Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 270

Chapter 270: Chapter 19, Control Mortality Rate

The lack of labor in the colonies was somewhat unexpected for Franz.

He had thought that with so many immigrants arriving, labor would be sufficient. However, the reality was a rude awakening, as most immigrants were gold prospectors, expecting them to settle into routine work was asking too much.

Everyone dreamed of striking it rich overnight, and unless those dreams were shattered, it was difficult to get them to settle down. Even those who did were unlikely to take up mining.

Franz wasn’t concerned about the shortage of miners; that was the mine owners’ problem. He trusted they would be creative in resolving the issue. If not, they could just dig slowly, there was no rush.

The primary purpose of immigration was to establish plantations and build an agricultural economy in the locality to supply raw materials and markets for domestic industrial and commercial production.

Prime Minister Felix said, “Your Majesty, our rate of immigration has been very fast, and the labor shortage in the colonies has affected our plans to develop the African Continent.

In the Germany Region, population surplus is an issue, with many bankrupt citizens choosing to emigrate overseas each year, a significant number of whom worry about affording the emigration costs.

Many emigrants heading for the United States have to sign labor contracts in advance, with the employer covering the cost of travel. These contracts are typically unfair, signed out of sheer necessity for survival.

If we promise to reimburse a round-trip ticket, I believe many people would be willing to try their luck in Africa, and we should be able to retain many.”

After some thought, Franz said, “Increasing immigration is easy, but how do we control the mortality rate? Despite our establishment of strict sanitary regulations, implementation has been lackluster.

The mortality rate due to diseases among immigrants en route to Africa within one year is shockingly as high as three percent, an intolerably high number that must be reduced.

Our aim in attracting immigrants is to develop the African Continent; such a high mortality rate will certainly dampen everyone’s enthusiasm to emigrate.”

The high mortality rate among immigrants in the colonies was largely due to accidents, with disease being one of the main killers.

These included local endemic infectious diseases, respiratory infections, diarrhea, and malaria. Thus, from the start, Franz had gathered hospital experts to devise epidemic prevention measures.

Respiratory infections could be overlooked as they mainly targeted middle-aged and older people, while initial immigrants were young and strong, negating the problem since most countries had an average lifespan of under forty years.

Diarrhea was primarily due to poor diet; for this reason, nutritional meal plans were specifically created, although available only to the military and colonial government officials. The government still couldn’t manage the eating and drinking habits of ordinary immigrants.

The high incidence of infectious diseases was carried by the local natives; theoretically, as long as immigrants were prohibited from close contact with locals, there shouldn’t be a problem.

With the advent of the industrial era, post-1850, quinine was producible on a large scale, which saw a decrease in death rates from malaria.

To reduce the spread of diseases, items such as mosquito nets, insect repellent, and herbicides were incorporated into logistics and initially distributed free to immigrants.

In theory, if immigrants strictly adhered to health and safety regulations, the mortality rate due to diseases couldn’t be this high. Since the immigrants were mostly young and robust, their resistance was much stronger, and under normal circumstances, the mortality rate shouldn’t exceed one percent.

Do not underestimate a difference of two percentage points; as the population base increases, the disparity grows significantly. If the immigrants were old or weak, the mortality rate could double.

Diseases were only part of the mortality issue; other factors contributing to immigrant deaths had to be considered. For example, besides diseases, confrontations between prospectors were the second largest cause of death.

According to preliminary statistics from the colonial government, the first-year mortality rate of immigrants was as high as 5.8%. Such a high mortality rate directly led to a negative natural growth rate of the local immigrant population.

Other accidental deaths should naturally decrease once the local situation stabilizes.

The high rate of death from diseases had become a matter of urgency. If not controlled, the colonial population would continue to decline for a long time, relying solely on new immigrants to keep up numbers.

Can the mortality rate from diseases be effectively controlled? The answer is: yes.

This can be seen by the varying mortality rates across different immigrant outposts.

At the earliest settled New Brook, the mortality rate from diseases was controlled at 1.4%; however, at the later established colonial outpost in Ghana, the mortality rate from diseases shot up to 3.9%.

The main reason for this discrepancy was that early immigration was government-led, with everyone strictly enforcing health and safety regulations; later immigration was spontaneous with inadequate government oversight.

If this does not change, high mortality rates will certainly cause panic, making it difficult to attract more immigrants later on.

Colonial Minister Jelacic explained, “Your Majesty, current immigrants come from all over the world and often frequent the jungles. It is difficult for the colonial government to effectively supervise them.

“If our supervision is too strict, some private colonial teams may choose to leave for bases in other countries,”

Franz said seriously, “If they want to leave, let them leave. On our territory, they must follow our rules.

Spread the safety regulations and enforce them at all colonial outposts. Fine those who violate them, and bankrupt repeaters who never learn their lesson.

In short, the colonial government must contain diseases within a certain limit by any means necessary.

Starting next year, the mortality rate of diseases among immigrants must be held to below two percent.

If the Seven Nations’ negotiations reach an agreement, then next year’s annual mortality rate for immigrants must also be held to within four percent.

Within three years, the annual mortality rate of immigrants must be held to within three and a half percent; those who cannot achieve this can pack up and leave ahead of time.

The cabinet should expedite promotions for those who meet their targets, and dismiss those who do not. If they are unable to meet targets, replace them with another batch. We might lack many things, but we never lack officials!

If bureaucrats are not put under pressure, you cannot expect them to produce results. Franz implemented his measures over time rather than all at once.

Currently, the mortality rate of immigrants in colonies of England and France is basically held to within three percent, of course with the exception of the Gulf of Guinea region, where the mortality rate is exceedingly high due to the search for gold mines.

If activities were limited to the coastal areas, then the targets set by Franz could possibly also be around three percent.

As for any lower, Franz is not expecting that. Let’s wait until there’s an increase in medical personnel and an improvement in medical technology!

In an era lacking medical equipment, diagnosis and treatment mainly relied on a physician’s experience and personal knowledge accumulation, resulting in the inevitably long training period for doctors.

Since Franz’s accession, the Vienna Government accelerated the training of talent in the medical field, with the earliest students still a year away from graduation.

To improve medical conditions within the country, short-term training was carried out for rural doctors, abandoning traditional bloodletting and introducing them to new medical knowledge.

Overseas colonies, unfortunately, couldn’t be taken care of. Doctors of the era were middle-class people, and if they did not wish to go, the government could not force them.

Now, we can only ensure that each colonial outpost has one hospital, which often operates with just two or three doctors, plus a few apprentices.

The issue of insufficient medical resources will take a few more years to resolve. Starting next year, Austria will add twelve thousand rookie doctors annually into the medical system as they graduate from their studies.

Including those trained in the traditional apprentice fashion, Austria will add twenty thousand doctors annually, greatly alleviating the shortage of medical resources.

By comparison, the training of nursing staff is much faster, taking two to three years for each batch, training twenty to thirty thousand people.

These individuals primarily provide nursing care and, in an era of severe physician shortages, they cannot diagnose conditions, but they can still take symptoms into account and sell medications.

If a misjudgment occurs, leading to adverse consequences, then, unfortunately, it’s considered just bad luck. This era is just that cruel—the standard of medical care is as it is.

Prime Minister Felix bravely answered, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

After a moment of hesitation, he added, “Your Majesty, since we want to cultivate a sense of safety and hygiene among immigrants, we might as well start from within the country!

We have previously promoted adherence to safety and hygiene practices but never enforced them. Perhaps now we can introduce a law to enforce it among the populace.

If everyone develops good habits, then they will automatically follow the rules when they reach the colonies.”

Compared to the colonies, where the fluidity of people makes enforcement difficult, it is much easier to implement and promote hygiene laws in the country.

The concept of “safety and hygiene” has been widely promoted in the newspapers for a long time, and most people have accepted it. However, acceptance is one thing; whether people will comply is another matter.

Mandatory legislation will undoubtedly further the spread of these practices based on previous efforts.

“That is acceptable, it is also necessary to strengthen the education on safety and hygiene common sense within the country.”

In Franz’s view, this is a beneficial act for both the nation and its citizens. If everyone follows safety and hygiene guidelines, it will be very positive for stemming the spread of diseases.