Rise of Australia

Chapter 610 The Minister of Agriculture’s Ambition

The economic contribution was not only reflected in the Allied Powers and the Great Powers, but also in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the defeated countries in World War I.

Because of the so-called foundry model, Germany's industry has experienced a recent recovery, and its industrial scale is already equivalent to that of Germany in 1905.

Although there is still a long way to go compared to the industrial scale before the war, compared to the tragic state of being restricted after the war, Germany has at least ushered in a recovery in industry.

The contrast is equally obvious with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost Hungary, the core of industry was still in Austria and Bohemia.

At present, the industrial scale of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has returned to the level of 1910. Except for the loss of Hungary, their situation is much better than that of Germany.

However, one obvious feature of the industrial and economic recovery of these countries is that the real value of their currencies is decreasing, and the value of their currencies is constantly depreciating.

Although it seems that the economies of various countries are constantly growing, and even people's incomes are also constantly increasing.

But the problem is that the value of currency is constantly decreasing, and the purchasing power of people's wages is actually constantly decreasing.

Although such economic growth has created false prosperity, such prosperity is like a bubble and may burst at any time.

People's income seems to have increased, but their living standards have continued to decrease.If all walks of life cannot see such a crisis and continue to increase the scale of production of manufactured goods, it will become inevitable that an economic crisis will occur.

But who among the governments is willing to take the initiative to expose such a potential crisis?Let’s not talk about whether it is good for the government or not. It is not good for those who expose it.

Anyway, as long as you survive your term, there will always be the next government to take over.But if such a crisis is highlighted during one's term of office, how should one solve the crisis?
Isn't a government that raises a crisis but fails to solve it the best scapegoat?

Those politicians are not fools. Instead of exposing the crisis and making enemies of the capitalists, they might as well survive their term of office and use their reputation to write books and even be hired by those capitalists as corporate consultants, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, etc.

With their experience in high positions in government and their influence in politics.Even if the book they write is a mess, someone will pay for their fame. This is the celebrity effect.

Two options have become clear.Almost no one is willing to take the risk to expose the crisis. Most people choose the second option. It is better to follow the times and follow the trend.

This is also a scary place for capital.Although most of the time power is greater than money, money is attractive to everyone.

When money and power in a country are intertwined, that is the most terrifying time for the people of that country.

This is what Arthur can see and what he tries to avoid.

As the largest capitalist in Australasia, Arthur's purpose in establishing the Electoral Commission and the Royal House of Representatives to control political parties was to separate capital and political power in Australasia and try to prevent officials from being influenced by capital.

In elections like those in the United States, it is easy for capitalists to intervene and cultivate influential candidates among the people.

The simplest truth is that if you want to get higher support, you must hold a lot of speeches. This kind of speeches need not only to be large-scale, but also to be held all over the country.

This is equivalent to a natural screening. It is basically impossible for ordinary people to have enough assets to hold speeches, or the kind of large-scale speeches that occur all over the country.

This also means that it is difficult for candidates from ordinary people to frequently appear in front of the public. How will the public know that this person exists and vote for him?

But if you get the support of capital, or even reach cooperation with capital, you can easily hold frequent large-scale speeches to build your fame and popularity.

Regardless of the quality of your speech or your purpose, let more people know you first. This is the first step to running for President of the United States.

Obviously, such an election process can easily be controlled by capitalists.Although there may be candidates from the civilian class who will succeed, the candidates who are more likely to succeed must be candidates supported by capitalists, or candidates who are capitalists themselves.

This kind of election is also unfair, because capital will always have an advantage, and the starting line for the candidates is already different.

This is why Arthur strictly controls the funds of each party and even adopts the principle of centralized allocation.

In this way, capitalists do not have many opportunities to support a certain political party and candidates, because the party's funds will be divided among more parties, and the funding gap between each party is not too big.

Moreover, Arthur himself is the largest capitalist in Australasia, which can also eliminate the possibility of some capital influencing the government.

In Australasia, which capital can be bigger than Arthur?In front of the royal consortium, who can compete with Arthur's capital?
On January 1925, 1, Arthur went to the Capital District to inspect the agricultural planting situation in the Murray River Basin.

The construction of St. Arthur's Castle is almost completed, and it is expected that the capital can be moved to St. Arthur's Castle within two years at the earliest and five years at the slowest.

This will also test the agricultural planting situation near St. Arthur's Castle. After all, the development of the Capital District is the top priority in the next construction plan, and will also usher in more people and more food consumption. "Your Majesty, we have reclaimed more than 50 acres of land in the Capital District in the past two years, and the current grain production in the Capital District has reached 149 million tons." Agriculture Minister Mark said with a proud face.

Most of the land in the Capital Territory was previously barren, and only a small portion of the land that once belonged to the State of Victoria was inhabited.

This also means that most of the grain production in the Capital Region is new, and Australasia's grain production will also increase a lot.

"149 million tons?" Arthur nodded, quite satisfied with this grain production figure.

Judging from the current per capita grain consumption in Australasia, the grain production in the Capital District alone is enough to consume nearly 300 million people for a year.

The population of the Capital Region has not yet exceeded one million, and the total population is even less than 60. This kind of food production is far enough.

However, as the Murray River Basin is an important agricultural production area in Australasia in the future, the more food production the better.

No country would object to having too much grain production. After all, grain, like gold, is definitely a hard currency in chaotic times.

"Your Majesty, our total grain output has exceeded 2400 million tons, an increase of more than 7% from the previous year. It is expected that by the end of the four-year plan, our grain output will exceed at least 2600 million tons, far exceeding our consumption. "Agriculture Minister Mark continued to say excitedly.

After becoming the Minister of Agriculture again, Mark must be thinking about doing something big.

As Minister of Agriculture from 1907 to 1918, Minister Mark had accumulated considerable credit and even received a knighthood.

But this was not enough for Minister Mark.If he can create some new political achievements during this term, it is not impossible to obtain a baronetship based on his good performance during World War I.

After all, baron is a truly hereditary noble title. This is not only for yourself, but also for your family and children.

If we can really take this step, this will be a real big step towards the aristocracy. At least if the Mark family does not make any mistakes, the life of the family can basically be guaranteed.

However, there is still a large threshold for the title of knight to baronet.This is also the reason why the number of knights currently reaches hundreds, and there are only more than 20 people with the title of baronet.

There is still a clear gap between hereditary and non-hereditary nobles. If such a gap is achieved through seniority, sometimes it may not be possible in a lifetime.

Australasia's grain production still meets Arthur's expectations.

In fact, this is also a characteristic of this era. People's enthusiasm for agricultural work is still relatively strong, and there is not much discrimination against agricultural workers.

Although the profits from simply growing food are not as good as those of the working class, agricultural workers live a more leisurely life and have a higher happiness index.

Although workers also have a strictly enforced eight-hour work system, in various comparisons, their living standards are not as good as those engaged in agriculture.

After all, agricultural workers do not need to buy most of their food, but workers need to buy almost all their food, clothing, housing and transportation. This has created an innate difference.

If workers work for others, then these farmers work for themselves. This is the fundamental difference between the two.

Even most agricultural workers live directly on the farm and do not need to buy houses in the city, which also saves them a lot of expenses.

Agricultural and animal husbandry production also has its own subsidies, and the government will also help sell agricultural and animal husbandry products, etc., to ensure that these farmers and ranchers have sufficient income.

Compared with working hard for others, many people have chosen to start their own farms or ranches and become free farmers and ranchers.

Especially in the newly developed land in the Murray River Basin, the price of land is still relatively cheap.

This can also be regarded as a characteristic of Australasia. When there are few people in the land, the price of land can never be expensive.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture, the number of farms in the Capital Region has exceeded 5000, and the number of pastures has exceeded 3000.

Although most of them are relatively small farms and ranches, the amount of food and meat production they can contribute is considerable.

The reason why Australasia's food production has grown so rapidly is that these small-scale farms have contributed a lot.

　The first update of 3000 words, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)