Chapter 518

Due to the impact of influenza, the second half of 1919 was chaotic and disorderly.

The economies of all countries were greatly affected, even Australasia was no exception.

The slightly improved foreign immigration was terminated again. After all, no one dared to guarantee whether there were actual cases of infection among these foreign immigrants. They could only take strict isolation measures or postpone immigration to Australia to prevent Australasia from being affected by more serious influenza.

In September 1919, Australasia welcomed more than 100,000 foreign immigrants. By October, it had dropped sharply to less than 50,000. November and December combined were even less than 50,000, which was enough to show Australasia's cautious attitude towards influenza.

This also made Arthur frown slightly when he saw the report on the Australasia government in 1919.

It has to be admitted that this sudden third round of influenza still has a great impact on Australasia's originally expected four-year development plan.

Even the fourth phase of the Leonora Industrial Base was forced to stop construction to prevent large-scale infection caused by the construction workers.

However, compared with the slightly tragic foreign countries, Australasia, which was prepared in advance, was in a relatively good situation.

In October, November and December, there were less than 100,000 cases of infection in Australasia, and the death toll was reduced to less than four digits, to be precise, there were only more than 600 people, which was a relatively good situation.

The number of infections in most European countries is in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Because there is no specific medicine at present, they can only bear such flu. Some doctors and clinics prescribe drugs randomly, but the results prove that they are useless.

Because of the impact of the flu, the National Day in 1920 also became very low-key. There was only a flag-raising ceremony that no one visited. All National Day activities were cancelled, and the government encouraged people to stay at home for the holiday and try not to go out.

The good news is that people in this era do not have too much rebellious psychology. Even if people ask them to stay at home, most of them will obey.

But if it were later Europe and the United States, as soon as the government issued a request, ordering people to go out as little as possible and wear masks, I am afraid that people would start protesting against the government for violating their freedom and rights.

This kind of thinking is crazy and incomprehensible, and it is also what Arthur wants to do his best to eliminate in Australasia.

It is true that people can fight for their due rights, but in the face of major issues, the interests of the country are also important.

At present, the performance of the Australasians is still good. Perhaps because of Arthur's high reputation, the Australasians are obviously willing to obey the orders of the government and Arthur, and are willing to implement any policies and orders issued by the government.

Although there are no activities, the Australasian government still published the data for 1919.

First, it is to reassure the people. After all, there are still many people who care about the government's various data and the country's construction.

Second, the development of the country can also fully reflect the country's potential in certain aspects and the corresponding economic environment.

Compared with other powerful countries, Australasia was the least affected by the flu, which is more attractive to immigrants who want to move to a more stable environment.

This is indeed the case. When Australasia announced the government's development data, not only a large number of people were concerned about the data released by the government, but also a large number of foreign media followed up and reported the data, and expressed sincere admiration.

Although Australasia was affected by the flu, with the contrast of its peers, Australasia's performance in 1919 was still relatively good.

First of all, the population data. As of January 1, 1920, when the data was announced, the population of Australasia had grown to 21,694,618, an increase of about 1.5 million people over the previous year, and the data was quite good.

If it were not for the impact of the flu in the second half of the year, the population of Australasia would even be close to 22 million.

In this population growth of 1.49 million, the local population contributed a very important part. There were about 570,000 newborns and 70,000 local deaths, which was equivalent to a net increase of about 500,000 local population.

The remaining approximately 990,000 people were basically immigrants, of which the Russian population contributed nearly 500,000.

In fact, it can be seen from this data that Arthur has already restricted the Russian population.

If Australasia relaxes immigration restrictions on Russia, it will not be difficult to attract millions or even 2 million Russians every year.

But such population growth is not a good thing for Australasia. After all, if the Russian population is too large, it will have a subversive impact on the rule of Australasia.

Although Arthur has always emphasized the unified national concept of Australasians, it is not a simple matter to make the concept of Australasia as a great nation accepted by all Australasia people, and it will take a longer time.

At present, it is considered to be to a certain extent. The millions of native people in Australasia are basically willing and have deeply accepted the concept of Australasia.

And the immigrants in the early years were basically willing to accept the national concept of Australasia. After all, the national concept of Australasia can bring them practical benefits, which is the real point to attract those immigrants.

At present, those who are slightly repulsive or uncomfortable are the immigrants who have just come to Australasia in recent years.

It’s not that these people are unwilling to accept the rule of Australasia, but they are used to staying in their original countries. It still takes a lot of time to influence them to accept becoming Australasia in a short period of time.

Generally speaking, if you want these immigrants to accept and obey the rule of Australasia, it will take at least five years of influence to make them feel identified with Australasia.

If you want to brainwash them into a population loyal to Australasia, the time will be infinitely extended. It will take at least 10 to 15 years of influence before they will be loyal to Australasia.

Of course, the most effective way is to tie the interests of these people to the interests of Australasia.

As long as they have common interests with Australasia, they will naturally stand with Australasia.

This can be seen from the policy of Australasia towards these immigrants. The government grants these immigrants a large amount of land, or provides housing and jobs, so that they can quickly adapt to life in Australasia and own some assets in Australasia.

In this way, even if their families want to leave Australasia, they will not be willing to do so.

After all, the assets given to them by the government are real, and they have a fatal attraction to those who cannot live in their original countries.

If everyone can live happily, will they stand up against the government and fall into the dilemma of leaving their hometown again?

The best way to make an immigrant feel a sense of identity with a new country is to let the immigrant live well in the new country and let them find the long-lost sense of happiness and security. It's that simple.

Due to the influence of the Four-Year Plan, Australasia's industrial growth in 1919 was also relatively fast.

At present, Australasia's total steel production has increased to 3.5 million tons and 5.17 million tons respectively, the growth rate of chemical industry output value has reached 17.7%, and the growth rate of civilian light industry output value has also reached 14.1%.

From this aspect, we can see the efforts of the Australasian government in industry. Australasia is no longer satisfied with being an industrial country, but wants to go further and become an industrial power, or even an industrial superpower.

In this regard, Australasia actually has an innate advantage. With the help from the British, it is not difficult to achieve this.

In terms of industrial development, the only problem facing Australasia may be that the market size is slightly smaller due to insufficient population, which cannot digest the output value after Australasia achieves full industrialization.

In this regard, the Australasian government also has certain countermeasures.

First, retaining the Dutch East Indies is to use it as a reserve market to digest Australasian industrial products when necessary.

Planning the Philippines is also for this purpose. The population growth rate of the Philippines is still very rapid. A market with a population of tens of millions still has a certain attraction to Australasia.

Secondly, Australasia's international influence is gradually expanding around it, and even has a certain growth in Europe and East Asia.

Australasian agricultural products are exported to Europe and the United States, and have also opened up a certain European market.

Although it has to compete with industrial countries in Europe and America, the European market is also very attractive.

Needless to say, East Asia is one of the most populous regions in the world. It has the world's largest market and can definitely absorb a considerable part of Australasia's industrial products.

Fortunately, the flu broke out in October, and the economic growth in the first nine months was still normal.

Under such circumstances, Australasia's GDP reached US$2.758 billion in 1919, equivalent to 551.6 million pounds and 1.1032 billion Australian dollars.

The overall growth rate is not bad. Due to various major construction projects, Australasia's economic growth rate has remained above 10%.

In 1919, Australasia's total fiscal revenue was 188.7 million Australian dollars, which is very close to an annual income of more than 200 million Australian dollars and 100 million pounds.

This year's income has increased many times compared to when Arthur first came to Australia. Arthur is quite satisfied with the development speed of Australasia in the past 20 years. The growing fiscal revenue also bears witness to Arthur's 20 years of efforts in Australasia.

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