Chapter 178: Chapter 172: Who should we believe?

“On November 8,1903, New Zealand suffered an unprecedented disaster. A typhoon made landfall from the town of Opunaki on the North Island of New Zealand, successively hitting the towns of New Plymouth, Pio Pio, Hamilton, Huntley, Waitako Harbour, Manukau, Oakland, Caperna, Colomandel, and Port Fitzroy. The disaster inflicted tremendous damage on the economy, industries, and all forms of infrastructure on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand.”

Based on preliminary statistics, the disaster caused at least two million pounds in property damage to New Zealand and resulted in the death of over 36,000 people, with 84,000 more injured, some seriously.

Following the disaster, virtually the entire west coast of the North Island of New Zealand needed to be rebuilt, leaving at least 200,000 people homeless.

We are grateful for aid from various regions and countries around the world, especially our friendly neighbor, Australia, which on the day of the disaster transported assistance totaling 450,000 pounds, coupled with supplies worth over 100,000 pounds.

We also appreciate the aid from other countries; the German Empire’s 50,000 pounds, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s forty thousand pounds, and the support of ten thousand pounds each from France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Russian Empire.

We sincerely thank all countries for their aid to New Zealand. Long live our friendship.

After the disaster, the colonial government of New Zealand will mobilize the entire strength of New Zealand to aid the people of the west coast of the North Island to rebuild their homes. We also call on more New Zealanders to join this rescue effort, for up until now, many New Zealanders remain missing and require more help.”

Starting from November 12, this report was printed in all newspapers in New Zealand and freely distributed to every town in New Zealand.

In a short amount of time, nearly all New Zealanders saw this newspaper and report, and understood the scale of the disaster that had occurred on the North Island of New Zealand.

While a few people were curious about the organization that managed to get all newspapers in New Zealand to publish this report simultaneously…

More were drawn in by the information in the report, focusing their attention and concern on the North Island of New Zealand.

In the report, beyond the shocking death toll and the heart-wrenching property damage, what gathered the most attention were the aid provisions from other nations.

New Zealand is a colony of the British Empire. The aid from the other world powers was extraordinarily generous.

The people of New Zealand also see it that way, especially the aid from the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, which was the most generous of all the major world powers at present.

However, the British Empire, as the current sovereign state of New Zealand, offered aid on par with other world powers and was even surpassed by the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.

This disappointed many New Zealanders loyal to the British Empire. They felt they have been abandoned by the British Empire.

Compared to the other nations, the aid from Australia appears much more considerable. Not only did they provide 450,000 pounds in funds, they also provided aid in the form of supplies, valued at over 100,000 pounds.

This means everything to present-day New Zealand in the wake of the disaster. Avast number of refugees are in desperate need of supplies and food to sustain their everyday lives.

As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy. When compared to a number of European nations, particularly the British Empire, Australia’s aid seems much more genuine.

Furthermore, it was clearly stated in the report that Australia provided aid on the day the disaster struck, unlike the European nations that New Zealand had to ask for help.

Following the report, many New Zealanders gradually changed their views, at least becoming more friendly towards Australia.

Quite a few New Zealanders now see Australians as good neighbors of New Zealand and anticipate a union between New Zealand and Australia as projected by the Union Party.

On November 14,1903, the second batch of aid from Australia arrived in New Zealand.

This batch of aid was mainly in the form of much-needed manpower for the current rescue efforts. Australia gifted New Zealand with 30,000 Southeast Asian natives to aid with New Zealand’s post-disaster rebuilding work.

This manpower is just what New Zealand needs for its current rescue efforts. The population of New Zealand has always been relatively small. Even after several years of development, it barely exceeds 1.1 million.

This typhoon directly resulted in a loss of at least 40,000 people for New Zealand. This has set the New Zealand economy back for at least five years.

Moreover, with almost half of the North Island of New Zealand affected by the disaster, resulting in refugee numbers exceeding 200,000, the difficulty of New Zealand’s rescue efforts has significantly increased.

On November 17,1903, Arthur personally arrived in New Zealand and, after delivering a speech in Oakland promising full commitment to the rescue and rebuilding effort, announced again that he would donate 500,000 pounds to New Zealand as the Governor of New Zealand.

As of now, the amount of money New Zealand received in aid surpassed 1.1 million pounds, and the amount of grain and supply aid exceeded 150,000 pounds.

This has substantially alleviated New Zealand’s logistic burden and sped up the progress of its rescue efforts.

From the end of the typhoon on November 10, New Zealand’s rescue efforts have been ongoing for seven days, up until November 17.”

From here on out, the focus of the efforts would be placed on post-disaster reconstruction, rather than on searching for the missing citizens.

This was an inevitable decision, as after waiting for a week, there was almost no hope left for the survival of those who hadn’t been rescued. By the time a rescue team would find them, they would likely have already turned into corpses.

Many of the refugees were settled in the northern part of the Auckland Peninsula, which houses over ten small towns capable of accommodating twenty to thirty thousand refugees.

Some were relocated to North Palmerston, Picton, Xahart, and Wellington, located in the southern region of the North Island of New Zealand. This area is the heart of New Zealand and also where the colonial capital, Wellington, is located.

This area could accommodate at least eighty thousand refugees, who were distributed among the major cities, supplementing the population of the urban areas in the North Island.

Almost a hundred thousand refugees chose to stay in their homeland, despite it being reduced to ruins.

The most critical part of the reconstruction work was centered around Auckland. Auckland is home to the second-largest city on the North Island, Auckland city, including the two major cities of Caperna and Manukau in the north and south.

The resident population in this area exceeded two hundred thousand, with over half of them becoming refugees.

The southern part of the West Coast disaster area was mostly made up of small towns. These towns varied greatly in population, with the larger towns housing five to six thousand people and the smaller ones being home to less than a thousand.

In response to media reports, passionate New Zealanders enlisted in the rescue effort and were allocated to these towns. Their responsibilities included aiding the refugees in the reconstruction of their homes and communities.

The primary task of the thirty thousand indigenous people donated by Australia and the New Zealand Garrison was to rebuild the Auckland region, particularly Auckland city.

Auckland serves as a vital hub connecting the Auckland Peninsula and the main part of the North Island of New Zealand. It complements Wellington to the south, and together they form the brightest pearls of New Zealand.

The damage inflicted upon Auckland was the least desirable situation for New Zealand; hence, its reconstruction was of utmost urgency.

On November 18th, Arthur once again called in twenty thousand indigenous workers and tens of thousands of Australian workers from Australia.

The majority of these workers had knowledge of the construction industry. They would play a crucial role in New Zealand’s reconstruction efforts.

At the same time, Arthur implemented a work-for-relief policy in the disaster- stricken areas, encouraging a large number of lightly wounded and uninjured refugees to join in the rebuilding of their homeland.

As a reward, they would receive additional relief supplies and a small amount of money. This would compensate for their financial losses to some extent.

This policy earned the support of many New Zealand refugees, who eagerly joined in the reconstruction efforts along the West Coast of New Zealand.

Just a week later, the West Coast of New Zealand had amassed over fifty thousand natives and one hundred and fifty thousand New Zealanders. This significantly sped up the reconstruction of the towns and villages.

During this time, Arthur was extremely busy, and so was Grant.

As the leader of the New Zealand Alliance Party, Grant, upon Arthur’s signal, promptly joined in the reconstruction efforts, setting an example for all political parties and officers in New Zealand.

This earned the Alliance Party the favour of the New Zealanders once again. After all, those who personally contributed to the reconstruction of New Zealand were far better than those who idled in their offices.

During this time, Arthur personally visited all disaster-stricken towns in New Zealand and met the New Zealanders working on reconstruction in these areas.

Arthur was welcomed by almost everyone, and some of the more zealous individuals even shouted “Long live” in a frenzy upon Arthur’s arrival.

Arthur didn’t openly react to such demonstrations, but he was pleased with Grant’s actions.

Considering the extent of the recognition Arthur received in New Zealand, combined with the recent disaster and the difference in the amount of aid provided by Australia and the British Empire, perhaps some things could truly change in New Zealand.

On November 26th, 1903, a piece of news was broadcasted, which stirred up New Zealand.

The news headline was rather simple, consisting of only a few words, but deeply struck the hearts of all New Zealanders.

“The British Empire and Australia, who should we trust?”

Both the British Empire and Australia have special relationships with New Zealand. The British Empire is currently the suzerain of New Zealand, with New Zealand officially part of the empire.

Meanwhile, New Zealand used to be part of Australia, having only succeeded in separating from Australia a few decades ago.