Chapter 736 Disappointing Officials

Although this meeting was to achieve Arthur's purpose, which was to help Manuel restore.

However, the atmosphere in the meeting was very awkward. Portuguese officials and party members almost became spectators, and they were unable to join the conversations of representatives of other countries.

Except for Manuel II, who is also Portuguese, and occasionally chatted with them, representatives from other countries seemed to have a tacit understanding of leaving Portuguese officials aside.

But this is a fact that Portuguese officials and members of the Democratic Party cannot change. If you look carefully at the countries where these representatives are located, the weakest ones are also second-tier European powers like Belgium and Bulgaria.

Compared with Belgium and Bulgaria, Portugal can only be regarded as close in strength. They are not at the highest level of Portuguese politics, so their status is naturally weaker.

What's even more terrible is that there are representatives of the two great powers of Australasia and Britain next to them.

A closer look shows that the representatives of these countries are all nobles, and their titles are not low. Can ordinary officials like them get in on the conversation between nobles? Of course it's impossible.

To be honest, there is still a bit of pride among European nobles. Although the aristocracy has generally declined, the arrogance of the aristocracy has not changed much.

But in the final analysis, this is also a means. Through this method, which is similar to a show of force, it can actually achieve its own goal, which is to let Portugal understand who is in control of the world situation.

After all, Portugal is just an ordinary chess piece on the world chessboard. Compared to chess players like Australasia and the UK, Portugal doesn't have many options.

Arthur didn't care what the outcome of this meeting was. If the Gotha family cannot win over a small Portugal with so many members, it can only be said that the current Portugal is not one that Australasia can covet.

Rather than paying attention to the situation in Portugal, Arthur is currently more concerned about the situation in several colonies in Australasia.

With the annexation of the Crown Territory to the State of Timor, most of the colonial localization work in Australasia has actually been completed.

The regions that have established direct states include: New Guinea, Timor, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra.

Yes, except for Kalimantan, which became the independent United Sultanate, almost all of the currently occupied land in the Dutch East Indies has been annexed and localized.

Among these states, Sulawesi, the least populous, has a population of more than 150,000. The permanent population of Java, the most populous island, has exceeded 780,000, which also proves Australasia’s efforts to localize in these areas.

What's more, the populations in these areas have become exclusively Australasian. Even if the British and French colonial systems face collapse in the future, Australasia does not have to worry about these areas falling out of its control.

After all, the permanent population is all Australasian, so this is the land of Australasia since ancient times.

As for those deported populations, sorry, Australasia doesn't recognize that.

Arthur inspected the localization situation in New Guinea. Therefore, the targets of Arthur's inspection this time were naturally placed on Java and Sumatra.

The two islands originally had a larger indigenous population than New Guinea, but have largely migrated to Kalimantan.

The current permanent population is almost all Australasian, which not only represents the local government's efforts in localization, but also represents Australasia's control over these areas.

During Arthur's inspection of Java and Sumatra this time, in addition to actually checking their localization situation, he also wanted to collect statistics on the problems encountered in localization in these areas, and then find ways to help them solve them.

To be honest, colonial localization is a very arduous project. Because we have to build almost the same infrastructure as the mainland in a very desolate colony, including medical care, education, etc.

In addition to the large financial investment from the government, the efforts of local governments and people are also very important.

The purpose of Arthur's inspection of Java Island and Sumatra Island was also to see whether these two areas had truly realized localization, or whether they were just pretending to complete the tasks assigned by Arthur.

However, the current governor of the direct state, that is, the original colonial governor, was appointed by Arthur, and Arthur was relatively confident in the selection.

And Arthur also believed that in the current environment, no one would dare to deceive him so openly.

After all, the gain outweighs the loss. Once discovered, there will be very serious consequences.

On August 1, 1929, during the winter in the southern hemisphere, Arthur chose to head north to Southeast Asia. Firstly, it is to avoid the cold, and secondly, it is also to check the localization situation in Southeast Asian states.

Compared with Australia itself, the development of various regions in Southeast Asia is more backward, and the work of localization is also very difficult.

The purpose of Arthur's trip was not only to discover problems, but also to solve them after discovering them.

From Fort St. Arthur, we headed east to Sydney, and then took a ship from Sydney. Under the escort of a number of warships, we headed towards Southeast Asia.

Accompanying Arthur to inspect Southeast Asia were Finance Minister Hunter, Industry Secretary Joy, Transport Secretary Jerome and Education Secretary Kai Luo.

The reason why so many cabinet ministers are followed is to allow them to quickly come up with solutions to problems after discovering them, instead of leaving it to the government and parliament to delay again and again.

In addition to these full-time ministers, other departments also have deputy ministers to ensure that the information of each department can be accurately controlled and solutions can be provided based on the information obtained.

After all, the government's work also needs someone to testify and execute it, so it is naturally impossible to bring all ministers on this trip.

After replenishing supplies in Queensland and New Guinea, on August 11, 1929, Arthur successfully set foot on the former royal territory, which is now incorporated into the land of Timor.

This was once one of the rubber growing areas in the Dutch East Indies, and is now also a rare natural rubber producing area in Australasia.

After merging with the royal territory, the area of ​​the Timor-controlled state is not too small, and its population has jumped to more than 550,000. It is considered the most successful region in localization.

This is also inevitable. As the first stop for colonial localization, as long as Timor's localization proceeds smoothly, results are certain.

Of course, massive population growth has also exposed some problems, especially since Timor was a former colony.

The current governor of Timor is Hubert Reifer. Since becoming a direct state, Timor has experienced three governors, and the core state government has also changed relatively frequently.

Although the governor's term has been extended to five years and can serve three consecutive terms, there is no specific limit on the number of terms in office.

But the problem is that no governor in any state has been able to serve three consecutive terms, and the number of governors who have been elected two terms is not as high as imagined.

Although this may seem unbelievable, it actually becomes clear when you think about the background of Australasia.

Australasia is different from other European countries. As an independent country from a colony, Australasia does not have many local forces.

Most states experienced population explosions only after independence, which also means that local local forces will also face the impact of immigrant populations.

The most intuitive result is the frequent replacement of governors in each state. Although there is no case of being dismissed mid-term, the difficulty of getting re-elected has been greatly increased.

But this is also what Arthur hopes. If a certain force or political party really controls an administrative region for a long time, this will be a big hidden danger for Arthur.

In the city of Dili, Arthur met with Timor Governor Hubert Leifer and listened to Governor Hubert Leifer's report on Timor's local development.

During the previous localization phase of Timor, Arthur had requested the Governor of Timor to report to Arthur on the progress of localization every two months.

But after the localization was completed, Arthur's attention to Timor was not that high, and the bimonthly report was extended to once a year.

Especially at the critical moment when other regions in Southeast Asia were entering the localization stage, Arthur paid little or no attention to Timor.

Coming to Timor again, Arthur felt the difference between the colonial period and the real localization.

If he hadn't known in advance that this was Timor, Arthur would have really felt like he was in a city in southeastern Australia.

"Your Majesty, Timor currently has a university, two large hospitals, a technical training center, a language training school and some private training institutions. It is currently able to train 700 college students and more than 3,500 skilled workers every year.

Based on the Royal Government's support to the state government, we expect to build a new university, build two large hospitals, expand existing training institutions and more within four years.

In four years, Timor will be able to train more than 1,500 college students and 8,000 skilled workers every year. "The Governor of Timor, Hubert Leifer, reported to Arthur with a smile on his face.

Although many facilities, including university training institutions and hospitals, are the result of the efforts of previous governors and governors-general, this does not prevent Bell Rever from vaguely crediting them to the current Timorese government.

As the current controller of the Timorese government, Hubert Leifer can naturally benefit from it, and it seems that he has made a lot of credit.

Arthur nodded expressionlessly, noting that Hubert Leifer's performance in snatching the credit was in his eyes.

After the colonies were localized, Arthur lost the right to appoint governors of these colonies.

After all, according to the Australasian constitution, the colonial governor was appointed by the king, but the governor of the state was elected by the state parliament.

Although Arthur also has the power to overturn election results and order state legislators to re-elect, under normal circumstances Arthur will not do so.

After all, with the development of the country, not all things can be what Arthur thinks.

If the election results of each state are overturned one by one, it will have no other effect except draining Arthur's prestige out of thin air.

And it is not surprising that the current governor of Timor State, a smooth-talking and opportunistic guy, can serve as governor Arthur.

Fortunately, although this guy has mediocre abilities, at least he doesn't show any outrageous corruption.

Timor's development did not stop because of Hubert Reifer, which is why he was able to remain in the governorship.

This was Arthur's consistent view of all officials. Corruption is okay, but gross corruption is not. It’s okay if you’re not very capable, but it’s not okay if you’re not very capable and still like to point fingers.

Arthur knew that no one was perfect, so it was naturally impossible to hold all officials to the most official standards.

As long as they have some ability and the corruption is not too outrageous, Arthur can tolerate these officials staying in their positions.

But if Arthur's bottom line is touched, Arthur will never show mercy. The only thing waiting for them is a cruel trial by the Royal Security Intelligence Service.

"The Royal Government issued an eight-year plan, so why did the Timorese government formulate a four-year plan?" Arthur asked abruptly.

"This..." Hubert Leifer fell into a somewhat awkward silence.

It's not that he doesn't want to develop an eight-year plan. The problem is, in four years time it will be time for Timor to elect a new governor.

Hubert Leifer is still aware of his abilities. The four-year plan cannot be said to be excellent, it can only be said to be a satisfactory development.

Even if the Four-Year Plan were an overall success, it would be nothing more than steady development without too many faults.

It is very difficult to get re-elected under such circumstances, and it is naturally impossible for Hubert Leifer and the Timorese government led by him to formulate development plans for the next state government.

"Because Timor's available funds are really limited, the state government's finances cannot bear too much expenditure, so it has no choice but to formulate a short-term four-year development plan." Hubert Reifer wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and swallowed. , explained very anxiously.

Arthur nodded expressionlessly again, actually very disappointed with this governor whom he had only met at the swearing-in ceremony.

“Timor has one of the largest natural rubber production bases in Australasia, so how can it have financial difficulties?

The state government does not have too much population burden, and now is the best time for Timor to develop. Arthur spoke calmly, but there was a hint of unquestionable tone in his words.

"Come out a complete eight-year plan as soon as possible. As a pilot and the most successful area for colonial localization, I hope Timor can skyrocket and become a prosperous area that is not inferior to Australia and New Zealand." Arthur ordered. : "

After merging with the Crown Territory, Timor's ideal population should be increased to more than 10 million.

Timor’s population strategy cannot stop beyond developing development plans. At present, we can welcome a large number of immigrants every year, but whether we can allow immigrants to come to Timor will test the ability of the state government. "

I will continue my update today, thank you all for your understanding.