Chapter 284: Safety and Health Rectification
Chapter 274: The Great Safety and Health Overhaul
Ahead of its time or not, the New Holy Roman Empire’s Safety and Hygiene Law came out, enforced by law across the country.
The first to bear the brunt of the law was the factories, which had to improve the living environment of the workers to meet the minimum standards on the safety and hygiene law.
This was the time when the advantage of not putting factories in cities came into play, and it was very easy to get land from the neighborhood.
Anyway, with the development of African colonies, a large amount of cheap timber poured into the country, the cost of building wooden houses was very low, and the problem could be solved in ten days and half a month’s work.
This is naturally discordant to the factories that stay in the city, the cost of taking land in the big cities where land is expensive can be much higher.
These problems Franz can not control, the government has long ordered the factory to move to the suburbs, to reduce the burden on the city.
Earlier relocation, there is the government issued relocation subsidies, since the choice of disobedience, so now it is good to own pocket.
Safe water for the city is also on the agenda, once the remodeling is complete, the water supply will be unified by the water company, and the messy underground wells can be eliminated.
In order to cultivate the good habit of drinking boiled water, the government has mandated that all drinking water provided by factories, enterprises, public places, and government organizations must be boiled water.
The excuse is the prevention of cholera. Two years ago, the British had just proved that the spread of cholera was related to drinking water and safe sanitation, and the continent of Europe had launched a hygiene revolution.
Cholera has not disappeared, it still appears every now and then, and is the most horrible and common plague of the age.
Anyone who dared to stop the enforcement of safe sanitation laws was guilty of willfully spreading the plague, and hatchet jobbing is what bureaucrats are best at in any era.
The common trash cans of the latter days were also introduced into the streets of Vienna, and no fines were levied for littering, but rather for sweeping the streets. Guaranteed to make a deep impression and unforgettable for life.
New Brook
The safety and hygiene measures taken at home are not the same as in the colony, where there are no factories or enterprises, and very few small family-run factories. If there are any, they are mines.
The abuse of workers by capitalists is still possible in the country, but who dares to do so here, they will leave in a minute.
There is a shortage of workers everywhere in the colony, who would want to push their own workers out? The supply and demand relationship in the labor market determines the status of both labor and capital.
There is no difficulty in implementing safety and hygiene regulations in the mines. People are afraid of death, and with such a high mortality rate on the African continent, taking hot showers and drinking boiled water is a minor issue in order to prevent infectious diseases.
In any case, it does not increase the cost, the construction of staff dormitories can organize the workers to do their own logging, and the fuel for boiling water can also organize the workers to do it by themselves, there is no need to buy it.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen said happily, “Gentlemen, the country has decided to officially elevate the New Brook colonial stronghold, to New Brook City, congratulations to all of you on your promotions.”
The Vienna government intends to focus on the African continent, this “New Brook City” and the domestic city, administratively in the same class.
Lt. Col. Stefan himself also because of the governance of merit, directly became the first mayor, as for the issue of military officers to become magistrates, in Austria, there is no obstacle.
Civilian to military is not possible, but military to civilian is always there, Vienna government top, basically have military experience.
It is not uncommon for serving officers to become magistrates. This can be done domestically, not to mention the colonies.
There weren’t as many messy relationships here as there were at home yet, and it was entirely performance-based. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen didn’t have too much ability, and his greatest strength from a military background lay in the strict implementation of domestic orders.
Can be said to be rigid, can also be said to be raw. The Vienna government didn’t even care that much, and the end result was: New Brook developed in a well-organized manner, and the orders of the central government were carried out.
With the high mortality rate of immigrants in the various colonial strongholds, New Brook was riding high.
According to Franz’s hiring guidelines, it was time for them to be promoted, and a few neighboring strongholds were set aside to form Austria’s first municipality on the continent.
After a pause, Stefan continued, “But let’s not get too happy too soon, with the promotion comes more responsibility for us.
The next focus of our work, in addition to promoting knowledge of safety and hygiene and reducing the mortality rate from disease, we must also find a way to develop the colonial economy, mainly the development of farms and plantations economy.”
Mining Director Gold asked suspiciously, “Mr. Mayor, why is it to develop the farm and plantation economy instead of focusing on the mining long industry?”
Lt. Colonel Stephen replied, “The mining industry is not a long term solution, the gold mines we have discovered so far may be emptied in a few years, or a decade or so, what will happen to the local economy then?
The plan at home is to occupy Guinea for the long term, so developing a sustainable farm and plantation economy will be essential.
Of course, the mining industry can’t be deserted, it’s currently the city government’s main source of finance. In the short term, if the colonial government wants to break even, it’s in the mining industry.”
Tax Commissioner Diego reminded, “Mr. Mayor, Newbrook has already balanced its finances outside of immigration expenses.
With the influx of gold diggers, our city’s commerce is growing very fast, with commercial taxes taking up seven percent of the revenue, customs duties one percent of the revenue, special industry taxes six percent of the revenue, tobacco and liquor monopoly revenue eight percent of the revenue, and mining taxes seventy-six percent of the revenue… …
The total fiscal revenue for the third quarter of this year was 94,000 Shendon, the total expenditure was 96,000 Shendon, and the fiscal deficit was 2,000 Shendon, so it is expected that we will break even by the fourth quarter.”
This was his political achievement, and it couldn’t be ignored. Although the mining industry was still absolutely dominant, the income from the development of other industries could not be ignored.
Industrial development was development, and to be able to turn that development into revenue was a credit to the tax bureau. In many colonial strongholds, mining tax revenues directly accounted for more than ninety percent of fiscal revenues.
New Brook was able to reduce this percentage to seventy-six percent and still achieve fiscal balance, which was not easy, especially now that the colony’s agriculture was still in the tax-exempt stage.
Mayor Stephen affirmed, “Not bad, New Brook was able to develop to this point, the tax office is to be credited, all of you sitting here are the creditors.”
“Next, I hope everyone will continue to work hard to make New Brook even further. I think we all know very well how much potential there is for development here.
Rich resources, fertile land, as long as these places are developed, in the future, New Brook will be the richest region in Africa, not even worse than many cities in the country.
If we can make this place, surpass the domestic Brook, with the importance that the country attaches to this place, I think there is a great possibility for all of us sitting here to get a knighthood.”
It wasn’t hard to get rich in the colony, and a portion of the colony’s fiscal revenue would be their bonus. The higher the fiscal revenue, the higher their personal income.
It wasn’t easy to get a knighthood. Even if it was a life-long aristocracy, one had to slowly accumulate merit. Without war merit, they basically had to stay up for twenty to thirty years before they could accumulate enough merit.
Now, once the development of New Brook was successful, everyone’s merit would be one step ahead. With tangible political achievements in hand, there might even be a possibility of getting a hereditary title.
If everyone is willing to come to the colony, naturally they all have ambitions. The matter of enclosing a territory may not be possible in other countries, but it is really not difficult in the New Holy Roman Empire.
Those big nobles in the country, if they are willing to replace the fiefdom to the African continent, they can immediately establish a fiefdom, Franz doesn’t care about adding a few seats in the imperial parliament.
……
After boosting his morale, Mayor Stephen said solemnly, “Silence! Discussion will now begin on how to enforce safe sanitation laws to further reduce immigrant deaths from disease.”
Health Director Matt Damon said, “Mr. Mayor, we’re already doing a good job of spreading safety and sanitation, even if it’s not much worse than any other city in the country.
What can be taken further now is the extermination of insects and rats, many diseases spread through flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats and other pests.
Specific measures are: clearing the grass and trees around the settlement and establishing an open isolation zone of one or two miles, you can achieve effective isolation of insects.
Incinerate the city garbage to eliminate the living environment of insects and ants.
Calling on residents to exterminate rats manually, such as putting out rat poison, rat traps, keeping cats and so on.
……”
Environmentally friendly? Not needed, at least not in the African colonies, where grass and trees were not visible in the cities from the beginning in order to control insects.
It’s a pity that cement has to be transported from the country, causing the cost of concrete to be too high, or else harden the downtown area all over again, then it would be much more effective.
Satisfied, Mayor Stephen said, “As long as it is determined that your approach is effective, the city government will give you funding to implement it.”
Health Director Matt Damon replied affirmatively, “We’ve already conducted experiments, and after clearing the grass and trees and burning the land, the number of insects will be greatly reduced.
If we spread it throughout the city, then with no foreign insects coming in, and if we do a good job of sanitizing the inner city, the number of insects can come down.”
Mayor Stephen didn’t hesitate to make a decision, “Since it’s effective, let’s approve the budget immediately and have the Finance Department allocate funds to implement it.”
The military’s thunderous style was on display.
“Okay, Mayor!” Matt Damon replied
Mayor Stephen continued, “Let’s discuss agricultural development, the central government requires that within three years, 50,000 hectares of farms or plantations be opened in the New Brook area.
Theoretically, the terrain around New Brook is flat, as long as the trees and weeds on it are cleared.
Not to mention opening up 50,000 hectares of land, even opening up 200,000 to 300,000 hectares of land, there is no problem, the only difficulty lies in the lack of labor.
The country promises that it can give us another 20,000 immigrants next year, but how to get the immigrants to open up farms and plantations is our task.”
Agriculture Director Engelbert explained, “Mr. Mayor, it’s not that our people are unwilling to invest in farms, it’s more that they don’t have enough money in their hands to start a farm or plantation.
The people’s financial strength is limited, so why don’t we start by organizing lumberjacks to uniformly cut down the trees, sell the valuable wood, and leave the rest for the people to use as firewood.
After clearing these obstacles, the cost of developing these lands at a later stage will be greatly reduced, which should increase everyone’s motivation.”
Mining Director Gold thought for a moment and said, “It’s good that the people don’t have enough funds, we can step in and communicate with the banks and use these farms as collateral for loans.
The only problem is that the interest rate on loans from the banks in the New Brook region is too high, more than the people can afford, if it can be lowered to the same level as in the country, then it will be feasible.”
Engelbert explained, “This is something that can’t be helped, our agricultural bureau has already communicated with the bank.
Both prices and labor costs are much higher in New Brook than in the country, and the accidental death rate of immigrants is also high. The bank not only has higher operating costs, but also bears more risk.
If the banks want to lower their interest rates, they will have to do so unless the city guarantees the loans and reduces the business risk they take on.
Unfortunately, there are rules in the country that prohibit government agencies from guaranteeing any individual, or business, let alone guaranteeing a loan.”
Starting a farm is different from digging a gold mine, the farm is not developed before the so-called property rights are worthless; the gold mine is not the same, whether or not the development of property rights have people to take over.
A loan to a farm owner becomes a bad loan in case something happens, and the bank is unlikely to take over a bad farm for development itself.
The risk is higher, the interest rate is naturally not lower, this is a normal business operation, and the city cannot intervene.
After a few moments of silence, Mayor Stephen said, “This problem is not something we can solve, and the city’s finances are not generous enough to provide this funding.
We should first unify our positions, and then report to the country in the name of the city government and apply for a policy loan from the central bank. We are in compliance with the relevant regulations and should be able to grant it.”
……
(End of chapter)