Chapter 14: Election Extravaganza

May 10, 1900, Sydney Street.

As usual, Henry was walking on the streets of Sydney, heading towards the government building where he had worked for half his life. It was now called the New South Wales Parliament.

To make room for the upcoming House of Commons election, many government agencies were relocating these two days, giving up their original locations one after another for the State Parliament.

"Good morning, Mr. Henry. Are you going to participate in the election of the members of parliament?" A middle-aged woman who obviously knew Henry saw him on the street and immediately approached him, speaking excitedly.

"Ah, Miss Katie Taylor, how is your son? Is he feeling better?" Henry quickly recognized the woman greeting him and replied with a smile.

"I really have to thank you for that day. If it wasn't for your lending me 7 Pounds, I'm afraid Lampard's illness wouldn't have been cured." Talking about her son, Katie seemed to have opened her chatterbox, looking at Henry gratefully while speaking with relief.

There is no clear statistic for the average income in Australia, but in the previous year, 1899, the per capita annual income in Britain was about 50 Pounds. The annual income of a skilled worker had already reached 200 to 400 Pounds.

Please do not be misled by this data. The reason for such a large per capita income in Britain is actually due to the extraction of a large amount of wealth from major colonies.

As a senior officer of the Sydney City Council, Henry's annual income was only about 20 Pounds, which showed the gap between the British mainland and the colonies.

Hence, lending a third of his own annual income to a person with no connection to him, shows Henry's courage and compassion.

"It's all trivial. Besides, after His Royal Highness Arthur came to Australia, he directly exempted most of our taxes. Compared to what His Highness has done, what I've done is nothing." Henry promptly waved it off.

"That's true. But anyway, Mr. Henry, just like His Highness, you are a good person. Australia has such a great monarch and an outstanding officer like you, there is no reason our nation won't revive." Katie smiled softly and said.

Since Arthur announced a tax reduction throughout Australia a few days ago, he became a great ruler in the hearts of all Australians.

After all, to ordinary people, those who can provide them with practical benefits are truly great.

"Alright, Mr. Henry. You go on, I will definitely vote for you and wish you a successful election." Looking at the time, Katie hurriedly ended the chat with Henry.

Although Henry's residence was only a little over ten minutes away from the current State Parliament, due to occasionally encountering acquaintances on the way, it took him half an hour to arrive.

Fortunately, Henry had anticipated this situation and had set out half an hour early to catch the opening of the House of Commons election.

In order to allow as many Australians as possible to vote, this House of Commons election was held simultaneously in three cities in each state.

As the capital city and the most populous city in Australia, Sydney had the largest share of seats in the House of Commons, with a total of 198 seats. The most populous state of New South Wales was allocated 71 seats. And as the most populous city in New South Wales, Sydney also got 22 seats.

However, this doesn't mean that participating in the election in Sydney would make it easier. In fact, Sydney is the most populous city in Australia, with a total population of 420,000.

The population eligible to participate in the election reached a terrifying number of over 300,000. Even though most people didn't intend to participate in the election, there were certainly no lack of competitors.

Under such circumstances, Henry was already prepared for the possibility of not being elected to the House of Commons. After all, even if he failed to be elected, as long as his votes were good, he could enter the lower-level New South Wales Parliament.

There were a total of 136 seats in the state parliament. Their number varies according to the state's population. And Henry was quite confident that he could fight for a seat.

Entering the gate of the State Parliament, Henry found that the number of participants in this election far exceeded his expectations.

The seemingly vast state parliament was now filled with a sea of voters. Although the majority of them were not candidates, it was enough to astonish Henry.

According to Henry's estimation, today was the first day of the election. Many people should have been observing and planning. Why was the state parliament so crowded on the first day?

All of this might only be blamed on the appeal that Arthur had in the hearts of all Australians at the moment.

On just the first day of the election, a large number of citizens in Sydney had already participated in the election. Many people were still rushing to the scene, even though there was no place to stand in the State Parliament now.

"Henry, hey! Over here!" Just as Henry was at a loss, a familiar voice caught his attention.

Looking ahead, it was Henry's colleague and good friend Martin.

Henry was delighted and quickly walked across, smiling and saying, "Martin! Are you here to participate in the House of Commons election too?"

"Of course!" Martin nodded as a matter of course, saying, "This is a right we've never had before. Since His Highness has given it to us, why would we give it up?"

"What's the situation now? How many candidates are there today?" Henry looked around at the crowd and asked curiously.

"Haha, do you know what time I came this morning, Henry?" Martin didn't answer directly but smiled mysteriously.

"What time? Did you come at five or six o'clock in the morning?" Henry looked at his friend incredulously, asking with half doubt and half belief.

He knew his friend's character. He could do anything for things he was interested in. But coming to the State Parliament at five or six in the morning was a bit too crazy, right? After all, the election didn't officially start until eight o'clock. Except for facing the very familiar wooden door, what else could Martin do at five or six in the morning?

"Bingo! You're right, buddy. Do you know what I saw this morning? People! These guys are crazy! I thought I would be early enough by coming at five or six in the morning. Who could have thought that by the time I got here, the entrance was already full of people? If it weren't for my familiarity with the place, I wouldn't even have a place to sit and would have to wait until now." Martin gave Henry an "I told you so" face while pouring out his grievances.

Martin had thought that coming early in the morning would give him an advantage, but he was not the only one with this idea. The State Parliament, which didn't start its election until eight o'clock, was already surrounded by people at five in the morning, wasn't it?