Canada. Even ' as compared with the 

 latter, the condition of the average per- 

 son is shown to be, if anything, superior, 

 if we take also into consideration the 

 quantity and quality of the food con- 

 sumed as shown in the following sum- 

 mary : — 



CONSUMPTION OF PARTICULAR KINDS OF 

 FOOD PER INHABITANT (LBS). 



a ^ 



6 6 ^ 



U.K 378 109 75 380 91 19 



United States... 370 150 53 170 162 20 



Canada ... 400 90 45 600 72 22 



Australasia ... 392 264 100 266 126 19 



Tasmania ... 47 2 245 85 495 113 16 



CONDITIONS UPON WHICH PROGRESS IN 

 YOUNG COLONIES DEPENDS. 



Although much depends upon the 

 wisdom and energy of men in framing 

 wise laws and promoting industries, the 

 developmental progress of young colonies 

 depends, in a greater measure than is gene- 

 rally understood, upon the extent and the 

 natural conditions of the lands open to 

 colonising efforts. The whole fabric of the 

 earlier stages of a colony depends entirely 

 on the agricultural, pastoral, mineral, and 

 other primary industries directly engaged 

 in obtaining the raw or staple products 

 essential to the life of man, viz., food, 

 clothing, shelter, warmth, and other com- 

 forts. Successful enterprise in these 

 primary industries, again, depends largely 

 upon the extent of the natural facilities 

 offered in the various lands open fm- 

 selection to immigrants from other 

 densely-populated centres. Among the 

 principal factors which determine the 

 progress of settlement in the earlier stages 

 of a colony's history are climate, suita- 

 bility of soil for agricultural or pastoral 

 pursuits, and nearness of producing 

 centres to market or seaboard. 

 At first the better lands or 

 more naturally open or accessible 

 areas attract the attention of settlers ; 

 but the ratelof settlement in each colony 

 greatly diminishes as the poorer or less 

 accessible areas are approached. Thus in 



the earlier stages, the smaller areas open 

 to settlers in Tasmania and Victoria 

 show a much more rapid development, 

 owing to their greater accessibility, more 

 favorable climate, and, comparatively, 

 more fertile soils attracting a larger pro- 

 portion of the stream of enterprising im- 

 migrants from European centres. The 

 very much greater rate of settlement, 

 however, is soon checked by the limited 

 areas of the smaller colonies, and hence- 

 forward the major stream of immigration 

 gradually diverges to the less favorable 

 climate and the second class pastoral 

 lands of the larger colonies, as shown in 

 the later more rapid development of the 

 larger, naturally open, areas of New 

 South Wales and Queensland. Broadly 

 speaking, therefore, the development of a 

 new colony passes, naturally, through 

 three great successive predominating 

 stages, partly overlapping, viz.: (1) The 

 predominance of the pastoral stage. (2) 

 The predominance of the agricultural 

 stage. (3) The predominance of the 

 manufacturing stage, as in E»g- 

 land, Scotland, and Belgium. The 

 last of these stages is a long way off 

 so far as the Australasian Colonies are 

 concerned, because density of population 

 — involving a greater struggle for exist- 

 ence among the laboring classes— is 

 essential to the establishment of great 

 manufacturing industries which can suc- 

 cessfully and independently compete with 

 other countries in the external or open 

 markets of the world. But pastoral and 

 agricultural interests alone cannot support 

 many persons to the square mile of 

 territory, and hence, in young colonies, 

 the rate of development, eo far as popula- 

 tion is concerned, is usually less rapid 

 when all the more available and accessible 

 lands have been encroached upon, and 

 when the third or manufacturing stage is 

 approached. The following table, prepared 

 more recently, shows clearly in a general 

 way the proportions of the different 

 classes of breadwinners accordingly^ as the 

 State or country has arrived at the second 

 and third developmental stages — that is, 

 the agricultural and manufacturing stages. 

 Tasmania and New Zealand are chosen to 

 illustrate the conditions of the second or 

 agricultural stage, and England is chosen 

 to illustrate the conditions of the third or 

 manufacturing stage: — 



