Chapter 173: Who Should We Trust?
On November 8, 1903, New Zealand suffered an unprecedented disaster. A typhoon made landfall in Opunake, a small town on the North Island of New Zealand, and subsequently hit New Plymouth, Piopio, Hamilton, Huntly, Port Waikato, Manukau, Auckland, Takapuna, Coromandel, and Fitzroy Harbor. The typhoon caused immense destruction to the economy, industry, and infrastructure along the west coast of the North Island.
According to preliminary statistics, the disaster caused at least £2 million in property damage, resulting in over 36,000 deaths and 84,000 injuries of varying severity.
After the disaster, nearly the entire west coast of the North Island needed to be rebuilt, and at least 200,000 people lost their homes.
We are grateful for the aid from various regions and countries, especially our friendly neighbor Australia, which transported £450,000 in funds and over £100,000 worth of materials to assist us on the very day of the disaster.
We also thank the other nations for their support, including the German Empire's £50,000, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's £40,000, and the £10,000 contributions from France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Russian Empire.
We sincerely thank all the nations for their assistance to New Zealand. The friendship between New Zealand and these countries will last forever.
After the disaster, the New Zealand colonial government will mobilize the entire nation's resources to help rebuild the homes of all the people on the west coast of the North Island. At the same time, we call on more New Zealanders to join this relief effort. As of now, there are still many New Zealanders who are missing, and they need more help.
Starting on November 12, this report was printed in all of New Zealand's newspapers and was distributed free of charge to all towns across the country.
In a short period, nearly all New Zealanders had seen this report and understood the severity of the disaster that had struck the North Island.
Although a small number of people were curious about the organization that could unite all of New Zealand's newspapers to publish this report simultaneously, most were drawn to the information contained in the article, which shifted everyone's focus and attention to the North Island of New Zealand.
In the report, aside from the shocking death toll and heartbreaking property losses, the most attention-grabbing part was the aid coming from other countries.
New Zealand is a colony of the British Empire, and it was already a big favor for other great powers to provide any assistance.
New Zealanders felt the same, especially regarding the aid from the German Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had contributed the most of any great powers.
But the British Empire, as New Zealand's suzerain, had provided aid on par with the other great powers, and even far less than the German Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire.
This disappointed many loyal New Zealanders, who felt abandoned by the British Empire.
In comparison, Australia's aid appeared much more substantial. Not only did they provide £450,000 in funds, but also material aid worth £100,000.
For disaster-stricken New Zealand, this was crucial. Many refugees urgently needed materials and food to ensure their basic living conditions.
As the saying goes, "there is no harm in comparison." In contrast to the many European countries, especially the British Empire, Australia's aid seemed far more genuine.
Moreover, the report clearly stated that Australia had provided assistance on the very day the disaster occurred, unlike the European countries, which only provided aid after New Zealand had requested it.
After this report, many New Zealanders gradually changed their perspectives and became much friendlier toward Australia.
A large number of New Zealanders now saw Australians as friendly neighbors, and they became hopeful about the idea of a union between New Zealand and Australia, as advocated by the Union Party.
On November 14, 1903, the second batch of Australian aid arrived in New Zealand.
This batch of aid was mostly composed of human resources crucial for the ongoing relief work. Australia sent 30,000 Southeast Asian indigenous people to help New Zealand with post-disaster reconstruction.
These workers were a vital asset to New Zealand's relief efforts. New Zealand's population was already small, and even after years of development, it barely exceeded 1.1 million people.
The typhoon had directly caused at least 40,000 casualties, and New Zealand's economy would remain in a state of depression for at least the next five years.
With nearly half of the North Island affected, the number of refugees surpassed 200,000, significantly increasing the difficulty of New Zealand's relief work.
On November 17, 1903, Arthur personally arrived in New Zealand and delivered a speech in Auckland, pledging full support for the ongoing reconstruction efforts. He also announced that he, as the Governor of New Zealand, would donate £500,000 to the relief work.
As of now, New Zealand had received more than £1.1 million in financial aid, and over £150,000 worth of food and supplies had been delivered.
This relief effort significantly alleviated New Zealand's logistical burden and accelerated the progress of the rescue work.
Since the end of the typhoon on November 10, the relief work in New Zealand had continued for seven days, concluding on November 17.
From now on, the focus would shift primarily to post-disaster reconstruction, rather than rescuing the missing civilians.
This was an inevitable choice. After seven days of lengthy waiting, those who had not been rescued had essentially lost all hope of survival. By the time the rescue teams found them, they would likely have already perished.
Many of these refugees were relocated to the northern part of Auckland Peninsula, which housed over a dozen small towns and could accommodate 20,000 to 30,000 refugees.
Some were moved to the southern parts of the North Island, such as North Palmerston, Picton, Shahat, and Wellington, the core regions of New Zealand and the colonial capital. These areas could accommodate at least 80,000 refugees, and they were distributed across major cities, adding to the population of New Zealand's North Island cities.
Almost 100,000 refugees chose to stay in their hometowns, even though their homes had been destroyed.
The most important task of the reconstruction was rebuilding the Auckland region. Auckland, New Zealand's second-largest city on the North Island, along with the two other major cities, Takapuna and Manukau, were located in this area.
The population of this region exceeded 200,000, with more than half of them now refugees.
The southwestern part of the West Coast had mostly small towns affected by the disaster. The population of these towns varied from a few thousand to as few as under 1,000 in some villages.
New Zealanders, who had seen the news reports and were eager to help, were assigned to these towns to assist in the reconstruction, particularly in rebuilding homes for the refugees.
The 30,000 indigenous workers donated by Australia and the main task of the New Zealand military were focused on rebuilding the Auckland region, especially the city of Auckland.
Auckland was a crucial hub connecting the Auckland Peninsula to the North Island, and it stood alongside Wellington as one of New Zealand's most vibrant cities.
The damage to Auckland was the most undesirable scenario for New Zealand, and its reconstruction was the most urgent task.
On November 18, Arthur again sent an additional 20,000 indigenous workers and thousands of Australian laborers to New Zealand.
Most of these workers were skilled in construction and would play a crucial role in New Zealand's reconstruction efforts.
At the same time, Arthur implemented a system of work-for-aid, encouraging many light-injured or uninjured refugees to contribute to rebuilding their homes.
As a reward, they would receive more relief supplies and a small financial incentive, which would help compensate for their property losses.
This policy received strong support from many of New Zealand's refugees, and they eagerly joined the rebuilding efforts along the West Coast.
Just a week later, more than 50,000 indigenous workers and 150,000 New Zealanders were working on the reconstruction, making the process of rebuilding towns and villages faster.
Arthur had been very busy during this time, and so had Grant.
As the leader of the New Zealand Union Party, Grant quickly threw himself into the reconstruction efforts, setting an example for all New Zealand's political parties and officials.
This made the Union Party even more popular with New Zealanders, as those who actively contributed to the reconstruction were far more admired than those who merely stayed in their offices.
During this period, Arthur personally visited every disaster-stricken town in New Zealand and met with New Zealanders working on the reconstruction in these areas.
Arthur was welcomed almost everywhere, with many enthusiastic people chanting "Long live!" as he arrived.
On the surface, Arthur showed no reaction, but he was secretly pleased with Grant's actions.
Given the level of Arthur's recognition in New Zealand, coupled with the contrasting aid from Australia and the British Empire, it seemed that things could truly change in New Zealand.
On November 26, 1903, a news story was released that set New Zealand ablaze with excitement.
The headline was simple, consisting of only a few words, yet it deeply struck at the heart of every New Zealander.
"The British Empire and Australia: Who Should We Trust?"
The British Empire and Australia had a special relationship with New Zealand. The British Empire was New Zealand's suzerain, and New Zealand was nominally part of the British Empire.
However, New Zealand had also been part of Australia until a few decades ago, and it had only recently gained independence from Australia.
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