Never mind if this is beneficial for the government, it is of no advantage to the one who reveals it.

After all, one just needs to endure through one’s term in office; there will always be the next government to take the fall. But what if such a crisis is laid bare during one’s tenure? How then to resolve the crisis?

If one proposes a crisis but fails to resolve it, wouldn’t that government be the perfect scapegoat?

And these politicians are not fools; rather than exposing a crisis and alienating capitalists, they prefer to endure their term, then they can rely on their fame to write books or even be hired by those capitalists as corporate consultants, seizing the opportunity to make a fortune and so on.

With their experience of holding high positions in the government, and their influence in the political arena. Even if the books they write are a mess, there will be people willing to pay for their fame—this is the celebrity effect.

The two choices have become very clear. Almost no one is willing to risk exposing the crisis, and the choice for most is the second one: to go with the times, to go with the flow.

This is also where capital is quite frightening. While most of the time, Power is greater than money, money has an attraction to anyone.

When a country’s monetary and authoritative powers are intertwined, that is the scariest time for the People of that nation.

This is what Arthur could see and was adamantly trying to avoid.

As the largest capitalist in Australasia, Arthur’s purpose in setting up the election commission and controlling political parties with the Royal Parliament was to separate the capital and government of Australasia as much as possible, avoiding the influence of capitalists on officials.

In elections like those in the United States, it is easy for capitalists to intervene and foster candidates with influence among the common people.

The simplest principle is that to gain higher support, one must hold numerous speeches, which not only have to be large-scale but need to occur nationwide.

This is like a natural selection process. Common people’s resources are basically not enough to afford the organization of speeches, especially large-scale ones that take place all over the country.

This also means that it’s hard for candidates from ordinary backgrounds to appear frequently before the public, so how would the people know of this person and vote to support them? ꞦÄ𐌽óBËS

However, if one gains the support of capital, or even collaborates with capital, they can easily hold large-scale speeches frequently and gain popularity and recognition.

Putting aside the quality of their speeches and their own goals, the first step is to make more people know them, which is the first step in running for President of America.

Clearly, such an electoral process can be easily controlled by capitalists. Although there may be success stories from the working classes, the ones who are more likely to succeed are usually the candidates supported by capitalists or candidates who are capitalists themselves.

Such a campaign is also unfair because capital always has an advantage; the starting line for candidates is already different.

This is why Arthur strictly controlled the funds of each party and even adopted a centralized distribution principle.

In this way, capitalists would not have many opportunities to support a political party or candidate because the party’s resources would be divided among many parties, and the financial gap between each party isn’t too wide.

Moreover, Arthur himself was the biggest capitalist in Australasia, which could also eliminate some of the capital’s potential influence on the government.

In Australasia, which other capital could outstrip Arthur’s? In the face of the Royal financial group, who could compete with Arthur’s capital?

On January 3, 1925, Arthur went to the Capital Territory to inspect the agricultural cultivation conditions of the Mure River Basin.

Construction of Saint Arthur’s Castle is nearing completion, and it’s expected that the capital could be relocated there within two years at the soonest, or within five years at the latest.

This also puts a significant test on the agricultural cultivation near Saint Arthur’s Castle, as the development of the Capital Territory is the next key step in the construction plan and will bring in more population and increase food consumption.

"Your Majesty, in the past two years we have reclaimed over 500,000 acres of land in the Capital Territory, and the current food production there has already reached 1.49 million tons,” said Minister of Agriculture Mark, beaming with pride.

Most of the land in the Capital Territory used to be barren, with only a small portion that was once part of the land of Victoria State being inhabited.

This means that most of the food production in the Capital Territory is newly added, which will significantly increase the food production of Australasia.

“1.49 million tons?” Arthur nodded, satisfied with this food production figure.

Based on the current per capita food consumption in Australasia, just the food production of the Capital Territory alone could satisfy nearly 3 million people’s annual food needs.

And the population of the Capital Territory has not even exceeded one million yet, in fact, the total population is less than 600,000, so this level of food production is more than sufficient.

However, as the Mure River Basin will be an important agriculturally productive area in Australasia in the future, it’s always better to produce more food than less.

No country would ever complain about excess food production, as food, like gold, is a solid currency, especially during turbulent times.

"Your Majesty, our total food production has now exceeded 24 million tons, with an increase of over 7% from last year. We anticipate that by the end of the Four-Year Plan, our food production will at least surpass 26 million tons, far exceeding our consumption,” continued an excited Minister Mark.

Having regained the position of Minister of Agriculture, it was clear that Mark was set on accomplishing major events.

As the Minister of Agriculture from 1907 to 1918, Minister Mark had already accumulated a fair amount of merit, even earning the title of Sir.

But that was not enough for Minister Mark. If he could create new achievements during this term, given his good performance during World War I, it was not impossible for him to obtain a Baron Title of Nobility as well.

After all, a Baron is a noble title that can truly be inherited. This was not just for himself, but also for his family and offspring.

If he could really take this step, it would be a significant move towards joining the Aristocratic Classes, ensuring, at the very least, that the Mark family would be secured in life as long as no mistakes were made.

However, the threshold from Sir to Baron is relatively high, which is why there are already hundreds of Sirs, while there are only about twenty Barons.

The gap between hereditary and non-hereditary Nobility is stark, and sometimes this gap may be insurmountable within a lifetime if one is simply waiting for tenure.

The food production of Australasia met Arthur’s expectations.

This was also a characteristic of the era—the people’s enthusiasm for working in agriculture remained strong, without much discrimination against agricultural workers.

Though profits from simple farming did not compete with those of the Working Classes, agricultural workers often led more carefree lives, with a higher happiness index.

Despite the strict enforcement of the eight-hour work system for Workers, their standard of living was not as high as those in agriculture.

After all, most farm workers did not need to purchase a significant part of their food, but Workers had to buy nearly everything for their basic needs, creating an inherent difference.

If Workers are working for others, then Farm owners are working for themselves, which is the fundamental difference between the two.

In fact, most people engaged in agriculture live directly on their farms, not needing to purchase urban housing, thereby saving a substantial amount of money.

Agriculture and animal husbandry also have their own subsidies, and the government even helps with the sale of their products, ensuring that these farm owners have ample income.

Compared with the toil of working for others, there is already a significant number of people choosing to start their own farms or ranches, becoming free farm owners.

Especially now, with the new development of the land in the Mure River Basin being quite affordable.

This is characteristic of Australasia; with land plentiful and sparse population, land prices could never be too high.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the number of farms in the Capital Territory has already exceeded 5000, and the number of ranches surpassed 3000.

While most of these are relatively small-scale, their collective contributions to food and meat production are considerable indeed.

The rapid growth rate of food production in Australasia owes much to these small scale farms.

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