Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 528: Poll Tax (Bonus Chapter)

In South Africa, since the large discovery of gold mines, the region has faced a labor crisis. Many people, hoping to get rich overnight, have joined the gold rush.

With the first wave of nouveau riche emerging, the gold fever reached new heights. Farms shut down, shops closed, and even many colonial government employees resigned to join the gold-seeking frenzy.

The shortage of manpower became the colonial government’s biggest challenge. Although the population influx has increased sharply recently, it hasn’t helped much. These newcomers are all gold seekers and won’t settle down to work locally.

In fact, the arrival of these outsiders has disrupted the order in South Africa. To maintain local stability, Governor Falkner has doubled the police force in the region.

“Governor, last month, 386 government employees submitted their resignation letters, including 136 police officers. According to the regulations, we have already approved 194 resignations.

We can’t find replacements for the remaining positions in the short term, so we’ve had to force some to stay on temporarily. According to the regulations, this period cannot exceed three months, which has put immense pressure on our recruitment efforts.

Due to the gold rush, the number of applicants for government jobs has sharply decreased. The Ministry of Personnel has already lowered the recruitment standards to the minimum, yet still can’t meet the hiring targets.

The Ministry of Personnel suggests seeking assistance from the homeland, with the central government coordinating the transfer of personnel from other parts of Africa to take over the positions and ensure the normal operation of the colonial government.”

Colonial government employees couldn’t just resign whenever they wanted. They had signed labor contracts with the government, just like any other employer. If they wanted to leave, they had to complete their work handover according to the regulations, which typically took one month, but could be extended to three months at most.

The government being unable to recruit staff was something that hadn’t happened in Austria for many years. Since the Austrian government implemented compulsory education, there has never been a shortage of civil servants.

Of course, the situation in the colonies is special. Some remote areas still have positions that are not favored. However, as long as the standards are lowered and the benefits are increased, these issues are resolved.

This time is different as the impact of the gold rush is too great. Young people, eager to get rich, are simply unwilling to apply for government jobs.

It’s not that the government can’t find anyone, but rather that it can’t find enough qualified civil servants. Regardless of how much the standards are lowered, the basic competencies still need to be ensured, and some positions require special skills.

Governor Falkner furrowed his brow. This situation persisted for several months and showed no signs of improvement.

“Follow through with your proposal to inform the homeland. Additionally, please have the Central Government’s Ministry of Personnel recruit 1,000 government employees and 3,800 retired military police officers from the homeland for us.

For those who are willing to come, their salaries will be set at twice the average level for similar positions in the homeland, with bonuses and benefits following the Austrian government employee standards.”

If recruiting locally is difficult, then recruit from the homeland. With the large discovery of gold mines, the South African colonial government had also become a wealthy entity and could afford to pay.

Charlie, the Director of Personnel, said, “Yes, Governor!”

After a brief pause, Mining Director Kaspar Theim took out a report and said, “Governor, this is the latest development report. Last month, 12 new gold mines were discovered in South Africa.

The quality of these mines is relatively high, with ore gold content exceeding five grams per ton, and two of the mines have reserves of over 50 tons.

To date, 78 gold mines of various sizes have been discovered in South Africa, with an estimated total exploitable gold reserve of over 3,800 tons.

In addition, five diamond mines, seven coal mines, two copper mines, five iron mines, three manganese mines, one chromium mine, and two phosphate mines have also been discovered…

What’s even more remarkable is that the quality of these ores is excellent. Based on the current data, South Africa has become the most resource-rich region in the Empire.

This is South Africa’s advantage, but developing these resources is extremely challenging. The biggest problem is the lack of manpower, followed by transportation issues.

To solve the transportation problem, we must first address the manpower issue. According to the Ministry of Railway’s plan, at least 200,000 workers will be needed to resolve transportation issues within ten years.

Developing these mineral resources will require even more labor. Without 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 workers, it will be impossible to effectively develop South Africa’s mineral resources.

However, the current situation is dire. We can’t even find 200,000 workers in South Africa, let alone 2,000,000 to 3,000,000.

The existing labor resources are barely enough to sustain gold mining operations. To continue developing, we need a large population.”

The shortage of manpower was a common issue across all Austrian colonies as well as a challenge faced by all major colonial empires.

Well, except for the British. They have the manpower resources of India to draw from. As long as they are willing to invest capital, they have enough workers.

Austria is different. The population in Africa was never large to begin with. Coupled with the previous labor export policies, Austrian Africa has sent 4.3 million workers to the Americas and 1.1 million to Persia over the past decade.

As a result, the number of indigenous people has drastically decreased. In the early developed regions of West Africa, indigenous tribes have all but disappeared.

Currently, only in Austrian East Africa and South Africa are there still some indigenous tribes left, but the total population likely does not exceed three million.

This became apparent during the Anglo-Boer War, where, in the later stages of the war, the shortage of cannon fodder became so severe that even when pulling together all the manpower from Austrian Africa, it was still not enough to use human wave tactics to flatten Cape Town.

The drastic population decline wasn’t just due to labor exports. A more significant factor was the decrease in birth rates. The infamous “poll tax” was the main culprit.

To increase financial revenue, the colonial government imposed a poll tax of one guilder per person per year on all indigenous tribes, which directly led to a decline in the local birth rate.

Governor Falkner gave a cold smile and said, “The homeland has already promised to resolve the issue of manpower shortage for us. The agricultural crisis in Europe has erupted, and it won’t be long before we see a wave of bankrupt farmers. The homeland will prioritize sending immigrants to South Africa.

Additionally, the colonial government in Southeast Asia has also promised to sell us 100,000 laborers over the next five years. The Governorate of the Arabian Peninsula will soon launch a major operation, and they will sell the prisoners of war to us at a low price.

In the short term, if we want to increase our workforce, we’ll still have to tap into internal potential. Here’s what we’ll do: raise the poll tax to one guilder per person per month. Anyone who can’t afford it will be sent to the mines.

The scope of the poll tax can be expanded to include all non-Austrian citizens. For new immigrants, we can offer a one-year tax exemption.

If they can learn German within a year, they can apply for citizenship. The assessment period for citizenship will still be three years, during which they can also be exempt from taxes.

If they fail the assessment, they can either leave or stay and pay taxes. It’s not that easy to take advantage of us!”

To increase the labor force, Viscount Falkner was prepared to be relentless. A poll tax of one guilder per person per month would practically force the locals to work in the mines and work hard, or they wouldn’t be able to gather enough poll tax for their families.

Even the prospectors from abroad couldn’t escape this. If they didn’t strike it rich in the first year, they would do well to learn German quickly and apply for citizenship. Otherwise, the poll tax would hurt their wallets.

Falkner didn’t care whether they came or not. As a traditional aristocrat, Viscount Falkner despised speculators and nouveau riches the most.

Even though he had made his fortune in gold mining, that didn’t change his personal views. Perhaps he was ruthless during colonization, but back in Austria, Viscount Falkner strictly adhered to the code of the nobility.

This kind of double standard wasn’t unique to Viscount Falkner. Many colonists shared it.

...

In Vienna, ever since the Austrian government decided to find a scapegoat to divert the crisis, the cabinet had been busy.

War was no trivial matter. It required careful consideration of the pros and cons. Europe had only recently stabilized, and Franz didn’t want to stir up chaos, so the choice of target had to be made cautiously.

Prime Minister Felix said, “Your Majesty, the situation is somewhat complex. The only suitable targets for us are Poland and the Ottoman Empire, neither of which is ideal.

If we move against Poland, we can reduce a competitor in the international grain market and alleviate the global agricultural crisis, but the consequences would be severe.

First, the Russians might get involved, and the Kingdom of Prussia won’t stay idle. Poland is very poor, so if we take military action, there’s little chance of direct compensation through reparations. We’d have to rely on territorial gains to recover the cost of war.

There is a 50% chance that this could lead to a fourth partition of Poland by Austria, Prussia, and Russia, or there’s 40% of a Prussian-Polish union, with only a 10% chance of maintaining the status quo.

We also have to consider the reactions of Britain and France. They wouldn’t want to see us grow stronger. Moreover, Poland owes them a large debt, and if that debt is nullified, the financial sectors of both countries would cause trouble for us.

As for taking action against the Ottoman Empire, the situation is equally complex. It still involves Britain, France, and Russia, and we can’t avoid the debt issues with Britain and France, not to mention the strategic conflicts.

Especially with Britain and Russia—the Russian government has been waiting for us to act so they can strike at the Ottoman Empire and reclaim the Caucasus.

If we don’t seize any Ottoman territory, it’s one thing, but if we take the Middle East and extend our influence to the Persian region, it could trigger Britain’s sensitive nerves.

They’re still holding a grudge over the South Africa issue, and if we provoke them again, the Anglo-Austrian relationship might be doomed.”

Franz also found it troubling. The current situation was indeed not conducive to rash action. No matter which target Austria chose, it seemed impossible to maximize its benefits.

“You didn’t get to eat the mutton, but ended up getting covered in the mutton’s smell instead.” No matter how Franz looked at it, Austria would be at a disadvantage, which didn’t align with his usual approach.

TN: This metaphor means that you tried to gain some benefit but failed, and instead ruined your reputation or brought trouble upon yourself.

After pacing back and forth for a while, Franz suddenly turned around and said, “To gain benefits, we must pay a price. We’re not the only ones hurt by this agricultural crisis—so are the Russians and Prussians.

Either we all join forces to face pressure from Britain and France together, or we all hold back and see who can withstand the pressure longer.

Have the Foreign Ministry communicate with Russia and Prussia. Whoever offers the highest price, we’ll cooperate with them. If the benefits are too low, then we’ll abandon the plan.

With our resources, we can hold out for three to five years without a problem, so there’s no need to rush. Russia and Prussia won’t last that long. Whoever can’t endure will have to be the one to make the first move!”