Chapter 828 Orange Population Crisis
Orange, Bloemfontein City.
“Currently, Kimberley has no population to support its existence. Before the war, it was the most developed city in the entire Boer Republic, with railways, telegraphs, etc., but now it is completely paralyzed, and the most terrifying thing is that we have no There is not enough population to resume local construction,” Yurta, the mayor of Kimberley, East Africa, complained gloomily.
When it comes to East Africa, the most miserable place is the former Boer Republic area. Because East Africa really expelled the Boers, so much so that in the Orange area, ten houses are empty, and the rest are almost all military.
So the Kimberley Municipal Government and other Orange regional governments are in more trouble than the governments of Mozambique and Angola.
"It's hard for a good woman to make a meal without rice. No one can develop the local area. Kimberley is now like a ghost town. There is no popularity except around the city hall and military camps. It is impossible for us to command the army to do these rough jobs."
"Now Kimberley still has production tasks to complete, and all the mines are completely shut down. If there is no one to maintain it, the mining area will probably collapse in a few months, and it will be difficult to restore it by then."
For. Despite Juerta's complaints, Bloemfontein Mayor Helvey Sin still kept a dead fish face and said: "You ask me for help, and I can't do anything! Now Bloemfontein is also an empty frame. If it weren't for There is a garrison here, and I have no doubt that our life safety will be threatened by wild beasts. Now the outskirts of Bloemfontein are covered with weeds, and there are so many empty houses that it feels scary in the middle of the night.”
Julta: "At least you can still maintain your office. We rarely even go to Kimberley now. Let's not say more. If we give a few hundred people, it would be better to go to Kimberley to put up empty shelves first than to rely on others in Bloemfontein."< br>
Hervey said in embarrassment: "Bloemfontein's population was borrowed from the neighboring province of New Baden. The Southern Frontier Province in the south used to only have troops stationed there, as well as military family members or military personnel. Everyone is short of people, so don’t rush.”
New Baden Province is not a populous province at all in East Africa, and it does not even have any sense of existence. It can only support a few thousand people in Bloemfontein.
The original city of Orange has come to a standstill due to the East African policy, and the same is true for rural areas. Angola is supported by the central part, Mozambique is supported by the eastern part and the New Hamburg Port City, and Orange is completely like being Abandoned place.
Yurta said: "I don't care about other places. Before Kimberley, it was the most economically developed area in Orange. Bloemfontein only occupied the convenience of the capital of the Boer Republic. Apart from that, It is not important to Orange at all. If you want the authorities to see the value of Orange, you must develop Kimberley’s mineral resources to a limited extent. Do you expect the little income from farming to greatly affect the central government?”
In Orange, Kimberley became the most developed area in the entire interior of South Africa because of its diamond mines, and was also the focus of competition between the British and the Boers before the war.
The output value of Kimberley is much higher than that of the other regions of the Boer Republic combined. This is easy to understand. The total population of the Boer Republic before the war was less than 400,000. When placed in Europe and the Far Eastern Empire, that is The size of a city, Kimberley was previously one of the largest diamond producers in the world, so the diamond industry alone exceeds the combined revenue of the rest of Orange.
Regarding Juerta's words, Helvey also believes that there is some truth. If Orange is completely shut down, it may not attract much attention. The most effective way to reflect its own value is to revitalize Orange's industry first.
The diamond industry is obviously the most valuable industry in Orange, and it is a high value-added industry. In the 19th century, diamond production was very limited, so the price was very considerable. After thinking for a while, Helvey said to Juerta: "Many of the mines in other parts of East Africa are dominated by black people. Obviously, Kimberley can also use black people to support them first, but there are almost no black people in Orange, so we can Ask for black resources from other provinces, and then I will allocate dozens of manpower to you. You can maintain the mining industry in Kimberley first. Even if you complete the task and there are troops stationed in Kimberley, you don't have to worry about black riots. "
Yurta said with a grimace: "We in Orange are probably the only ones in East Africa who want to target black people. "
East Africa. Elsewhere, black people have made important contributions to the economic development of East Africa. Even Angola and Mozambique, which have just been merged into East Africa, have a large number of black people for local governments to drive. However, the Orange region is really miserable, and there are not many black people.
The Boers are also a very exclusive ethnic group. In addition, they mainly focus on herding and do not need a large population. Therefore, there are not many black people in Orange, and only a small number of San people are distributed in inaccessible areas.
Helvetica patted Juerta on the shoulder and comforted: "There is nothing we can do about it. Angola and Mozambique have a large black population, and there is only the army in Orange, so we can't intervene. To get started, we can only think of ways to recruit black people from other provinces. Our country is in short supply of nationals everywhere, so we should be able to squeeze out a lot of black people. I don’t believe that the superiors will refute our application. "
Julta. said: "It doesn't take too many people. Tens of thousands of people can restore the mine to its previous production capacity. Before the South African War, the population of the Boer Republic was not large. The machines were mainly left by the British. It would be difficult for black people to master them, so a dozen or so people would definitely No, you have to give it to at least two to three hundred people, otherwise it will be a waste of Kimberly's machine."
Julta's words reminded Helvey of what is most valuable in Orange now. ? In addition to minerals, there are machines and infrastructure left by the British, and these are mainly concentrated in Kimberley.
So if Orange is to be developed, it really cannot do without Kimberley. If these machines and infrastructure are allowed to be destroyed, I am afraid it will be difficult for Orange to find opportunities to industrialize again in the future.
So he said to Julta: "Machines are indeed very important. Kimberley could previously be compared with many economically developed cities in East Africa. The remaining conditions are indeed unique. When you arrive in Kimberley, you should first be optimistic about those machines and infrastructure." Facilities, apart from other things, we are optimistic about the railway in Kimberley first. We now have a real relationship with Cape Town. It’s embarrassing, but maybe the two sides will reconcile in the future, and then Kimberley’s railway will play a big role.”
Kimberley has the only railway line in the former Boer Republic that connects to Cape Town. It was used by the British to transport diamonds. From this, we can also see the economic strength of Kimberley.
Of course, the railway is now a dead end, and even the bridges over the Orange River were blown up during the war.
However, this railway may not be unable to play a role in the future. After all, relations between East and Britain cannot always be stiff, especially Cape Town, a British territory connected to East Africa.
Of course, British Railways and East African Railways are not interoperable, so whether the Kimberley Railway can be retained in the future is a question, but Helvey is still inclined to retain it first. Even if it is really to be demolished in the future, then Orange The situation is definitely very different from now.
(End of this chapter)