Chapter 178 New Zealand Referendum
While New Zealand was preparing for the referendum, Australia also ushered in its fourth National Day, which also meant that Australia had been established for four years.
This National Day event was not as grand as in previous years, because the new palace and the new government building were under construction, and there was no military parade.
It was mainly about raising the flag and the government's annual speech, and Arthur did not rush back to Australia.
After half a month of preparation, on January 15, 1904, the referendum across New Zealand officially began.
In order to ensure the fairness of this referendum, New Zealand dispatched almost the entire colonial government officials and all garrison soldiers to resolutely resist any unfair behavior.
And New Zealand also invited officials from the German Empire, the British Empire, France, Australia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands as witnesses to ensure the fairness of this referendum.
Of course, these officials are actually colonial officials around New Zealand, which is why they can arrive in New Zealand quickly.
However, these people actually bear the orders of their respective countries, and they do have the right to represent their respective countries.
In order to ensure the fairness of this referendum, the referendum will last for a whole month from January 15 to February 15.
During this period, New Zealand will invite the entire witness group to conduct random inspections in all towns in New Zealand to ensure the fairness of this referendum.
There are three options in this referendum, namely New Zealand independence, continuing to be ruled by the British Empire as an autonomous colony, and joining Australia.
At present, among these three options, the least popular one has become New Zealand independence.
In this typhoon crisis, New Zealanders have seen the insufficiency of New Zealand's single strength.
If it were not for the help of Australia and European countries, I am afraid that New Zealand would have enough headaches just in the post-disaster rescue link, and there would even be more casualties and losses.
This is actually a common problem in the world at present. Weak regions and countries are like meat on the hunter's table, and can only wait for the division of the powerful countries.
Judging from the size of New Zealand, even if it succeeds in independence, it will only become a joke.
Although it is much better than Asian countries of the same size in terms of economy and industry, it is completely incomparable with European countries.
Although New Zealand, which has gained complete independence, has escaped the control of the British Empire, it will also be coveted by other powerful countries.
With the size of New Zealand, it is not enough to resist any powerful country, and even the secondary powers such as Spain and the Netherlands cannot compete.
Such an outcome may not be better than staying in the British Empire. At least the British Empire is still the world's number one power and has the ability to protect all its colonies.
In the expectation of all New Zealanders, the New Zealand referendum officially began.
Hundreds of collection points have been set up throughout New Zealand to collect the referendum choices of all New Zealanders.
In addition, the New Zealand colonial government will organize people to go to some more remote areas to collect the opinions of New Zealanders and try to let all eligible New Zealanders participate in this referendum.
Because the land area of New Zealand is not large, the referendum will only last for one month.
But there will be a statistical time of half a month after that, and then the results of the New Zealand referendum will be officially announced on March 1, one and a half months later.
This referendum in New Zealand has attracted the attention of some regions around the world. After all, except for the special Australia, this is the first event in which the colonial residents control the fate of their own region.
This even gave some colonial countries hope for independence, and they also wanted to incite referendums so that their countries could gain independence.
Unfortunately, their rulers did not have the evidence that Arthur had, and their actions were doomed to fail.
European colonial countries that had not been weakened by World War I and World War II would never give up their colonies.
Even some small European countries attach great importance to their colonies, not to mention the old powers that rely on colonies to absorb a lot of profits and resources.
Politicians in these countries have even anticipated the harm that such events in New Zealand would bring to their colonies, so they have already put the colonial army on alert to suppress possible colonial rebellions.
At this time, the attitude of various countries towards colonial residents was still relatively cruel. Human rights were something that colonial residents could only expect half a century later.
Arthur did not show up in this referendum, but Joshua, who represented Arthur, still represented Australia and toured all cities in New Zealand.
This referendum attracted the enthusiastic participation of New Zealanders. From the collection boxes that were often full in various towns, it can be seen that there were not a few people participating in this referendum, which can also better reflect the true opinions of the New Zealand people.
Wellington and Auckland, including Christchurch and Invercargill in the South Island of New Zealand, are the places where the entire witness group has visited the most times.
Because these four cities are currently the four cities with the largest population and relatively the most developed economy in New Zealand.
Among them, Wellington and Auckland are located in the North Island of New Zealand, and Christchurch and Invercargill are located in the South Island of New Zealand.
However, the two cities in the South Island are relatively backward in population size and economic development compared to Wellington and Auckland.
The populations of Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand have exceeded 100,000, especially Wellington in New Zealand, which has reached more than 150,000.
It is worth mentioning that when New Zealand just separated from Australia, its colonial capital was still Auckland.
It was not until 1865 that the colonial capital of New Zealand was moved from Auckland to Wellington, the southernmost part of New Zealand's North Island, which can be across the sea from the northernmost part of the South Island.
But Wellington was still a backward town at that time, and the choice of Wellington as the capital was still the opinion of Australian parliamentarians (because Australian parliamentarians are relatively neutral and maintain good relations with New Zealand.)
The reason for choosing to move the capital is not that Auckland's geographical location is not good.
On the contrary, Auckland and nearby urban areas are all in the plains, and New Zealand had the largest population and the most developed economy at that time.
But because gold was discovered in the South Island of New Zealand, the New Zealand colonial government was worried that the discovery of gold in the South Island of New Zealand, coupled with the fact that the capital was located in Auckland at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand, would lead to the people of the South Island developing an independent mentality and seceding from New Zealand to establish a new colony. Therefore, the colonial capital was moved to Wellington, the southernmost tip of the North Island, which is the relative center of New Zealand.
When Wellington became the capital of New Zealand, it was just a small town with a population of less than 5,000.
With the development of New Zealand by successive New Zealand governors, Wellington gradually grew into a city and became the second largest port city in New Zealand after Auckland.
At present, Wellington is already the political, industrial and economic center of New Zealand, and has surpassed Auckland to become the largest city in New Zealand.
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