Chapter 828 Orange Population Crisis
Orange, Bloemfontein.
"At present, Kimberley has absolutely 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 terrible thing is that we simply do not have enough population to restore local construction." Yurta, the mayor of Kimberley in East Africa, complained gloomily.
Speaking of East Africa, the worst-hit place is the former Boer Republic, because East Africa really drove out the Boers, so that nine out of ten houses in the Orange region were empty, and the remaining ones were almost all troops.
So the Kimberley City Council and other Orange Region governments are in a more difficult position than the governments of Mozambique and Angola.
"A good cook cannot cook without rice. No one has developed the area. Kimberley is now like a ghost town. There is no human presence around the city government and the military camp. And we cannot command the army to do these rough jobs."
"Kimberley still has production tasks to complete, and all mines are completely shut down. If no one maintains them, the mining area will collapse in a few months, and it will be difficult to recover at that time."
In response to Yulta's complaints, Bloemfontein Mayor Helweixin still maintained a deadpan expression and said, "You asked me for help, but I can't do anything! Bloemfontein is just an empty shell now. If there were no troops stationed here, I have no doubt that our lives would be threatened by wild animals. Now the outskirts of Bloemfontein are overgrown with weeds, and there are so many empty houses. It's scary in the middle of the night."
Yurta: "At least you can still maintain your office. We rarely go to Kimberley now. I won't say much. Give a few hundred people to go to Kimberley to set up the empty framework first. It's better than relying on others in Bloemfontein."
Helvetia said awkwardly: "Bloemfontein's population is borrowed from the neighboring New Baden Province. The Southern Frontier Province in the south used to only have troops stationed there, as well as military families or military practitioners. Everyone is short of people, so don't worry."
New Baden Province is not a populous province in East Africa, and it doesn't even have much presence. It can only support a few thousand people in Bloemfontein.
The original city of Orange was completely shut down because of the East African policy, and the same was true for the rural areas. Angola had support from the central region, Mozambique had support from the eastern region and the port city of New Hamburg, but Orange was completely like an abandoned place.
Yurta said: "I don't care about other places. Kimberley was the most economically developed area in Orange before. Bloemfontein is just the capital of the Boer Republic. Apart from that, it is not important to Orange at all. If you want the higher-ups 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 make a big move for 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 contention between the British and the Boers before the war.
The output value of Kimberley alone is much higher than the total of other areas of the Boer Republic. This is easy to understand. Before the war, the total population of the Boer Republic was less than 400,000, which is only the size of a city in Europe and the Far East Empire. Kimberley was previously one of the largest diamond producing areas in the world, so the diamond industry alone exceeded the total revenue of other areas of Orange.
Helvexin also thought that there was some truth in Yurta's words. If Orange was completely shut down, it would probably not attract much attention. The most effective way to demonstrate its own value was to revitalize Orange's industry first.
The diamond industry is obviously Orange's most valuable industry and a high value-added industry. Diamond production in the 19th century was very limited, so the price was very considerable.
After thinking for a while, Helvison said to Yurta: "Many mines in other parts of East Africa are mainly operated by black people. Obviously, Kimberly can also use black people first, but there are almost no black people in Orange, so we can ask other provinces for black resources, and then I will assign you a few dozen people. You can maintain the mining industry in Kimberly first, even if you complete the task. There are troops stationed in Kimberly, so you don't have to worry about black riots."
Yurta said with a bitter face: "We in Orange are probably the only ones in East Africa who have set our sights on black people."
In other parts of East Africa, blacks have made important contributions to the economic development of East Africa. Even Angola and Mozambique, which have just been incorporated into East Africa, have a large number of blacks available for local governments to use. However, the Orange region is really miserable, with not many blacks.
The Boers are also a very xenophobic ethnic group. In addition, they mainly rely on pastoralism and do not need too many people, so there are not many black people in Orange. Only a small number of San people are distributed in remote areas.
Helvetia patted Yurta on the shoulder and consoled him, "There's nothing we can do about it. Angola and Mozambique have a large black population, and Orange only has the army. We can't intervene, so we can only think of ways to get blacks from other provinces. Our country is in short supply everywhere, so we should be able to squeeze out a lot of blacks. I don't believe that the superiors will refute our application."
Yurta said: "You don't need too many people, tens of thousands of people can restore the mine to its previous capacity. Before the South African War, the population of the Boer Republic was not large, and the machines left by the British were the main ones. Black people would find it difficult to master them, so a dozen people would definitely not be enough. You need at least two or three hundred people, otherwise Kimberley's machines will be wasted and ruined."
Yulta's words reminded Helvetia that what was the most valuable thing in Orange now? In addition to minerals, it was the machinery and infrastructure left by the British, and these were mainly concentrated in Kimberley.
Therefore, if Orange wants to develop, it really cannot do without Kimberley. If these machines and infrastructure are allowed to be destroyed, it will be difficult for Orange to find opportunities for industrialization in the future.
So he said to Yurta, "Machines are indeed very important. Kimberley was able to compare with many economically developed cities in East Africa before, and the conditions it left are indeed unique. When you arrive in Kimberley, you should first be optimistic about the machines and infrastructure. If nothing else, you should be optimistic about Kimberley's railway. Our relationship with Cape Town is indeed awkward now, but who knows if the two sides will reconcile in the future. At that time, Kimberley's railway will play a big role."
Kimberley has the only railway line in the former Boer Republic, which connects it to Cape Town. It was mainly used by the British to transport diamonds out. This also shows the economic strength of Kimberley.
Of course, the railway is now a dead end, and even the bridge over the Orange River was blown up during the war.
However, this railway may not be useless in the future. After all, the relationship between East Africa and Britain cannot always be tense, especially Cape Town, a British territory connected to East Africa.
Of course, the British railways and the East African railways are not interoperable, so whether the Kimberley Railway can be preserved in the future is a question, but Helvetia is still inclined to preserve it first. Even if it is really to be demolished in the future, Orange will definitely be very different from the current situation.
(End of this chapter)
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